Calif. health exchange effort slows; Sebelius: Health law is state friendly

May 9 2011

News outlets report on efforts in some states to meet provisions of the new health law.

PoliticoPro: Is California Still Leading Health Reform?
"We want to be the lead car," California Health and Human Services Secretary Diana Dooley told POLITICO in January, shortly after the state became the first in the nation to pass legislation allowing it to set up a health exchange. But four months later, it's hard not to question whether California's lead is slipping. Gov. Jerry Brown is more focused on filling a $25 billion hole in California's budget than setting up the health reform's new programs (Kliff, 5/9).

The Texas Tribune: Kathleen Sebelius: The TT Interview (Video)
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius discussed the federal government's efforts to cooperate with a state like Texas, where GOP leaders have been hostile to the Affordable Care Act. Sebelius was at Seton Medical Center in central Austin to tour the neonatal intensive care unit and to participate in a roundtable discussion about Partnership for Patients, a public-private partnership trying to create a better model for improving patient care and save money. ... "I understand how often legislators and governors are often unhappy with what they see as a rigid federal bureaucracy," she said. "I would say in spite of the myths out there about the Affordable Care Act, it's one of the most state-friendly bills that's been written (Dehn and Tan, 5/6). 

The Arizona Republic: Orthopedic Center May Test Health Reform Law
Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center administrators gathered hospital employees Friday to announce a joint venture with the CORE Institute that could be a early test of the health-care-reform law for patients and physicians. By the end of the year, orthopedic patients will be treated at the Banner CORE Center for Orthopedics, a limited-liability company operating out of the Sun City West hospital. The model calls for orthopedics patients to go through a seamless "continuum of care," from initial exam to postoperative rehabilitation (Wright, 5/6).

Meanwhile, California is also looking at revising its health system:

California Healthline: Senate Health Committee Moves Single-Payer Bill
Many dozens of single-payer supporters crammed the Senate Committee on Health chambers on Wednesday for hearing on a bill that would set up a single-payer health system in California. ... That has been the history of single-payer legislation in California, with enthusiastic, almost fervid, support of it by many citizens and organizations in the state, but a tepid, almost embarrassed, reception by many lawmakers. Single-payer legislation passed the Legislature twice before, but then Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) vetoed both of the bills (Gorn, 5/6).