Black women are three- to four times more likely to die from pregnancy related causes than White women.
Blue Shield of California is launching an initiative that links healthcare technology and collaboration with community-based organizations to improve services for new mothers and their babies.
The nonprofit health plan's Maternal Child Health Equity initiative aims to address disproportionate mortality rates among mothers and children, especially in underserved communities. Services are available to expecting and new mothers in Fresno, Los Angeles, and Sacramento counties through physician referrals.
According to federal data, Black women are three- to four times more likely to die from pregnancy related causes than White women, and more than twice as likely than non-Latinx White mothers to receive late or no prenatal care.
In addition, Black infants in the U.S. are more than twice as likely to die than White infants, which is also true within California, according to County Health Rankings.
"Black women continue to experience adverse birth outcomes and pregnancy-related complications at much higher rates compared to other racial/ethnic groups," D.D. Johnice, vice president of Blue Shield's Health Transformation Lab, said in an email exchange with HealthLeaders.
"Given the disparities in maternal and child health that are disproportionately impacting Black families and communities, something needed to change," Johnice said. "This health crisis is caused by racial health inequities – Black mothers are being ignored and underserved with the medical and social needs for them and their babies. That said, there is an urgent need for the healthcare system to develop thoughtful and impactful solutions to address it."
The initiative will work with community-based organizations such as Black Wellness and Prosperity Center, Diversity Uplift, and Her Health First to train "culturally congruent and trauma-informed" doulas and connect mothers to family-centered services, emergency funds, and maternal supplies.
The initiative will also collaborate with Mahmee to bring access to health records of the mother and baby, educational materials ranging from nutrition to return to work, and unbiased guidance throughout the process.
Johnice said the initiative was designed as a market test.
"From clinical and public health best practices, we developed a three-pronged approach to support and care for mothers and their babies – connecting them with community-based organizations, doulas, and technology," she said. "We are looking to improve pregnancy outcomes, mental health and stress, and the overall experiences with the healthcare system for birthing people and their families. Our goal is to learn what works best from this program in Fresno, Los Angeles, and Sacramento, and expand offerings from there."
Jessica Altman's tenure will begin in early March after the planned departure of Peter V. Lee, Covered California's founding executive director.
Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Jessica Altman has been named CEO of Covered California, the board of directors at the state's health insurance marketplace has announced.
A former Obama administration official who helped launch the marketplaces created under the Affordable Care Act, Altman's tenure will begin in early March after the planned departure of Peter V. Lee, Covered California's founding executive director, who has led the organization since its inception more than a decade ago.
"I could not be more honored to accept the position as Covered California's next CEO," Altman said in a media release.
"Under Peter's leadership, Covered California became a national model for the Affordable Care Act always putting consumers first and maximizing the role of the marketplace to transform healthcare."
Covered California boasts a record-high 1.8 million enrollees, thanks in part to the implementation of the American Rescue Plan, and record-low rate changes averaging just over 1% over the past three years.
Mark Ghaly, MD, Covered California's board chair and California Health and Human Services secretary, lauded Lee's "vision, passion and leadership" during his tenure.
"That work has improved the lives of millions of Californians and meant that Covered California has served as a national proving ground," Ghaly said, addint that Altman is "an impressive leader with significant experience with the Affordable Care Act, marketplaces and fighting for consumers."
As Pennsylvania's insurance commissioner, Altman led the transition to "Pennie," the nation's fifth-largest state marketplace, which began offering coverage in 2021. Before Pennie, the state offered coverage through the federal marketplace.
Hospital leaders express disappointment but pledge to "move on to a new path forward."
The Federal Trade Commission and Rhode Island regulators on Thursday said they will file suit to block the proposed merger of the two largest health systems in the nation's smallest state.
If consummated, the consolidated eight-hospital Lifespan and Care New England system "would control an unprecedented amount of healthcare in Rhode Island, taking the state's healthcare market from one in which there is healthy competition to a virtual monopoly," regulators said.
"Our review clearly established that Lifespan and CNE compete aggressively with each other across many inpatient and outpatient service lines," Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha said in a media release.
"Eliminating this competition will have the same effects here as seen across the country following mergers of this size: rising healthcare costs, lower quality, and reduced access," Neronha said. "The parties simply have not demonstrated why these results would not happen here and how they would be able to deliver on promised benefits that would outweigh these risks."
The regulators' review noted that the consolidated system would:
Control 75% of all inpatient acute care hospital beds in the state
Control 80% of the state's inpatient hospital care
Control 79% of the state's inpatient psychiatric care
Control 60% or more of the state's market for many outpatient surgeries
Account for 50% of commercial healthcare spending on patients whose primary care physician is part of the merged system's ACOs
Employ 67% of the state's full-time hospital RNs.
Care New England President and CEO James E. Fanale, MD, and Lifespan President and CEO Timothy J. Babineau, MD, issued a joint statement expressing frustration with the regulators' decision.
"Of course, we are disappointed, but I will say that we can truly know that we did everything we could over the past few years of hard work to get this done," Fanale said.
"We thought it was the right thing to do, but now we will need to move on to a new path forward," he said. "There is always a path forward, and we will explore all options to find the best possible -- and acceptable to regulatory bodies – solution for access to affordable, quality, healthcare."
Neronha's office and the FTC will file a joint complaint in federal district court for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop the deal and to maintain the status quo until an administrative hearing can be held.
“This proposed merger is a bad deal for patients who are likely to see higher hospital bills, lower quality of care, and fewer cutting-edge medical services," FTC Bureau of Competition Director Holly Vedova said.
"By eliminating competition between Lifespan and Care New England, this merger would create a new healthcare conglomerate with outsized power over the entire continuum of healthcare services," Vedova said.
"As this country struggles to recover from a devastating pandemic, we can't afford to allow this kind of concentrated control over critical healthcare services."
BCBS Rhode Island
Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island said the failed merger bid will not affect its relationship with either health system.
"The decision of the Rhode Island Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission does not impact our shared commitment to these efforts, which further long-term economic growth, predictability of healthcare costs, and the well-being of all Rhode Islanders," the payer said.
CMC claims no liability for the whistleblower allegations.
Catholic Medical Center will pay $3.8 million to resolve whistleblower allegations that it violated the Anti-Kickback Statute when the Manchester, New Hampshire-based hospital provided free call coverage services to a cardiologist in exchange for patient referrals, the Department of Justice said.
CMC claimed no liability, but said it settled with DOJ to avoid costly litigation.
The settlement agreement with DOJ stated that CMC "paid its own cardiologists to cover for, and to be available to provide medical services for, another cardiologist’s patients when she was on vacation or otherwise unavailable."
"The United States further alleged that CMC provided these call coverage services at no charge," DOJ said. "The cardiologist who received the free call coverage referred millions of dollars in medical procedures and services to CMC over the decade in which the free services were provided."
Because CMC submitted to Medicare, Medicaid and other federal payers claims for services provided by the cardiologist's referrals, DOJ said the payments were unlawful kickbacks.
"When patients are referred for medical services, those referrals should be based solely on medical need and not affected by financial considerations," New Hampshire U.S. Attorney John J. Farley said in a media release.
"We work closely with our law enforcement partners to protect the integrity of federal health care programs and we will use all appropriate enforcement tools to combat healthcare fraud in New Hampshire."
The settlement resolves allegations originally brought in a lawsuit filed by a whistleblower, David Goldberg, MD, a former CMC employee.
CMC Responds
Lauren Collins-Cline, communications director at CMC, said the settlement involves a call coverage arrangement that began 15 years ago "with the input of legal counsel in order to provide high quality care for patients. It is no longer in place."
"While CMC vigorously disagrees with the government's allegations that this arrangement violated federal law, we have agreed to settle in order to avoid long costly civil litigation. CMC holds itself to the highest ethical standards in patient care and business conduct. That’s embedded in our mission and will always remain our highest priority," Collins-Clinesaid.
It's believed to be the largest philanthropic donation to a U.S. university to support research focused solely on depression.
The estate of Newport Beach philanthropist Audrey Steele Burnand has gifted $57.6 million to the University of California, Irvine, with most of the money funding a new campus-wide center researching the causes and treatments of depression.
The $55 million of the gift that is dedicated to mental health funding is believed to be the largest philanthropic donation to a U.S. university to support research focused solely on depression, the most prevalent mental health disorder in the U.S., afflicting about 1 in 15 adults.
The remaining $2.6 million of the gift will support the UCI-managed Steele/Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center.
"This is a truly transformative gift from a longtime and great supporter of our vital work," said UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman. "Audrey Steele Burnand's legacy will enable us to create a world-class research center that builds upon UCI's historical excellence in the neurosciences to make life better for millions of people."
The gift will create the Noel Drury M.D. Depression Research Center, named after a board-certified psychiatrist who practiced in Newport Beach.
UCI will funnel the gift through the Drury Center for depression-related studies from biology and the health sciences to engineering and the social sciences. The university already centers for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia (UCI MIND), behavior and learning (the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory and the Conte Center@UCI), and integrative health (the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute) that are potentially poised to benefit from Burnand's philanthropy.
"This gift provides a unique opportunity for UCI to establish a world-class research center focused on the area of depression, which is extremely important from a societal point of view," said Pramod Khargonekar, vice chancellor for research. "With our campus strength in interdisciplinary, collaborative research, we are in a great position to leverage this support to produce discoveries about this debilitating disorder."
In addition to the settlement, the UC system said it has issued new directives to prevent, detect and address sexual misconduct.
The University of California Board of Regents has agreed to pay $243.5 million to settle 203 lawsuits filed by women who were sexually abused by disgraced former UCLA gynecologist James Heaps.
"The conduct alleged to have been committed by Heaps is reprehensible and contrary to the university’s values," the Regents said in a statement to the media. "We express our gratitude to the brave individuals who came forward, and hope this settlement is one step toward providing healing and closure for the plaintiffs involved."
In addition to the settlement, the UC system said it has issued new directives to prevent, detect and address sexual misconduct, including:
Increasing the resources and staffing of Title IX within UCLA Health;
Developing an interdisciplinary team, including Title IX, to coordinate effective and timely responses to reports of sexual misconduct in the clinical setting;
Expanding training for employees in order to recognize and report sexual violence and sexual harassment;
Updating and enhancing chaperone policies for sensitive exams and procedures, including the expanded use of chaperones in clinical settings and the rotation of chaperones between clinicians;
Strengthening patient feedback mechanisms; and
Instituting rigorous pre-hiring and credentialing protocols
"In light of this settlement and these changes at UCLA, we reiterate our ongoing commitment to never tolerate sexual violence or harassment in any form," the Regents said. "Allegations of sexual misconduct by any healthcare provider will be promptly addressed, and appropriate actions will be taken to ensure our patients are safe, protected and respected."
The deal comes one day after Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical announced the sale to Yale New Haven Health of three Connecticut hospitals.
ChristianaCare Health System, Inc. announced Friday that it has sign a letter of intent to buy the financially troubled, for-profit Crozer Health from Prospect Medical Holdings, Inc. in a deal that could be finalized later this year.
The deal comes one day after Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical announced the sale to Yale New Haven Health of three Connecticut hospitals.
Financial terms were not disclosed for the Crozer deal, under which the four-hospital, Springfield, Pennsylvania-based Crozer will become a nonprofit organization. Wilmington, Delaware-based ChristianaCare has three hospitals.
"ChristianaCare and Crozer Health have been serving the people of Northern Delaware, Southeast Pennsylvania and parts of Maryland and New Jersey as neighbors for many years," ChristinaCare President and CEO Janice E. Nevin, MD, MPH, said in prepared remarks.
"We welcome this opportunity to explore a closer relationship with an organization that shares our commitment to value and service to the community."
The four Crozer hospitals involved in the deal are:
Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland, Pennsylvania, with 499 certified beds.
Delaware County Memorial Hospital in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, with 215 certified beds.
Springfield Hospital in Springfield, Pennsylvania.
Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania.
The agreement also includes the hospitals’ related businesses, real estate assets, Crozer Health Medical Group and the associated assets, ambulatory centers, medical office buildings, physician clinics and ancillary outpatient services.
With the LOI signed, the two systems now enter a negotiation and due diligence process but are expected to sign a definitive agreement in the second half of 2022. The agreement is subject to regulatory approvals.
The hospitals will be released from their master lease agreement between the real estate owner and Prospect.
In an interview with WHYY News, Crozer President and CEO Kevin Spiegel said the four hospitals would remain open, but he did not provide the radio outlet with details about what that would look like under ChristinaCare.
"This is one of the most stabilizing forces, all of the physicians and community board members that we have met with and explained what is about to happen, [it] was seen as extremely positive, because this is a stabilizing force," Spiegel told WHYY.
Currently, Prospect Medical Holdings owns 13 hospitals and more than 40 physician practices in six states. However, if the sales in Pennsylvania and Connecticut are finalized, Prospect will no longer have a hospital presence in those states.
It's the largest gift ever received by the Vancouver, Washington-based, nonprofit, 10-hospital, Catholic health system.
Retired hotelier and real estate developer Peter H. Paulsen has given PeaceHealth $50 million to expand St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham, Washington, the health system announced Thursday.
It's the largest gift ever received by Vancouver, Washington-based PeaceHealth, a nonprofit, 10-hospital, Catholic health system with a footprint in Washington, Oregon, and Alaska.
The money will be used to build the Peter H. Paulsen Pavilion at PeaceHealth St. Joseph and will include an emergency department and care venue upgrades for women, children and newborns.
PeaceHealth President and CEO Liz Dunne said the gift "honors the courageous compassion of PeaceHealth caregivers, while reaffirming the value of their dedication and expertise."
"(Paulsen's) trust in PeaceHealth ensures continued innovation in top-tier community-based healthcare and will transform the health and well-being of those who live in the northwest Washington region for years to come," Dunne said.
In addition to Paulsen's $50 million pledge, PeaceHealth has already collected $15.5 million from other donors through its newly launched Stronger Together fundraising campaign
“I am proud to be a lead donor to the Stronger Together campaign," Paulsen said. "My gift, along with the other $15.5 million already raised, help ensure PeaceHealth's continued innovation in best-in-class community-based healthcare. I was encouraged by early donors to this effort and hope others will join us."
Assembly Democrats must decide Monday whether to continue pushing for the bill as opposition grows.
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is backing the CalCare single-payer bill in the state assembly but warned supporters that it will face stiff opposition from commercial payers who are "going to fight to keep their profits before all else."
"Despite the incredible progress we have made, the pandemic has laid bare the inequities in how Californians access healthcare coverage," Lara said in a letter to Assemblymembers Ash Kalra (D-27), one of three cosponsors of AB 1400.
"We have paid a deadly price for the needless discrimination, complexity, and excessive costs of for-profit insurance," Lara said. "That is why we need to continue to fight for a single-payer plan that will protect all Californians and serve our collective public health."
Assembly Democrats must decide Monday whether to continue pushing for the bill as opposition strengthens.
In a letter to lawmakers, a coalition of more than 100 business and professional associations – led by the California Chamber of Commerce, and including Anthem, Inc., and Blue Shield of California – said previous estimates of similar bills put the cost of the single-payer initiative at more than $400 billion a year, roughly four times the size of Medi-Cal.
"Successfully standing up a new function that would be twice the size of the existing state budget is highly doubtful, given the state’s recent experience with benefit delays and massive fraud in the unemployment system," the letter said.
"The kinds of tax increases needed to finance AB 1400 would detrimentally impact California businesses and certainly discourage companies from growing or relocating here," the letter said.
Lara said the rhetoric from payers is not surprising.
"Insurance companies and healthcare plans are going to fight to keep their profits before all else and we need to keep fighting for people's right to quality healthcare," he said. "I believe the only way to achieve 'healthcare for all' is to keep pushing for it."
Even with recent efforts to expand healthcare coverage through the Affordable Care Act and state initiatives, Lara said the "current health care system is a complex, fragmented multi-payer system that still leaves wide gaps of coverage and poses significant issues of affordability."
"Despite healthcare spending in the United States far exceeding that of other high-income, industrialized countries that offer a publicly financed single-payer system, we consistently report worse health outcomes and disparities among vulnerable populations," he said.
"Healthcare is a right, not a privilege only for those who can afford it."
The buildup will include hospitals in Dallas Fort-Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and two hospitals in the Austin area.
HCA Healthcare, Inc., the nation's largest for-profit health system, announced Wednesday that it was building five full-service hospitals in four Texas cities.
"Communities across Texas are undergoing a rapid increase in population, and the addition of these new hospitals will help our existing network meet the increasing need for healthcare services," HCA CEO Sam Hazen said in a media release. "We are thrilled to expand our presence in Texas, and we believe it will enhance our care and better serve our patients."
The buildup will include hospitals in the Dallas Fort-Worth, Houston, San Antonio, in partnership with Methodist Healthcare Ministries, and two hospitals in the Austin area in partnership with St. David's Foundation and Georgetown Health Foundation.
Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA now operates 45 hospitals and 632 care venues with 60,000 "colleagues" in Texas cities, including Austin, El Paso, the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, San Antonio, Houston, Corpus Christi and the Rio Grande Valley.
The publicly traded health system said the new hospitals will complement its presence in rapidly-growing communities across Texas, where it said it has invested more than $6.6 billion in the past five years.
