But before they start patting each other on the back, legislators and the governor shouldn't forget the health and well-being of two vulnerable populations of young people at risk of getting lost in the shuffle: former foster youth and (low-income) children with autism.read more »
When the state decided to transition low-income kids from state-subsidized private insurance — known as Healthy Families –to the state-run Medi-Cal program, families of children with autism were promised that their kids’ treatment would not suffer. But those families soon learned that one especially promising (but expensive) form of treatment was not going to be covered by Medi-Cal.read more »
Supporters of health care reform once again sounded the alarm that California has only four to six weeks left to resolve budget issues that are hampering the timely rollout of Medi-Cal expansion, a key part of Obamacare’s implementation in the state.read more »
Distrust ran high yesterday during part of a budget subcommittee hearing when the subject turned to reinstitution of a managed care organization tax. The MCO tax instituted in 2009 had the singular distinction of being embraced by the ones being taxed because the money was matched by federal dollars and was used to support the Healthy Families program. In the long run, health insurers made their money back and the state had more federal dollars in its coffers.read more »
When 4-year-old Catalena DiBattista learned her autism therapist would not return, her lips began to quiver and her eyes welled with tears. "She was very sad" before the service was temporarily restored, said her mother, Pamela. "She loves Miss Alana." She and other parents of autistic children have been on a roller-coaster ride since the state began transitioning to Medi-Cal some 860,000 children who received low-cost health, dental and vision care through its soon-to-be-defunct Healthy Families program. The shift is expected to save California nearly $64 million this year.
Daniel Harris, age 4, is just one of 600,000. But he's an important one, and not only to his mom. Daniel is one of the first kids in California to have lost insurance coverage for certain health care services as a result of the state's transition from Healthy Families to Medi-Cal managed care.read more »
For over a year, Pamela DiBattista had watched her autistic daughter, Catalena, make remarkable progress in her communication and interpersonal skills. The nearly 4-year-old girl had also become more controllable, thanks to the two hours of occupational therapy and 19 hours of behavioral analysis sessions she had received each week through her Healthy Families insurance plan. If you added to those hours the time she spent receiving speech therapy, her care totaled 23 hours each week. But last week, DiBattista found out that Catalena’s therapy has been cut to four hours starting April 4.read more »
An unknown number of autistic children transitioning from Healthy Families to Medi-Cal have been told they will not have access to important behavioral health services once enrolled in a Medi-Cal health plan, advocates say.read more »
Children's advocates last week called for a pause in the transition of kids from the Healthy Families program to Medi-Cal managed care. At a legislative hearing Thursday, advocates said the state had promised a relatively seamless transition of 860,000 children to managed care, but that gaps in coverage have already occurred -- with the more-difficult phases of the transition yet to come.read more »
