News in brief - Feb. 10, 2003

Consumers rate their health plans - Kaiser puts guidelines online - Missouri, Kansas at odds over HCA deal

Consumers rate their health plans

People with employer-provided heath plans tend to either really like them or really dislike them, a new Harris Poll suggests. But in general most people are fairly satisfied.

In the December 2002 survey, 949 respondents were asked to assign a grade to their plan's quality. Opinions were more polarized compared with a similar survey in 2001, with more people assigning either very good or very bad grades to their plans. Thirteen percent gave plans a grade of D or F compared with 8% in 2001. But those giving their plan an A rose to 29% from 26% during the same period.

Harris researchers said most respondents, as well as Medicare recipients polled, seemed generally happy with their health plans, and the pollsters blamed the poor reputation of insurers on how they are portrayed on TV and in movies, newspapers and magazines.

Kaiser puts guidelines online

Deciding to make its business and clinical decisions more open to public view, Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente said in January it would put its California physicians' payment criteria and network treatment guidelines on the Internet.

In settling two lawsuits filed by consumer groups in 1999, Kaiser announced it would post information about how its physicians are compensated, including such financial incentives as bonuses.

Kaiser also will make public the treatment guidelines that it advises its doctors to follow for many diseases.

Such information has been sought by consumer groups as a way patients can determine how well their own treatment, inside or outside the Kaiser network, conforms to current standards of care.

Kaiser also affirmed, in announcing the settlement, that operators at some of its California call centers do not receive bonuses for keeping calls with patients brief or for limiting the number of calls transferred to medical personnel. Such incentives were once in place but have been discontinued, the company said.

Missouri, Kansas at odds over HCA deal

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon gave his blessing in January to a proposed sale of the nonprofit hospital chain Health Midwest to for-profit HCA Inc., but concerns still remain in Kansas about how proceeds from the sale would be divided between the states.

New Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline was granted a restraining order prohibiting any transfer of Kansas funds that would be generated by the $1.1 billion sale of the Kansas City hospital chain. Kansas legislators also quickly passed a bill, which was signed into law by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, that required proceeds from a nonprofit sale to be administered by a Kansas foundation, whose members would be appointed by the attorney general.

Health Midwest had been at odds with both states over how to establish and run foundations once the sale was completed. The Missouri agreement calls for Nixon to appoint a 25-member board to run its state foundation, and for a minimum of 10% of the money to benefit Kansas residents.

Kline, however, said the state should receive closer to 20% of the proceeds, which are estimated to total between $700 million and $800 million.

"We just want to make sure we get the correct amount," said Whitney Watson, a Kline spokesman.