Archived California Healthcare News

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon last week said he was willing to work with Republicans on a plan to expand the state’s Medicaid program and even offered endorsements for conservative ideas that have drawn reproach from some health advocates. Speaking at a career center in Springfield, Mo., the Democratic governor said he would support a proposal to require Medicaid recipients to work or pay more for their government-funded health insurance if it meant more people could enroll in the program.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris said yes. But Prime Healthcare said no. And the fate of six hospitals in and around San Jose and Los Angeles hang in the balance. After months of negotiations and often raucous pronunciations by those opposed to the deal, Ontario-based Prime Healthcare Services passed up on the chance to acquire the hospitals operated by Daughters of Charity Health System earlier this week, claiming the conditions attached to closing the transaction were too onerous.

Two San Diego hospitals have collaborated on creating an unusual community health benefit: Communal meals. Scripps Mercy Hospital and Rady Children\'s Hospital have created what is known as the “Teaching Kitchen,” a program intended to educate low-income residents of the San Diego area regarding better food and lifestyle choices.

News that Gov. Sam Brownback has softened his position on Medicaid expansion wasn’t exactly racing through the Statehouse on Thursday. But it certainly had some legislators buzzing. In remarks last week to conservative lawmakers in Missouri, Brownback said if the Kansas Legislature presented him with a budget-neutral expansion bill, he would likely sign it, according to a report in the Missouri Times.

Lillie Robinson came to Rowan Medical Center in North Carolina for surgery on her left foot. She expected to be in and out in a day, returning weeks later for her surgeon to operate on the other foot. But that’s not how things turned out. “When I got here I found out he was doing both,” she said. “We didn’t realize that until they started medicating me for the procedure.” Robinson signed a consent form and the operation went fine, but she was told she would be in the hospital far longer than she had expected. “I wasn’t prepared for that,” she said.

A new study by Stanford University researchers strongly suggests that a holistic integrated care model can overcome significant ethnic disparities in treating colon cancer patients. The study, which examined 30,000 colon cancer patients in California, concluded that there was no differences in mortality rates when care delivered within an integrated care model, such as what is provided by Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente.

Cedars-Sinai Reports Cases Of CRE Linked To Duodenoscope 

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center has reported four cases of the superbug CRE linked to a single duodenoscope.

In their latest attack on the Affordable Care Act, House Republicans question why the Obama administration transferred money last year from the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to pay for the operation of the federal health insurance marketplace. “Now it appears that we are robbing Peter to pay Paul in order to finance the disaster that is healthcare.gov,” said Rep. Jody Hice, a Republican congressman from suburban Atlanta.

The Department of Managed Health Care issued a mixed interim report on Kaiser Foundation Health Plan\'s move toward improving access to mental health services, concluding that the Oakland-based insurer has fixed two deficiencies but that two others have yet to be fully addressed. According to the survey that was released on Feb. 24, the DMHC concluded that Kaiser had fixed deficiencies in regards to capturing and tracking data to determine if mental health services were being delivered in a timely fashion under California law. It also concluded that Kaiser had fixed the methodology issues regarding how it tracks and reports timely access to services.