Search Results for: mental health

For more than a year, the state has grappled with how to overhaul a tax on healthcare plans. Now, as Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal winds through the Legislature, there’s another question surfacing: What will the money be spent on?
The proposal got its first public hearing Wednesday. Legislators on the Assembly’s public health panel did not vote on the plan, but did hear a rundown of the complicated system of levies and tax breaks proposed to replace the state’s current tax on managed care organizations, which is set to expire in June. Read more.

Danny Thompson’s kidneys have failed and he needs a transplant but in some ways, he’s lucky: Both of his sons want to give him one of theirs, and his Medicare coverage will take care of most of his expenses.

Yet the 53-year-old Californian is facing another daunting obstacle: He doesn’t have the money for his share of the medical bills and follow-up drugs, and he can’t buy supplemental insurance to help cover his costs. “It’s frustrating to be in the shape I’m in,” said Thompson, who depends on dialysis instead of his kidneys to cleanse his blood. “My plan is to get a transplant so I can go back to work.” Read more.

Californians should be outraged that, once again, individuals with developmental disabilities and their families are being shortchanged in Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget. The governor has proposed a tax on health plans that could generate funds for the developmental disability system, but passage is uncertain and the revenue is far from adequate to restore the $1 billion in funding cuts since 2008. Read more.

Last week, some California Republican lawmakers joined advocates across the state in calling for additional funding for programs that support individuals with developmental disabilities, the Sacramento Bee reports (Walters, Sacramento Bee, 12/14).

Background

The Legislature during its ongoing special session on health care is supposed to be considering additional funding for such programs, but so far no progress has been made (California Healthline, 12/11). Meanwhile, a bill (SBX2-4), co-authored by state Sen. Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber), would enforce a 10% rate increase for providers who treat such individuals. However, Democrats have stalled the legislation. Read more.

SACRAMENTO — California’s health and human services secretary on Wednesday defended the state’s plan to close the Sonoma Developmental Center by 2018, a date that critics, including family members of some of the 400 residents, say does not allow enough time to complete the process and ensure the welfare of those who will be displaced. Read more.

The cost of 24-hour out-of-home care through the state’s regional centers for children with developmental disabilities will drop for some parents in California. Gov. Jerry Brown (D) this week signed into law AB 564 by Assembly member Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton).                     The new law raises the threshold for paying a parental fee for those families with a child in 24-hour out-of-home care through the regional centers, so that families earning between 100% and 200% of federal poverty level can now be exempted from the fee. Read more.