Archived California Healthcare News

Officials Reiterate Lack Of Ebola Threat

Despite reports of Kaiser Permanente briefly treating a patient believed to have been exposed to the Ebola virus at a hospital in South Sacramento, state health officials say there is little risk California will be impacted by the medical condition.

Health insurance carriers all across the country are disclosing what they plan to charge customers for coverage in 2015 — almost everywhere, that is, except Missouri. In Connecticut, for example, Anthem Health Plans Inc. submitted its rates to the state’s insurance department in May, requesting an average increase of 12.5%. The state denied the request on July 25. Anthem has until Aug. 31 to submit revised rates.

After exploring compensation in the most populous and wealthiest region of the United States, Healthcare Compensation News has turned its sights south to North and South Carolina. The demographics of the two states are decidedly different from the Tri-State region of New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. Together, the Carolinas have a combined population of about 14 million – 5 million less than the New York City metropolitan area on its own. The median household income is also sharply lower in the Carolinas, averaging $44,128 in 2012, according to Census Bureau data. Households in the Tri-State area, by contrast, enjoy median income that is nearly 50% higher. Aside from the stark differences in income, both North Carolina and South Carolina have decided against expanding Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act.

The confidence of healthcare workers in general is on the rise – but so is the use of temporary workers, according to a new survey by Randstad Healthcare. Randstad, a healthcare staffing agency based in Woburn, Mass., reported that 71% of the healthcare workers they surveyed expressed a high level of confidence in the stability of their employers during the second quarter of 2014.

Once medical school graduates finish with their residency training, they all can look forward to secure jobs with six-figure jobs, and potentially even break into the seven figures if they\'re in a high-demand specialty in a big city such as New York City or Los Angeles. But getting through that residency – which in some instances can last as long as a decade – is a poorly-paid slog for most newly minted doctors, according to an annual survey of medical residency compensation and medical school debt by Medscape.

People with diabetes in low-income neighborhoods in California are twice as likely to have a leg or foot amputated as those living in wealthier areas, according to a study released last week. The study, published in the journal Health Affairs, underscores the stark differences in outcomes for diabetes patients throughout the state.

WellPoint Will Change Its Name Completely To Anthem

WellPoint, the California-founded for-profit health plan spinoff from Blue Cross of California, plans to change its name to Anthem.

Without insurance, Pam Milliken relied for years on the free health clinic here to help manage her arthritis, high blood pressure and diabetes. When she needed to have her gallbladder removed, the clinic, located in a former State Farm Insurance building, found her a specialist and hospital willing to do the surgery at no cost. This year, Milliken was among the 70% of patients at Wheeling Health Right Center who enrolled in Medicaid after the state expanded the program under the Affordable Care Act.

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California have been longtime rivals in the business arena, but the two health plans have joined forces to create something the state does not yet have: A comprehensive and fully integrated healthcare information network (HIE).