GPS shoes for Alzheimer’s patients

This would be an amazing shoe. As Alzheimers becomes more common the need for something like this shoe grows everyday.

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WASHINGTON (AFP) – A shoe-maker and a technology company are teaming up to develop footwear with a built-in GPS device that could help track down “wandering” seniors suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease.

“The technology will provide the location of the individual wearing the shoes within 30 feet, anywhere on the planet,” said Andrew Carle, an assistant professor at George Mason University who served as an advisor on the project.

“Sixty percent of individuals afflicted with Alzheimer’s Disease will be involved in a ‘critical wandering incident’ at least once during the progression of the disease — many more than once,” he said Friday.

The shoes are being developed by GTX Corp., which makes miniaturized Global Positioning Satellite tracking and location-transmitting technology, and Aetrex Worldwide, a footwear manufacturer.

Carle said embedding a GPS device in a shoe was important because Alzheimer’s victims tend to remove unfamiliar objects placed on them but getting dressed is one of the last types of memory they retain.

He said a “geo-fence” could be placed around a person’s home and a “Google Map” alert sent to a cell phone, home or office computer when a programmed boundary is crossed.

“The shoe we intend on developing with Aetrex should help authorized family members, friends, or caretakers reduce their stress and anguish by enabling them to locate their loved ones instantly with the click of a mouse,” said Chris Walsh, chief operating officer of GTX Corp.

The companies said they plan to begin testing the product by the fourth quarter of the year.

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This sounds like an amazing way to use today’s technology. I know from my own family how Alzheimer’s patients get mixed up and lost. Having this shoe would save a lot of time my family has spent driving around trying to find our loved ones.

 

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090605/hl_afp/usithealthcompanygtxaetrex/print

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President Pivots on Taxing Benefits

The new plan is to tax employer-sponsored health care to get the money needed for Health Care reform in this Country. As of now, employer-sponsored health care is not taxed and would bring a lot of extra money that is needed.

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By Ceci Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 3, 2009

 

President Obama, in a pivot from some of his harshest campaign rhetoric, told Democratic senators yesterday that he is willing to consider taxing employer-sponsored health benefits to help pay for a broad expansion of coverage.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said Obama expressed a willingness to consider changing the existing tax exclusion. The decision would probably anger liberal supporters such as labor unions, but such a tax change would raise enormous sums of money as Congress and the White House are struggling to find the estimated $1.2 trillion needed to pay for health-care reform over the next decade.

“Yeah, it’s something that he might consider,” Baucus told reporters after the meeting between Obama and Democratic lawmakers. “That was discussed. It’s on the table.” Obama had summoned about two dozen senators to the White House to keep up the pressure to enact a comprehensive health-care overhaul this year.

White House officials moved quickly to clarify that taxing the health insurance provided by businesses is not Obama’s first choice, but aides refused to rule out the possibility.

“The president made it clear during the campaign that he has serious concerns about taxing health-care benefits, and he has introduced his own revenue proposal, which he reiterated in today’s meeting,” spokesman Reid Cherlin said.

Obama instead urged senators to reconsider his proposal, which would raise federal revenue by reducing itemized deductions such as charitable contributions and mortgage payments for the wealthiest Americans, according to one adviser in the meeting. Obama included that idea in his budget, reporting that it would raise $317 billion over 10 years, a sizable “down payment” on the cost of health-care reform. But Congress immediately labeled the proposal a non-starter.

Private-sector businesses spend about $518 billion a year on their workers’ health insurance, benefits that are not taxed. If workers had to pay taxes on their health coverage, it would raise $246 billion in revenue each year, according to the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation.

Tax treatment of employer-sponsored health care cuts across party lines: Prominent Republicans such as Sen. Judd Gregg (N.H.) support imposing a tax on certain health plans, while Democrats such as Sen. Sherrod Brown (Ohio) say that a tax would unfairly hurt middle-class workers with good benefits.

Health analysts from across the political spectrum have pressed for changing the tax treatment, arguing in part that the exclusion provides the greatest tax relief to high-salaried workers with generous insurance plans.

Last month, Baucus said he did not support eliminating the exclusion but was eyeing a benefit cap. Experts have outlined two likely approaches: taxing health benefits for workers above a certain income level; or taxing benefits over a certain value, perhaps $14,000 a year.

Administration officials meeting with lobbyists in recent days have projected that a benefit cap might generate $35 billion a year, though Finance Committee staffers said the number could be much higher.

Nevertheless, the issue represents treacherous politics for Obama, given his attacks on Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who advocated a similar approach during the campaign.

“For the first time in American history, he wants to tax your health benefits,” Obama said in September. “Apparently, Senator McCain doesn’t think it’s enough that your health premiums have doubled. He thinks you should have to pay taxes on them, too.”

Strongly desiring to declare a health-care victory this year, Obama is now taking a more nuanced approach, aides said. “His style of leadership is to say, let’s not get bogged down; let’s keep moving forward,” said one senior adviser who was in yesterday’s meeting. “He’s not ruling anybody’s ideas out.”

Staff writer Michael D. Shear and staff researcher Madonna Lebling contributed to this report.

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Obama hopes to get a Health Care system set up by the end of the year? This seems to be a larger task then maybe he thought during the campaign. Now leaning toward the direction the Senator McCain had in mind for this country.

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

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State may cut federally funded health insurance for children

More news on cutting Childrens Health Care to save money for the State.

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Thomas Bustos, who is 11, doesn’t understand what health insurance is. All he knows about the proposed elimination of the state program that covers him and his 9-year-old brother is his mother is scared.

In an avalanche of cuts to California’s budget, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed elimination of the Healthy Families insurance program juts out like a razor-edged boulder. California would become the first in the nation to eliminate a program — funded by the federal government and individual states — providing medical, dental and vision care to children in families who don’t qualify for Medicaid. That encompasses about 910,167 children across the state and 20,632 in Ventura County.

To qualify, a single parent with two children ages 6 through 18, must make at least $18,324 and no more than $45,780.

Misty Navarro, Thomas’ mother, makes $18 an hour as an office supervisor in a pediatric clinic. In Healthy Families, her premium is $12 a month. Without the program, she could cover her kids through her employer but it would cost $300 a month.

She doesn’t have the money. She will barely make the $750 a month rent for the Santa Paula town home the family is moving into thanks to a government housing program.

Like many others in Healthy Families, if the program is cut she would likely end up on Medi-Cal’s shared cost program, meaning her kids might have to rack up as much as $1,500 in healthcare in a month before the government would pay.

Essentially, she’d be uninsured, scrambling to find ways to continue the treatment Thomas gets to control his weight and minimize his risk of diabetes. If he needed two $1,200 CT scans like he did after jumping off a table when he was 3, she’d be cooked.

“You’re putting yourself in debt,” she said. “It’s awful to have medical bills.”

Minimize the damage

The proposal is just that. Advocates expect Democratic legislative leaders to fight to keep at least part of the program but predict the possibility of significant cuts.

The early childhood program, First 5, bailed out Healthy Families a year ago when the state was considering freezing the program because of a $17 million shortfall. A First 5 Ventura County spokeswoman said officials are waiting to see final cuts to various children’s programs before deciding how to respond. But if the program that costs the state $400 million is eliminated, a complete rescue would be financially impossible.

“It’s way beyond our capacity,” said Robin Godfrey, local director of special projects.

Ventura County Health Care Agency officials are trying to make sure that even if families do lose insurance, they continue to bring their children to county clinics designed to serve as a safety net for the vulnerable. They cite other state programs that provide funding for immunizations, screenings and care for children with chronic conditions like diabetes. They said they work with parents in self-pay discount programs to keep care affordable.

Even without Healthy Families, children will still be able to get the care they need, said Dr. Michelle Laba, medical director of the county’s Mandalay Bay Women and Children’s Medical Group in Oxnard.

“Our focus and goal is to take care of a patient regardless of their ability to pay,” she said. “That’s what we work with on a day-to-day basis.”

Quitting jobs

Observers predict there would be increases not only at county clinics but also at other community clinics, urgent care centers and emergency rooms. The facilities are designed to deal with the growing number of people who have no place else to go, but higher traffic could eventually bring longer wait times and a heightened temptation to put off care.

There could be a dramatic increase in children who don’t get preventive care and end up fighting diabetes, asthma or obesity, said Dr. Heather Nichols, a Santa Paula pediatrician.

Parents might also pursue desperate ends. They might quit their jobs just so they qualify for full Medi-Cal benefits though eligibility could tighten in other budget cut proposals. Or married couples might get divorced to lower their income and give their children a better shot at care.

“I think they would find loopholes,” Nichols said.

Across the state, about 53 percent of the children covered by Healthy Families are Latino. Some providers predict some of those families would take their children south of the border to have tonsils or appendixes removed.

“They’re going to show up at emergency rooms. They’re going to show up at health centers and some are going to show up in Mexico, in Tijuana,” said Antonio Alatorre, chief operating officer for Clinicas Camino del Real, a group of community clinics in Ventura County.

Possible layoffs

Hospitals and clinics already face harsh budget cuts. Eliminating Healthy Families could cost the county about $8 million from lost revenues and the cost of providing uncompensated care.

If the proposed cut isn’t averted, there’s at least a possibility it could bring layoffs, said Mike Powers, director of the Health Care Agency. He wouldn’t speculate where jobs might be lost.

“What I’m also saying is we have to watch it unfold,” he said. “It’s a possibility. We don’t want to over-react to proposals. Layoffs are a last, last resort.”

Clinicas is suing the state to try to stop Medi-Cal cuts eliminating coverage for adult dental care, optometry, mental health and many other services. Officials of the community clinic group said the cuts could bring as many as 150 layoffs.

Eliminating Healthy Families would mean the loss of about $1 million in revenue for Clinicas and as much as another $1 million in added cost for caring for uninsured children. That could mean even more layoffs.

Advocates of Healthy Family talk of how cutting the program would eliminate as much as $800 million in matching money from the federal government. They talk of how eliminating the program jeopardizes preventive treatment that helps drive down the societal cost of healthcare. They talk most about children.

“We would basically just be punishing children for their parents’ poverty,” said Nichols.

No defense

What’s startling is the people proposing the cuts don’t challenge any of the assertions. H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the California Department of Finance, said eliminating Healthy Families would have been unthinkable as recently as four months ago.

But the state faces a projected $24 billion shortfall and voters rejected a tax increase extension and other proposed budget balancing measures.

“The fact that we can put this god-awful proposal on the table is a testament to how dramatically the recession has affected this state,” said Palmer, adding that state officials understand the consequences. “The governor is acutely aware of the impact. He gets up in the middle of the night worrying about it.”

The proposed budget hit list is long. It includes eliminating the state’s welfare program, closing nearly all state parks and eliminating home healthcare for hundreds of thousands of seniors and disabled people.

“It’s awfully tough choices and few alternatives,” said taxpayers advocate Jere Robings of Thousand Oaks, fielding questions about Healthy Families. “If there is no money, there is no money.”

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Cutting such programs will leave about 910,000 children without any health care. Its nice to see what the Mandalay Bay Woman & Childrens center said, they would still provide care for the children even without Healthy Familes.

 

Source: www.venturacountystar.com

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Kennedy Readies Health-Care Bill

All the different ideas for Health Reform are starting to come together.

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By Ceci Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 6, 2009

 

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) has laid down the first marker in this year’s debate over how to revamp the nation’s health-care system, writing a bill that would put strict new requirements on individuals and businesses to purchase insurance.

As expected, the ailing chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and his staff have crafted comprehensive legislation that would guarantee health coverage for every American — but would require the vast majority to contribute to the cost, according to a draft of the bill obtained last night by The Washington Post. Some small businesses and low-income workers would be eligible for subsidies.

While at least five congressional chairmen are working on health-care reform bills, Kennedy is the first to complete detailed legislative language. The draft provides a partial road map for how the nation might address health coverage gaps and problems such as rising costs and inferior quality.

The 170-page bill, dubbed the “American Health Choices Act,” does not include cost estimates or specifics on how to pay for the expansion.

Perhaps its most controversial element is the creation of a new government-sponsored health insurance plan that would compete with private insurers. Republicans and industry groups have opposed the so-called “public option,” arguing it would undermine the private marketplace and could lead to a “single-payer” system. President Obama reiterated his support for the public option earlier this week.

Under the approach crafted by the Kennedy staff, doctors and hospitals serving patients in the new public insurance plan would be paid 10 percent above current Medicare rates. The bill suggests the costs of the program would be covered through premiums.

“This is a draft of a draft,” Kennedy spokesman Anthony Coley said. Committee Democrats, he said, “are still discussing legislative options among themselves and Republican colleagues.”

He did not dispute the contents of the document, which closely tracks with summaries circulated by the Kennedy team last week.

Much of the bill is modeled after sweeping state health-care reform enacted three years ago in Massachusetts. In addition to the requirements on businesses and individuals, the bill would create new insurance exchanges, called “connectors,” that would essentially enable individuals to shop for insurance. Kennedy would allow families earning up to 500 percent of the poverty level — $110,000 — to buy insurance on a sliding scale with government subsidies.

A markup of the bill by Kennedy’s committee is tentatively set for June 16. The Senate Finance Committee hopes to release its proposal June 17 and begin markup on June 22.

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Having the government subsidies for Health Insurance will open up the option of Health Insurance to a lot of Americans who were never in the postion to be able to have it before.

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

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Obama plan would provide health care for all

More articles on Obama and individual mandate for Health Insurance Coverage.

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Obama plan would provide health care for all

By ERICA WERNER – 4 days ago

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says he’s open to requiring all Americans to buy health insurance, as long as the plan provides a “hardship waiver” to exempt poor people from having to pay.

Obama opposed such an individual mandate during his campaign, but Congress increasingly is moving to embrace the idea.

In providing the first real details on how he wants to reshape the nation’s health care system, the president urged Congress on Wednesday toward a sweeping overhaul that would allow Americans to buy into a government insurance plan.

Obama outlined his goals in a letter to Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairmen of the two committees writing health care bills. It followed a meeting he held Tuesday with members of their committees, and amounted to a road map to keep Congress aligned with his goals.

“The plans you are discussing embody my core belief that Americans should have better choices for health insurance, building on the principle that if they like the coverage they have now, they can keep it, while seeing their costs lowered as our reforms take hold,” Obama wrote.

Obama has asked the House and Senate each to finish legislation by early August, so that the two chambers can combine their bills in time for him to sign a single, sweeping measure in October. In a statement Baucus welcomed the assignment.

“I will stop at nothing to deliver a health reform bill that works for families and businesses to the president this year,” Baucus said.

Covering 50 million uninsured Americans could cost as much as $1.5 trillion over a decade, and cost is emerging as a major sticking point. Obama didn’t offer new solutions to that problem in his letter Wednesday but did say he’d like to squeeze an additional $200 billion to $300 billion over 10 years from the Medicare and Medicaid government insurance programs for the elderly, disabled and poor.

He said he’d do it through such measures as better managing chronic diseases and avoiding unnecessary tests and hospital readmissions. Savings from such measures are uncertain.

Medicare benefits cost the federal government about $450 billion a year and Medicaid about $200 billion. Obama already has targeted the programs for some $300 billion in cuts over 10 years in the 2010 budget he released in February.

He also said he’s open to congressional proposals to let an independent commission identify cuts to Medicare which would take effect unless Congress rejected them all at once, similar to how military base closures are handled.

The president said he supports a new health insurance exchange that Congress is crafting, a sort of marketplace that would allow Americans to shop for different plans and compare prices.

All of the plans should offer a basic affordable package, and none should be allowed to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, Obama said — big changes from how private insurance companies operate today.

“I strongly believe that Americans should have the choice of a public health insurance option operating alongside private plans,” Obama wrote, weighing in firmly on one of the most controversial issues in the debate. “This will give them a better range of choices, make the health care market more competitive and keep insurance companies honest.”

Republicans strongly oppose a public plan, as do private insurers, who contend it would drive them out of business.

“A government-run plan would set artificially low prices that private insurers would have no way of competing with,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday on the Senate floor.

The idea of what Obama called a “hardship waiver” for individual Americans too poor to buy care splits the difference between where he was during the presidential campaign and where Congress appears to be heading.

In the campaign, Obama did not support requiring everyone to buy insurance, putting him at odds with then Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton. Congress is looking at doing so. The hardship waiver idea is under consideration by the Senate Finance Committee, which also is considering giving tax credits to certain individuals so they can afford health care. Kennedy and House Democrats are looking at giving subsidies to the poor to help them buy coverage.

The letter didn’t address the issue of taxing health care benefits. Obama opposed that during his campaign but Congress is now considering it, and Obama hasn’t shut the door on it.

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As the Health Reform continues, I think Obama is realizing there are not many options to get the country Health Care. By setting up a MediCare like system looks like the only way to provide for all.

Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gap9wCaolRYguYQesA2i2Yr98yLgD98JPEQG1

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Private insurance companies push for ‘individual mandate’

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‘individual mandate’ would only benefit everyone. The Health Insurance Carriers will be forced to make getting a plan obtain coverage.

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Some may find it hard to believe that the U.S. health insurance industry supports making major changes to the nation’s healthcare system.

The industry, after all, scuttled President Clinton’s healthcare overhaul bid with ads featuring “Harry and Louise” fretting about change.

But this time, it turns out, the health insurance industry has good reason to support at least some change: It needs it.

Private health insurance faces a bleak future if the proposal they champion most vigorously — a requirement that everyone buy medical coverage — is not adopted.

The customer base for private insurance has slipped since 2000, when soaring premiums began driving people out. The recession has accelerated the problem. But even after the economy recovers, the downward spiral is expected to continue for years as baby boomers become eligible for Medicare — and stop buying private insurance.

Insurers do not embrace all of the healthcare restructuring proposals. But they are fighting hard for a purchase requirement, sweetened with taxpayer-funded subsidies for customers who can’t afford it, and enforced with fines.

Such a so-called individual mandate amounts to a huge booster shot for health insurers, which would serve up millions of new customers almost overnight.

“I think that’s why we’ve seen the industry basically trying to play the administration’s game,” said Jane DuBose, an analyst with industry tracking firm HealthLeaders-InterStudy. “They really could be licking their chops over the potential here.”

The industry says its interest in change flows not from narrow self-interest but from broader concerns.

“What’s driving this is we have 47 million people who don’t have access to the system, who get help through emergency rooms, and that results in higher costs and inefficient care,” said Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for industry trade group America’s Health Insurance Plans. “There’s both a social and economic reason to get everybody in the healthcare system.”

Jay Gellert, chief executive of Woodland Hills-based Health Net, said industry support for certain changes is driven by “a recognition that public frustration with many of the problems in the system [is] increasing pretty significantly. So I think there’s as much of a commitment to this because we’ve seen other industries where they haven’t dealt with issues early enough, like financial services and auto, and that’s not a happy place.”

Still, industry observers say, private insurers need the government’s help to transform some of the nation’s 45 million uninsured residents into paying customers.

Private insurers lost an estimated 9 million customers between 2000 and 2007. In many cases, people lost coverage because they or their employers could no longer afford it as premium increases outpaced wage growth and inflation.

Recession job losses are adding to the toll. Some economists estimate that every percentage-point increase in the jobless rate adds 1 million people to the ranks of the uninsured.

The industry’s real trouble begins in 2011, when 79 million baby boomers begin turning 65. Health insurers stand to lose a huge slice of their commercially insured enrollment (estimated at 162 million to 172 million people) over the next two decades to Medicare, the government-funded health insurance program for seniors.

“The rate of aging far and away exceeds the birth rate,” said Sheryl Skolnick, a CRT Capital Group healthcare investment analyst. “That’s got to be very scary. . . . This is the biggest fight for survival managed care has ever faced, at least since they went bankrupt in the late ’80s.”

With Democrats in power and public sentiment in favor of change, the industry can’t afford to flatly oppose it, said Julius Hobson, a Washington lobbyist for hospitals and insurers with the law firm Bryan Cave.

“This time, you get the sense something is going to happen,” he said. “So to stand up and just say no is probably not wise, because politically you could get run over.”

For insurers, getting “run over” would be the adoption of a so-called single-payer plan, in which the government pays all medical bills. Such a plan, though widely viewed as politically unfeasible this year, would wreak havoc on the private insurance market.

The best way for the industry to preserve the private insurance market — and derail the campaign for a single-payer system — may be to go along with more palatable proposals on the table now, said Jeffrey Miles, a healthcare analyst and president of the Miles Organization, a Los Angeles insurance brokerage firm.

“If healthcare goes down this year, you are going to end up with single-payer care much sooner than anyone expected,” he said.

But there is a limit to how much change the industry will abide. It draws the line at proposals, supported by President Obama and others, to offer consumers a public insurance alternative to private coverage.

The idea is that consumers could buy into a government-run health plan, such as or similar to Medicare or the federal employees insurance program

Proponents say that if consumers are required to buy coverage, it is only fair to give them a public option.

In a recent letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), for example, Jerry Flanagan of the Santa Monica-based advocacy group Consumer Watchdog wrote that adopting an individual mandate without a public alternative would amount to “a bailout for HMOs — whose greed, waste and indifference to our health have created the current mess.”

The industry fears that the government would force lower fees on hospitals and physicians, enabling a public health insurance plan to offer consumers a better bargain.

That, they say, would make it hard for private companies to compete for customers. Insurers also fear that a public option could easily be converted later into a single-payer healthcare system.

Health insurers don’t see a public plan “as the nose of the camel under the tent; they see it as the front half of the camel under the tent,” said Robert Laszewski, a former insurance company executive and industry consultant.

“They are interested in 45 million new customers,” he said, “but the first thing

in everybody’s mind is preserving their right to do business in a way that can be profitable and meet shareholder needs.”

lisa.girion@latimes.com

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the Health Insurance Industry needs a lot help. The rates are outrageous and only growing, underwriting is imposable and the ever growing premiums are forcing people to go without. If anything that the health care reform will do is bring change for all.

Source: www.latimes.com

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Governor Puts Welfare And Kids Health Insurance On Chopping Block

Healthy Family Requirements:

• Be age 18 or younger.
• Not be eligible for no-cost Medi-Cal.
• Children in families with incomes within the Healthy Families Guidelines.
• Live in families without health insurance from an employer for the past three months.
• Meet citizenship or immigration requirements.

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Deep cuts to health and human services are being proposed for California, with more to come on Friday. Faced with a $24 billion deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s latest request would eliminate the state’s main welfare program, CalWORKs, which provides grants to low-income parents. The governor also proposes ending the Healthy Families program, which provides health insurance for one million low-income children.

In all, it’s an additional $3 billion in budget cuts. Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, says it will prompt the most profound rollback of health coverage in the state’s history.

“California would be the only state in the nation that doesn’t cover the low-income children eligible for Healthy Families. It would have ripple effects throughout our healthcare system and our economy.”

Wright points out that eliminating the programs means the state will lose millions of dollars in federal funds, as well.

“That’s why some of these cuts really are irrational and reckless – and other alternatives, including revenues, need to be considered.”

The cuts could be avoided, Wright insists, if the governor would take a more balanced approach that includes raising money – but Schwarzenegger has said tax increases are off the table. The governor also says he realizes the cuts will hurt families, but claims he has no choice.

Lori Abbott, Public News Service – CA

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Ending such programs will only hurt the state. Healthy Families is low cost insurance for children and teens.It provides health, dental and vision coverage to children who do not have insurance and do not qualify for free Medi-Cal.

Source: www.publicnewsservice.org

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Governor Proposes New Massive $5.5 Billion in Cuts

At the time when needed the most, with more families un-employed and losing their health insurance, taking away Healthy Families would only hurt the state more. Taking away Health Insurance for children in low income households isn’t the answer.

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With California’s budget situation growing worse, and a budget shortfall now projected at over $24 billion, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed today (May 26) over $5.5 billion in new massive permanent spending cuts on top of what he proposed on May 14th. The Governor will be proposing by Friday details on over $3 billion in additional reductions on top of today’s proposals to reflect the growth of the budget shortfall.

And the news gets grim for next year: the Legislative Analyst last week told the Budget Conference Committee that California will face – even if it adopted every one of the Governor’s spending cut proposals, a budget shortfall for the 2010-2011 State Budget year of over $15 billion.

The Budget Conference Committee convened its hearing today just around 2:30 PM and adjourned just after 4:30 PM. They will reconvene tomorrow (Wednesday) at 09:00 AM (see below). The Budget Conference Committee took no action today – and is not expected to take action on the Governor’s proposals until mid-June or later.

Proposed Cuts Include Elimination of Entire Programs

The proposed cuts announced today, including elimination of entire programs – with an additional $3 billion in new cuts coming by Friday – stunned and shocked Budget Conference Committee members and the audience in the hearing room.

Ana Mantosantos, deputy director of the Governor’s Department of Finance, made the formal presentation of the new proposed budget cuts to the Budget Conference Committee this afternoon that are as deep and wide ranging as ever proposed in California state history.

Included in today’s proposal reductions – which require approval of the Legislature – is the proposed elimination of the state’s welfare to work program, CalWORKS, that serves over 500,000 people, including many with special needs, and critical senior programs

The Governor also proposed elimination of several critical community-based senior programs under the Department of Aging including the Multipurpose Senior Services Program (MSSP).

The Governor also proposed the elimination of the Healthy Families program, which provides with matching State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) federal funds, health insurance for over 900,000 children from low income families

Also on the proposed chopping block are even deeper cuts to Medi-Cal to slow growth in use of services, eliminate certain Medi-Cal state funded only programs, cut state funds for the Community Care Licensing program.

The non-partisan Legislative Analyst Office (LAO), who works directly for the Legislature and provides analysis, recommendations and review of budget issues, told the committee last Thursday that California is now facing a budget shortfall of over $24 billion by the end of the 2009-2010 State Budget year. That growing deficit is in addition to the cash flow crisis that if not resolved – could mean the State will not be able to pay its bills after July 1st.

Originally the Budget Conference Committee had scheduled a hearing on May 26 for public comment on the Governor’s proposed cuts to education, but that will be rescheduled at a later date in order for the committee to hear more details on how the Governor intends to make additional spending cuts of over $5.5 billion. Last week, on Thursday, the Ana Mantosantos, deputy director of the Department of Finance, told the Budget Conference Committee that the Governor was looking at proposing the elimination of the CalWORKS and Healthy Families programs entirely.

Details of those new spending cuts have not yet been released yet though Deputy Director of the Governor’s Department of Finance said they would focus on those state programs not mandated (required) by the federal government, including the proposed elimination of the Healthy Families and CalWORKS programs. The CalWORKS program is California’s “welfare to work” program that includes thousands of children and parents who have special needs and disabilities. The Healthy Families program is funded with federal matching funds from the State Childrens Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) that provides health coverage to hundreds of thousands of children from low income families.

SUMMARY OF CUTS PROPOSED TODAY BY GOVERNOR

CALWORKS PROGRAM – ELIMINATE

Proposes to eliminate California’s “welfare to work” program formally called the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids program, that includes thousands of children and parents with special needs. Program serves over 500,000 people.
2009-2010 State Budget Year: $1.309 billion cut (state general funds)
2010-2011 State Budget Year: $1.765 billion cut (state general funds)

HEALTHY FAMILIES PROGRAM – ELIMINATE

Proposes to eliminate funding for this program and assumes that the program phases out “quickly as possible” after providing notice to those persons in the program. Program serves over 900,000 children.
2009-2010 State Budget Year: $247.8 million cut (state general funds)
2010-2011 State Budget Year: $322.4 million cut (state general funds)

MULTIPURPOSE SENIOR SERVICES PROGRAM – ELIMINATE

Proposed elimination of the Multipurpose Senior Services Program and senior Community-Based Services programs. Funding for Adult Day Health Care would continue in support of the California Department of Aging’s responsibility for Medi-Cal certification of providers.
2009-2010 State Budget Year: $24.2 million cut (state general funds)
2010-2011 State Budget Year: $35.3 million cut (state general funds)

MENTAL HEALTH MANAGED CARE SERVICES AND EARLY PERIODIC SCREENINDG, DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT SERVICES (EPSDT)

Proposes to reduce funding for these services but would retain funding for Mental Health Managed Care services for acute inpatient services and prescription drugs for Medi-Cal enrollees only. EPSDT reduction would result from eliminating State general fund money for county programs identified as new programs in 2007-2008 and 2008-2009.
2009-2010 State Budget Year: $92 million cut (state general funds)
2010-2011 State Budget Year: $92 million cut (state general funds)

MEDI-CAL – ADDITIONAL $500 MILLION CUT

This proposal assumes additional reduction (savings) as a result of changes that the State would get from the federal government (if approved by the Legislature) that the Governor previously proposed on May 14, to “enable California to secure essential program flexibilities” to slow the Medi-Cal program growth and to manage Medi-Cal program costs within available resources.
2009-2010 State Budget Year: $250 million cut (state general funds)
2010-2011 State Budget Year: $500 million cut (state general funds)
CDCAN Note: this cut is on top of the $750 million cut (state general funds) to the Medi-Cal program proposed by the Governor on May 14th. Adding the lost federal funds, the proposed cuts to the Medi-Cal program would be approaching $2 billion.

MEDI-CAL – ELIMINATE CERTAIN STATE ONLY PROGRAMS

Propose eliminating for the 2009-2010 State budget year, state only Medi-Cal programs (meaning not required by the federal requirement) including undocumented non-emergency services (breast and cervical cancer treatment and postpartum care, and excluding prenatal and long term care), Institutions for Mental Disease ancillary services payments, dialysis, non-digestive nutrition, and breast and cervical cancer treatment for women over 65 years, and men.
2009-2010 State Budget year: $34.4 million cut (state general funds)
2010-2011 State Budget year: $57.8 million cut (state general funds)

MEDI-CAL – SKILLED NURSING FACILITY COST OF LIVING

Proposes to suspend an estimated 5% cost of living increase effective August 1, 2009 for skilled nursing facilities (AB 1629 and non-AB 1629 skilled nursing facilities)
2009-2010 State Budget year: $67.1 million cut (state general funds)
2010-2011 State Budget year: $109.8 million cut (state general funds)

COMMUNITY CARE LICENSING – ELIMINATE STATE FUNDING

Proposes to eliminate state funding for the Community Care Licensing program. The reduction would be off-set (according to the Governor) by a fee increase to maintain “critical health and safety standards”.
2009-2010 State Budget Year: $19.5 million cut (state general funds)
2010-2011 State Budget Year: $39 million cut (state general funds)

AIDS DRUG ASSISTANCE PROGRAM – REDUCE FUNDING

Proposes to reduce funding for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) and for other Office of AIDS programs. Specific proposals include: expanding client cost sharing and limiting the formulary in the AIDS Drug Assistance Program; reducing and eliminating other HIV/AIDS programs such as HIV Counseling and Testing, Epidemiologic Studies/Surveillance, Therapeutic Monitoring Program, and Home and Community-Based Care.
2009-2010 State Budget Year: $55.5 million cut (state general funds)
2010-2011 State Budget Year: $58.9 million cut (state general funds)

CALGRANTS PROGRAM – ELIMINATE

Would eliminate new awards for the High School Entitlement and Community College Transfer Entitlement programs and CalGrant C program (would continue existing awards).
2009-2010 State Budget Year: $173 million cut (state general funds)
2010-2011 State Budget Year: $450 million cut (state general funds)

CAL GRANTS RENEWALS – COMPLETE DECOUPLING

Would eliminate the increase in award amounts for renewals associated with UC and CSU fee increases. The amount is the net of the partial decoupling proposal included in the Governor’s original budget.
2009-2010 State Budget Year: $28 million cut (state general funds)
2010-2011 State Budget Year: $28 million cut (state general funds)

COMMUNITY CLINIC PROGRAMS – ELIMINATE FUNDING

Proposes to eliminate state funding for Indian Health, Seasonal and Agricultural and Migratory Workers, Rural Health Services Development, and Expanded Access to Primary Care.
2009-2010 State Budget Year: $34.2 million cut (state general funds)
2010-2011 State Budget Year: $34.2 million cut (state general funds)

STATE EMPLOYEE FURLOUGHS (Assumes reductions (savings) if proposed labor agreement with SEIU Local 1000 are not passed (ratified) by the Legislature and a 2 day furlough is maintained for all state employees.
2008-2009 State Budget Year: $60 million cut (state general funds)
2009-2010 State Budget Year: $150 million cut (state general funds)

OTHER REDUCTIONS PROPOSED TODAY BY THE GOVERNOR:

• STATE PARKS – ELIMINATE STATE FUNDING – proposes to eliminate state general funding for state parks and require that these parks operate on fee revenues and special funding only: $70 million cut, 2009-2010 State Budget Year and $143.4 million cut in the 2010-2011 State Budget year.
• MATERNAL, CHILD, AND ADOLESCENT HEALTH – in addition to what the Governor proposed on May 14, proposes to eliminate the remaining state general funding for this program: $10.2 million cut, 2009-2010 State Budget year and $10.2 million cut in the 2010-2011 State Budget year.
• RURAL HEALTH CARE EQUITY PROGRAM: $15.7 million cut, 2009-2010 State Budget year
• UC AND CSU BUDGETS REDUCTIONS – $415 million, 2008-2009 State Budget year; $335 million 2009-2010 State Budget year and $335 million in the 2010-2011 State Budget year.
• HASTINGS COLLEGE OF LAW – ELIMINATE STATE FUNDING – would reduce to the minimum level allowed in law (EC 92212): $10.3 million cut, 2009-2010 State Budget year and $10.3 million cut in 2010-2011 State Budget year.
• REDUCE GENERAL FUND SUPPORT FOR COURTS BY 10%: $181.6 million cut, 2009-2010 State Budget year
• ADDITIONAL REDUCTION TO PRISON POPULATION – commute sentences of nonviolent, non-serious, non-sex offenders one year early: $120.5 million cut, 2009-2010 State Budget year.
• REDUCE DEPT OF CORRECTIONS CONTRACT EXPENDITURES, REDUCE REHABILITATION PROGRAM AND OTHER REDUCTIONS – $788.5 million cut, 2009-2010 State Budget year and $914.4 million cut, 2010-2011 State Budget year.
• CALFIRE EQUIPMENT REPLACEMNT – ELIMINATE FUNDING – proposes a onetime elimination of funding for equipment replacement: $17 million cut in the 2009-2010 State Budget year only.

May 27th Public Comment Hearing on Health & Human Services Issues Still On

As previously reported, the May 27th hearing where the Budget Conference Committee will take public comments specifically on the Governor’s proposals impacting health and human services, is still on.

This hearing will likely draw possibly hundreds, possibly thousands of people in part because the annual Disability Capitol Action Day is being held at the same date and time, on the West Steps of the State Capitol. [see separate CDCAN Action Alert and Report on this]

The committee will take public comments, at specific times (see below for agenda) regarding the Governor’s new proposed spending cuts and reductions to such programs as Medi-Cal, regional centers, In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS), SSI/SSP (Supplemental Security Income/State Supplemental Payment) grants, CalWORKs, proposed elimination of the Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI) and more (see below for agenda).

The California Disability Community Action Network, is a non-partisan link to thousands of Californians with developmental and other disabilities, people with traumatic brain injuries, the Blind, the Deaf, their families, community organizations and providers, direct care, homecare and other workers, and other advocates to provide information on state (and eventually federal), local public policy issues.

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The plan to eliminate Health Families will effect about 900,000 children who have health insurance with the program. Also, taking more money from Medi-cal will leave the program with pretty much no funding left.

Source: www.californiaprogressreport.com

Questions Please Call Politi Insurance Agents & Brokers

818-709-8442

www.health-insurancecalifornia.com

Kaiser subscribers can access health records in a flash

Kaiser is really ahead of the game on this one.  I can not tell you how many times I hear clients say they wish they had their medical records. This is a great idea.

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By Bobby Caina Calvan
bcalvan@sacbee.com

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Published: Thursday, May. 21, 2009 – 12:00 am | Page 8B
Last Modified: Thursday, May. 21, 2009 – 12:19 am

Electronic medical records, hailed as a bold and necessary new frontier in medicine, are taking another leap forward – even as many medical offices scramble to catch up.

Kaiser Permanente subscribers in Northern California now have access to most of their health records on pocket flash drives, a convenience the health system touts as a potential lifesaver.

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in an emergency situation and people aren’t sure what their medical history is,” said Dr. Dennis Ostrem, an internist and assistant physician-in-chief at Kaiser’s Sacramento Medical Center.

Hospital officials say it’s particularly useful when patients are on the road – perhaps on vacation or on a business trip – and find themselves in medical distress and need to give a doctor access to such things as drug allergies, lab results, X-rays, immunization records and recent hospitalization information, including diagnoses and treatment

The flash drives are $5, and updates can be uploaded free of charge, Kaiser said.

Imagine a 42-year-old Kaiser patient with high blood pressure and high cholesterol who suddenly develops chest pains while traveling in a region where Kaiser has no facilities.

At that point, “the decisions a physician makes are really important,” said Ostrem.

If the patient were carrying his records in a flash drive, an emergency room doctor would have instant access, Ostrem said, to the man’s electrocardiogram, his list of medications and other information.

Proponents of electronic health records say the paperless technology improves efficiency and safety, increasing doctors’ ability to confer and collaborate on treatment. The technology also flags possible dangerous drug interactions and potential health concerns.

But security experts remind consumers that their privacy could be at risk if they don’t use common sense in safeguarding their personal data, whether it’s stored on their home computers, online or in personal flash drives.

“It’s a lot like if your wallet falls out of your pocket,” said Brock Meeks, a spokesman for the Center for Technology and Democracy in Washington.

“Having your health records with you is a good thing, but people need to realize that there’s a compromise,” Meeks said. “Anytime you make anything more convenient, the drawback is that security goes down.”

Kaiser says the information is password-protected, and some information – such as sexual history among minors, HIV status, drug and alcohol abuse problems – is excluded from the flash drives.

The health system began rolling out the flash drives earlier this year in the Bay Area, before expanding to the Sacramento area. Hospital officials said “a couple thousand” subscribers have their medical records on the devices, which also double as key chains. Kaiser has more than 3 million members in Northern California.

Electronic medical records are a key topic in the discussion about overhauling the health care system. The Obama administration earmarked $19 billion as part of its stimulus package to help medical practices modernize their record keeping.

While institutions such as the Department of Veterans Affairs and Kaiser Permanente have rolled out sophisticated electronic systems, there is no national network that currently gives access to doctors outside of those systems.

Flash drives provide the portability that can bridge those shortcomings, Kaiser officials said. The flash drive, a USB device that doubles as a key chain, can be plugged into any computer and its contents read by widely available software.

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This will not only help in medical emergency, but will help you be able to see different doctors for consults, pharmacy’s and in case you ever need to shop your medical insurance. In a lot of underwriting processes, carriers request your medical records to review. Which can sometime takes up to months to get from your doctor. Having a flash drive would speed that process way up.

Source: www.sacbee.com

Questions Please Call Politi Insurance Agents & Brokers

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Senator: No health insurance for illegal migrants

I was waiting for this topic to arise. There will be many people that appose not letting all people in the United States have the coverage. I see many more issues.

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Senator: No health insurance for illegal migrants

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR – 6 days ago

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Illegal immigrants won’t be entitled to medical insurance under the health legislation Congress is working on, a leading lawmaker said Thursday.

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., said the health overhaul would cover nearly everyone — 94 percent to 96 percent of the population — but not undocumented workers. Baucus is chairman of the Finance Committee, which has taken the lead in drafting the sweeping legislation.

“We aren’t going to cover undocumented workers because that’s too politically explosive,” Baucus said during a session with reporters, in which he previewed legislation he expects to introduce by mid-June.

President Barack Obama wants Congress to revamp health care this year, and Baucus says he’s confident a bill can pass with support from both parties.

Baucus said his bill would build on the current system in which employers, government and individuals share in paying health care costs. It’s likely to include a requirement that individuals get insurance coverage, either through an employer, a government plan or on their own. He said the plan will include “incentives” — and perhaps requirements — for employers to help pay.

People would be able to keep the coverage they already have. But those who can’t find coverage now — and people who are looking for something better — would be able to buy a plan through a new kind of purchasing pool called an “exchange.” Consumers would have a choice of private insurance plans, and most likely, a government-sponsored one as well.

Plans in the exchange would have to offer at least a standard benefits package and wouldn’t be able to discriminate against people with health problems. The government would provide subsidies for low- and middle-income households who can’t afford the whole premium.

Baucus didn’t say how much his plan would cost, but outside estimates have put the price tag in the range of $1.5 trillion over ten years. Most of the money would be raised by making the health care system more efficient, said Baucus. Government programs like Medicare would start paying for the quality of care, not the number of tests and procedures that patients get.

Nonetheless, Baucus said tax increases will be needed to pay the upfront costs of expanding coverage. One of his main revenue-raising options is at odds with Obama’s preferences. Baucus wants to limit the tax-free status of job-based health care benefits to raise money and rein in health care spending. Obama says he’s opposed to that, but he’s left the door open to changing his mind.

Baucus said coverage for all will probably have to be phased in over a number of years — he wouldn’t say how many. Even when the legislation is fully implemented some people may still be uninsured.

“The goal is for everybody to have coverage but, by definition, there’s a few who slip through the cracks,” he said.

Nearly 50 million people now lack health insurance, or about 16 percent of the population.

Baucus said his plan would reduce the share who are uninsured to around 4 percent to 6 percent of the population. That could still amount to 15 million to 20 million uninsured.

Baucus said he’s looking at ways to automatically enroll people who try to avoid the requirement to get health insurance. That includes signing them up if they go to the emergency room, or requiring that school children show proof of insurance coverage.

Even though illegal immigrants won’t be able to get benefits under the legislation, they can still get health care at hospital emergency rooms and through federally funded community health centers.

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By automatically enrolling people, that would take away the big problem we have with pre-existing conditions. What the issue maybe, is that someone with a pre-existing condition would cost more then someone with perfect health. How would the government take that into effect? Obviously, we would all pay for our own medical bills, but the cost of one person versus the other is so drastically different.

Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gap9wCaolRYguYQesA2i2Yr98yLgD98AMNPO0

Questions Please Call Politi Insurance Agents & Brokers

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