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Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) and L.A. Care Health Plan Take Steps to Provide Financial Support to Contracted Health Care Providers Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

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May 14, 2020 – Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) and L.A. Care Health Plan, two of California’s largest publicly-operated Medi-Cal managed health plans, recently announced efforts to provide financial support to hospitals and health systems during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In preparation for a potential surge of COVID-19 hospitalizations, California hospitals preserved their bed capacity and were called upon to increase existing capacity by 40-50 percent through the cancelation and/or postponement of non-emergent procedures. This action created significant financial pressure on provider organizations, drastically reducing revenues at a time when expenses for personal protective equipment and supplies increased – and are in short supply.

To strengthen their contracted hospitals’ abilities to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, IEHP is amending its contracts to include a capitation feature that will pay a facility the hospital’s expected net patient revenue for IEHP Medi-Cal members or their monthly claims’ average for calendar year 2019, whichever is greater. IEHP is expecting to provide more than $90 million in support to providers during their pandemic response efforts.

“Our health care provider partners have demonstrated their unwavering commitment to ensuring we are all healthy and safe,” said Jarrod McNaughton, IEHP CEO. “As a member of the health care community, I believe we all have an obligation to support each other, especially our frontline caregivers, during these challenging times.”

L.A. Care’s efforts have focused on accelerating claim payments to hospitals, with $85 million in payments made on top of its typical claims processing amounts of $200 million. This improved flow is due to a new standard of payment for electronic claims within five days, and for paper claims within 10 days during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our hospitals and other provider partners are heroically serving our members, and we are here to support them,” said John Baackes, L.A. Care CEO. “Over the past few weeks, we have provided $85 million in accelerated claims payments to hospitals, and more than $21 million in advanced incentive payments to individual primary care physicians and FQHC clinics.”

 This reduction in accounts receivables for many safety net hospitals is critical to support their operations and maintain staffing levels at a critical point as the number of COVID-19 cases is anticipated to plateau.

“We are tremendously grateful for the admirable actions of our health plan partners,” said George W. Greene, Esq., president/CEO of the Hospital Association of Southern California (HASC). “The efforts of IEHP and L.A. Care are helping to lead our hospitals and communities down a more prosperous path, and it’s HASC’s hope that this model will be emulated by other health plans in support of their provider partners.”

At a time when communities are relying on hospitals more than ever to provide care for all and ensure a safe recovery as we work to reopen the economy, hospital leaders are facing tough decisions about layoffs, furloughs, and service reductions. Through collaborative efforts such as these, and the future support of other health plans, our hospitals can focus on what they do best: ensuring the safety and health of the communities they serve.

The Inland Empire Business Journal (IEBJ) is the official business news publication of Southern California’s Inland Empire region - covering San Bernardino & Riverside Counties.

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By Press Release

Newmark Negotiates 864,000-Square-Foot Industrial Lease Renewal in Perris, California

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Newmark announces the 864,000-square-foot industrial lease renewal with NFI Industries, a supply chain solutions provider, at Perris Distribution Center in Perris, California.

Newmark Executive Managing Directors Mark Kegans, SIOR and Ron Washle, SIOR and Managing Director Dean Washle represented the landlord, Ares Management, formerly known as Black Creek Group.

“Our team was pleased to represent Ares Management in such this substantial lease renewal,” said Kegans. “Perris Distribution Center is in a prime location for logistics and distribution, as evidenced by the location’s top-tier tenant roster.”

Located at 657 Nance Street in Perris, Perris Distribution Center is a two-story cross-dock facility expandable to ±1,137,000 square feet. Building features include approximately 7,000 square feet of office space, minimum 36’ warehouse clearance height, ESFR sprinkler system, LED warehouse lighting, 112 dock-high loading doors and concrete truck courts. The ±43-acre parcel offers 298 auto parking spaces and 224 trailer parking spaces, including an auxiliary parcel to accommodate up to 154 trailer parking spaces or approximately 530 auto parking spaces.

Perris Distribution Center is proximate to Freeway 215, with on and off-ramps at Harley Knox Boulevard to the north and Ramona Expressway to the south. Neighboring industrial tenants include The Home Depot, General Mills, Ross, iHerb, Amazon and Wayfair, to name a few.

The national industrial market has remained resilient despite recent economic and geopolitical headwinds, according to Newmark Research. For the fifth consecutive quarter, national industrial absorption topped 100 million square feet. The persistent imbalance between demand and new deliveries has pushed vacancy down to 3.7%, likely a cyclical low. Demand remains strong for industrial space with absorption continuing to outpace deliveries.

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By Press Release

County prepares for the storms ahead

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With more rain on the way this weekend and even more next week, County Public Works crews have been busy in the mountains and elsewhere in the county cleaning up from this morning’s rain and preparing flood control facilities for the storms ahead both in the mountains and in recently burned areas.

After having cleared a path through all 500-plus miles of County roads in a little over a week, crews this week have widened nearly every one of those roads to two lanes while also ensuring 150 high-priority culverts were clear. That was not an easy task considering many were hidden by massive snow berms. Crews relied on GIS technology and old photos to find many of the culverts. Public Works teams also cleared out debris basins and made sure channels and other waterways were clear.

County Public Works coordinated with the Rim of the World School District to improve access to bus stops and clear bus routes so mountain schools can return to normal operations. Crews also plowed Rim of the World High School parking lots for students and staff when they return.

Public Works upgraded its GIS map to a Snow Road Widened Status Dashboard so the public can get daily updates on which County and non-County maintained roads have been widened. Also included in the dashboard are resources to find food and supply distribution centers, shelter, and more.

See all of today’s highlights in our daily storm recovery video.

Residents are urged to be prepared and make sure they are signed up for emergency notifications and also download the SB Ready app. Residents can do both on the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District website.

Mountain residents urged to report property damage

Damage estimates are the strongest tool local communities have in convincing state and federal agencies to provide relief. That’s why the County is encouraging mountain property owners to use an online property damage reporting tool developed by the County Fire District to report moderate to major damage to residential and commercial buildings caused by the winter storms.

The information reported by property owners will be part of the total damage estimate provided to the state, which will then decide whether to seek aid from federal agencies such as FEMA.

Property owners seeking to repair or rebuild their storm-damaged structures are eligible for to have up to $500 in County planning and building fees waived thanks to action taken yesterday by the Board of Supervisors. Those looking to rebuild should consult the County’s new Mountain Region Snowstorm Rebuild Questions & Answers document.

Funding approved by the Board is also making is possible for the County to reimburse residents up to $500 toward the cost of removing snow from their property.

A complete list of resources and links is available on the County Snow Information website.

Teamwork frees snowbound mountain residents

Twin Peaks resident Michelle Munoz expresses her gratitude to the members of the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program who worked diligently to remove the snow that had piled up around her home.

Wrightwood residents reach out to recognize unsung heroes

As the community of Wrightwood recovers from the recent blizzard, it’s important to recognize all of the unsung heroes who went above and beyond to help their neighbors in need.

Laurey Aydelotte, a Wrightwood resident since 2004, reached out to the office of their First District County Supervisor, Col. Paul Cook (Ret.), to praise these community members.

“Friends with snow removal equipment quickly stepped up to help some of our trapped residents,” said Aydelotte. “This included Sadie Albers, John Kearn and Jeremy Norman of Hesperia. Residents were helping each other get food, pick up medicine from various pharmacies, and other essentials.”

Renee Olson, a lifelong Wrightwood resident, echoed Aydelotte’s comments. She and friends Dionne Burns and Julie LaFever enlisted the help of local teens to assist seniors who were unable to clear the large amounts of snow. “There were so many great kids who helped shovel seniors’ driveways throughout the neighborhood: Cade LaFever, Alexia and Sienna Burns, Cameron Coombs, Cash Littlefield, Ethan Olson, and Devun Moore,” said Olson. “I’d also like to recognize Owen Todhunter and the Serrano High School Explorers, who dug out several driveways. It was definitely a group effort!”

Wendi Swanson, another longtime Wrightwood resident, agreed. “Everyone worked together to help seniors on our street, clearing their berm or at least a foot path in case of emergency,” she said. “I know neighbors helped me and I helped them. It was true Wrightwood cohesion.”

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By Press Release

Rebuilt Second Street Bridge Opens in Downtown San Bernardino

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The City of San Bernardino celebrated the reopening of Second Street between Arrowhead Avenue and Mountain View Avenue on Tuesday, March 14, restoring vehicle and pedestrian traffic to a key downtown corridor. The road had been closed for three years for the demolition and reconstruction of the Second Street Bridge, which passes over Warm Creek and was found to have structural issues in 2020.

At a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the completion of the bridge, Mayor Helen Tran stated, “I share in the excitement of our residents and businesses in the reopening of Second Street. It is a small bridge, but a big connection point.”

When Caltrans found structural issues with the bridge in March of 2020 and ordered it closed to vehicles and pedestrians, plans were already underway to replace it. In February of 2021, the City awarded a contract to Ortiz Construction to construct a new bridge. Construction began in June of 2021.

“I would often get asked by constituents when Second Street would re-open,” said Council Member Damon Alexander. “We are pleased that today is that day.”

Completion of the project was delayed by over a year due to supply chain issues experienced by both the contractor and Southern California Edison, who needed to construct new electricity connections through the new bridge to downtown San Bernardino.

“This project was the poster child for the supply chain issues experienced at the height of the pandemic,” said San Bernardino Public Works Director Daniel Hernandez. “I’d like to thank our contractors and utility partners for their flexibility and patience with each other.”

The project was further delayed last summer to ensure the existing electricity connection remained in place to meet peak load demand downtown.

The cost to replace the four-lane bridge was just over $3.2 million. Approximately $2.6 million was funded by the City, and $600,000 was funded for project design, inspections, and contingencies by Caltrans.


Note: The individuals in the attached ribbon cutting photo from left to right are Public Works Director Daniel Hernandez, Council Member Damon Alexander, Mayor Helen Tran, Council Member Ben Reynoso, and Assistant City Manager Edelia Eveland.

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