A new interactive tool on the Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker allows users to analyze the most up-to-date data on U.S. health spending, then build, display and share the charts they create. Developed by analysts at the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Health Spending Explorer helps users examine five decades worth of numbers documenting expenditures by federal and local… Continue reading New Interactive Tool Allows Users to Explore Trends in US Health Spending and Share Custom-Made Charts

An experimental new gene therapy treatment is making headlines in the medical community for its remarkable results in the treatment of leukemia and bone marrow cancers.  The first recipients of the experimental treatment were a handful seriously ill patients whose leukemia had failed to respond to all other available treatment options.  The results were remarkably… Continue reading Experimental Gene Therapy Treatment: New Soldiers In War On Cancer

The latest on California politics and government, as reported in the The Sacramento Bee: February 6, 2012 Obama administration rejects California’s Medi-Cal copays Federal health officials rejected California’s bid to charge Medi-Cal copayments for everything from drugs to hospital visits, dealing a new blow to the state budget but relief to low-income patients and their… Continue reading In the news: Obama administration rejects Medi-Cal copays

The San Diego Union-Tribune published the following commentary on December 9, 2011. Medi-Cal’s Hollow Promise    By Robert E. Wailes, M.D. Medi-Cal, the federal Medicaid program operated by California, addresses health care for 6.6 million low-income or disabled Californians. From the physician’s perspective, Medi-Cal is deeply troubled, plagued by decades of overpromised services and systematic underfunding; and… Continue reading Medi-Cal’s Hollow Promise: A Commentary By Dr. Robert Wailes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE www.dhcs.ca.gov October 27, 2011 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH CARE SERVICES ANNOUNCES FEDERAL APPROVAL OF MEDI-CAL BUDGET REDUCTIONS SACRAMENTO – The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) today announced that the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved key elements of the state’s 2011-12 budget proposals to reduce Medi-Cal provider reimbursement… Continue reading Medi-Cal Budget Cuts

A brief has been filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in protest of budget cuts to California’s Medicaid program by a group of plaintiffs including the California Medical Association (CMA). The brief argues that patients, physicians and other providers “have the right to file suit against government officials at the state and federal level who… Continue reading Medi-Cal Budget Cut Protest

Medi-Cal announced recently that beginning June 1, 2011, seniors and persons with disabilities (SPDs) will be required to enroll in a Medi-Cal Health Plan. You may have already received a letter from Medi-Cal. Shield HealthCare is actively preparing for this transition. We are working with all of the health plans involved to ensure that your… Continue reading Important Medi-Cal Changes for Seniors and People with Disabilities