In Brief: Prime, Kaiser Agree To Drop Litigation; Brain Injury Insurance Legislation Introduced
Prime, Kaiser Agree To Drop Litigation
Ontario-based and Oakland-based hospital operators Prime Healthcare and Kaiser Permanente have reached an agreement to end a protracted legal dispute over payments for patient care.
Prime and Kaiser issued a statement earlier this week saying they would “resolve their disputes through confidential and binding arbitration.”
The two sides also agreed to undisclosed payment rates when Kaiser enrollees are treated at Prime hospitals.
Kaiser and Prime have been tangling over the issue since 2008. Prime, which typically does enter into contracts with insurers, has claimed in its litigation that Kaiser owed it more than $100 million.
Kaiser also noted in a separate statement that it does not support Prime's attempted purchase of the six Los Angeles and Silicon Valley-area hospitals operated by the Daughters of Charity system. Prime Chief Executive Officer Prem Reddy had apparently made erroneous statements to a Northern California media outlet saying that Kaiser supported the deal.
“Contrary to erroneous media reports and erroneous statements by Prime, Kaiser Permanente has not agreed to support Prime's acquisition of the Daughters of Charity hospitals and has not sent a letter of support to the attorney general,” the statement read in part.
Attorney General Kamala Harris is expected to rule on the deal in the next several weeks. Prime has had an uneven record in getting regulatory approval to purchase hospitals in California, with Harris and predecessor Jerry Brown both blocking a deal apiece while permitting others to move forward.
Brain Injury Insurance Bill Introduced
Legislation has been introduced that would require insurers to provide coverage specific to brain injuries suffered by their enrollees.
The bill, SB 190, would allow victims of brain injury access to facilities that specifically treat their condition. It would also put brain injuries on par with other major medical conditions, meaning an open-ended timeline for treatment.
About 100,000 Californians suffer traumatic brain injury every year, according to the Brain Injury Association of California, which is sponsoring the legislation. About a quarter of those who suffer such an injury never return to work. Many wind up transitioning to Medi-Cal and other forms of public assistance.
"Many patients are left with various levels of disease and disability due to inconsistent access to treatment," said Mark J. Ashley, chief executive officer of the Centre for Neuro Skills, which operates rehabilitation centers in Bakersfield and Los Angeles. "Without proper care, they can become disabled, indigent, and impoverished. Institutionalization then places a huge financial burden on the public sector. Fewer than half of all patients with acquired brain injury get the rehabilitation they need to maximize their recovery because of inappropriate insurance restrictions."
Ashley is the immediate past chairman of the Brain Injury Association of California.
Hearings for the bill, which was introduced on Wednesday, have yet to be scheduled.
