California Health Policy Roundtables
The CA Policy Program hosts an ongoing series of roundtable discussions focusing on key health policy issues facing the state as they emerge.
Medicaid Waivers: Lessons from California
This roundtable discussion, hosted by the Foundation and the University of California, Berkeley Center for Health and Public Policy Studies, provided an overview of current Section 1115 waiver activity across the states, focusing on Health Insurance Flexibility and Accountability (HIFA) Initiative waiver efforts. Findings from recent studies of waiver programs in other states such as Oregon, Utah, and New Hampshire were presented and discussed. Panelists also discussed the possible implications of these studies for California’s proposed Medi-Cal waiver redesign. — July, 2004
The Future of Medi-Cal: Challenges at the Federal, State, and County Level
This issue brief explores how California and other states are attempting to preserve a meaningful set of benefits under Medicaid during the current budget crisis, when services are most needed and state resources are most scarce. This brief is being distributed in Sacramento at the latest California Health Policy Roundtable on Tuesday, May 13, 2003. — May, 2003
Mandated Health Insurance Benefits: Tradeoffs Among Benefits, Coverage, and Costs? — Issue Brief
An issue brief that looks at mandated health insurance benefits and the tradeoffs among benefits, coverage, and costs. It explores the debate over mandated benefits legislation, the evidence about the impact of mandates, the status of mandated benefits in other states and in California. — July, 2002
Responding to the Threat of Bioterrorism: Is California’s Public Health System Ready? — Issue Brief
A 4-page issue brief which looks at the threat of bioterrorism and the public health system’s role in responding to such an attack. The issue brief also addresses what can be done nationally and in California to prepare for a possible bioterrorist attack. The brief lists the panel for a California Health Policy Roundtable to be held in Sacramento, California on March 18, 2002. — March, 2002
Assessing the Status of California’s Physician Workforce: Shortage or Surplus? — Issue Brief
A 4-page issue brief that looks at recent estimates of California’s present and future physician supply, various issues that affect the state’s physician workforce, and approaches for ensuring an adequate number and mix of primary care and specialty physicians, as well as a balanced geographic and demographic distribution. The brief lists the panel for a California Health Policy Roundtable held in Sacramento, California on October 24, 2001. — October, 2001
Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance in California: Current Trends, Future Outlook, and Coverage Expansions — Issue Brief
A 4-page issue brief that looks at trends in employer-sponsored health insurance coverage in California. The brief also includes public and private sector strategies for expanding employment-based coverage, and discusses how other states have implemented incremental coverage expansions using public programs and financial incentives, with emphasis on New York State. The brief lists the panel for a California Health Policy Roundtable held in Sacramento, California on May 4, 2001. — May, 2001
The Prescription Drug Conundrum: Pharmaceutical Coverage, Costs, and Affordability — Issue Brief
A 2-page issue brief that discusses significant trends in prescription drug coverage, expenditures, utilization, along with how the pharmaceutical industry prices drugs. The brief also looks at what states are doing to control drug costs and to address issues of affordability and access for low-income and elderly populations, how health plans are controlling prescription drug costs, and proposed prescription legislation in California. The brief lists the panel for a California Health Policy Roundtable held in Sacramento, California on September 11, 2000. — September, 2000
Reaching Out to California’s Uninsured Children: Increasing Enrollment in Medi-Cal and Healthy Families — Issue Brief
A 2-page issue brief that discusses ways to increase enrollment of eligible but uninsured children in California’s Medi-Cal and Healthy Families Programs, barriers to such enrollment, and successful outreach and enrollment strategies undertaken by other states. The brief lists the panel for a California Health Policy Roundtable held in Sacramento, California on March 24, 2000. — March, 2000
A Risky Proposition? Risk-Bearing and Solvency in California’s Medical Groups — Policy Brief
A Risky Proposition? Risk-Bearing and Solvency in California’s Medical Groups is an 8-page policy brief to provide information about medical groups in California, including a discussion on risk-bearing, solvency, and proposed regulatory approaches. The brief includes a variety of perspectives presented by speakers at a California Health Policy Roundtable held in Sacramento, California on July 20, 1999. — February, 2000
Health Care Information in California: Who Collects It? Who Needs It? — Issue Brief
A 2-page issue brief about the collection and use of health care information for California’s public health, health care and managed care systems. The issue brief includes a brief outline of the kind of health care information that is currently being collected at both the state and national level to support policy development, government oversight, and consumer education. The Issue Brief lists Roundtable participants for a Roundtable Event: Tuesday, November 30, 1999 – 1:00-4:00 PM, State Capitol, Room 112, Sacramento, California. — November, 1999
Medical Groups — Issue Brief
A 2-page issue brief about medical groups in California, including a discussion on risk-bearing, solvency and current regulatory approaches. In preparation for a Roundtable Event: Tuesday, July 20, 1999 – 1:00-4:00 PM, State Capitol, Room 447 – Sacramento, California. — July, 1999
Health Plan Liability — Policy Brief
An 8-page policy brief to inform the policy debate in California about health plan liability issues, including barriers to lawsuits (ERISA), liability approaches used in other industries, and potential impact on premiums. The brief includes a variety of perspectives presented by speakers at a California Health Policy Roundtable held in Sacramento, California on February 25, 1999. — June, 1999
External Review of Health Plan Decisions — Policy Brief
An 8-page policy brief on the external review of health plan decisions to inform the policy debate in California and nationally. The policy brief covers external review systems in other states and the Medicare program, the current status of external review in California, and issues regarding the design and implementation of external review. — January, 1999
HIPAA Compliance Strategies In California: Reforming the State’s Individual Health Insurance Market — Policy Brief
A policy brief on reform of the individual insurance market and implementation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in California. The brief is based, in part, on discussion at a California Health Policy Roundtable held in Sacramento, California on March 12, 1998. — August, 1998