Kaiser

A Southern California lawmaker who helped defeat legislation opposed by Kaiser is benefiting from a business relationship with the nonprofit health group. The proposal, which died in the Legislature earlier this month after a dispute over its provisions, would have required state approval for health insurers including Kaiser to raise their rates. State Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina), chairman of the Senate Health Committee, owns a corporation that leases an office building to Kaiser Permanente in Baldwin Park.

George, Nicholas and Wilhelm Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War One Miranda Carter Vintage: 498 pp., $19 paper Queen Victoria's grand plan to marry as many of her descendants as possible into the reigning families of Europe resulted in her progeny sitting on the thrones of no fewer than 10 nations. After all, as the saying went back then, "blood is thicker than water," and so with this network of rulers related to the woman who was dubbed the "Grandmama of Europe," surely then peace would prevail.

In the biggest private-sector labor election since 1941, the giant Service Employees International Union has decisively defeated an insurgent group to continue representing about 43,000 Kaiser healthcare workers in California. The SEIU received 18,290 votes to 11,364 for the National Union of Healthcare Workers, which was launched last year by several former leaders of the larger organization. The mail ballots went out in mid-September and the count was completed late Thursday.

It started a year ago, Rechilda Zapanta said. Images appeared blurry; the glare of lights made her squint; the needle she had threaded so often with ease was nearly impossible to see. Over time, the cataract in her left eye grew more troublesome, and Zapanta was forced to leave her job as a seamstress in a dress shop. Without medical insurance, Zapanta said, the surgery she required was out of her reach. But last week, the 74-year-old Azusa resident received surprising news: She could have the cataract removed ?

The tense scene inside the cafeteria at Kaiser Permanente's sprawling Los Angeles Medical Center illustrated the bitter, long-in-the-making battle that is about to culminate in the nation's biggest private-sector labor election since 1941. In bright red T-shirts promoting one of two unions vying to represent Kaiser employees, a few healthcare workers stood out in the sea of white smocks at the lunch tables. Across the room, a supporter of the rival group videotaped the workers in hopes of catching them breaking any rules that limit union soliciting at the Sunset Boulevard hospital.

My name is Bob and I'm an exercise coward. I've tried to stick with various exercise programs but always failed until I reached 71 and my Kaiser internist prodded me into an honest shot at losing weight. To my surprise, this time I was able to stick with it — all because of a Higher Power, namely William Shakespeare. My Higher Power had hooked up with me five years earlier when my fear of senile dementia had pushed me into memorizing 20 of his most famous sonnets as a brain exercise.

The gig: President and chief executive of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a private nonprofit research and communications organization in Menlo Park, Calif., devoted to U.S. and worldwide healthcare issues. A man on a mission: A former human services commissioner in New Jersey, Altman transformed a sleepy grant maker into a major nonpartisan healthcare information source for journalists, politicians and the public. The secret of success : Altman, 59, spotted an opportunity long before healthcare made daily headlines: When he arrived at Kaiser in 1990, he saw himself as a nonprofit entrepreneur, or as he puts it, "an opportunist in pursuit of the public good."

The California state attorney general's office said Thursday that it had subpoenaed financial records of California's seven largest health insurance companies as part of an investigation into whether they illegally raised customer premiums and denied payment of legitimate claims. Prosecutors said they sought documents from Anthem Blue Cross, Aetna Health, Blue Shield of California, Cigna, Health Net, Kaiser Permanente and PacifiCare. The subpoenas -- of financial records and other documents -- cover health plans that reimburse doctors and hospitals for their services.

The Vermont Square Library floats like a little yellow ark on the big green empty lawn of a park in South Los Angeles. In a world with too many microchips, televisions and other electronic distractions, it's a place where parents can introduce children to the power of quiet thinking. Kevin Harvey Sr., a 43-year-old ex-con and former gang member, goes there several days a week with his two daughters, ages 13 and 10. Each afternoon they spend between the stacks of young adult novels is a kind of promise that their lives won't be like his. "I grew up here.