Kaiser has free screenings on cataracts for the needy
Surgeons perform a cataract operation as part of the Mission Cataract USA program. Kaiser Permanente’s Point West Medical Offices will have free exams on April 17 this year for people with no insurance.
Kaiser Permanente will offer screenings to area residents who may be eligible for a free eye cataract surgery. The screenings will be April 17 at the Kaiser Permanente Point West Medical Offices, 1650 Response Road, Sacramento. Appointments are mandatory and must by made my April 9.
To sign up, or to request more information, call: (916) 973-7159.
The surgeries are part of Mission Cataract USA, an annual program where doctors provide surgery to people who have no health insurance and can’t afford the operation. Kaiser Permanente physicians and staff have volunteered for for 15 years and will perform as many as 20 free cataract surgeries in early May.
California Assembly hearing to look at rescinded health insurance issue
Just a small fraction of the thousands of consumers whose health coverage was unfairly revoked by their insurers have benefited from state-brokered settlements with insurance companies, according to an Assembly report made public Tuesday.
Today, an Assembly watchdog committee is expected to question officials from the Department of Insurance and the Managed Health Care Department.
Both agencies have boasted of their record in going after insurance companies for so-called rescission practices.
But some elected officials say the state agencies have done a poor job in helping subscribers regain coverage or recoup expenses for medical care that should have been paid for by their insurance companies – had their policies not been rescinded.
“There has been no follow-through,” said Assemblyman Hector De La Torre, D-South Gate, who chairs the Assembly Committee on Accountability and Administrative Review, which is holding today’s hearing.
“When you’re a regulatory agency and you claim to have fixed the problem, and yet a year and a half later, pretty close to nothing has happened, it deserves scrutiny,” he said.
According to a report prepared for today’s hearing, about 6,000 Californians had their policies rescinded by the state’s five largest health insurers between 2004 and 2008.
The Managed Health Care Department attempted to inform 3,366 affected subscribers of the settlements via letter, but only 177 of those letters resulted in new coverage and only 92 subscribers recovered out-of-pocket medical expenses, totaling $870,000.
Lynn Randolph, spokeswoman for the Managed Health Care Department, took issue with the criticism.
She said the low participation rate is not unusual.
Randolph said the agency should be lauded for its crackdown on rescission practices, which has reduced the number of cases from about 1,500 in 2005 to less than a dozen.
Randolph said her agency sent out letters, aired public service announcements and did what it could to get consumers to participate in the settlements.
Kaiser grants help Yolo, Sacramento programs
Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente said two local groups will benefit from grants it issued in the last quarter of 2009.
Sacramento’s Cover the Kids health program will use its $75,000 grant for personnel who will help increase enrollment and retention in health insurance for eligible children in Sacramento County.
Yolo County Children’s Alliance will use its $50,000 grant to hire an additional full-time, bilingual outreach employee in West Sacramento. The new hire will help low-income families enroll in health insurance programs.
Kaiser grants help Yolo, Sacramento programs
Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente said two local groups will benefit from grants it issued in the last quarter of 2009.
Sacramento’s Cover the Kids health program will use its $75,000 grant for personnel who will help increase enrollment and retention in health insurance for eligible children in Sacramento County.
Yolo County Children’s Alliance will use its $50,000 grant to hire an additional full-time, bilingual outreach employee in West Sacramento. The new hire will help low-income families enroll in health insurance programs.
Kaiser reconsiders, helps cancer patient with past-due bills
Anthony Andrade is helped by nurse Jennifer Scott, right, at Sutter Medical Center in October as his mother, Sandra Cooper, looks on.
Kaiser Permanente has forgiven thousands of dollars in past-due bills for Tony Andrade, a Sacramento man whose fight with cancer was recounted two months ago by The Bee.
The HMO informed Andrade, who has no health insurance, of its decision in a series of letters. Andrade, 47, racked up tens of thousands in medical bills from visits to Kaiser emergency rooms, some dating to 2006.
Kaiser did not explain why it reversed an earlier decision to deny Andrade’s request for relief from his debts. Like other health care providers, the HMO has seen unpaid bills soar as the economy soured.
Last year, Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California operations provided approximately $59 million in medical financial assistance, more than double the amount spent the year before, the company said.
The Bee recounted Andrade’s story in a three-part series describing his treatment for a bladder tumor and the financial difficulties he faced.
Despite having a job, Andrade had no health insurance and not enough money to pay the bills that soon arrived. A county program for the medically indigent swooped in to help – paying for surgery and specialists to remove his cancer – but not soon enough to pay for expensive trips to the emergency room, including the one in June that led to the discovery of a tumor in his bladder.
Tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills have piled up in his shoe box, the most recent arriving a few days after Christmas last year – $9,724 from Kaiser Permanente for the ER visit on June 17, a day when he found blood in his urine.
Andrade tried earlier to get the HMO to forgive his debt through its financial assistance program, but was turned down.
Last month, a Kaiser representative called to invite Andrade to reapply. He did.
“I knew she was trying to help me take care of them bills. … She just called me out of the blue,” said Andrade.
While Kaiser officials declined to discuss Andrade’s case, the company issued a statement saying it was “pleased to be working with him on identifying appropriate Kaiser Permanente medical financial assistance programs for which he is eligible.”
In 2008, California hospitals wrote off nearly $1.2 billion in bad debts and provided $973.4 million in charity care. Hospitals offer such free care in part to meet federal requirements for nonprofit status.
Andrade welcomes the prospect of resuming his day-to- day life without thousands of bills hanging over his head. Two months of radiation therapy are done, but his fight against cancer isn’t over. Doctors later this month will measure his progress.
He expects to return to work next month as a driver for a medical transport service.
“I don’t know about starting anew, but it’ll give me the opportunity to get back on the right direction,” Andrade said.