KAISER: UNION APPROVES CONTRACT, VOWS SEPARATE FIGHT

      A three-year contract between Kaiser Permanente and Local
 250 of the Health Care Workers Union (HCWU) has been ratified by
 72% of the union's members, the union announced yesterday.  HCWU
 Local 250 President Sal Rosselli said the union "supported" the
 contract because it believed that "the alternative, an all out
 war with Kaiser, would not change Kaiser's positions at this
 time. ... This contract underscores the strategy by Kaiser to
 restructure and dramatically change how we define health care."
      NEW EFFORT:  Instead of fighting for a better contract, the
 union, which is made up of medical assistants, clerical,
 technical and licensed staff, licensed vocational nurses, dietary
 and housekeeping workers, said one of its "highest priorities
 will be to now mobilize members to educate consumers to pass" the
 HMO Patient's Rights Initiative (HPRI) (HCWU release, 6/12).  The
 HPRI initiative, which will appear on the California ballot this
 fall, would apply new regulations to the managed care industry,
 such as banning financial incentives to doctors or nurses for
 delaying or denying care, prohibiting "gag" clauses in physician
 contracts and requiring a second opinion before insurers deny
 care recommended by a physician (AHL's 50-State Report, Summer
 1996 issue).  Roselli said that he believed the union's efforts
 would convince Kaiser HMO members and the public to join the
 union's fight to "force the industry and Kaiser to provide better
 care and services to patients and to compete on quality, not
 cost" (HCWU release, 6/12).
      JOINING HANDS:  The American Association of Retired Persons
 (AARP) announced yesterday that it is "throwing the weight of its
 33 million members -- 2.8 million of whom live in California --
 behind" the HPRI.  The seniors group joins United Cerebral Palsy
 as the only "major groups" to endorse the HPRI since it qualified
 for California's November ballot (Californians for Patient Rights
 release, 6/12).