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California Blue Shield is starting only to cover insureds with individual policies in the state. If one goes out of state for routine care they will not be covered. They will be covered for emergency, urgent care and some limited primary care. Those already in a course of treatment in another state will also be grandfathered in.
The feds claim that California, to no one's surprise, has spend nearly $1 billion in 2014,15 to provide Medicaid benefits to those not eligible to receive them. California agreed with the audit. They blamed it on a large increase in Medicaid applicants coupled with errors by caseworkers and problems with the state computer system.
I am a physician that is involved with an organization called Medical Reserve Corps or MRC. We get activated to care for patients in shelters in the time of emergency. To date I have been the lone physician at two recent shelters in the Northern California area. Besides triaging patients one of my main jobs is to refill prescriptions the evacuees have left behind. I did not know until today when I read an article that there is a program called PULSE. This program involves EMRs and allows the providers in shelters to access medical records of patients. I wish I had known. Top
In the fire devastation area of Paradise, California, the only hospital of the town was left standing but damaged. The hospital will not reopen until 2020 but there will be a clinic. There are not many people left there and many will not return. The hospital will continue to pay their employees until February 5 and provide health benefits through May. They are also helping find work at other affiliated locations for the unemployed staff.
The CEO of University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey resigned. The reason was the death of three babies in the neonatal unit from infection.
The CEO and two other administrators at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in Florida resigned. This followed the major increase in patient deaths with heart surgeries. The chair of the department of surgery also stepped down but continues at the hospital, The hospital had been warned about problems by the employees physician assistants, but looked the other way. 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.