Latest California Healthline Stories
Health Care Reform Around the Nation for the Week of Feb. 9
Florida has approved a plan to increase taxes on nursing homes in hopes of drawing down more federal matching funds, and plan to cut health care spending in New York have sparked a statewide media blitz criticizing the move. Meanwhile, Indiana is taking steps to regulate retail clinics.
Kaiser Permanente Notifies Employees of Data Breach
On Friday, Kaiser Permanente began notifying 29,500 Northern California employees that their confidential personal data was stolen. Some of the workers reported identity thefts resulting from the security breach, according to Kaiser. Gay Westfall, a Kaiser human resources executive, said that the security breach did not affect Kaiser members or their personal health information. Sacramento Bee, San Jose Mercury News.
AIDS Group Not Given Chance To Respond to Audit Charges
Inland AIDS Project CEO Joy Gould said that San Bernardino County health officials did not give the organization a chance to respond to audit findings before ending its contract earlier this month. The Inland AIDS Project had provided HIV health care and social support services for the county for about two decades. Riverside Press-Enterprise.
California Prison Health Care Receiver Presents Lower-Cost Options
California prison health care receiver J. Clark Kelso on Friday laid out proposals for overhauling California’s prison health care system that would cost less than an earlier plan. Attorney General Brown and the state corrections chief dismissed the proposals. Oakland Tribune et al.
S.F. Hit With Delays for Mammograms; New HIV Effort in the Works
Problems recruiting a full-time radiologist to read mammograms at San Francisco General Hospital have led to long wait times for women who do not have other health care options in the city. Meanwhile, an effort set to launch this month hopes to catch more HIV infections soon after transmission. San Francisco Chronicle.
ED Doctors Sue State for Better Reimbursements
Emergency department physicians have filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Health Care Services for better reimbursement for uninsured patients and Medi-Cal beneficiaries. In the past decade, 85 hospitals and 55 EDs have closed in the state, and the doctors argue that many more hospitals are in jeopardy of bankruptcy or closure due to a surge in unemployed patients. Ventura County Star.
Opinion: Stimulus Funding Will Not Fix Health Insurance
In an opinion piece, Sally Pipes, president and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute in San Francisco, argues that providing states with Medicaid funding through the economic stimulus package without including “checks and balances to ensure funds are spent as specified only kicks health care reform further down the road.” She adds, “Until our leaders gain hold on what is and isn’t true in the health care debate, we’ll continue to suffer through ineffective — and often harmful — reform efforts.” Orange County Register.
Health Care Spending Sees Big Jump During Governor’s Tenure
An analysis shows that health care spending in California has jumped by 18% while Arnold Schwarzenegger has been governor. The analysis indicates that medical inflation, an aging population and eligibility expansions approved a decade ago helped drive spending increases beyond what inflation and population growth would dictate. San Jose Mercury News, Los Angeles Times.
Lapses in Safeguards Led to Rapist Working at L.A. Clinic
Lapses in Los Angeles County procedures let a convicted rapist work as an X-ray technologist at a large East Los Angeles clinic, John Schunhoff, interim director of the county Department of Health Services, said. The employee was removed from the facility last week. Los Angeles Times.
California Regulators Say Furloughs Will Not Hurt Health Care Quality
Last Friday, state employees throughout California took unpaid furloughs as ordered by Gov. Schwarzenegger. Health care and mental health officials said the furloughs would not compromise patient care and quality oversight functions. Riverside Press-Enterprise.