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In the March 1 Update, I spoke about the loss from Empire Blue Cross of a CD with 75,000 mental health names. They have now found the disc. They negligently sent it via UPS to a private residence. The people contacted the senders about the mistake. Top
United HealthCare in California is at it again. They initially lied to their subscribers about after their takeover of PacifiCare regarding the amount of physicians in their network. Now they are pulling the same old late and low payment schemes as PacifiCare did. The California Medical Association has filed new claims against the insurer for their antics to the Department of Insurance and the Department of Managed Health Care. The amount of complaints against the insurer by physicians have dramatically jumped in the past year. United is trying to downplay the problem but the stonewalling will only cost them physicians and money for fines in the end.
Texas, as the rest of the country, has seen a major drop in HMO enrollment. The HMOs are charging those left higher fees so keep their shareholder profits high. The only segment of the population in which HMOs are growing are the Medicaid group. They have no choice or choices. Since 2000 the HMO members in the state have almost been cut in half. Top
Drew Medical School, the one that was affiliated with the ill fated King Hospital in Los Angeles, is now up for demolition. The county Board of Stupes is attempting to get the feds to keep funding for the King Hospital. The Stupes are using the medical school as a pawn to get them out of their own dilemma. If the hospital does not get funding the Drew school will have no where for their residents and about 250 residents will lose their positions.
In Southern California, another residency program is in trouble. This time it is the University of California, Irvine's Radiation oncology program. They are now on probation for the on-site review failure. The University has directed the residency director not to discuss the probation nor the reasons for it. The program will not take any new residents until and if they go off probation.
The West Texas Hospital in Abilene has lost its provider agreement with the CMS. This is because they continued to use 911 to transfer patients to a full service hospital. The hospital had just passed the Joint survey, another well done job. The Joint will now re-survey and under pressure will decertify. After the above stories came out, the 16 bed hospital decided to close.
Gee! To no one's surprise it's not just Reed VA
Hospital that sucks, it's all of them. In a look at 1400 VA institutions
(I can not call them hospitals) over 1000 had substandard conditions. The
VA has now stated they are working to do their deferred maintenance, which has
been neglected until the Reed fiasco. I again call for the abolishment of
the entire VA system and the mainstreaming of all the vets. Top
DISCLAIMER: Although this
article is updated periodically, it reflects the author's point of view at the
time of publication. Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice. Readers
should consult with their own legal counsel before acting on any of the
information presented.