Latest California Healthline Stories
WellPoint To Pay $6M To Settle Health Insurance Rescission Lawsuit
WellPoint has agreed to pay $6 million to the city of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County to settle allegations that its subsidiary Anthem Blue Cross illegally dropped coverage for more than 6,000 policyholders because they became sick or needed treatment. AP/Sacramento Bee et al.
Brown Urges Nurses To Inform Public About Climate Change
During the National Nurses United conference on Thursday in San Francisco, Gov. Brown rallied the nation’s largest nurses union to help organize a movement to address global climate change. Brown suggested the nurses use their organizing tactics to inform the public that future generations are at risk under climate change. AP/UT-San Diego.
Opinion: Aetna’s Departure Does Not Bode Ill for Market
In a Los Angeles Times opinion piece, columnist Jon Healey writes that Aetna’s decision to stop selling individual health insurance plans in California at the end of 2013 “is not a sign that the [health care] system is collapsing” as state officials prepare to implement the Affordable Care Act. “Instead, it’s one company’s decision to sacrifice one of its smaller revenue streams until the uncertainties fade and the worst-case scenario is ruled out.” Los Angeles Times.
California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of June 21, 2013
Alameda Health System has opened the 80,000-square-foot Highland Care Pavilion, which partly was developed to ease overcrowding at Highland Hospital’s emergency department. On July 1, Washington Hospital will launch its $80 million electronic health record system.
GOP Says Exchanges’ Navigator Program Lacks Proper Safeguards
On Thursday, a group of GOP senators sent HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius a letter stating the health insurance exchanges’ navigator program created under the Affordable Care Act does not have proper safeguards to protect consumers’ information. The Hill‘s “Healthwatch,” CQ Roll Call.
U.S. Residents Saved $3.9B in 2012 Under MLR Provision, Sebelius Says
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has announced that the medical-loss ratio provision in the Affordable Care Act helped U.S. residents save about $3.9 billion in 2012. Insurers that did not comply with the provision will pay $500 million in rebates to consumers. The Hill‘s “Healthwatch” et al.
Judges Order Calif. To Release 9,600 Prisoners by End of Year
Three federal judges have ordered Gov. Brown to release 9,600 prisoners by the end of the year to reduce prison overcrowding and boost inmate health care. Brown calls the decision “unprecedented” and seeks to appeal the decision. Los Angeles Times et al.
Poll: More Small Businesses Delay Hiring Because of ACA
A growing number of small business owners are delaying hiring new employees or cutting jobs in an effort to avoid coverage requirements under the Affordable Care Act, according to a new Gallup poll. The poll found that 41% of respondents implemented a hiring freeze because of the ACA, while 38% have delayed plans to grow their business because of the law and 24% are considering dropping insurance coverage. CNBC.
Curbing Rx Use Issues Could Save Billions, Report Finds
The U.S. health care system could save at least $213 billion annually if health care providers and patients are more responsible about how they prescribe and use pharmaceutical drugs, according to an IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics report released Wednesday. For the report, researchers identified several areas in which physicians or patients could better manage medication use for common or particularly costly diseases, including inappropriate prescription of antibiotics and prescription mismanagement. AP/Sacramento Bee.
Judge Must Address Valley Fever Issue Quickly, Editorial Says
A Sacramento Bee editorial argues that “state officials’ sluggish response to a continuing outbreak of valley fever” at two San Joaquin Valley state prisons “is putting prisoners at an unacceptable risk of serious illness, even death.” It adds that U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson, who is expected to rule on the issue, “must protect the health of prisoners and guards” by ordering the transfer of certain inmates from the facilities. Sacramento Bee.