Archived California Healthcare News

A bill that would have allowed nurse practitioners to practice independently in California likely met oblivion in an Assembly committee last week. SB 491 is being held in suspense by the Assembly Appropriations Committee after continued opposition from the California Medical Association, the powerful lobby that represents a large number of the state\'s doctors, as well as other physician-related groups.

Covered California became one of the first health insurance exchanges in the United States to officially kick off its television marketing campaign, airing three commercial spots beginning last week in order to get millions of the state\'s residents to purchase health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. The two primary commercials, entitled, “signs” for the English version and “doors” for the Spanish-language version, contain the same message: You can purchase health insurance and not be rejected for any reason. Nevertheless, they are decidedly unique in tone.

SCAN Health Plan has granted $2 million to improve home healthcare and nursing outreach for Californians enrolled in both Medicare and Medi-Cal. The grant was provided to the Alliance for Leadership and Education (ALE), an affiliate of the California Association for Adult Day Services. That non-profit group advocates for adult day services to keep frail low-income patients in their homes.

While thousands of hospitals across the country are losing portions of their Medicare payments due to readmitting patients within 30 days of their initial discharge, a new study by UC San Francisco researchers suggested such penalties for pediatric care may be unwarranted The study of 958 mostly medium-sized urban hospitals throughout the U.S. that treated pediatric patients concluded their readmission for common medical conditions is not necessarily correlated to the care provided.

Chicago Medical Group CEO Charged With Fraud

The chief executive officer of a Chicago-based medical group that focuses on making house calls and providing home healthcare services was arrested Tuesday on fraud charges, the U.S. Attorney's office announced.

A new report by Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt has concluded that $33.7 million in fraudulent Medicaid payments were collected in the Sunflower State during 2012, up more than 40% from the $23.9 million collected in 2011. According to the report, 64 cases against potential fraudsters were initiated in 2012. Of those, 23 were opened against home healthcare aides and providers, while 10 were against pharmaceutical firms. None were initiated against hospitals. Altogether, another 93 cases were closed during the year, including 35 for lack of evidence. A total of 141 cases remained pending as of June 30 of this year.

UC Davis Medical Center received an administrative penalty and a $50,000 fine last week from state regulators stemming from unapproved experimental surgeries two neurosurgeons performed on three patients. Two of the patients died shortly after receiving dosages of intestinal bacteria in their brains in order to treat tumors. A third patient survived the initial treatment, but died not long after. The treatments took place in 2010 and 2011, records show.

The Department of Managed Health Care has issued a rare cease and desist order involving a Los Angeles-area medical provider for failing to provide timely financial reporting and corrective actions. Serra Community Medical Clinic operates two locations in Sun Valley. It is a risk-bearing organization, allowing it to contract directly with managed care health plans and receive capitated payments for care. It cares for more than 10,500 patients who are enrolled in seven different plans.

Price inflation was once considered the bane of healthcare delivery, but data generated in recent months by the Michigan-based Altarum Institute has begun to explode that myth. Healthcare prices grew by just 1.1% last month when compared to July 2012, a rate of inflation even slower than the economy as a whole. The overall moving average for the past year has been 1.6% – the lowest Altarum officials have reported since they began tracking nearly a quarter of a century ago.