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Passage of legislation requiring employers to offer health care coverage was not the only important industry bill either gaining passage or going down to defeat.

Sent to Gov. Gray Davis for signature was legislation reforming hospital billing practices, protecting patient-doctor relationships and tightening financial controls on medical groups. Losing were bills strengthening new nurse-to-patient regulations, speeding hospital construction and rolling back cuts in Medi-Cal reimbursements to doctors. Other highlights:

* Legislators turned back a bill sponsored by the California Nurses Association--and opposed by the hospital industry--that would subject hospitals to fines if they did not meet new nurse-to-patient ratios set to go into effect Jan. 1. Nurses said that means the new regulations will lack teeth, but hospital lobbyists contend that they should not be subject to fines given a nursing shortage.

* A bill largely prompted by the Tenet Healthcare Corp. scandal also failed. The legislation would have capped hospital charges for uninsured patients. A weaker measure, which the industry did not oppose, got through. It requires hospitals to clearly post their retail charges for services.

A bill failed that would have lifted a hiring freeze on state hospital building inspectors. Hospitals are under a state mandate to seismically retrofit facilities, but the industry contends that the hiring freeze is slowing construction.

* A pair of bills was passed that will allow some patients to retain their doctors for a limited time even after doctors and health plans end their contractual relationships. The protections, though, only apply to pregnant women, patients with chronic illness and other specified groups.

Medical groups, which have failed by the scores in recent years, also would be subject to tighter financial controls by the Department of Managed Health Care. Under the legislation, the department will issue ratings on the medical groups' financial strengths.

* A last-ditch effort by the California Medical Association to roll back a 5 percent cut in Medi-Cal reimbursement rates died in the waning days of the legislative session.

# posted by Medical Information : 3:49 AM