The planned switch of Healthy Families children into Medi-Cal could leave as many as 43,000 children looking for new health care providers if the state can't convince Kaiser Foundation Health Plan to join the effort.

That number would grow to 189,000 children if the state eventually converts all Healthy Families children to the Medi-Cal program.

On Tuesday, the Senate budget subcommittee for Health and Human Services rejected a plan to move the entire Healthy Families population of 875,000 kids to Medi-Cal all at once, instead starting with a pool of roughly 200,000 "bright line" children -- beneficiaries who are at or below 133% of federal poverty level....more

California health officials need to go a little slower in their plan to move 875,000 children out of the Healthy Families program and into Medi-Cal managed care, according to a Senate budget subcommittee that voted yesterday to reject the state's full plan.

It did endorse the transition of about 200,000 Healthy Families "bright line" children to Medi-Cal -- those beneficiaries at or below 133% of federal poverty level. The Affordable Care Act requires that those children be moved to Medi-Cal by 2014, so California would get a head start on that effort, according to John Bacigalupi from the state Department of Finance.

"We support this because it would create efficiency by consolidating health care for the state's children under a single program," Bacigalupi said....more

The Department of Health Care Services has announced the conversion of adult day health care centers to a managed care system has been divided into a two-part process.

About 12% of the centers, which serve about 8% of the state's ADHC population, will still make the conversion to managed care by July 1. That leaves the bulk of the centers -- including Los Angeles County centers which  serve two-thirds of the state's Medi-Cal beneficiariens receiving ADHC care -- to make the transition three months later, on Oct. 1.

"It was really welcome news," said Lydia Missaelides, executive director of the California Association of Adult Day Services. "It was clear nobody was ready yet. I think the Department [of Health Care Services] has been listening to stakeholders. I was really relieved. Not that October is so far away, but this is definitely good news."...more

Cal eConnect, an important part of the state's ambitious health information exchange effort, is no longer the same independent entity it was when it was born two years ago. The organization's efforts to make electronic health records ubiquitous in California will continue, officials said, but under a different organizational umbrella.

At a meeting last week, the 22-member board rescinded its cooperative grant agreement with the state.

On Wednesday, state officials announced that Cal eConnect will now be part of the Institute for Population Health Improvement at UC-Davis. Officials said the same work will continue in a new administrative structure. ...more