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California Healthline Original Stories
R2D2’s Next Assignment: Hospital Orderly
A gleaming new hospital in San Francisco has a fleet of robots dropping off meals, picking up trash and saving some money in a very 21st century way. (Jenny Gold, 3/1)
State Legislature Passes New MCO Tax, Rescues Over $1 Billion for Medi-Cal
In a two-thirds floor vote, the Assembly and Senate Monday passed a complex proposal to impose a restructured tax on managed care organizations -- bringing in nearly $1.4 billion for Medi-Cal -- and tax breaks to insurers. (David Gorn, 3/1)
More News From Across The State
Legislature Approves Health Plan Tax Package
The bills, which will go to Gov. Jerry Brown for his signature, close a $1.1 billion gap in the Medi-Cal budget and increase funding for agencies that serve people with developmental disabilities.
The Associated Press:
California Lawmakers Approve Revamped Health Insurance Tax
California lawmakers approved a tax package Monday that preserves $1.1 billion in federal funding for the state's health care program for the poor and gives about $300 million in funding to provide services for the developmentally disabled. (Noon and Thompson, 2/29)
Los Angeles Times:
Everything You Need To Know About The Healthcare Plans Tax The Legislature Just Passed
Culminating a prolonged, wonky debate that has consumed the Capitol for months, legislators on Monday approved a new tax on healthcare plans that would help finance the state’s public healthcare program for the poor. The package of bills — which await Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature — would overhaul a tax on managed care organizations (MCOs), in an effort to secure more than $1 billion in federal money to help pay for Medi-Cal, which serves a third of the state’s population. “I can’t emphasize enough the importance of the MCO financing proposal here before us today,” Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Alameda) said on the floor. (Mason, 2/29)
Capital Public Radio:
MCO Tax Deal Passes Legislature
The deal that won bipartisan approval Monday is backed by the health insurance industry, which has promised not to pass the tax on to consumers through higher health care premiums. The MCO tax drew unanimous support from Democrats and even won some Republican votes to reach the required two-thirds supermajority in each chamber. It passed the Senate 28-11, with GOP Sens. Anthony Cannella and Bob Huff voting yes. The Assembly approved the bill by a much wider 61-16 margin, with 11 Republicans voting yes. (Adler, 2/29)
The Sacramento Business Journal:
Legislature Approves New Tax To Plug Medi-Cal Funding Gap
Business groups, including the California Chamber of Commerce, did not oppose the plan after receiving assurances from insurers and others that it would not raise premiums. (Young, 2/29)
KQED:
California Legislature Approves Revised Health Plan Tax
Sen. Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, led the effort to pass the legislation. “The proposal provides a stable ongoing funding source for Medi-Cal,” he said. “It allows California to maximize its share of existing federal dollars, and we’re always complaining that we don’t get our fair share. It will not negatively impact premiums.” (Orr and Aliferis, 2/29)
The Los Angeles Daily News:
Developmentally Disabled Helped By Passage Of State Funding Bills
People with developmental disabilities scored a victory Monday when California lawmakers passed bills that save Medi-Cal and increase funding for agencies that serve 300,000 residents with cerebral palsy, autism and Down syndrome. (Abram, 2/29)
Blue Shield Of California Lays Off 460
Of the jobs being cut, 152 "are being refilled to best implement our strategy," the company said.
The San Francisco Business Times:
Big California Health Plan Lays Off Up To 460 Workers
Blue Shield of California, one of the state's biggest health plans, has eliminated up to 460 jobs, including about 300 in Sacramento and the Central Valley, more than 70 in Southern California, and close to 80 in its San Francisco headquarters office and other Bay Area outposts. Blue Shield "needed to make changes to its workforce" to keep its affordability in line and improve access, officials told the Business Times Monday, by reducing administrative costs and "ensuring that we have the right talent, skills and capability to deliver on our strategy." (Rauber, 2/29)
In other news, Sutter Health's new HMO is performing "slightly better than we anticipated," its CEO says —
The Sacramento Business Journal:
Sutter Health Says Its New HMO Is Ahead Of Projected Growth
The new health maintenance organization launched by Sutter Health in 2014 more than doubled its membership in 2015, Sutter Health Plus officials say. The nonprofit organization now serves 37,000 people in Northern California. Most are in Sacramento, where Sutter Health Plus launched in January 2014. (Anderson, 2/29)
Box's Image Sharing Solution Approved By FDA
Now, with the Food and Drug Administration-approved DICOM Viewer, someone from a hospital in Los Angeles could potentially get images like X-rays from someone on the East Coast, the company says.
The Silicon Valley Business Journal:
Box Cleared By The FDA As It Pushes Further Into Health Care
Bay Area tech company Box's leading vertical is about to pull forward even further with a new FDA-approved cloud sharing service that will allow general hospitals to communicate with patients through mobile devices. The Redwood City-based cloud company announced its new healthcare solution on Monday called Box for Healthcare, which is a new bundle that consists of a viewer for the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine image format, a heavily regulated standard for transferring medical images like CT scans and X-rays. (Elias, 2/29)
Coalition Develops Guidelines For Alzheimer's Diagnosis, Care
The Alzheimer’s Disease Clinical Roundtable was scheduled to present its findings from the past 18 months to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors and local doctor groups on Tuesday.
The San Diego Union-Tribune:
New Alzheimer's Plan Seeks Care Transformation
Today there are not enough neurologists, geriatricians and psychologists to care for the estimated 5.1 million Americans suffering from Alzheimer’s disease — a number projected to reach 7.1 million by 2025. This means that family doctors often end up diagnosing and treating the devastating neurodegenerative disease and related forms of dementia alongside myriad other conditions that arrive in their exam rooms daily. (Sisson, 2/29)
In other public health news, scientists find a link between Zika and Guillain-Barre syndrome —
The Los Angeles Times:
Zika's Link To Guillain-Barre Syndrome Revealed
During a seven-month outbreak of Zika virus infection that ended in April 2014, health officials in French Polynesia noticed an uptick in the number of patients showing up at hospitals with a rare but dangerous constellation of symptoms known as Guillain-Barre syndrome. (Healy, 2/29)
Digital Health Record Initiative Aims To Unclog Bottleneck, But Doubts Remain
Federal health official announced that technology companies, hospital systems and doctors' groups have agreed to take steps that will make electronic health records easier to use by improving patient access to their own files, allowing information sharing and putting standards for digital communication between systems in place. But some worry the deal allows companies too much wiggle room.
The Associated Press:
Health Groups Aim To Make Medical Records Easier To Access
Technology companies, hospital systems and doctors' groups have agreed to take steps to make electronic health records easier for consumers to access and use, the Obama administration announced Monday. "Now is the time for this data to be free and liquid and available," said Karen DeSalvo, head of the Health and Human Services department office overseeing the transition to computerized medical records. The goal is to improve care where it matters the most, added DeSalvo, who spoke ahead of a formal announcement by Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell at a health technology conference in Las Vegas. (2/29)
In other national news —
The New York Times:
New Study Links Zika Virus To Temporary Paralysis
A new study of 42 cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome in French Polynesia offers the strongest evidence to date that the Zika virus can trigger temporary paralysis, researchers reported on Monday. But experts cautioned that more evidence from other locations was needed to be conclusive. Since last year, doctors have noticed an unusual increase in Guillain-Barré cases in several countries with Zika outbreaks, including Brazil, El Salvador and Venezuela. But as the World Health Organization reported on Friday, a large number of those patients have not yet been confirmed through laboratory testing to have Zika. (Saint Louis, 2/29)
The New York Times:
Waste In Cancer Drugs Costs $3 Billion A Year, A Study Says
The federal Medicare program and private health insurers waste nearly $3 billion every year buying cancer medicines that are thrown out because many drug makers distribute the drugs only in vials that hold too much for most patients, a group of cancer researchers has found. The expensive drugs are usually injected by nurses working in doctors’ offices and hospitals who carefully measure the amount needed for a particular patient and then, because of safety concerns, discard the rest. (Harris, 3/1)
The Wall Street Journal:
Valeant Under Investigation By SEC
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. on Monday said it was under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Canadian drug company’s stock sank to the lowest level in three years. The SEC has requested information about Valeant’s now-terminated relationship with drug distributor Philidor Rx Services LLC, and Valeant has submitted emails, financial documents and other data to comply with the request, according to a person familiar with the matter. (McNish and Rapoport, 2/29)