Health
- Details
- Written by: Editor
SACRAMENTO—The Senate Health Committee passed a bill late Wednesday by Assemblywoman Patty Berg that brings California closer to complying with a landmark Supreme Court ruling that has failed to create significant change in this state for nearly eight years.
Assembly Bill 380, by Berg, D-Eureka, would increase funding for community-based programs that give senior citizens the kind of help they need to avoid institutionalization. By doing so, the bill addresses the primary goal of the landmark 1999 Olmstead Decision, in which justices ruled that adults cannot be placed in nursing homes against their will.
Since that ruling, California has made little headway toward adopting policies to make it easier for aging and disabled adults to live in their homes.
“I wish this law had been passed eight years ago,” said Berg. “It’s long overdue.”
At issue is the money the state spends on the Multipurpose Senior Services Program (MSSP), which provides social and health case management services to thousands of frail, nursing home eligible older adults each year.
Assembly Bill 380 would increase funding for the program by linking the state’s contribution to the Consumer Price Index. The program has not received a significant rate increase in two decades, whereas nursing home rates have increased 96 percent during the same period.
“Do the math,” said Berg. “At the present time, we’re only spending $4,000 a year to help someone stay in their home, and it costs $55,000 to put them in a skilled nursing facility.”
Berg, who chairs the Assembly Committee on Aging and Long-Term Care, said her bill enacts one goal of her three-part Master Plan on Aging Baby Boomers. The Master Plan emphasizes policies that enable all Californians to live longer, healthier, and more dignified lives, and do so in their own homes and communities.
“We have to link this rate to inflation,” she said. “Otherwise, we fall farther behind every single year. Every Californian should be able to stay at home as long as they want, and MSSP makes that possible.”
The bill now goes to Senate Appropriations Committee.
Visit Berg's Web site at http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a01/.
{mos_sb_discuss:3}
- Details
- Written by: Editor
SACRAMENTO – The Senate Health Committee passed a bill late Wednesday by Assemblywoman Patty Berg that would make HIV screening a routine part of medical check-ups.
Under current law, a doctor must have written consent before conducting a HIV test. Assembly Bill 682 would add HIV screening to the routine battery of blood tests taken during a medical check-up, but would allow a patient to decline the test if they wish.
“We must increase HIV testing through medical routine testing,” said Berg, D-Eureka. “Catching HIV in its earliest stage saves lives and slows the epidemic.”
In 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called for annual medical testing for HIV during annual check ups. Experts say routine screening will help slow the spread of the HIV virus that causes AIDS.
“I am pleased to be working with Assemblywoman Berg and Assemblyman Huffman to remove barriers for patients and give them access to treatment,” said Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, R-Cathedral City. “It is an important issue and I appreciate the bipartisan effort on this critical issue.”
According to the California State Office of AIDS, as many as 40,000 Californians are unaware that they are living with HIV.
“This preventative health care reform will increase the number of people who are tested for HIV leading to a decrease in the number of people who are unknowingly spreading the disease,” said Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael.
The bill also has specific provisions to clarify HIV testing for pregnant women because California law treats pregnant women and HIV testing differently.
The bill now goes to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Visit Berg's Web site at http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a01/.
{mos_sb_discuss:3}
- Details
- Written by: Editor
WASHINGTON – On Thursday, Reps. Mike Thompson (D-CA) and Jim Ramstad (R-MN) introduced legislation to improve beneficiary access to Medicare's cancer screening services.
The Medicare Early Detection of Cancer Promotion Act will waive co-pays for colonoscopy and mammography services and extend the eligibility period for the "Welcome to Medicare" visit from the current time frame of six months to one year.
"The vast majority of cancer diagnoses and deaths happen to older Americans, so we should be making it as easy as possible for seniors to get regular cancer screenings," said Thompson.
Sixty percent of new cancer diagnoses and 70 percent of cancer deaths occur in people over 65. "Co-pays for these services create a barrier to care," added Thompson. "If we eliminate the co-pays, more seniors will get screened, saving lives and money."
"Nearly 100,000 Americans will die this year from colorectal and breast cancer, yet many of these deaths could have been prevented" said Ramstad. "By passing the Medicare Early Detection of Cancer Promotion Act, we can expand access to life-saving colonoscopy and mammography services, services that are truly the first line of defense in preventing cancer deaths."
Currently, beneficiaries pay no coinsurance for most cancer screening services covered by Medicare, but they must pay a 20 percent co-pay for colonoscopy and mammography services.
This legislation will eliminate co-pays for mammograms and colonoscopies, prompting more seniors to utilize these live-saving services.
In addition to saving lives, promoting cancer prevention also saves Medicare – and the American taxpayer – money.
Preventive services cost considerably less than caring for people with cancer. For example, Medicare pays between $200 and $400 for a colonoscopy – but if colon cancer metastasizes, total costs of care can exceed $58,000 per patient.
The efficacy of cancer prevention screening is clear. When caught in the first stages, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer is 98 percent and the five year survival rate for colorectal cancer is 90 percent.
However, if these cancers move into more advanced stages, the survival rates are only 26 percent for breast cancer and 10 percent for colorectal cancer.
This legislation will also increase the number of seniors who seek cancer prevention services by extending the "Welcome to Medicare" period. During these physicals, Medicare beneficiaries can take advantage of certain screening and preventive health services and learn about others.
Currently, fewer than 5 percent of new beneficiaries are seeking appointments for the "Welcome to Medicare" visit, and extending the eligibility period means that more people will be able to benefit from it.
Thompson and Ramstad are both members of the Ways & Means Health Subcommittee.
{mos_sb_discuss:3}
- Details
- Written by: Editor
SACRAMENTO – The Assembly Committee on Public Safety voted 4-0 July 2 to approve SB 568, a bill by Senator Patricia Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa) to allow county jail facilities to provide medications to defendants with mental illnesses so the defendants can stand trial.
Existing law provides that if a defendant is found to be mentally incompetent to stand trial or “IST,” the trial or judgment is suspended until the IST defendant is restored to mental competency. Existing law also requires the county sheriff to take the IST defendant to a state hospital or treatment facility in order to restore the defendant to competency.
If an IST defendant has been accused of committing a felony offense, involving great bodily harm or another serious crime, the law allows the defendant to be involuntarily medicated in a mental hospital or facility. Unfortunately, it can take up to six months from the date a defendant is determined to be incompetent until the time they are moved to a treatment facility due to a shortage of suitable beds.
“This is an unfortunate situation for all parties – the defendant with a mental condition, the sheriff subjected to a defendant who can refuse medications or treatment in a jail facility, and other individuals who are incarcerated along with the mentally ill defendant,” Wiggins said.
If SB 568 becomes law, counties would be allowed (following a required court hearing) to medicate defendants diagnosed as mentally ill and found by a judge or jury, in concurrence with the county board of supervisors, the county mental health director, sheriff and chief of corrections, to be incompetent to stand trial.
The bill also requires the evaluating psychiatrist to determine whether a defendant could be effectively medicated and restored to competency in a jail or, if not, what level of hospitalization would be needed to restore the defendant to competency. In addition, SB 568 requires the Department of Mental Health to report to the Legislature on such items as the number of IST defendants currently in the system and the resources available for treatment.
During the past year, 28 mentally ill defendants spent 1,578 days (an average of 56 days) incarcerated in the Sonoma County jail while awaiting transfer to an inpatient unit or state hospital – at a cost to the county of $246,000.
"The reality is, more and more mentally ill are being housed in jails, which by definition are not treatment facilities,” Wiggins said. “This bill serves as an interim measure and the county jails have assured me they have no intention of becoming permanent mental hospitals.”
SB 568 is supported by the California Psychiatric Association, the California Mental Health Directors Association, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, California State Association of Counties, the California Sheriff’s association, and many other county sheriffs’ offices throughout the state. The bill will be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee in the next few weeks.
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
How to resolve AdBlock issue?