Latest California Healthline Stories
California Hospitals Overbilled Medicare by $367M in 2012
An audit recently released by CMS finds that California had the highest number of Medicare overbillings in 2012, totaling more than $366 million. Nationally, 90% of overbillings identified in the report resulted from inpatient hospital claims. San Francisco Business Times‘ “Bay Area BizTalk.”
Union Trust Sues Sutter Over Alleged Anti-Competitive Practices
A lawsuit filed yesterday by UCFW & Employees Benefit Trust claims that Sutter Health engaged in anti-trust practices by requiring health plan networks to include every hospital in its system. The lawsuit seeks class-action status. San Francisco Business Times‘ “Bay Area BizTalk.”
Analysis: Majority of New Medicaid Beneficiaries Live in 10 States
An Avalere Health analysis of CMS data finds that more than 80% of the three million new Medicaid enrollees who signed up for coverage under the Affordable Care Act reside in 10 states. Of the 10 states, Florida is the only one that has not expanded its Medicaid program under the ACA. Washington Times, CQ HealthBeat.
UC-San Francisco Researchers Seek Participants for New Online Brain Health Registry
On Tuesday, UC-San Francisco researchers launched the Brain Health Registry, an online platform where individuals can participate in a wide range of studies on brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The researchers hope to recruit up to 100,000 participants over the next three years to create a vast archive of data on brain health. San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle.
Several physician-assisted suicide advocacy groups in California — led by Compassion and Choices — have launched a campaign to raise awareness of efforts to legalize the practice, which involves doctors prescribing lethal drugs to patients with terminal illnesses. As part of the campaign, the groups last week released a series of online advertisements. KQED’s “State of Health.”
More Than 3,000 Nursing Home Investigations Remain Open in L.A. County, Audit Finds
As of mid-March, more than 3,000 nursing home investigations were open in Los Angeles County, including nearly 1,000 that have been pending for more than two years, according to an audit released Friday by the County Auditor-Controller. The audit also found that Health Facilities Inspections Division officials have not set deadlines to complete the investigations.
Hearst Awards $1.3M to Eight Calif. Not-For-Profit Groups
Eight not-for-profit groups in California have been awarded a cumulative $1.3 million from the Hearst Foundations. The California Missions Foundation in Santa Barbara received $500,000, while UC-San Francisco was awarded $250,000 to help pay for the construction of Benioff Children’s Hospital in Mission Bay. San Francisco Chronicle.
Lawmakers Urge Sebelius To Forego Cuts to MA Plans
Twenty-two Democrats and seven Republicans have sent a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius pressing her to forgo proposed cuts to payments for Medicare Advantage plans in 2015. CMS is expected to announce 2015 rates for MA plans on Monday. Wall Street Journal, The Hill‘s “Healthwatch.”
CMS: Medicaid, CHIP Enrollment Rise by 3M Under ACA
New data from CMS show that more than three million U.S. residents have enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program since October 2013 under the Affordable Care Act. CMS suggests that the enrollment figures could be higher because several states have yet to report such data for February. New York Times et al.
California Health Care Personnel News Roundup for March 2014
Alan Ashworth was appointed director of UC-San Francisco’s Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. Sam Hawgood has been named chancellor at UC-San Francisco. Patrick Courneya was named CMO and executive vice president of the Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan.