State Highlights: Sutter, Blue Shield Resolve Calif. Health Care Contract Dispute; Hawaiian Health Workers Start 6-Day Strike

San Jose Mercury News: Sutter Health, Blue Shield Reach Two-Year Agreement
Ending a monthlong standoff that rattled 284,000 health care consumers, Blue Shield of California and Sutter Health on Friday announced they had reached an agreement for a new two-year contract that will allow the insurer's patients to continue to use Sutter doctors and hospitals. (Seipel, 1/30)

The Associated Press: California Health Care Contract Fight Resolved
Health insurance provider Blue Shield of California and the Sutter Health network of doctors and hospitals have reached agreement on a new contract, ending a dispute that threatened to force nearly 280,000 consumers in Northern and Central California to find new doctors. The companies announced the two-year contract on Friday. It means Blue Shield patients will be able to continue using Sutter doctors and hospitals without going out of their coverage network. (1/31)

The Associated Press: Kaiser Permanente Workers In Hawaii Begin 6-day Strike
Workers at Hawaii's largest health care organization started a six-day strike early Monday, union spokeswoman Paola Rodelas said. Licensed practical nurses, medical assistants and housekeepers were among those joining the work stoppage at Kaiser Permanente. The strike will last through Saturday. (2/2)

Bay Area News Group: Hospitals' Dumping Of Drunk Patients Would Be Barred By Controversial California Bill
Hospitals that refuse to treat severely intoxicated patients and instead have them arrested would face steep fines of up to $300,000 per incident under a controversial bill unveiled Friday. (Calefati, 1/30)

Los Angeles Times: Hospital Chain Prime Healthcare Faces A Fight To Grow
Buried in debt, Centinela hospital of Inglewood was on the verge of bankruptcy in 2007. It had lost $50 million in four years, and local officials worried that it might close — following the path of several other South Los Angeles hospitals. But where others saw risk, cardiologist Prem Reddy saw opportunity. Reddy's company, Prime Healthcare Services Inc., bought Centinela and quickly turned it around, cutting expenses and increasing revenue. Centinela lost $63 million in 2007. Six years later, it made $39 million. Today it's rated among the better-performing hospitals in the state. (Pfeifer, 2/1)

Los Angeles Times: California Stumbles At Shifting Care For Costly Patients
California's ambitious effort to save billions of dollars by changing how the state's costliest patients get treated is on the ropes. The Obamacare program was designed to reduce medical costs by putting more of the nation's 11 million most challenging and expensive patients into tightly managed care. But the rollout in California — one of the first states spearheading the effort — has been marred by widespread confusion, enrollment glitches and a revolving door of health officials. (Terhune, 1/31)

The Denver Post: Colorado Hospitals Win, Lose In Medicare Reform Sweepstakes
Under health care reform, Medicare bonuses are going to hospitals that are getting things right, at least from the federal governments perspective. Medicare data shows 1,700 hospitals, more than half graded, will reap extra payment in 2015. In Colorado, where 44 hospitals participated in the program, 57 percent received bonuses, or increased Medicare payments in 2015, while 43 percent will have penalties, or reduced payments. None broke even. (Draper, 1/30)

The Des Moines Register: Community Slams Plan To Close Mental Hospital
State administrators are wrong when they say many patients at the state psychiatric hospital here could obtain similar services from private agencies in southern Iowa communities, mental-health professionals and patients alleged Saturday. Department of Human Services Director Charles Palmer told the crowd that new mental health treatment options are being considered as part of the statewide redesign of the overall system. He explained that new regional authorities, including the one that covers the Clarinda area, are considering opening short-term "crisis centers" or "step-down units." (Leys, 1/31)

The Kansas Health Institute News Service: Nursing Practice Bill Heats Up In Kansas
Groups representing nurses and doctors met several times over the summer and fall but couldn’t reach a compromise on legislation to allow nurses with advanced training to practice on their own. The failed negotiations threw the dispute back into the laps of Kansas lawmakers, who don’t appear eager to settle it. (McLean, 1/30)

The Associated Press: At Capitol, Plans Abound For Addressing Rural Health Care
Bob Jeske grew up on a farm and always wanted to practice rural medicine. But it didn't hurt that a state program covered some of his student loans to do just that. State lawmakers in both parties want to expand the program that takes a big chunk out of Jeske's $182,500 in medical school debt. Their plan is one of many approaches to solving a looming shortage of doctors and other health care professionals expected to hit hardest in rural Minnesota. (Farhang, 2/2)

The Denver Post: Proposal Seeks $5M To Give Contraceptives To Colorado Teens
A bipartisan proposal would seek $5 million of state funds to continue giving intrauterine contraceptive devices to teenagers, a program state officials say has dramatically reduced the teen birth rate. The proposed bill is one of two legislative measures aimed at preventing teen pregnancies in Colorado. The other, already introduced, would expand a pilot education program. (Draper, 1/30)

The Washington Post: She Fought For Patients’ Rights, Then She Was Put In A Hospital Against Her Will
[Alison] Hymes was no ordinary patient. Before landing at Western, she spent years urging others with mental illness and their families not to let doctors, judges and social workers make decisions for them. She was part of a state task force charged with reforming civil commitment laws at the time of the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, serving alongside doctors, academics, and law enforcement officials. The daughter of a prominent University of Virginia linguist, Hymes argued vehemently — and unsuccessfully — against loosening the state’s commitment criteria. Hymes, now 58, believed those changes made it easier for authorities to involuntarily commit her in 2011 and again in 2013. (Shin, 1/31)

Kaiser Health News: California Ranks Last In Spending On Diabetes Prevention, Audit Finds
Reporting for Kaiser Health News, Barbara Feder Ostrov writes: "California spends less per person than any state on diabetes prevention programs, even as one in 12 California adults is estimated to suffer from the chronic disease, according to a new report from the California State Auditor. Using only federal grants, California spent just 3 cents per person on diabetes prevention in the 2012-2013 fiscal year, compared to New York’s 42 cents per person in state and federal money that year, the report noted." (Ostrov, 2/2)

The New York Times: Medical Costs Rise As Retirees Winter In South
Like many retirees, one couple from upstate New York visit doctors in their winter getaway in Florida. But on a recent routine checkup of a pacemaker, a cardiologist there insisted on scheduling several expensive tests even though the 91-year-old husband had no symptoms. ... The couple’s experience reflects a trend that has prompted some doctors up north to warn their older patients before they depart for Florida and other winter getaways to check in before agreeing to undergo exams and procedures. And some patients have learned to be leery after being subjected to tests — and expenses — that long-trusted physicians at home never suggested. (Rosenthal, 1/31)