State Highlights: Calif. Scrutinizing Blue Shield Executive Pay Boost; Del. Launches Campaign For Hep C Screening
Health care stories are reported from California, Delaware, Illinois, Connecticut, Arizona and Maryland.
Los Angeles Times:
Big Hike In Executive Pay At Nonprofit Blue Shield Draws State Scrutiny
Nonprofit insurer Blue Shield of California boosted executive compensation by $24 million in 2012 — a 64% jump over the previous year — according to a confidential state audit reviewed by The Times. The health insurance giant won't say who got the money or why. But Blue Shield's former public policy director, Michael Johnson, who left this year and is now a company critic, said senior officials at the insurer told him that former Chief Executive Bruce Bodaken received about $20 million as part of his 2012 retirement package, on top of his annual pay. (Terhune, 9/1)
The News Journal:
New Hep C Campaign To Target Boomers, IV Drug Users
A new state-run campaign will heavily push screening for hepatitis C among baby boomers and intravenous drug users. Set to launch in mid-October, the Delaware Division of Public Health program aims to reach out to health care providers, especially primary care doctors and substance abuse clinicians, to educate them on whom to screen and how the disease is transmitted. (Rini, 9/1)
The Wall Street Journal:
Dispute Intensifies In Illinois Over Budget, Unions
Supporters of the legislation say it will ensure a fair outcome to talks in which the Rauner administration is trying to make sweeping changes, including a sharp increase in employee contributions to health benefits and no longer allowing union dues to be deducted from worker pay, said Roberta Lynch, executive director of Council 31. “They came in with most extreme demands we’ve ever seen,” she said. The governor says the bill will eventually put the labor contract in the hands of a union-friendly arbitrator and prevent Mr. Rauner from getting the best deal for the state. Such a result would increase salary and benefit costs and only exacerbate the state’s fiscal problems, administration officials said. (Peters, 9/1)
Los Angeles Times:
Cedars-Sinai Buys Marina Del Rey Hospital Amid Consolidation Wave
Medical giant Cedars-Sinai Health System said Tuesday it has acquired nearby Marina Del Rey Hospital, adding to a flurry of similar healthcare deals. Cedars-Sinai said it has purchased the 145-bed hospital and its neighboring medical office building. The price wasn't disclosed. (Terhune, 9/1)
The Connecticut Mirror:
Uptick In Denials For Home Nursing Care Worries Families, Advocates
The service at issue, known as extended, or complex, nursing care, involves a nurse providing services in a person’s home for more than two hours at a time. Clients must have their services reauthorized periodically to continue receiving them. Data from the state Department of Social Services shows the denial rate for requests for extended nursing services has risen sharply since the beginning of the year. (Levin Becker, 9/1)
The Arizona Republic:
Arizona Cancer Center Faces Crowded Cancer-Care Market
It took nearly a decade, one false start and countless hours of negotiation and compromise. But the University of Arizona and partner Dignity Health realized a long-held dream last week with the opening of a $100 million cancer center at Fillmore and Sixth streets in downtown Phoenix. Now comes the hard part. (Alltucker, 9/1)
The Baltimore Sun:
Clinic For Uninsured Children In Annapolis Closing At Month's End
Sandra Shanahan offered a patient's family a ride home Tuesday after they walked there to be seen. "No, I'll take you," the nurse practitioner insisted to the Hispanic family. She's closing Shanahan Children's Clinic on Sept. 29 because she said she's getting too old to run it. The clinic opened 10 years ago. "I will miss nursing," the 73-year-old Edgewater resident said. "I feel guilty already." (Bottalico, 9/1)
Pioneer Press:
Lake Forest Schools Working To Comply With New State Vaccine Mandate
With six weeks to go until a new state vaccine requirement kicks in, 95 percent of seniors at Lake Forest High School have submitted proof of being vaccinated against meningitis, said assistant principal Tom Meagher. For the first time, the state of Illinois is requiring that all sixth- and 12th-graders get a meningitis vaccine. Proof of vaccination is required by Oct. 15, according to the new state mandate. (Lawton, 9/1)
The Associated Press:
VA Planning To Open Clinic In Montgomery County
Maryland elected officials say the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is considering opening an outpatient clinic in Montgomery County. The announcement follows an outcry by elected officials in July over the planned closure of a VA outpatient clinic in Greenbelt in neighboring Prince George's County. (9/2)
