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SACRAMENTO, Calif., Feb. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ The ingredients for corruption are simple: an infusion of cash, poor regulations, and vulnerable patients. For one CEO of a medium-sized non-profit in California the recipe for disaster was clear early on. In the summer of 2015, Pete Nielsen, the California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals (CCAPP) leader and CEO, sat at his austere desk fielding calls about a new phenomenon hitting the industry: the selling of addiction patients for cash.
Following the passage of the Affordable Care Act, which made the provision of addiction treatment services one of the ten essential benefits that must be provided by insurers, its implementation in 2014 caught insurers, providers, and regulators off-guard to potential scam artists and their kickback schemes.
A federal appeals court rejected a Trump administration rule that allowed Arkansas and other states to impose work requirements on its low-income residents who received Medicaid benefits, further blocking a marquee issue for the president. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled Friday that the White House had acted unlawfully and that Health Secretary Alex Azar’s. obamacare Dec 16, 2019
People will get more time to sign up for “Obamacare” health insurance, the Trump administration announced Monday, following a spate of computer glitches over the weekend. The new HealthCare.gov deadline is 3 a.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in a statement. Coverage takes effect Jan. 1.
State regulators have reinstated some payments to the Borrego Community Health Foundation but will continue withholding millions of dollars in billings for dental visits that are at the center of an ongoing criminal investigation led by the FBI.
According to an agreement released by the California Department of Health Care Services, almost $10 million in Medi-Cal reimbursements will be returned to the healthcare provider known as Borrego Health. The foundation also will be paid for medical services provided going forward.
But state officials will continue to retain all payments related to dental services some $15.6 million since Medi-Cal reimbursements were suspended in November.
Solano mental health efforts to take steps back with funding cuts
FAIRFIELD Solano County supervisors this week approved an $81.89 million, three-year Mental Health Services Act plan.
There is $30.13 million allocated for the current 2020-21 fiscal year, but the next two years see funding declines.
The 2021-22 allocation is $27.77 million and the 2022-23 allocation is $23.99 million.
The loss of anticipated funding, the board was told, will cut into programs that can help prevent or intercept more serious mental health issues.
For example, the supervisors were told that funding has to be set aside to pay for hospitalization costs, but some of the cuts are in areas that could keep at-risk individuals from having to go into hospitals in the first place.