California Healthcare Law

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"News and legal developments of interest for California health care providers."Harry Nelson

Author: Harry Nelson practices at Fenton & Nelson in Los Angeles.

Blawg Related Categories: Health Law • States • California • Solo / Small Firm

Recent Posts from California Healthcare Law

California Medical Board Abandons Replacement for Physician Diversion Program
$11 a year. That’s how much less California physicians will pay ($22 biannually) as a result of the abandonment of the Medical Board of California’s (MBC) decision to abandon its Diversion Program altogether. The MBC…
Judge Upholds Department of Managed Health Care Balance Billing Rule
California physicians suffered a setback in the effort to block the “balance billing” regulation this week when Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny denied the California Medical Association’s (CMA) petition to invalidate regulations promulgated…
California Limits Billing Options for Diagnostic Imaging Arrangements
As diagnostic imaging has come to be seen as the “runaway train” of healthcare spending, federal Medicare regulations relating to imaging (from Stark to the Anti-Markup Rule) have gotten more and more restrictive in hopes…
Interview with Physicians Practice on M.D. Bankruptcy Trends
Physicians Practice, a leading medical practice management journal, contacted me for observations about trends in physician bankruptcies and financial distress. My comments will be published in an upcoming issue, but I have a preview for…
The Baucus Healthcare Proposal
Both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal report today on Senator Max Baucus’ healthcare reform proposal. By releasing his plan at this point, Baucus, the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, is…
Healthcare Reform Myths
Professors Katherine Baicker and Amitabh Chandra write in the most recent edition of Health Affairs about the myths that hinder healthcare reform. They argue that correcting these misimpressions will allow us to address the fundamental…
ICD-10: 1170 Codes for Angioplasty??
Jane Zhang reports in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal on the coming revision of Current Procedural Terminology (”CPT”) codes by which healthcare providers bill payors for healthcare services. Instituted in order to describe medical services accurately…
Washington Joins Oregon on Physician-Assisted Suicide. Is California Next?
Jane Gross reports in the New York Times on the passage of “Initiative 1000,” the referendum that makes Washington the second state in the country (after Oregon) where physicians are permitted to prescribe lethal doses…
Is Medical Record Blackmail a Trend to Come?
CNN reports on what may be a harbinger of trends to come: Express Scripts, one of the largest pharmacy benefit management companies (PBM’s), received an anonymous threat that, unless it paid an extortionate demand, millions…
Are patient collections worsening?
Reed Abelson provides another report on the impact of the economic downturn on healthcare in the New York Times. Hospitals are reporting a declines in the percentage of patients able to pay for care they…