State Roundup: Iowa mental health budget tussle; Calif. orders Anthem to pay docs, hospitals

A selection of health care stories from California and Iowa.

The Associated Press/San Francisco Chronicle: DMHC Orders Anthem To Pay Providers For Services
Anthem Blue Cross has been ordered to pay doctors and hospitals for outstanding services dating back to 2007 after the insurer failed to remediate violations revealed by a state audit, California regulators said Thursday. It's unclear how much money the medical providers would get if Anthem complies with the order from the Department of Managed Health Care. It's also unclear whether the state's largest for-profit insurer will comply (Mohajer, 1/12).

The Sacramento Bee: Catholic Healthcare West Gives $647,000 In Grants
Catholic Healthcare West has awarded $647,000 in funding to 21 nonprofits in Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer and Yolo counties. ... Nonprofit organizations receiving the grants include those who provide primary care, mental health care and shelter (Lindelof, 1/13).

The Sacramento Bee: Sutter Health, Aetna Renew Access Plan
Sacramento-based Sutter Health and Aetna have agreed on a two-year contract renewal maintaining network access for Aetna members in Northern California. Under the agreement, members of Aetna commercial plans can receive covered benefits at in-network rates from Sutter Health hospitals and ancillary facilities (Glover, 1/13).

Kaiser Health News: The Public Option Did Not Die
The much celebrated, and much maligned, public option may have died in Congress, but it's alive and well in California. Unique in the nation for having public health insurance plans that are run by counties, California has plans that stretch from San Francisco to the Mexican border and cover 2.5 million residents (Varney, 1/12).

California Watch: Hospital Managed By Prime Draws Potential Buyer
A San Bernardino County hospital managed by Prime Healthcare Services is considering a purchase offer from a nonprofit Catholic health system, possibly signaling an end to a long and rocky bankruptcy. Orange County-based St. Joseph Health System has offered $35 million to buy Victor Valley Community Hospital (Jewett, 1/13).

Des Moines Register: Branstad's Budget For Mental Health Reforms Falls Short Of Human Services Chief's Target
Gov. Terry Branstad has said that fixing the state's mental health system is one of his top priorities, but he wants to spend less than half what his own human services director recommended for the project in the next year (Leys, 1/12).