Archived California Healthcare News

The Daughters of Charity Healthcare System may have found another deep-pocketed suitor, one willing to pump millions of dollars into the struggling hospital system. The Los Altos Hills-based Daughters of Charity announced late last week it had come to terms with a New York-based firm that would recapitalize its hospitals.

The UCLA Health system announced late last week that it was the victim of a cyberattack, potentially exposing sensitive data of millions of patients.

Which hospital parents pick to deliver their baby can have serious cost consequences, according to a new study. Hospital costs for women who had no maternal or obstetric risk factors to complicate childbirth ranged from less than $2,000 to nearly $12,000, the analysis of discharge data found. The wide variation in cost means that for expectant parents, it can pay to shop around.

One of the leading advocates for Medicaid expansion in Kansas says it’s time to change tactics. This week Alaska became the 30th state to expand Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act. Kansas is one of the remaining states where Republican legislators and governors remain resistant.

California and Oregon will be the first states in the nation to allow women to get birth control pills and other hormonal contraceptives directly from their pharmacists – without a doctor’s prescription. As California officials were busy finalizing regulations on a state law passed in 2013, Oregon’s governor Kate Brown signed a similar bill into law last week.

A Glendora nursing home was fined $100,000 by the California Department of Public Health after a patient with swallowing problems choked to death last year on pilfered food.

Next time you’re on the operating table and you have one last look around as the anesthesiologist approaches, don’t be too sure that that person in scrubs looking at a smartphone is pulling up vital health data. He or she might be texting a friend, or ordering a new carpet. Cellphone use is not generally restricted in the operating room, but some experts say the time for rules has come. In interviews, many described co-workers’ texting friends and relatives from the surgical suite. Some spoke of colleagues who hide a phone in a drawer and check it when they think no one is watching.

The three companies that administer KanCare have donated more than $50,000 to the campaigns of current Kansas legislators since the $3 billion Medicaid program began in 2013. Amerigroup leads the trio with $27,750 in donations, as of the most recent filings, which include donations through Dec. 31, 2014. Centene Management Corporation, the parent company of Sunflower State Health Plan, gave $17,250 in that time period. United for Health, the political action committee of United HealthCare, came in a distant third with $6,200 in campaign cash. Amerigroup donated to 20 current senators and 37 current House members, Centene gave to five senators and 26 House members, and United HealthCare donated to nine senators and four House members.

The Casa Colina rehabilitation hospital has sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in federal court, claiming the agency’s scrutiny of Medicare claims is overkill and preventing the Pomona-based facility from realizing important Medicare revenue. The suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, is demanding that the HHS resolve disputes over Medicare claims within the statutorily-mandated 90 days.