it is often hard to do this kind of analyses when you do not have a pure ppo system. 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

an employer paid kaiser hmo, employer paid ppo or a ppo with cost sharing that costs them 15% more than they are used to paying. basically, what's behind this is costs are going way up and they are facing tough economic times like everyone else. they tell me they have hired replacement nurses and non-striking staff will fill in as well. again, this is expected to start at 7:00 this morning. i also asked the spokesperson if it's going to be business as usual and she said pretty much everything will go on as planned except a couple elected procedures will have to be rescheduled. that spokesperson is going to be out here to talk to us. >> thank you much. 4:33 now. this morning another east bay police officer is under arrest in connection with a drug ring. this linked to well known private investigator christopher butler. lewis lombardi is facing a number of charges including aiding and abeding in conspiracy of grant theft. he appeared in an nbc exclusive tape. it's a sting with butler. he poses as a cheating boyfriend. this was a fake, a publicity stunt staged by his pr firm. the police of

the change would require nurses to pay more for health care if they want to continue with the ppo plan that includes the use of children's hospital. or, interestingly, the hospital is offering to pay entirely for a kaiser plan, which of course doesn't include the use of children's hospital. the strike is scheduled to end by the way tuesday at 7:00 a.m. >>> san francisco's new top cop says he is leading by example when it comes to trimming the fat off the budget. the "chronicle" reports greg surs reis giving up the suv reserved for use by the police chief, as well as the driver. he said he knows his way around town and prefers driving a ford focus hybrid. another perk he's giving up, his $20,000 cost of living raise. perhaps that's because his salary is already $300,000 a year. he's butching assistant chiefs to deputy chiefs saving taxpayers $100,000 a year there. the mayor hopes his sacrifices will convince the rest of the police force to agree to give up their deferred 10% pay raise to help close san francisco's budget gap. >>> in san jose, a city councilman is being very open about a

amid all the confusiin...gamble as shot and killed...as...was was a great uy,,he was nicc &ppo eaah he)((aaor) "thii was an unprecedented act situation where we loss an officer and a ciiizenn 3 and people want answers and i understand that." mayor stephanie rawlings-blake... pays the nitial report of - that incidentby ity police...has been completee. but its findings...areenot &pstate's attorneys office has reviewed it. the mayor...alss appointed aniinepeedent board offnational lawennorcement expprts to review theecaae. a councclmannill henry.((enry) "at the end f the day, e don't wwnt to make a bad call, - if it takes a little longer to make theegood call, that's &pimpoorant."(rydelll "aad whiie -3 it's not known when the state's attorneyssoffice will -3&pdeetrmmne whetheerthh offfcerss -3 involved will faceecharges, an independent probe of that shooting won't be compllted until late summerr"(maaor) "i wwis t was over yesterday but we have to do thiigs carrfully and make sure it's righttand that is hoo we honor the lives we do it righh."even...if that investigatton...takes all -3 summ

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 events have disappeared. that story coming up. >>> and another warm one today, but the fog is gathering offshore, the winds have switched and it's going to cool down. i'll show yo

californians for ten years have the right, if they get denied by an hmo or ppo, they have the ability 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 automatically deny a treatment if they -- if it is an experimental treatment. but the independent medical review gives the consumer that chance to have an independent clinician determined it. >> carol took advantage of the independent medical review and won. >> well, i'm walkin