L A Care

Federal regulators have again refused to allow full implementation of L.A. Care, the nation's largest local managed care program serving the poor, saying they still aren't convinced the Los Angeles County program is ready to go. Regulators with the U.S. Health Care Financing Administration notified the state late last week that they want to see more progress in an enrollment and community outreach plan before allowing L.A. Care to proceed full throttle. L.A.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas announced Saturday that he is asking the county's child welfare agency to provide the Board of Supervisors with accurate data about children's deaths going back to 1990. Ridley-Thomas described child fatalities under the county's watch as a crisis and said he plans to call on fellow supervisors Tuesday to order the Department of Children and Family Services to compile comprehensive figures for deaths of children who had a history of abuse or neglect.

Federal regulators have instructed the state to immediately suspend plans for automatic enrollment of poor people in managed care in Los Angeles County, saying the new process--the largest and most complex undertaking of its kind in the country--may be too confusing for Medi-Cal beneficiaries. The U.S.

As the head of a Los Angeles nonprofit organization that bills itself as "the nation's largest public health plan," Howard Kahn knows a thing or two about public options for health insurance. And he gives cautious approval to the compromise plan unveiled in the Senate last week to break the logjam on healthcare reform and steer negotiations into the homestretch. The Senate proposal, which is still a work in progress, would forgo a purely public insurance plan in favor of a government-administered program offered by private insurers.

When the national healthcare law takes full effect next year, millions of Americans risk disrupted health coverage because of common life events: getting married or divorced, having children or taking on a second job. As their family incomes change, so too will their eligibility for public insurance programs. And if nothing is done, policymakers warn, many low-income patients will lose access to their doctors and medications during this massive game of health coverage pingpong. Policymakers and healthcare industry leaders across the nation are paying close attention to the issue and working to close the coverage gaps before Jan. 1, said Alan Weil, executive director of the National Academy for State Health Policy.

Two Los Angeles groups which are combating two of the biggest social concerns of the '80s--child abuse and AIDS--are haggling with each other over the rights to a name. The moniker in question is L.A. CARES. The acronym was used first by a non-profit group which supports the city school district's Child Abuse Recognize and Eliminate program.

* L.A. Health Care Plan, a nonprofit health plan serving Los Angeles County Medi-Cal recipients, has named Nancee Mendenhall chief operations officer. She previously was regional vice president of provider network management at HealthNet, the for-profit Medicare HMO unit of Santa Ana-based PacifiCare Health Systems. * Sam Amir-Ebrahimi has joined the Century City branch of investment firm Prudential Securities Inc.

The scene begins with the woman ironing to the strains of soap-opera music. "I want to have a chat with you, son," she says, looking up from her board. "Remember when you were little and you used to get hurt when you played outside?" she continues. "Well, now some of your friends are very, very sick, and there's nothing to make them feel better."

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas announced Saturday that he is asking the county's child welfare agency to provide the Board of Supervisors with accurate data about children's deaths going back to 1990. Ridley-Thomas described child fatalities under the county's watch as a crisis and said he plans to call on fellow supervisors Tuesday to order the Department of Children and Family Services to compile comprehensive figures for deaths of children who had a history of abuse or neglect.

Class vs. Crass. That's the way San Francisco Giants fans see their hostile rivalry with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Most seasons, Giants fans are happy just to see the Dodgers lose. But this year there's actually something at stake--the NL West championship. And that's reinvigorated one of baseball's fiercest feuds, although just how fierce depends which side you're on. "The Dodgers were created by Satan," San Francisco Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll wrote for last Monday's editions.

Swaying in the pulpit at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Rev. John Harper is preaching to "the brothers," telling them to be there for their families, to discipline their children. "It's better that you put a belt across their butt now," he says, "than a cop put a flashlight upside their head later." Harper doesn't mention Stanley Miller. He doesn't have to. The Midcity congregation roars in recognition.

A decisive vote in favor of a new property tax has recast the debate over Los Angeles County's foundering health-care system, probably saving two full-service public hospitals from closure -- at least for now. Measure B, which passed with 73.2% of the vote, earned more support than any other initiative or candidate in the county.

If everything falls right for the Kings, they could clinch a playoff spot before playing their next game Thursday night at Vancouver, Canada. Taking care of the only part of the equation in their control, they extended their winning streak to three games Monday night with a 3-0 victory over the Dallas Stars in front of a sellout crowd of 18,118 at Staples Center.

The chief executive of L.A. Care Health Plan, the nation's largest public managed care program, has been placed on a leave of absence because of concerns that he has a conflict of interest, officials said Monday. Anthony Rodgers, 52, was placed on leave from his $242,000-a-year post last Friday when the board met to discuss concerns that Rodgers had recently married a staff member of Blue Cross, one of the health plans participating in L.A. Care, without properly notifying the board, L.A.

* L.A. Health Care Plan, a nonprofit health plan serving Los Angeles County Medi-Cal recipients, has named Nancee Mendenhall chief operations officer. She previously was regional vice president of provider network management at HealthNet, the for-profit Medicare HMO unit of Santa Ana-based PacifiCare Health Systems. * Sam Amir-Ebrahimi has joined the Century City branch of investment firm Prudential Securities Inc.

Dong-Uk Kim's parents came to Los Angeles 11 days ago as their last hope for saving the 10-year-old Korean child's life. The boy has a tumor the size of an adult's fist between his kidneys. After five futile months of chemotherapy in Seoul, doctors said they could do no more. So the Kims set out for America. But now, even American doctors have told them that the fourth-grader's chance for survival is nil. Still, Su-Tea and Hyon-Ja Kim remain hopeful.

Swaying in the pulpit at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Rev. John Harper is preaching to "the brothers," telling them to be there for their families, to discipline their children. "It's better that you put a belt across their butt now," he says, "than a cop put a flashlight upside their head later." Harper doesn't mention Stanley Miller. He doesn't have to. The Midcity congregation roars in recognition.

The chief executive of L.A. Care Health Plan, the nation's largest public managed care program, has been placed on a leave of absence because of concerns that he has a conflict of interest, officials said Monday. Anthony Rodgers, 52, was placed on leave from his $242,000-a-year post last Friday when the board met to discuss concerns that Rodgers had recently married a staff member of Blue Cross, one of the health plans participating in L.A. Care, without properly notifying the board, L.A.

Gilbert Saldate's been stood up, blown off and shooed away. He's heard every excuse, every lament, from people whose life contents are dumped in shopping carts or strewn about the pavement. "That's their right," he says--no offense taken, no judgment implied. Yet even he was growing exasperated with the couple living under the Hollywood Freeway near downtown Los Angeles. For three years, on and off, he'd been urging them to get drug treatment, apply for assistance, do something.

Class vs. Crass. That's the way San Francisco Giants fans see their hostile rivalry with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Most seasons, Giants fans are happy just to see the Dodgers lose. But this year there's actually something at stake--the NL West championship. And that's reinvigorated one of baseball's fiercest feuds, although just how fierce depends which side you're on. "The Dodgers were created by Satan," San Francisco Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll wrote for last Monday's editions.