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SACRAMENTO – The Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed a bill by Assemblywoman Patty Berg that would protect Californians from the kind of red tape fiascos that kept doctors from Hurricane Katrina victims.
“Emergency response should be free from red tape during disasters,” Berg, D-Eureka, said in a statement. “These are life and death situations.”
Assembly Bill 64 would require California officials to recognize the out-of-state medical licenses of emergency volunteers during a declared state emergency, according to Berg's statement.
At the same time, Berg said the bill would create a system for California’s health care workers to register their credentials so that other states could benefit from their expertise in a disaster.
During the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, volunteer doctors and nurses were prevented from giving aid because they lacked Louisiana medical licenses, Berg reported.
Dr. Dan Diamond, a physician from Seattle, told the San Francisco Chronicle that it took five days for him and other doctors to get on the ground in New Orleans as opposed to 48 hours during the Indonesian tsunami aftermath in 2004.
“Each hour a doctor or nurse is delayed is an hour that a Californian goes without help,” said Berg. “Red tape should not cause Californians to die.”
Assembly Bill 64 is part of a multi-state effort to create a national registry. Kentucky enacted similar legislation, and six other states have introduced legislation.
AB 64 now goes to the Senate for further consideration.
For more information about Berg and her legislation, or to contact her office, visit her Web site at http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a01/.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LAKE COUNTY – Citing extraordinarily high health care costs, Blue Shield of California is pulling its health care plan out of Lake County, a decision expected to affect nearly 2,100 county government employees and family members.
On Tuesday, the CalPERS Board of Administration approved Blue Shield's plan to stop offering its health maintenance organization (HMO) plan in Lake and three other rural Northern California counties, according to Karen Perkins of CalPERS' Public Affairs Office.
CalPERS, based in Sacramento, is the country's third-largest provider of health benefits. It currently offers insurance and benefits to 1.2 million state and public agency employees, retirees and their dependents.
Blue Shield asked to withdraw its HMO health care product from Lake, Napa, Plumas and parts of El Dorado counties, citing health care costs 78 percent above the state average, Perkins reported.
CalPERS said it will provide other health care options to public employees in lieu of the withdrawn Blue Shield coverage.
The plan change will impact about 9,100 CalPERS members among the four counties, including 1,200 in Lake County, Perkins said.
Those affected locally are primarily state and county employees; the cities of Lakeport and Clearlake are not CalPERS subscribers, Perkins noted.
The move is expected to save $30 million in premiums, CalPERS reported.
“For years, other members [outside the four counties] have, in effect, subsidized these costs, but costs have become so high we are not able to continue this,” said George Diehr, Chair of the CalPERS Health Benefits Committee. “We are disappointed that providers in this area were not able to be responsive to the need for more affordable care.”
Blue Shield finds higher costs
Perkins said Blue Shield originally looked at 11 rural Northern California counties before settling on the four in question.
In Lake County in particular, a Blue Shield study found health care costs were 89-percent higher than the statewide average, according to CalPERS.
Blue Shield asserted that hospitals “are a key driver of health care costs,” in Lake County.
Annual hospital costs are estimated by Blue Shield to be 175 percent higher in that county – $3,923 per day, compared with $1,429 per day. Average hospital inpatient costs are 61 percent higher in Lake County – $8,325 per day, compared with the statewide average of $5,166 per day.
Representatives from Sutter Lakeside Hospital and Adventist Health's Redbud Community Hospital could not be reached for comment at midafternoon on Blue Shield's assertions.
Perkins said the study found several “common denominators” amongst the four counties in question.
“Some of the issues are that in these counties what we've found overall is that a greater percentage of the population are receiving services that are categorized as 'chronic,'” she said.
“Chronic” diseases, she said, include asthma, diabetes, congestive heart failure and kidney failure. Cancer, she added, is not among those diseases.
Along with having a population that has more chronic health conditions, the study found Lake County had higher-than-normal hospital, surgery and pharmacy costs.
From September 2006 through February 2007, Blue Shield conducted Regional Council meetings in Lake County to identify health care cost drivers and discuss ways to improve affordability in the county, CalPERS reported.
During that time, Blue Shield sought assistance from physicians and hospitals to organize them into health care delivery networks that would reduce costs and enhance delivery of care, according to CalPERS. However, Blue Shield reported their efforts met with limited success.
There is a lack of alternative health facilities, said Perkins, with more procedures that could be done on an outpatient basis having to be done in the local hospitals.
The US Census Bureau's most recent population estimate for Lake County is 65,933, of which 16.2 percent – or 10,549 people – are above the age of 65.
Could those numbers account for the the higher incidences of chronic conditions found?
Perkins said she wasn't aware if the Blue Shield study disseminated those numbers, although it was referenced in the Regional Council meetings.
“They didn't pinpoint it as being the main cause, necessarily,” she said. “They referenced it in passing.”
Kathy Ferguson, the County of Lake's personnel director, said the county worked with Blue Shield on its Regional Councils, which studied the health care costs.
As to the findings about Lake County's health care costs and unique conditions, Ferguson said, “The information they were providing seemed to be accurate.”
What the changes mean for employees
Ferguson said the Blue Shield HMO plan being eliminated is the most popular among county employees. While the choices aren't as great as in a preferred provider organization – or PPO – and there are higher premiums, there typically aren't deductibles with HMOs, she explained.
Information provided from CalPERS shows that of the more than 1,700 employees in Lake County who subscribe to CalPERS health coverage, nearly 1,200 use the Blue Shield plan.
The plan covers a total of 2,105 people, which includes the employees and their family members, CalPERS reported. Of those, about half live in and around Lakeport and Kelseyville.
The changes resulting from Blue Shield's exit will take effect Jan. 1, 2008, said Ferguson, at the start of the health plan year.
CalPERS reported its members in Lake County will continue to receive quality health care either through one of the system’s other HMO or PPO offerings.
Members also can enroll in an additional PPO plan – PERS Select – approved by the board Tuesday. PERS Select is provided at a lower cost than the standard PPO, and utilizes a smaller panel of doctors and specialists identified by Blue Cross of California as meeting certain efficiencies and patient satisfaction standards.
In addition, CalPERS reported that some members in Lake County can also take advantage of the Rural Health Care Equity Program, which would provide a subsidy of up to $1,500 per year.
Ferguson said she was waiting to receive the final information on the proposed changes to the other CalPERS health plans.
She said she's not certain how reenrollment in the other plans will happen, but in the past, when there have been plan changes, CalPERS has simply switched employees over to plans they believe will be the most popular, allowing employees to change later if they choose. That results in less of a paperwork headache for county staff.
Health care plans leaving the county isn't new, said Ferguson.
“HMOs have come and gone out of the county several times before,” she said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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The light brown apple moth has been found in neighboring Napa County, state and federal officials confirmed Wednesday.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that a single adult light brown apple moth was found May 9 in a residential area of Napa.
Officials made the announcement following lab confirmation by Department of Food and Agriculture entomologists, with supporting confirmation by USDA scientists.
“This moth is a threat not only to agriculture but also to our urban environment – our landscaping, our parks and our natural habitat,” state Agriculture Secretary A.G. Kawamura said in a statement. “We are moving quickly to detect the extent of any infestation and contain the problem in the smallest possible area.”
The Department of Food and Agriculture, USDA and the county agricultural commissioner's office have already begun setting and collecting additional traps in the area to determine the extent of the problem. No additional moths have been found in the vicinity to date.
The light brown apple moth, which is native to Australia, was first detected in the Bay Area in February, state officials reported. Since then, it has reached nine counties – Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, Marin, Monterey, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Mateo and now Napa.
More than 2,000 moths have been detected in those nine counties since February, the Department of Food & Agriculture reported, with most of the moths found in Santa Cruz, which officials believe may be an original infestation point.
Trapping is taking place in 40 of the state's 58 counties, but so far Lake hasn't been added to that list. However, trapping is taking place in Mendocino, Sonoma and Yolo.
Officials say the light brown apple moth is of particular concern because it can damage a wide range of plants including many commonly found in our urban and suburban landscaping, public parks and natural environment.
The list of agricultural crops that could be damaged by this pest includes as many as 250 plant species, from grapes and pears to citrus and stone fruits. The pest damages plants and crops by feeding on leaves, new shoots and fruit.
On Tuesday, SB 556, a piece of urgency legislation introduced by North Coast Sen. Patricia Wiggins to address the moth issue, passed the Senate Agriculture Committee. The bill would create an advisory task force to advise Kawamura on the moth issue.
“As we find out more about the spread of this pest, the department and the Legislature will be better able to assess what resources and programs California may need to protect our precious and vulnerable agricultural products from potential harm,” she told the committee at the hearing.
This week, the USDA informed county agricultural commissioners that Mexico has implemented restrictions on shipments of certain fruits and vegetables to that country from the infested counties.
In addition, the USDA reported that seven states – Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, Oregon and Wisconsin – have asked the Department of Food & Agriculture for advance notification of shipments from the quarantined counties.
Late in April state agricultural officials established a quarantine to cover the affected counties, which required inspections and clearances for shipments of plants and fruits from within the affected counties.
On May 2, the USDA added a federal quarantine regulating movement of plant materials between California and other states, with similar inspection requirements as those found in the state quarantine.
USDA and the Department of Food & Agriculture reported that they have assembled a technical working group comprised of international experts on light brown apple moth to discuss survey and mitigation strategies to safeguard against this potentially damaging pest and prevent its further spread.
The group will meet in San Jose today and Friday, May 17-18, to discuss California's situation and make recommendations about the project.
For more information on the light brown apple moth, visit the Department of Food and Agriculture's Web site, www.cdfa.ca.gov.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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SACRAMENTO – The Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday approved the following bills by Sen. Patricia Wiggins (D – Santa Rosa):
– SB 557, which seeks to include qualified doctors of audiology among those medical professionals who may be appointed by the administrative director of the Division of Workers' Compensation as qualified medical evaluators.
The bill’s sponsor, the California Academy of Audiology, asserts that an audiologist is the most qualified professional to determine whether a hearing loss would impair a worker's ability or whether a hearing loss was secondary to noise exposure on the job.
– SB 565, which would create the position of hospital and health services director at the Yountville Veterans’ Home.
Yountville is the only state veterans’ home with a hospital. Yountville has an emergency room, skilled nursing facility, pharmacy, and an Alzheimer unit. Yountville has a medical director and a nursing director but no one to administer and coordinate the medical care and medical personnel for all the facilities on the property.
Veterans and veterans’ advocacy groups believe that patients would be better served with a hospital and health services director on-site.
– SB 581, which would transfer the Volunteer Firefighters Length of Service Award System away from CalPERS and direct administrative responsibilities of the program to the California State Fire Employees Welfare Benefit Corporation.
Currently there are approximately 54 fire departments participating in the program, and 128 volunteer firefighters who are receiving monthly payments and who are eligible for the death benefit. The total membership is comprised of 3,983 volunteer firefighters and the balance in the fund is approximately $2.6 million.
In 1998, CalPERS changed the methods and assumptions it used in determining the administrative costs of the VFLSA. Since that time, the administrative costs have increased from $10,000 to an estimated cost of $139,025 for 2007-08.
The system is funded entirely by contributions from contracting fire entities and investment earnings.
– SB 861, which would authorize the North Coast Railroad Authority (NCRA) to use $5.5 million in previously allocated state funds for environmental cleanup of rail lines.
Specifically, this bill would allow the NCRA to use $5.5 million in funds allocated through the Transportation Congestion Relief Program to meet cleanup obligations under an environmental remediation consent decree ($4 million), along with some administrative responsibilities.
The authority would be prohibited from spending more than $500,000 annually on administrative expenses.
Monday's actions mean that all four bills are now eligible for a vote by the full Senate.
Wiggins represents California’s 2nd Senate District, which stretches from Solano County to Humboldt County and includes part or all of Lake, Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma Counties as well. Visit her Web site at http://dist02.casen.govoffice.com/.
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