Healthcare Regulations news from FierceHealthcare

Of late, state and federal regulators have been challenging non-profit hospitals to prove they deserve their tax exemption. Hospital associations, health systems and individual facilities have responded by aggressively touting their estimates of the community benefit and levels of uncompensated care that they provide.

This exercise is important for all U.S. non-profits, but there's even more at …

Earlier this week, we told you about the growing California hospital empire controlled by cardiologist Dr. Prem Reddy. Victorville, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare Services, which has made its mark with its insurance-free business model, has picked up eight California hospitals in recent times, drawing much attention and some opposition. Now, questions about the chain have stopped …

Over the past three years the state of California has logged more than 1,600 consumer, physician and hospital complaints about Blue Cross of California (BCC) business practices. Sparked by these complaints, the state's Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) now plans to hold a public hearing to look at whether the Blue plan has kept promises it made when it was acquired in 2004 by WellPoint. The hearing, which will take place next week, follows a Department of Insurance report …

Texas's new limits on medical malpractice awards has triggered a substantial migration of doctors into the state, overwhelming the state medical board and slowing down the process of screening newly-arriving physicians. These days, the Texas Medical Board is so bogged down that some doctors must wait months before they can actually begin seeing patients. In 2006, the board received 4,000 applications for medical licenses, a huge increase over the 2,992 it got last year. That has led to a …

Making sure uninsured citizens get health coverage sounds good--but it won't work if physicians aren't on board. And it looks like that's a real hurdle for Commonwealth Care, the new insurance-for-all plan offered by the state of Massachusetts.

Primary care physicians aren't thrilled with the requirements for participating in Commonwealth Care products, which include making sure a patient has a first appointment within 45 days and is seen within 48 hours for urgent-care …

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) is poised to implement a new policy banning physicians and other employees from accepting virtually any type of pharma or device-maker freebies. If it moves ahead, UPMC would join a growing list of academic medical centers and other facilities that have instituted tight controls on such gifts. Employees and physicians who break the rules could face written reprimands and even loss of hospital privileges.

To address concerns raised …

Continuing with an ongoing industry-wide investigation, the California Department of Insurance has cited WellPoint subsidiary BC Life & Health for improperly revoking individual health insurance policies. BC Life & Health, which revoked 1,880 individual policies during 2004 and 2005, already was being sued by consumer advocates and lawyers for policyholders over the cancellations. Now it's facing the wrath of the Department of Insurance, which has found that more than half of the …

A West Virginia high court has ruled pharmas can be held partially liable for harm caused by drugs, despite the fact that physicians with medical expertise prescribe the drugs. The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ruled Janssen Pharmaceutica was partially responsible for the death of patient Nancy Gellner, who died in 1999 after taking the company's Propulsid. Gellner's estate argued that despite her physician's role in prescribing the drug, Janssen should have better warned Gellner …

California regulators laid out their case this week for closing Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital, arguing it continues to provide substandard care and is putting patients at risk. In a 32-page report, the California Department of Health Services cited findings from inspections between October 2004 and June 2007, that suggest the hospital hasn't made sure nurses are competent or …

While state efforts to require disclosure of pharma gifts to doctors have proven a bit, well, wobbly, federal legislation is still on the table.

Yesterday, members of Congress were discussing just such a measure--a national registry that would publicize the value of gifts and payments to physicians. The hearing, before the Senate Special Committee on Aging, was tagged "Paid to Prescribe?"

At the hearing, chairman Herb Kohl (D-Wisc) cited a study published by The New …