Daily Business Report: Tuesday, March 21, 2023
CalPERS to pay $800 million settlement over claims
it misled retirees on costs of long-term care insurance
By Adam Ashton | CalMatters
CalPERS is preparing to pay out roughly $800 million to settle claims that it misled retirees when it began offering long-term care insurance in the late 1990s and pledged it wouldn’t substantially raise rates on certain plans.
The nation’s largest public pension fund in the 1990s and early 2000s sold long-term care insurance with so-called inflation-protection that members believed would shield them from dramatic spikes in premiums. CalPERS nonetheless hiked long-term care insurance rates by 85% in 2012 and continued to raise fees in subsequent years, straining household budgets for retirees on fixed incomes.
The settlement, tentatively approved by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge earlier this month, would resolve a lawsuit that centers on that steep 2012 fee increase. The settlement cannot take effect until plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit review it and have an opportunity to submit comments to the court on it in a process that’s expected to take place between April and early June, according to court records.
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System pays for long-term care out of a specific fund that is separate from the $443 billion portfolio that supports pensions for its 2 million members. The long-term care fund had about $4.9 billion as of June and about 105,000 active policies, according to CalPERS.
The agreement is the second court-approved settlement in the case. It is significantly less expensive for CalPERS than the first one.
Top photo: The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) headquarters in Sacramento on Feb. 14, 2017. (Photo by Max Whittaker, Reuters, via CalMatters)
UC San Diego Heath opens new clinic in Bankers Hill
UC San Diego Health is expanding care offered to patients with a new, multidisciplinary clinic in Bankers Hill that will provide specialized care for the community in a centralized location. The clinic, located at 2131 3rd Ave., San Diego, CA 92101, is now open and is currently offering cardiovascular care, with primary care services to be available later this year.
Patients will have access to treatment involving general cardiology, electrophysiology (heart rhythm disorders), interventional cardiology, heart failure, adult congenital heart disease (ACHD), as well as onsite echocardiograms and electrocardiograms (EKGs), patch monitors, blood draws and stress testing.
“This clinic will positively impact our patients living with cardiovascular disease and is located in an ideal location near downtown San Diego,” said Jia Shen, M.D., cardiologist at UC San Diego Health and medical director of the cardiovascular clinic.
The cardiovascular clinic is two floors, with each suite approximately 5,600 square feet.
City seeks public input on Ocean Beach Pier renewal
The City of San Diego is hosting a series of upcoming community workshops to share information about the Ocean Beach Pier Renewal project and gather input from community members. This project aims to provide a long-term solution for the 56-year-old pier through a potential replacement. Based on the findings of a 2018 study, the city has determined that pursuing a potential replacement of the pier is the best option considering the ongoing costs of repairs, the need to modernize the existing facility and the anticipation of future sea level rise. Upcoming public workshops will help Moffatt & Nichol design the preferred alternative for the potential replacement of the pier based on input from San Diegans. The first workshop is scheduled for Saturday, April 1, from noon to 4 p.m. at the Liberty Station Conference Center, 2600 Laning Road.
Scripps leader receives Nurse
Practitioner of Distinction Award
The California Association for Nurse Practitioners has selected Charlotte Thomas, an intensive care unit nurse practitioner with Scripps Health, as the recipient of its 2023 Nurse Practitioner of Distinction Award.
Thomas received the honor at CANP’s annual educational conference on March 16 in Monterey.
Thomas, who has doctoral degrees in nursing practice and nursing education science, serves as co-program director and chief of advanced practice for critical care medicine at Scripps Mercy Hospital Chula Vista.
The CANP award recognizes several of Thomas’ recent accomplishments. She led Scripps’ efforts to implement a novel “model ICU care” approach, which includes multidisciplinary patient care teams and standardized, collaborative processes for improved efficiency and consistency.
Following the introduction of this new approach, the number of days patients spend on ventilators and their overall length of stay in the ICU have both decreased.
Fleet Science Center exhibit
unlocks the secrets of the Earth
The Fleet Science Center announced the opening of MacGillivray Freeman’s “Ancient Caves”on Saturday, March 25, in the Heikoff Giant Dome Theater at the Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park. The film takes moviegoers on an immersive journey with paleoclimatologist Dr. Gina Moseley and her team to explore vast underground worlds. Moviegoers travel with the team to some of the world’s most remote caves, both above and below water, in the Bahamas, France, Iceland, Mexico and the United States.
“Audiences can expect to see things they’ve never seen before,” says director Jonathan Bird. “Deep underwater caves with formations that look like something straight out of a sci-fi film and even a cave nicknamed the ‘Fangorn Forest,’ made famous by J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.”
Photo captions: Top:Brian Kakuk and Todd Kelly observe extremely rare and fragile “rose formations” in a section of Crystal Cave known as The Glass Factory, Abaco, Bahamas.
Bottom left: Director/DP Jonathan Bird (L) and support diver Todd Kelly complete decompression on oxygen after a 3-hour dive to the section called Fangorn Forest in Crystal Cave, Abaco, Bahamas.
Bottom right: Dr. Gina Moseley and John Ackerman searching for stalagmites that contain long climate records in Spring Valley Cavern, Minnesota.
Photos courtesy of Ocanic Research Group
Illumina pushes back against Icahn’s
proposed board nominees
genomeweb
SAN DIEGO — Pushing back against activist investor Carl Icahn’s maneuvers to start a proxy fight, Illumina issued a statement Monday claiming, among other things, that Icahn’s director nominees “lacked relevant skills and experience” and “will damage Illumina’s core business.” The statement is the latest salvo in a battle between the sequencing giant and billionaire activist investor Icahn, who controls about 2.2 million, or 1.4 percent, of Illumina’s shares and publicly criticized the company’s merger with Grail week and outlined his intention to take over three board seats with the goal of promptly divesting the cancer detection testing firm.
Roshambo Eyewear launches new
Ludicrous speed eyewear collection
SAN DIEGO — Roshambo Eyewear, a leading manufacturer of children’s eyewear, announced the launch of their Ludicrous Speed sports eyewear collection. The collection features two styles: a kids snow goggles line with magnetic lens shield attachments, and a polarized wrap around style “blade” frame. Ludicrous Speed is a nod to CEO and Founder Scott Morris’ favorite movie as a kid, “Spaceballs.”
NuVasive gets FDA approval
of limb lengthening solution
SAN DIEGO —NuVasive Inc., a leader in spine technology innovation, announced that it received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the use of its Precice all-internal limb lengthening solution to include pediatric patients. The expanded clearance extends the clinical benefits of Precice to a wider range of patients. Precice is a magnetically adjustable technology that utilizes an external remote to non-invasively lengthen implants.
L’Oréal becomes third global
company to invest in Geno-led venture
SAN DIEGO — Sustainable materials leader Geno welcomes beauty player L’Oréal as the third global company and final founding investor to its venture to develop, produce and commercialize biotechnology-based alternatives to critical ingredients in the formulations of everyday cosmetics, personal care and cleaning products. L’Oréal’s involvement provides access to the $571.10B beauty and personal care market, bringing the collective member revenue to $100B+ with products that reach billions of people.
Jeff Hendren appointed chief
revenue officer for Point Predictive
SAN DIEGO — Point Predictive, the San Diego-based company that provides artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for lenders, banks and fintech companies, announced Jeff Hendren as its chief revenue officer. In his new role, Hendren will be responsible for generating revenue growth, overseeing the sales and marketing teams, and expanding the company’s national presence. With over a decade of experience in executive leadership roles, Hendren has invested most of his career in leading companies to exponential growth by employing effective business strategies and proven best practices.
Cue Health gets FDA emergency use
authorization for molecular Mpox test
SAN DIEGO — Cue Health, a healthcare technology company, announced it has received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its molecular test to detect the mpox virus (formerly known as monkeypox). This nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) is run on a Cue Reader, can be performed at any CLIA-waived facility and delivers results in 25 minutes, significantly expanding access to fast and accurate testing for patients.
MiR announces new cloud-based
software for optimizing robot fleets
ODENSE, Denmark— As fleets of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) grow, so does the demand for software tools to optimize performance and fleet management. To meet this demand, MiR (Mobile Industrial Robots), which has a regional office in San Diego, announces the launch of MiR Insights, a new cloud-based software tool that enables fleet owners to track and analyze the operations of its robots and get actionable insights that can improve the robots’ performance.
Scientist.com expands disease model
platform with thousands of added models
SAN DIEGO — Scientist.com, the premier R&D marketplace for the biopharmaceutical industry, announced today that it has partnered with leading contract research organizations (CROs), including Crown Bioscience, Imagen Therapeutics and Experimental Pharmacology & Oncology Berlin-Buch to boost the number of disease models currently available on its
Disease Model Finder to over 8,000, making it one of the world’s largest, if not largest, database for proprietary cancer models. The DMF helps medical researchers in the field of oncology identify the most appropriate models for their preclinical drug development projects.
San Diego County Credit Union
offers free shredding services on April 1
SAN DIEGO — San Diego County Credit Union is offering free shredding services at the following three locations from 9 sa.m. to noon on Saturday, April 1: SDCCU Operation Center at 6545 Sequence Drive in Mira Mesa; the SDCCU San Ysidro branch at 2036 Dairy Mart Road in San Ysidro; and the Murrieta branch at 25165 Madison Ave. in Murrieta.
City of San Diego creates ‘Affordable
Housing Permit Now’ program
SAN DIEGO — In response to an executive order signed in January by San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, the Development Services Department announced that it has created the Affordable Housing Permit Now program for 100 percent affordable housing projects and emergency shelters. The program provides enhanced customer service and expedites reviews, dictating that they be completed in no more than 30 business days. Projects eligible for this program must not require discretionary approvals or have already obtained any relevant discretionary permits; the program is targeted for projects ready to build.
