Healthcare

Lawyers Versus Doctors In Costly Prop. 46 Campaign Wars

October 21, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>A ballot initiative that pits lawyers against doctors has set off one of this year's fiercest campaign wars, a costly clash over increasing state limits on malpractice damages and imposing drug testing on physicians.</p> <p>Proposition 46 would raise the cap on pain-and-suffering awards in malpractice lawsuits and require that hospitals randomly test their doctors for drug and alcohol use. Backers say the measure would rein in negligent doctors; opponents charge that it's a money grab by the lawyers who helped put it on the ballot.</p>

California Ballot Measure Pits Doctors Against Lawyers

October 14, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p><a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/10/14/356050478/california-ballot-measure-pits-doctors-against-lawyers">Click here to listen to this radio broadcast</a>.</p> <p>Troy and Alana Pack had spent the day at their neighborhood Halloween party in Danville, a suburb of San Francisco. Ten-year-old Troy went as a baseball player, and 7-year-old Alana was a good witch. In the afternoon, they changed out of their costumes and set out for a walk with their mother. Destination: Baskin-Robbins.</p>

Prop 46: Voters Will Decide Who Actually Gets Rich

October 13, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Of all the issues in Proposition 46, an omnibus measure on next month’s ballot aiming to improve patients’ rights in several health care areas, money is the one that counts most.</p> <p>The central question boils down to this: Should victims of medical malpractice and their lawyers get rich, or should malpractice insurance companies stay rich?</p>

Why Are CA Doctors Breaking Their Hippocratic Oath on Prop 45?

October 8, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>An Open Letter to my fellow medical professionals about California's Proposition 45 and the primary obligation we have to protect the well being of our patients.</p> <p>Like generations of doctors before us, when each of us graduated from medical school, we were asked to raise our hand and recite the Hippocratic Oath. This was a defining moment in many of our lives. Reciting the words carried great weight and purpose: "I will apply all measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice."</p>

Primer of November Propositions

October 7, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p><span id="widgetid_1124_articlebody">Most of us will shortly receive an absentee ballot in the mail for the upcoming Nov. 4 election. Other than the continuous and deceptive ranting by health care lobbies about threats of higher medical costs if we pass Propositions45 and 46, this election seems under the radar. I always read the actual language of any bill or proposition.</span></p> <p><span id="widgetid_1124_articlebody">Usually I uncover hidden purposes that are misrepresented or misstated in election ads.</span></p>

Editorial: State Propositions Warrant Much Skepticism

October 6, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p><span id="RDS_global"><span id="MNGiSection">California voters have every right to view all state propositions with a healthy dose of skepticism.</span></span></p> <p><span id="RDS_global"><span id="MNGiSection">Propositions rarely do exactly what the authors say they will do. They are drawn up with loopholes big enough to drive a bullet train through, or with little favors built in to curry votes with certain groups, or with last-minute add-ons that should make voters uneasy.</span></span></p>

Op-Ed: Prop. 45 Is Good For Your Health

October 5, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Sherri Stoddard is a registered nurse who works in San Luis Obispo County, and serves on the board of directors of the 86,000-member California Nurses Association, which supports Proposition 45.</p> <p> </p>

Initiative Seeks To Raise Medical Malpractice Cap

October 4, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>LOS ANGELES -- Voters could make California the first state to require many doctors to submit to random drug and alcohol tests, a safeguard that has long been in place for pilots, police officers and others who must stay clear-eyed on the job.</p> <p>While supporters are promoting that aspect of Proposition 46, it is not the initiative's most contentious provision.</p>

East Bay Family’s Tragedy Sparks Clash of Special-Interest Titans

September 29, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p class="loose"><span class="verdana">What started as a Danville couple's crusade for justice for their dead children has become a war between some of California's most powerful special interests and the year's costliest ballot measure battle.</span></p> <p class="loose"><br /> <span class="verdana"><span class="hit">Proposition</span> <span class="hit">46</span> would raise the state's 39-year-old cap on medical malpractice damage awards, require doctors to take random drug tests and mandate use of a database designed to reduce prescription drug abuse. </span></p>

Attorneys and Doctors Square Off Over Prop. 46

September 29, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Two powerful professional groups — doctors and lawyers — are squaring off and spending more than $65 million on Proposition 46, one of six statewide measures on the Nov. 4 ballot.</p> <p>Even the measure’s official title — “Drug and Alcohol Testing of Doctors. Medical Negligence Lawsuits. Initiative Statute” — is controversial, with critics asserting that Attorney General Kamala Harris, who assigns names to ballot measures, intentionally downplayed the initiative’s main goal.</p>

Cigna, Blue Shield of Calif. Sued for ‘Bait and Switch’ Scheme

September 26, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>The pushback against <a href="http://www.fiercehealthpayer.com/tags/narrow-networks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">narrow networks</a> that's sweeping the nation continues in the form of legal action as a consumer group filed lawsuits against Cigna and Blue Shield of California on Thursday.</p>

Consumer Group Sues 2 More Calif. Plans Over Narrow Networks

September 25, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Insurers <a href="http://capsules.kaiserhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Davidson-Class-Action-Complaint-9-24-14.pdf">Cigna</a> and <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/blue_shield_class_complaint-130344.pdf">Blue Shield of California</a> misled consumers about the size of their networks of doctors and hospitals, leaving enrollees frustrated and owing large bills, according to two lawsuits filed this week in Los Angeles.</p>