April 29, 2019 Senator Richard Pan, Chair Senate Budget Subcommittee #3 on Health and Human Services State Capitol, Room 5019 Sacramento, CA 95814 RE: Clarifying the intent of the Virtual Dental Home (AB 1174 enacted in 2014) in the 2019-2020 California State Budget Honorable Senator Pan, I am writing on behalf of the Gary and… Read more »
Read the Gary and Mary West Health Institute’s letter supporting AB 316, which aims to permanently expand access to dental care for California’s low-income children and adults living with chronic medical, mental, behavioral or developmental conditions and disabilities.
Read comments from Karen Becerra, chief executive officer of the Gary and Mary West Senior Dental Center, to the authors of the forthcoming U.S. Surgeon General’s report on oral health in America.
Read comments from West Health’s Chief Strategy Officer, Timothy A. Lash, to the authors of the forthcoming U.S. Surgeon General’s report on oral health in America, calling for more robust Medicaid adult dental benefits, particularly for older adults.
Read the Gary and Mary West Health Institute’s letter supporting key objectives of H.R. 6502, which would allow the provision of defined telehealth services to Medicare beneficiaries at skilled nursing facilities.
Read the Gary and Mary West Health Institute’s comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on the proposed rule, Accountable Care Organizations – Pathways to Success, which includes the agency’s efforts to accelerate two-sided performance-based risk models; the expansion of telehealth as an effective and enabling tool in these models; and the agency’s role in increasing beneficiary engagement in ACO selection.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit comments regarding the physician self-referral law, commonly known as the Stark Law. As president and chief executive officer of the Gary and Mary West Health Institute (WHI), I am writing on behalf of seniors, their families and patients across the country to stress the important protections within the Stark Law. The WHI is an applied medical research organization dedicated to generating the evidence needed for healthcare providers, policymakers and communities to adopt models of care that better serve seniors and their families.
Thank you for your efforts to reduce the high cost of prescription drugs for Americans. I am writing on behalf of the Gary and Mary West Health Institute, an applied medical research organization based in San Diego and part of West Health, which also includes the Gary and Mary West Foundation in San Diego, as well as the Gary and Mary West Health Policy Center in Washington, D.C. Our organizations work together toward a shared mission dedicated to enabling seniors to successfully age in place with access to high-quality, affordable health and support services that preserve and protect their dignity, quality of life and independence.
On behalf of the Gary and Mary West Health Institute, we would like to thank the Members of this Committee for scheduling the June 12, 2018 hearing entitled, “The Cost of Prescription Drugs: Examining the President’s Blueprint ‘American Patients First’ to Lower Drug Prices.” We urge you to use the hearing as an opportunity to ask Secretary Azar why allowing Medicare to directly negotiate its drug prices is not included in the “American Patients First” blueprint.
We are pleased the Governor has included in his budget proposal the reimbursement of dental providers for the additional time spent delivering all necessary dental services for patients with special health care needs. We ask for your approval of the administration’s proposal.