Archived California Healthcare News

Some Kansas health insurers are seeking legal permission to sell network-only plans — with the help of the state’s top insurance regulator. The office of Kansas Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer supports a bill that would allow insurers to sell “exclusive provider organization,” or EPO, plans that provide no reimbursement for out-of-network health care except in the case of emergency.

Some consumers who buy coverage on the health insurance marketplaces in 2017 could see their out-of-pocket costs drop significantly under a federal proposal to create standardized plans, a recent analysis found.

Californians who obtained coverage from the state health insurance exchange are receiving needed healthcare services. That\'s according to Covered California, which released a report on Wednesday detailing services its enrollees have obtained at more than 100 of the state\'s hospitals during the first 18 months insurance purchased from the exchange was in effect.

The California Medical Association issued guidelines this week to its physician members on how to administer drugs to terminally ill patients who wish to end their life. The guidelines stem from the recent passage of the End of Life Option Act, which went into effect on Jan. 1. It made California the fifth state in the U.S. to sanction physician-assisted suicide of terminally ill patients.

An Illinois appeals court decision has reopened a statewide dispute over whether hospitals should be exempt from paying millions of dollars in income taxes and property taxes to local governments. The Illinois 4th District Appellate Court ruled earlier this month that part of a 2012 law that allows hospitals to avoid taxes is unconstitutional.

Former DMHC Attorney Agrees To Pay Fine For Ethics Violations

A former supervising attorney for the Department of Managed Health Care has agreed she violated state ethics rules and will pay a $3,000 fine.

The Department of Managed Health Care has fined L.A. Care Health Plan $150,000 for engaging in a pattern of unfair payment patterns. The fine, announced on Dec. 16., is by far the largest against L.A. Care levied by the DMHC over the past dozen years. Its highest previous fine was only $15,000.

People experiencing a mental health crisis who are a danger to themselves or others sometimes are having to stay for days in emergency departments while waiting for a bed to open at Osawatomie State Hospital. That has prompted at least one Kansas hospital to increase staffing and security in its emergency department. Janice Early, vice president of marketing and communications at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, said the emergency department director confirmed to her that patients requiring an involuntary mental health commitment have waited an average of 17 hours for a placement in the last year, but recently those times at LMH have ranged from 24 hours to 140 hours, or just short of six days.

Marvin Seppala, M.D., wrote a book on conquering drug addiction with counseling and group therapy. The spiritual, abstinence-based strategy pioneered by Alcoholics Anonymous helped him overcome his own alcohol and cocaine addiction when he was 19. As medical director of Minnesota’s fabled Hazelden Clinic, he watched it work for patients. He believed in it — and then he changed his mind.