濮阳东方医院男科看早泄技术很靠谱(濮阳东方妇科医院几点上班) (今日更新中)

California's attorney general sued Sutter Health, accusing the hospital giant of illegally quashing competition and for years overcharging consumers and employers.The lawsuit marked a bold move by state Attorney General Xavier Becerra against the dominant health care system in Northern California as concerns mount nationally about consolidation among hospitals, insurers and other industry middlemen."It's time to hold health care corporations accountable," Becerra said at a news conference Friday. "We seek to stop Sutter from continuing this illegal conduct."The antitrust suit, filed in San Francisco County Superior Court, asks the court to prevent Sutter from engaging in anticompetitive practices and "overcharges."It said Sutter employs a variety of improper tactics, such as gag clauses on prices, "punitively high" out-of-network charges and "all-or-nothing" contract terms that require all of its facilities to be included in insurance networks.Taken together, Sutter's actions "improperly block any and all practical efforts to foster or encourage price competition between Sutter and any rival Healthcare Providers or Hospital Systems," according to the state's complaint. "Sutter's conduct injured the general economy of Northern California and thus of the state.Sutter, which owns 24 hospitals, reported net income of 3 million last year on .4 billion in revenue. Sutter's nonprofit health system also has 35 surgery centers, 32 urgent-care clinics and more than 5,000 physicians in its network.In a statement, Sutter it was reviewing the complaint and couldn't comment on specific claims.Overall, Sutter said, "healthy competition and choice exists across Northern California" for consumers seeking medical care. It also said its charges for an inpatient stay are lower than what other nearby hospitals charge."Sutter Health is proud to save patients, government payers and health plans hundreds of millions of dollars each year by providing more efficient and integrated care," the statement said.This high-profile legal fight caught the attention of employers and policymakers across the country amid growing alarm about the financial implications of industry consolidation. Large health systems are gaining market clout and the ability to raise prices by acquiring more hospitals, outpatient surgery centers and physicians' practices.Martin Gaynor, a health care economist at Carnegie Mellon University, said California's lawsuit may portend more litigation at the state level."There are a number of markets in the U.S. that are dominated by one very large, powerful health system," Gaynor said. "It could be that we're going to see a new level of activity by state antitrust enforcers looking at competition in their own backyards."Glenn Melnick, an economist and expert on hospital finances at the University of Southern California, said if the state prevails against Sutter it could put "a chill on anticompetitive practices that are being adopted across the U.S. and that could help slow down hospital price increases. That would be good news for consumers."The complaints about Sutter's high prices and market power have persisted for years.The state said its investigation started in 2012 under Kamala Harris, California's previous attorney general and now a U.S. senator. Six years ago, her office sent subpoenas to several health systems and insurers seeking information about market concentration and its effect on medical prices.A 2016 study found that hospital prices at Sutter and Dignity Health, the two biggest hospital chains in California, were 25% higher than at other hospitals around the state. Researchers at the University of Southern California said the giant health systems used their market power to drive up prices — making the average patient admission at both chains nearly ,000 more expensive.Last week, researchers at University of California, Berkeley issued a report that examined the consolidation of the hospital, physician and health insurance markets in California from 2010 to 2016. The authors said 44 of California's 58 counties had "highly concentrated" hospital markets.After the report was issued Monday, Becerra said his office would be reviewing those findings and pledged to apply more scrutiny to health care mergers and anti-competitive practices across the state.Sutter Health has gobbled up doctors' practices across the Bay Area, gaining market muscle that has pushed costs upward. Obstetricians employed by Sutter Health, for example, are reimbursed about three times more for the same service than independent doctors, according to a KHN review of OB-GYN charges on several insurers' online cost estimators. It's a key reason why Northern California is the most expensive place in the country to have a baby.At his news conference, Becerra said he's committed to scrutinizing other players besides Sutter in the health care industry who may be engaging in anticompetitive behavior and potentially harming consumers.Consumer advocates and state lawmakers applauded Becerra's aggressive action because of the toll high prices take on millions of Californians. Many residents struggle to pay rising insurance premiums and out-of-pocket expenses for emergency room visits or routine hospital tests."Consumers bear the burden of these monopolistic activities," said state Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina), chairman of the Senate health committee. "To ensure health care is affordable and accessible to all, we have to get a handle on predatory pricing."In many ways, Becerra's lawsuit mirrors a similar civil case filed in 2014 by a grocery workers' health plan.The attorney general's office filed a motion in court asking for its lawsuit and the class action to go to trial together before the same judge. The trial is scheduled for June 2019 in San Francisco."While we certainly would have preferred this happened earlier, we respect the attorney general's care in conducting a thorough investigation before filing charges," said Richard Grossman, the lead plaintiffs' lawyer representing the class of more than 1,500 employer-funded health plans.In its lawsuit, the attorney general's office blamed Sutter for much of the increase in health care costs across Northern California because "Sutter embarked on an intentional, and successful, strategy of securing market power in certain local markets." State lawyers also pointed out that Sutter's conduct triggered an "umbrella effect" by encouraging other providers to raise their own prices.The state's lawsuit said Sutter used its windfall from excessive prices to acquire more hospitals and medical groups. It also enabled Sutter to "bestow extremely high salaries for its officers and upper management," according to the state complaint.Patrick Fry, Sutter's chief executive from 2005 to 2016, had .4 million in total compensation during his last year there, according to Sutter's 990 tax filing for 2016, the most recent year available.Overall, 18 executives at Sutter had million or more in total compensation during 2016, the federal tax filing shows.Karen Garner, a Sutter spokeswoman, said Fry's compensation in 2016 reflects retirement benefits he accrued over many years. She added that "industry comparisons show our salaries are reasonable and competitive, given the size, scope and complexity of our organization." 7370

BURBANK (CNS) - The Burbank-based Walt Disney Co. announced today it is donating million toward relief efforts in the Florida Gulf Coast region in response to Hurricane Michael.The company also plans to match donations made by Disney employees to eligible relief and recovery organizations providing assistance to the hurricane-ravaged area."The families and communities impacted by this devastating hurricane need our help as they begin to rebuild," Disney CEO Robert Iger said."Through today's million contribution, and other relief efforts in the weeks and months ahead, we will stand with our Gulf Coast neighbors as they recover from this tragic storm." 672

Canada is the latest country to approve a COVID-19 vaccine candidate made by Pfizer and BioNTech, according to ABC News and the Washington Post.On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the vaccine would arrive in Canada next week and that doses would be distributed at that time.The FDA is expected to meet tomorrow to discuss granting Emergency Use Authorization to the Pfizer vaccine. Approval is expected, and Americans may begin receiving doses as soon as next week.The drug has already been administered to some patients in the United Kingdom, who approved the vaccine for emergency use last week. On Wednesday, officials announced that two people with extensive histories with allergies had suffered "adverse effects" from the injections, but both patients are expected to be OK. Officials in the U.K. are now advising patients with similar histories of extreme allergic reactions to not get vaccinated for the time being.Initial efficacy studies showed the Pfizer vaccine to be 95% effective in preventing COVID-19, without serious side effects.A vaccine candidate made by Moderna is also on the precipice of receiving widespread approval from several major western countries. 1206

CHICAGO (AP) — Game 2 of the National League wild-card series between the Chicago Cubs and Miami Marlins was postponed because of a forecast for rain. Miami leads 1-0 after winning the opener 5-1, and the teams will meet Friday. 237

CHICAGO -- Right now, nine COVID-19 vaccines are in or near a large-scale human trial phase. But enrollment of minorities in the trials remains a challenge. This is despite a disproportionate number of African-Americans impacted by the coronavirus.Earlier this month, ads from the National Institutes of Health began airing asking Black people and Latinos to volunteer for the coronavirus vaccine trials.“Operation Warp Speed” may be moving quickly, but pharmaceutical companies are having a difficult time getting Black and brown participants.“What we really bring to the table is moral persuasion and encouraging our population to participate in safe and ethical clinical trials,” said Reverend Anthony Evans, the president of the National Black Church Initiative. Over the past 15 years, they’ve worked with the pharmaceutical industry to boost Black representation in more than a dozen previous clinical trials.“I think that we can be a major help to both the government and the pharmaceutical industry if they use us,” said Evans.The Black community has been hesitant to take part in medical research and clinical trials because of a history of past abuse.Most infamously, the 40-year Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment that used Black men to study what happened when the disease went untreated.“They were just basically experimented on without their knowing about it or their understanding what was happening. And a lot of people had very bad outcomes because of this,” said Dr. Emily Landon, an infectious disease specialist at University of Chicago Medicine.A recent Pew study found that Black Americans are still more skeptical of experimental treatments and a potential COVID-19 vaccine than Hispanic and white adults.Add to that, most of the current trials are recruiting mainly online, something experts say often results in mostly white people enrolling.“We will know more and be able to do a better job in caring for our friends and patients of color if we have more participation in these trials,” said Landon.Moderna had to delay trials because of a lack of diversity. As of earlier this week, 13% of Moderna’s enrollment volunteers were Black and 51% white. At the same time, only 8% of Pfizers volunteers are Black and 75% white.“They are going to have a significant shortfall of data when it comes down to African Americans and other groups, especially Latinos, and simply because they have not made the efforts,” said Evans.In the end, the vaccine must be at least 50% effective to receive FDA approval. Without a diverse group of volunteers, experts say it could be difficult to know just how safe and effective the vaccine actually is across races. 2672

来源：资阳报