medi cal news from FierceHealthcare

Nobody's happy when the state cuts reimbursement rates for a program that already doesn't pay so well. But when California threatened to cut rates 10 percent for Medi-Cal, its program for the poor, a... Read more...

Specialists are becoming an increasingly precious commodity in emergency departments across the U.S. But even by national standards, things are particularly bad in California, whose Medi-Cal program... Read more...

At present, Chicago is tied with Philadelphia as cities having the most adult heart transplant centers of any in the United States. In theory, this makes sense, given that Chicago has some of the... Read more...

California providers were beginning to feel a serious pinch--and some smaller ones were facing dissolution--thanks to a state budget debate that held up $1 billion in payments. Now, the state has... Read more...

A budget impasse in the California legislature has tied up a major chunk of cash, putting reimbursement for a wide range of facilities on hold for the time being. While providers like physicians,... Read more...

> California hospitals, clinics and nursing homes are facing big problems because the state hasn't approved its budget, delaying their Medi-Cal payments indefinitely. Read more...

Continuing its ongoing investigation of heart transplant programs, CMS has threatened three more programs with decertification. CMS has given San Antonio, Texas-based Christus Santa Rosa Hospital-Medical Center, Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis and St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital 30 days to submit corrective action plans. Meanwhile, a fourth heart transplant program at the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital has agreed to give up Medicare funding entirely, at least for …

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> Chain drug store operator Walgreens plans to open 10 to 15 retail clinics in the Milwaukee area over the next 12 months. The Walgreens offering will compete with Aurora Health Care's QuickCare clinics. Article

> California's Los Angeles and Alameda counties have contracted with McKesson to run a pilot disease management program. McKesson will work Medi-Cal patients, who …

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A group of doctors who, since 1991, have traditionally cared for poor cancer cases in California's Santa Barbara County, are still feeling lucky. They barely survived a billing dispute with the state's Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, after finding that they very nearly wouldn't get their bills paid in time to survive. The billing dispute involved a huge stack of bills unpaid by the Santa Barbara Regional Health Authority, billing intermediary for Medi-Cal for this part of the state. The Santa …

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Can any governmental body, even a single city, provide free or subsidized healthcare for all uninsured persons--regardless of income, immigration status or pre-existing medical conditions? That's the question hanging over an ambitious new effort by the city of San Francisco, which is attempting to cover all of the city's 82,000 uninsured for $200 million, or about twice what it already spends on care for low-income residents. The program will cover adults who don't qualify for the state's …

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