Health
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- Written by: California Attorney General's Office
The grants to 71 local entities throughout the state will fund operations, retailer training programs, the installation of signage, youth outreach, tobacco retail license inspections, training for sworn personnel and other activities.
"Tobacco remains a very serious public health concern,” said Attorney General Becerra. “These grants will provide additional tools to law enforcement to help educate kids about the dangers of smoking. The grants will also help local communities enforce laws against selling tobacco products to minors. These grants are an important step toward reducing illegal sales and building a healthier California.”
Proposition 56, the California Healthcare, Research and Prevention Tobacco Tax Act of 2016, was approved by voters in November 2016.
Effective April 2017, it raised the cigarette tax by $2.00 per pack, with an equivalent increase on other tobacco products.
Prop. 56 specifically allocates $30 million of revenue to be distributed annually by the California Department of Justice to local law enforcement agencies for the support and hiring of peace officers for various activities, including investigations intended to reduce the illegal sale of tobacco products to minors.
This year’s Prop. 56 grant recipients will use the state dollars to fund different anti-smoking campaigns and projects including new training and educational materials for officers and tobacco sellers to reduce illegal sales of tobacco products to minors, and law enforcement operations targeted at retailers selling to minors.
The recipients are among different cities, counties, school districts and sheriff/police departments click here to see grant recipients.
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- Written by: Editor
Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), patients cannot be denied health coverage based on a pre-existing condition.
This profound advancement for consumers has also provided an opportunity for dishonest providers to take advantage of sick people by enrolling them in commercial coverage to maximize high reimbursement rates for services.
This coverage is not always in the best interest of the patient, can result in higher out-of-pocket costs or disruption in care, and is being imposed upon consumers even though these patients are eligible for public coverage like Medicare or Medi-Cal.
“SB 1156 protects patients by making sure that financially interested third parties pay premiums for the full plan year, even if the patient stops treatments that benefit the provider so that the patient does not lose health care coverage mid-year,” Sen. Leyva noted.
“This measure simply requires that provider-funded organizations follow disclosure requirements and certify that consumers do not have better available options open to them,” Levya said. “These providers have a right to make a profit, but not when those financial interests can hurt patients or even keep them from receiving the care they need. I appreciate my Senate colleagues supporting this common sense measure that creates safeguards for patients so that they are not caught up in schemes where they may lose their health insurance and which can ultimately raise premiums for other Californians.”
Now proceeding to the California State Assembly for consideration, SB 1156 is supported by America’s Health Insurance Plans, Association of California Life and Health Insurance Companies, Blue Shield of California, California Association of Health Plans, California Association of Health Underwriters, California Labor Federation, California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, Health Net, Kaiser Permanente, Latino Coalition for a Healthy California and SEIU California.
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- Written by: U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
The new Medicare cards no longer contain a person’s Social Security number, but rather a unique, randomly-assigned Medicare number that protects the identities of people with Medicare, reduces fraud, and offers better safeguards of important health and financial information.
“Removing Social Security numbers from Medicare cards is one of the many ways CMS is committed to putting patients first and improving the consumer healthcare experience,” said Greg Dill, CMS regional administrator for California. “This change not only protects Medicare patients from fraud, but also safeguards taxpayer dollars by making it harder for criminals to use Social Security numbers to falsely bill Medicare for care services and benefits that were never performed.”
Work on this important initiative was made possible by the enactment of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015.
CMS today began mailing the new Medicare cards to people who currently have Medicare benefits in California.
Additionally, Californians who are new to Medicare started to receive their new Medicare cards in April along with others across the country when the mailing first began.
As soon as people receive their new Medicare card, they should safely and securely destroy their old Medicare card and keep their new Medicare number confidential.
The current mailing strategy allows the agency to complete the mailings of new cards to all people with Medicare, both new and current enrollees, over the next year.
The new Medicare card will not change any of the program benefits and services that eligible people enrolled in Medicare receive. People with Medicare and their caregivers can visit medicare.gov/newcard to find out when new Medicare cards will be mailed to their area. They can also sign up for email notifications about the new card mailing and check the status in their state.
Health care providers, suppliers, and people with Medicare will be able to use secure lookup tools that allow quick access to the new Medicare numbers when needed.
There will be a 21-month transition period for healthcare providers and suppliers to use either the former Social Security-based Medicare number or the new Medicare number to ensure a seamless transition.
As the new Medicare cards are being mailed, people with Medicare should look out for scams and follow these tips:
– Medicare will never contact you for your Medicare number or other personal information so you can obtain your new Medicare card.
– Don’t pay for your new Medicare card. It’s free. If anyone calls or approaches you and says you need to pay for it, that’s a scam.
– Guard your card. When you get your new card, safeguard it like you would health insurance or credit cards.
– Only give your new Medicare number to doctors, pharmacists, other health care providers, your insurers, or people you trust to work with Medicare on your behalf.
For more information including press materials, please visit https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8277951-cmsnmc/.
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- Written by: Editor
In order to enhance hospital patient safety, Senate Bill 1288 would require the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to conduct unannounced visits to hospitals to inspect for compliance with nurse staffing requirements.
The proposal empowers CDPH to enforce the nurse staffing ratios by fining hospitals that repeatedly create unsafe conditions for patient care.
In 1999, Gov. Gray Davis signed into law Assembly Bill 394, the nation’s first law mandating nurse-to-patient ratios in California.
In 2004, regulations implementing AB 394 went into effect, which set the minimum ratio of nurses to patient by unit, including one-to-one in operating rooms and one-to-five in general medical-surgical units. Enforced by CDPH, these ratios are outlined in Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.
Though these ratios are mandated by law, hospitals repeatedly violate staffing requirements. From 2008 to 2017, there were 632 out-of-ratio deficiencies reported to CDPH. Violating nurse staffing ratios can potentially endanger the health and safety of hospital patients.
“It is critically important that hospitals prioritize the safety of patients by following the nurse-to-patient staffing ratios required by law. SB 1288 ensures that hospitals meet the letter of the law and, if and when they repeatedly ignore nurse staffing ratios, CDPH has the ability to fine those facilities so that they do not continue to jeopardize the safety of patients,” Senator Leyva said. “I thank my Senate colleagues for approving this legislation today that protect patients by making sure that hospitals comply with existing law.”
Co-sponsored by SEIU California, SEIU Local 121RN and United Nurses Associations of California / Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC / UHCP) and supported by the California Labor Federation, California Nurse Association / National Nurses United, California School Nurse Organization, Congress of California Seniors, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, SB 1288 now advances to the California State Assembly for consideration.
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