The Source kicked off the New Year with a trio of blog posts in the Health Affairs Blog that highlights the Database of State Laws Impacting Healthcare Cost and Quality (SLIHCQ). The SLIHCQ Database was developed in partnership with the Catalyst for Payment Reform (“CPR”) and is an interactive tool that hosts ongoing state legislative efforts to implement healthcare reform. It is intuitively designed to allow policymakers and other stakeholders to customize and filter their searches by key issue and state. In collaboration with CPR, The Source Executive Editor Jaime …

In the 2020 legislative session, the California legislature enacted AB 2118 to require insurance companies selling insurance plans in the individual or small group market in California to file additional information, including premiums, cost sharing, benefits, enrollment, and trend factors, with the state Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) or the California Department of Insurance (CDI).[1] This new law reflects an effort to give state agencies better oversight of state healthcare markets by patching small holes in the rate review process of state regulators. However, the time may be ripe …

The Source continues to extend wishes of safety and good health to you and your loved ones during this uniquely challenging time.  Despite the reality that much of the healthcare industry suffers financial catastrophe due to the pandemic, experts note improvements in some areas.  Authors this month expect some advancements to last and suggest how the U.S. should use them to diminish costs.   Changes in Telehealth Will Likely Outlast the Pandemic In JAMA’s Implications for Telehealth in a Postpandemic Future, Carmel Shachar and co-authors affirm positive outcomes that the …

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – February 25, 2020 – High commercial health care prices are a main driver of US health care spending, due in large part to consolidation among providers. While employers, other health care purchasers and payers can drive competition in the marketplace through benefit and provider network design, public policies can also strengthen and support those efforts. Catalyst for Payment Reform and The Source on Healthcare Price and Competition at UC Hastings College of the Law have catalogued state measures to enhance market competitiveness and control costs through legislation. The report, State Policies …

Urban Institute Research Report (January 2020) “Addressing Health Care Market Consolidation and High Prices The Role of the States” Authors: Robert A. Berenson, Jaime S. King, Katherine L. Gudiksen, Roslyn Murray, Adele Shartzer

As California begins its 2019-2020 legislative cycle, we look back at the 2017-2018 bills that will affect California health care costs and markets. Previously, we mentioned that last session’s health care bills coalesced around four themes: targeting high costs of prescription drugs, attempting to implement single payer, regulating competition, and limiting high health costs. In Part 1 of our review, we covered how the legislature banned pharmacy gag clauses and limited out of pocket expenses but failed to implement single payer. This time, we’ll look at 2017-2018 bills that sought …

This coming election, Palo Alto and Livermore voters will decide whether to cap health care pricing to 115% of direct patient care and quality improvement costs. Officially known as the Accountable and Affordable Health Care Initiative, and colloquially as Measure F for Palo Alto and Measure U for Livermore, these local initiatives face opposition from opponents who assert that federal and state laws preempt and invalidate the measures. On its face, this could have spelled the end to these measures. Preemption is a tried and true way to overturn local …

*Update: This post was written before the end of the 2018 legislative session. For the most recent count of states that passed these legislation, see the Spotlight on 2018 State Drug Legislation Summary: The Year in Review or download our Summary Chart. Prescription drug spending remains an important issue to many Americans. According to a poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the affordability of prescription drugs is the top health care priority for voters.[1] In response to public outcry, many states have taken up the mantle of improving affordability and …

Year two of California’s 2017-2018 legislative session continues to be an active one with the introduction of new innovative healthcare bills. As lawmakers work diligently, this month’s California Legislative Beat continues to look at some 2018 bills that can potentially change the California healthcare landscape. AB 2499: This bill would increase the medical loss ratio (MLR) by 5%, from 85% to 90% for a health plan or health insurer in the large group market, and from 80% to 85% for a health plan or health insurer in the individual market. …

On February 16, 2018, California State Assembly Member Ash Kalra introduced Assembly Bill 3087 – The Health Care Price Relief Act, which calls for a commission to set uniform rates for medical providers, including hospitals and physicians, for the private-insurance market. The bill sets the floor for payment at the Medicare rate and places the onus on providers to apply for adjustments to the base amount.[1] AB 3087 advanced out of committee on April 25, 2018, but faces fierce opposition from doctors and hospitals, among other groups.[2] In this post, The Source …