>> i can respond briefly and say that california hospital association does not condone any fraudulentactivity among hospitals in california. we will let the facts speak to the case. we do not represent sutter. we do not represent them legally and we are not taking a position and legally. we do not know the facts. the facts will come out in the judicial system. supervisor campos: i agree with that. we have to allow the court proceedings take place, but we, as policy-makers, are being asked to make important decisions. one of the things that the complaint points out is a certain type of agreement, or agreements, between sutter and the insurance companies -- this is what the complaint says. "contains provisions which prevent health-care insurers, referred to as payers in the agreement, from challenging the reasonableness of the sutter hospital bill." this is accomplished through audit policies. these policies

luke's hospital, and the senior vice president for health policy of the california hospital association, and dr. glenn melnick. maybe if you could come up to the table, and then, the need to speak, you can come up, but thank you very much. >> thank you. good morning. i am the senior adviser at the pacific business group on health, and i'm here to talk about the effects of market consolidation on hospital costs and quality in the city and region and around us. first, a quick word about who we are. we are located in san francisco. we have been around for 20-plus years. we are a coalition of large employers that is trying to improve the quality of health care and women help care cost increases. we are in the same quandary that you are, and i certainly do not then be your task. our members spend $12 billion a year providing health coverage for about 3 million individuals. they are purchasers of health care just like you are. mr. chairman, use of me on this slide, but here it is in pictorial form. we have all paid close attention to the article that came out in open " l.a. times" last month,

with the california nurses association. children's hospital officials released a statement, they say the hospital will remain open during the nurses' strike, replacement nurses have been hired. those notices will work along with the non striking employees at the hospital. some elective surgeries have been rescheduled due to the strike, the chief nursing officer released the following statement. the cna is out of touch with changes occurring for the country related to wages and health care benefits, and out of touch with the fact that as a safety net, not for profit medical center, a children's is financially strained. she says we value our nurses but the leaders are making demands that are out of touch with the current economic realities of our hospital. health officials meantime and contra costa county are warning of a particularly high rate of a whopping cough. according to court later with the county, cases are up 10 t compared to 2009. whopping cough is a highly contagious illness and could be deadly for instance. -year record high 205 cas

contract negotiations have broken down between the hospital and the california nurse's association. 750 nurses work at childrens. the hospital hired replacement nurses and also cancelled some elective surgery yous but will keep the er open during the strike. >> former child star jacky cooper has died at the age of 88. as a boy in the 1930s he was one of the most popular child actors. he received an oscar nomination at the age of nine, the youngest ever. cooper appeared in eight of the our gang comedies and later as an adult, he played the role of the editor of the daily planet in superman movies. much of cooper's career was spent behind the scenes as a studio executive and director. [ music ] >>> signs like this are popping up all over the bay area. some people are calling it a bill board battle for your soul. >> plus . >>> new at ten now down to the top five on "american idol." one of the last contestants standing is james durbin from santa cruz. the theme from tonight's performance is then and now. and that's fitting because amber lee is live with some stories from his past and presen

contract negotiations have broken down between the hospital and the california nurse's association. 750 nurses work at childrens. the hospital hired replacement nurses and also cancelled some elective surgery yous but will keep the er open during the strike. >> former child star jacky cooper has died at the age of 88. as a boy in the 1930s he was one of the most popular child actors. he received an oscar nomination at the age of nine, the youngest ever. cooper appeared in eight of the our gang comedies and later as an adult, he played the role of the editor of the daily planet in superman movies. much of cooper's career was spent behind the scenes as a studio executive and director. [ music ] >>> signs like this are popping up all over the bay area. some people are calling it a bill board battle for your soul. >> plus concerns about privacy, apple is offering a fix to how your iphone tracks your movements. [ music ] . >>> new at ten now down to the top five on "american idol." one of the last contestants standing is james durbin from santa cruz. the theme from tonight's performance is t

the hospital's contract with the california's nurses association retired last july. at issue is health care coverage. the hospital has issued several plans. including a ppo that would cost nurses $5,000 a year and includes care of their children at the hospital. >> we need to make adjustments in order for this hospital to not cut services, to not cut jobs and this union is going to have to face the reality of our economic times. >> i don't think this is something we need to do. i think workers have to say no that health care is not something we should have to pay for. >> reporter: the strike is scheduled to end next tuesday morning. the hospital has hired 125 replacement nurses. >>> new unemployment numbers came out today. the amount of new people filing for unemployment jumped by 40,000 last month. that is the highest level in four months and the third time in four weeks the number has increased. experts had forecast a drop in the number of first time claims. >>> what kind of cinco de mayo celebrations are taking place in san jose? now that some of the traditional ev

the system -- the speaker from the hospital association point of the california has the lowest costs in the country. that is because we are the highest managed care population in the country. kaiser in northern california, when you look at those counties in terms of how much was spent -- kaiser insures about one of every three people. that is what helps drive our costs down. i'm going to focus on the two types of hmo's we have because they reflect the different incentives for hospitals generate revenue. the health service system actually pays the claims and premiums for the city plan. when you go to the doctor, we pay the doctor bill. again, only 10% of our membership is there. the rest is divided pretty equally between kaiser and blue shield. those are two different kinds of hmo's. one is a staff model and the other is a non-staff model. in kaiser, there are no fee-for- service costs unless someone is getting care out of the network. there is no incentive to do more to generate more revenue for the hospital. what you see is what you get. in a non-staff model hmo and in our case, blu

. >>> hundreds of nurses at children's hospital oakland are getting ready to strike this morning. california nurses association is planning a five-day walkout. the main issue here proposed changes in health coverage for the nurses. they had a three-day strike over the same issue last october. the hospital has hired replacement nurses to work during the walkout. >>> let's get a quick look at traffic and weather. and lawrence is on the road this morning. >> lawrence, what, did they lock out or something? >> yeah. you guys just didn't want to have me in the studio today. don't worry, i'm coming back! >> we thought we would start the party early. >> who in their right mind would be celebrating cinco de mayo at 4:30? they just opened the gates. they are having a party here today. they cancelled the parade in san jose. it's been a tradition for three decades and a lot of people have been celebrating throughout downtown san jose and enjoying that parade. but yeah, it looks like that's ended because of the budget cuts. but the party will continue. you know, they can't stop that. and we are going to have that at emma b

. >>> hundreds of nurses at oakland's children's hospital are now on strike over the next five days, california nurses association says about 800 nurses will walk off the job, some of those were out picketing today. their contract expired in july. the nurses are opposed to the health care package being offered in a new contract. 125 replacement nurses have been hired to work during the strike. hospital officials say the facility lost almost $18 million in 2009. >>> there is new ammunition tonight in the fight over pension reform. pub public employees make more in pension than in the public sector. >> the benefits are three times higher than what our top employers in california pay their employees. >> reporter: union question the study, they say it was paid for by anonymous out of state donors. they add that teachers make far less than their equivalent workers. >>> the state assembly today passed the california dream act. it allows illegal immigrants who are attending college and paying instate tuition to collect private scholarships. >> are we not simply educating these kids so that they can go out and work in th

hospital. california state university. strong-security prison at a hospital test-students are and strucand >> we associated with her sorority. we all kind of stayed close. somebody must have had contact with air. >> it is more scary than surprising because it could happen to anybody and i hoped she is okay and gets found. i hope nothing bad happened to her. >>reporter: the police are not ruling out the possibility of suicide but not indicating that it to be suicide. also, the 6:00 store with more details. in hayward, chair stone, kron 4 news. 6:00 story--j r stone. >>catherine: these three women, all medical students always the same last name. all the missing. >> the bike was found in the golden gate bridge in the suicide is to blame. teresa estacio. >>reporter: over 1000 people packed the presbytery in church in danville is the left. presbyterian church. it is believed that she took her life at the golden gate bridge. most everybody were the color blue, her favorite color for memorial. with her family in the front row, friends, former teachers spoke about how she made such an impact on so many people. and how she will be d

hospital oakland. this marks the start of a five- day walkout by california's nurses association. 800 nurses expected to hit the picture line. they are protesting changes in their own healthcare coverage. they had a three-day strike over the same issue this last october. the hospital says they have hired some replacement nurses though to work during that walkout. >>> 6:05. traffic and weather now. let's go back to lawrence who is already getting his cinco de mayo celebration started. lawrence, good morning to you. >> good morning. we have been going since just before 4:30 in the morning today but yeah, it's going to be as a great party in san jose. even though they are not going to have the parade, they are going to have a parade in emma prusch park in san jose so check it out. it's going to be a great celebration day to do it, lots of sunshine coming our way. hey, it is looking good already this morning. you have nice clear skies outside and it looks like it is going to stay that way all day long. and the heat is going to get cranked up outside again as those offshore winds continue to blow. so yup, we

children's hospital oakland bracing for hundreds of nurses to walk off the job in 90 minutes. this marks the start of a five- day walkout by the california nurses associationto hit the picket line. they are protesting changes in their healthcare coverage. they had a three-day strike over the same issue this past october. hospital has hired some replacement nurses to work during that walkout. >>> and another setback for bryan stow the giants fan beat nene a coma outside dodger stadium. he is scheduled for another surgery sometime today or to. family says his brain is collecting fluids. so doctors now need to insert a shunt to drain it. stow's family met with a neurologist yesterday who said he isn't responding to stimulation as much as he should be. he was critically injured on the opening day of the giants and dodgers, march 31. >>> it is 5:40. it is cinco de mayo. and you want to have fun but not too much fun. they are cracking down on drunk drivers this cinco de mayo. officers already setting up checkpoints for tonight's celebrations. let's go to kiet do in downtown san jose with that news. kiet, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. consider this you

hospital, see this fence over here? this chain link fence? this was not here as early as yesterday according to california nurse's association the nurses at childrens. they put this up here for the strike. the other thing they've got going on is you see that cross over there between the two buildings. they've shaded that. that used to be just clear windows. they've shaded it. and according to wendy bloom a nurse here at children's hospital they did that for what reason? >> i missed the first part of your question. >> reporter: they put the fence up over there and then they shaded -- >> oh, yeah. well, we were on strike in october and we set up across the street with tables and chairs and our picket signs so that we could be somewhat protected from the elements from the sun. so the hospital put up a barrier and so that we can't have a comfortable area to put our tables. >> reporter: you're striking for five days. one of the main issues you face we all face is health care benefits. 15% of cobrament as to about $4,000 a year for the nurses. why only five days? >> you know nurses really care about their patients. when we leave the bedside and go out on

california association of health plans, they dispute that. >> in most cases care is provided without any controversy at all. in fact, over $80 billion is paid to doctors and hospitals>> the executive director of health access a health advocatey group says -- >> the thing is for californians to show their rights. californians for ten years have the right, if they get denied by an hmo or ppo, they have the ability to appeal it within the company and also to get an independent third party. >> hmos are regulated by the department of health. patients must appeal to their insurance company before appealing to state regulators. many times it's doctors who encourage patients to appeal. >> well insurance companies will probably -- you know, they have more of a tendency to be conservative about their medical management and their approval of prior authorization or approval of claims. and doctors will be pushing for whatever they think is best for their patients. >> these things are never absolutely certain and in some cases medical science continues to move ahead. >> an independent panel of doctors has the final decision on any appeal. >> a lot of times a plan will automatica

hospital are getting ready for a five-day strike. they'll be making picket signs later this afternoon for the strike which begins tomorrow. the california nurses association's upset over plans to reduce health care coverage for nurses and their families. management broke off the last set of talks in april and it has not responded to the union's request to meet. this is the latest strike by the cna since a three-day picket that was in october. >>> now time to check the roads with mike. no major problems out there, huh? >> we do have the buildup so we'll start with the south bay. northbound 101 and northbound 280 starting their typical slow spots. 101 has been a little heavier than we typically see. also past san jose international airport. livermore holds steady with the 580 westbound commute. the earlier accident cleared from there. this is the bay bridge shot as i accepted it to christina with a warm forecast. >>> well, we're going to see a pretty warm day around here. 90s, yeah. that's what we're expecting inland, one of the warmest days we've had in months. make sure you're ready for it. high pressure is the reason why. it's clearing our skies and pump