Health | Joseph Michelson | May 19, 2008
The nonmobile, hard lump had been on my sternum (the bone in the center of the chest) for many months. As a physician, I had figured it was costochondritis -- an inflammation -- from years ago that had hardened with age.
California | Local | Jordan Rau | April 1, 2008
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration has moved to ban physicians and hospitals from billing patients for the cost of services above what their HMOs are willing to pay.
California | Local | Jordan Rau | February 5, 2008
In 2002, California's HMO czar, Daniel Zingale, declared, "The days are over when they could make patients wait and wait for healthcare." Zingale was heralding a new law that required his department to ensure that HMO patients received timely appointments with doctors.
Business | Lisa Girion | October 19, 2007
Many Californians enrolled in healthcare plans are receiving inadequate preventive care, a government report said Thursday. The eight largest plans in the state fail to ensure that their 12 million members are sufficiently tested and treated to prevent and detect major diseases and reduce unnecessary expenses, according to the California Office of the Patient Advocate's report, called the Health Care Quality Report Card.
California | Local | Charles Ornstein | September 22, 2007
A highly unusual battle erupted in a San Diego courtroom Friday, with parents of a severely premature baby seeking to force healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente to move their son to a better-equipped hospital in hopes of saving his life.
Business | Lisa Girion | August 29, 2007
Eight months after pledging to put the brakes on retroactive cancellations of individual health insurance policies, the state agency that regulates HMOs said Tuesday that new rules were taking longer than anticipated because of the variety of health plans involved.
California | Local | Tracy Weber | July 26, 2007
Kaiser Permanente will be assessed a record fine today for its haphazard investigations of questionable care, physician performance and patient complaints at its California hospitals, according to state HMO regulators.