Emily Bazar's blog

Does California need a state dental director?

By Emily Bazar | April 19, 2012

In our ongoing coverage of Sacramento County’s dental plan for poor kids, we’ve reported on proposals to fix its performance, including a measure in the Legislature that would fundamentally change the way the Medi-Cal program works there.

But there’s another, earlier bill that advocates say would have statewide impact, especially for Californians who live in places where dental treatment is difficult to access.

Transition of Adult Day Health Care program is 'down to the wire'

By Emily Bazar | March 29, 2012

When I spent time at the Grace Adult Day Health Care Center in Sunnyvale last spring, the fate of California’s adult day health program – and of Grace itself – was unclear.

It’s one year later, and in some ways, the situation remains unsettled. Look no further than today’s federal court hearing on the issue. 

One year ago, proposed state budget cuts seemed so grim that Grace’s co-owners, Manooch and Suzanne Pouransari, were considering closing down their center and opening a nursing home instead.

Who's on first? In children's dental care, few know

By Emily Bazar | March 15, 2012

Even the experts are confused.

At two public hearings this week to discuss problems with Sacramento County’s dental care program for poor kids, not all the expert witnesses agreed on which California counties provide Medi-Cal dental services via managed care.

Let’s start with what they did agree on: Sacramento.

Sacramento has been exclusively a “geographic managed care” county for nearly two decades, debuting as a pilot project in 1994. Under geographic managed care, the state contracts directly with private dental plans, paying them a monthly fee – about $12 – for each Sacramento County Medi-Cal child assigned to them.

Steinberg calls for immediate changes to Sacramento County dental program

By Emily Bazar | February 27, 2012

The political back-and-forth over Sacramento County’s failing Denti-Cal program is heating up.

Senate President Pro-Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, on Monday called on the state’s Medi-Cal chief to take immediate action to improve dental care for more than 110,000 Sacramento County children.

In a letter to Toby Douglas, director of the Department of Health Care Services, Steinberg said Sacramento County kids can’t wait for the department to draw up new contracts with dental plans before they get better care.

California abandons experiment with medication-dispensing machines

By Emily Bazar | February 16, 2012

California is quietly abandoning a pilot project that would have brought automatic medication dispensers into the homes of thousands of Medi-Cal recipients, saying the experiment would cost more than it would save.

In an analysis of the potential costs, the state Department of Health Care Services determined that the pilot wouldn’t come close to saving the $140 million annually that legislators banked on when they approved it last year. 

“There was a great risk that not only would it not achieve the savings, but it might actually generate costs,” said Norman Williams, DHCS spokesman.

Doctor who suffered his own medical tragedy responds to stories

By Emily Bazar | February 13, 2012

Last month, we chronicled the story of Jerry Magner, a Northern California man who suffered a massive stroke as a result of a surgery that was intended to prevent stroke. Magner’s loved ones, still struggling with their loss, questioned whether the procedure should have been performed in the first place.

Shortly after the stories ran and aired, I received this letter from John Maa, a surgeon and assistant professor at the University of California, San Francisco:

Feds announce plan to reduce early elective births

By Emily Bazar | February 8, 2012

Now the feds are jumping in.

This morning, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced a national campaign to reduce elective deliveries of babies before 39 weeks of pregnancy, saying the effort will improve care and save millions.

Under the “Strong Start” initiative, the government will work with hospitals across the country that have joined the Partnership for Patients, a voluntary effort to reduce preventable injuries and complications.

Rethinking the definition of 'term' pregnancy

By Emily Bazar | February 6, 2012

Obstetricians hear it from their pregnant patients all the time: My back hurts. I’m swollen. I’m exhausted. Get this baby out of me!

“Why do I have to wait for 39 weeks if 37 is good enough?” some have asked Elliott Main, chairman of the ob-gyn department at San Francisco’s California Pacific Medical Center. “Women think it’s fine to deliver at 37 weeks,” he said.

Who can blame them? Technically, a “term pregnancy” is one between 37 and 42 weeks of gestation.

Small hospitals targeting early births, too

By Emily Bazar | February 2, 2012

Not all of the California hospitals cracking down on early elective births are urban behemoths that deliver thousands of babies a year.

Small ones are taking action, too.

Banner Lassen Medical Center in the rural Northern California town of Susanville is a 25-bed hospital that delivers about 250 babies a year. In 2010, it implemented a policy prohibiting doctors from scheduling deliveries between weeks 37 and 39 of pregnancy without a medical reason, trying to put an end to deliveries scheduled for convenience.

Patients have a role in their own medical fate

By Emily Bazar | January 19, 2012

Last summer, Chuck Magner’s father had a massive stroke during a surgery that was intended to prevent stroke, and died almost two weeks later.

One of Chuck’s lingering concerns is that the hospital and surgeon hardly communicated with him or his family before the procedure. Chuck, who was in St. Louis on business at the time, only managed to get the hospital on the phone when his father, Jerry Magner, was already being prepped for surgery.

“You are putting yourself in these people’s hands and they should keep you informed at all times of everything possible,” said Chuck, 55, of Concord.

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