Category: Network Adequacy

Access, Network Adequacy

CA State Assembly Passes Patient Protection to Ensure Accurate Plan Provider Directories

AB 236 (Holden), which seeks to improve the accuracy of health plan provider directories for consumers, now heads to the California Senate. ***Impacted consumer stories available upon request***   SACRAMENTO, CA – Today, the California State Assembly passed AB 236 by Assemblymember Chris Holden, which will ensure accurate health plan provider directories, and help consumers […]

Access, Insurers, Legislation, Network Adequacy

AB 236 (Holden) Ensuring Accurate Health Plan Provider Directories

Share Your Story Download Factsheet Download Consumer Stories Sheet   BREAKING: #AB236 (@chrisholdennews) passed out of the #CAStateAssembly with 46 votes, and now it’s headed to the #CAStateSenate! 🎉 https://t.co/WL7lUMLkIc — Health Access CA (@healthaccess) January 30, 2024 Background  Every health plan in California is required to maintain an updated list of in-network health care […]

Insurers, Mergers, Network Adequacy, Quality, Timely Access

Anthem Blue Cross-Cigna’s Troubling Track Records Spotlighted at DMHC Public Meeting

On March, 4, 2016, the Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) held a public meeting on the proposed takeover of Cigna by Anthem Blue Cross. The public meeting was requested by consumer groups including Health Access, Consumers Union, and others to raise questions about the structure of the deal, its potential impact on California’s patients […]

Hospitals, Medi-Cal, Medicare, Network Adequacy, Prevention, Quality, Timely Access

DHCS Stakeholder Advisory Committee Digs Deeper into Medi-Cal 2020 Waiver, SB 75 Implementation (Health4Kids), and Other Care Transformation Initiatives

This blog was written by Tam M. Ma (Policy Counsel) and Judi Hilman (Director of Special Projects) DHCS held its quarterly Stakeholder Advisory Committee today, the first time since California’s Medi-Cal 2020 waiver was approved at the end of December, covering a range of topics, including the waiver renewal, SB 75 implementation of Health for […]

Hospitals, Insurers, Language Access, Network Adequacy, Prescription Drugs, Quality, Timely Access

Covered CA Board Takes Big Steps on Standardized Benefit Design and Quality/Equity Measures; Considers New Barriers to Special Enrollment

Thursday’s Covered California Board meeting, the first since the last day of open enrollment 2013, offered a deep dive on the standardized benefit designs and the quality/equity framework that will guide contracting with insurers for the next 3-year cycle (2017-2019), and a heated discussion about the new documentation requirements that insurers are calling for to qualify […]

Medi-Cal, Network Adequacy, Quality, Undocumented, Uninsured

DHCS & CMS Agree to Medi-Cal 2020 Waiver Framework!

This past Saturday (Halloween), the California Department of Health Care Services announced it had reached a new “conceptual agreement” with the federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) on the general framework of “Medi-Cal 2020,” the renewal of the 2010-2015 Medi-Cal waiver. Toplines With details to be specified in the coming months, the framework is […]