Definitely legit

As blog readers will know, some UC employees and retirees received information about a settlement with Blue Cross and Blue Shield that might entitle them to some money.

We posted that it might be legit, based on information at the time.*

Now we can report that at least one UC person received $60+ dollars.

---

*https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2026/05/might-be-legit.html.

Might be Legit

Yours truly has been told that some UC employees and emeriti/retirees may be eligible for some funds due to an antitrust settlement with Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

Info at https://www.bcbssettlement.com/.

If you are eligible, you might get some kind of notice of such a settlement. 

Even though the settlement is real, there could be scams associated with it. If you get an email or text about claiming benefits, be cautious about clicking directly on the message or calling phone numbers directly on the message.

Graduation Speakers

We noticed two announcements of UCLA graduation ceremony speakers recently:

One of UCLA’s most iconic alumni is coming home to celebrate the next generation of Bruins. Six-time Olympic medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee will deliver the keynote address at the 2026 UCLA College commencement ceremonies on Friday, June 12, in Pauley Pavilion... 

“It is truly an honor to return to my alma mater, UCLA, and speak to such an extraordinary group of graduates,” Joyner-Kersee said. “UCLA helped shape not only my athletic journey but also the woman I have become. To stand before the students and share a message of perseverance, purpose and belief reminds me that greatness begins with faith in yourself. Always believe that your dreams are possible and then go out and make them a reality.” ...

---

Dr. Julio Frenk will deliver the keynote address for the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health’s commencement ceremony on Friday, June 12, 2026. Frenk, chancellor of UCLA and a distinguished professor in the department of health policy and management at the Fielding School, is also a fourth-generation physician.

Prior to joining UCLA as chancellor in January 2025, Frenk served as president of the University of Miami, from 2015 to 2024, and was the dean of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health from 2009 to 2015. In addition to Frenk’s leadership in higher education, he served as the federal secretary of health of Mexico, from 2000 to 2006, and was the founding director-general of the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico, one of the leading institutions of its kind in low- and middle-income countries... 

Full announcements at https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/jackie-joyner-kersee-speaker-2026-ucla-college-commencement; and https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/julio-frenk-2026-ucla-fielding-school-commencement-address.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 159

From the Harvard Crimson: A group of former Harvard athletes who are now physicians and scientists pitched the University’s sports medicine team last summer on disclosing the risk of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy to contact-sport athletes. Nearly a year later, the group says they have heard nothing back. At least seven former Harvard football players have been diagnosed with CTE, a degenerative brain disease caused by repeated head impacts that can only be confirmed via autopsy, according to Christopher J. Nowinski ’00, the co-founder and CEO of the Concussion & CTE Foundation. The most recent diagnosis, Jim Higgins ’70, came earlier this year.

The other publicly identified cases are James M. Peccerillo ’78, Toby Brundage III ’95, Mike T. Brooks ’01, Dick Clasby ’54, Hank Keohane ’60, and Christopher J. Eitzmann ’99, a former Harvard football captain who went on to play for the New England Patriots. The youngest of the seven died in his 30s. Nowinski, a former Harvard defensive lineman, said he first raised the issue with Harvard Athletics Director Erin McDermott at an Ivy League Football Association dinner in January 2025...

Nowinski said communication from Harvard Athletics stopped after the presentation. “We could not get emails returned,” he said, “so we suspect they did not go forward with our proposal to provide education on CTE to Harvard athletes.” ...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/5/6/cte-training-unanswered/.

Watch the Regents Meeting of May 5, 2026

We're catching up with the Regents' May 5 meeting, the first of two days. The meeting began with public comments. Topics included complaints about an ICE official who spoke at a UCLA law school program, a UC-Davis family center (??? speaker was unclear), anti-Israel, resident doctor negotiations, termination of the UC-Davis equestrian team, ICE notifications, divestment, divestment from Apollo, disabled student programs, names of protesters shared with federal government, revisiting UC hiring of undocumented students, AFSCME negotiations, and a proposal for a second student regent.

The Health Services Committee heard a report on the strategic plan for UC Health. It was noted that ERs are getting more patients due to federal cutbacks. 

At the full Board, Chair Riley noted that this would be her last meeting as chair and reflected on UC's contributions. She welcomed newly-appointed Regents. UC President Milliken took note of the significant legal expenses incurred as a result of the conflict with the federal government. He referenced public concerns about higher ed as described in the recent Yale report. Problems mentioned were complicated pricing, campus climate, and opaque admissions standards. He suggested a need for more transparency with regard to pricing and admissions. With regard to the latter, it's not clear what that would mean as long as subjective judgments are made. Faculty representative Palazoglu discussed the need for a new Master Plan and wanted the Academic Senate to be involved in developing such a Plan. There was then a tribute to selected UC and UCLA alumni. Finally, there was a celebration of UCLA women's basketball and a presentation by coach Cori Close followed by brief remarks by Chancellor Frenk.

The Governance Committee proposed the appointment of a new director for the Berkeley National Lab and the full Board reconvened to ratify the appointment.

The Investments Committee hear a brief report by CFO Bachhar covering the first 9 months of the fiscal year in which returns looked good thanks to the stock market. A disturbance at the meeting halted the session and the room was cleared. Bachhar cited the usual uncertainties: war, inflation, AI. It was noted during the discussion that the Blue and Gold Pool, which is a simple indexed fund, i.e., no stock picking, nothing but equities and fixed income, performed very well at very low administrative cost. It was suggested that maybe other funds managed by the CFO's office might be run that way.

==

As always, we preserve recordings of the Regents sessions since the Regents have no policy on retention and their YouTube recordings are unlisted. The sessions described above are at:

https://archive.org/details/regents-may-5-2026.

Is AFSCME being pushed out of Kaiser?

We will cover the Regents meetings of May 5-6 in a separate posting. But an AFSCME strike is now impending and there were spokespersons from the union at the May 6 public comments session of the Regents.

Of course, we don't know what is happening behind closed doors at negotiations between UC and AFSCME. But one of the AFSCME commenters suggested that UC is trying to push the 70% of AFSCME workers that now choose Kaiser as their health provider into plans that utilize UC providers.

See an excerpt from his comment below:

Or direct to https://ia903202.us.archive.org/32/items/regents-finance-and-capital-strategies-academic-and-student-affairs-5-6-2026/Kaiser%20to%20UC%20providers%20AFSCME%205-6-2026.mp4.

===

Note that if there is a UC push away from Kaiser regarding AFSCME-represented staff, the same might occur for other groups, actives and retired.

Investigation

From the LA Times: UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine intentionally used race for the last three years to discriminate against applicants during admissions — in particular white and Asian American candidates — according to U.S. Department of Justice allegations released Wednesday. In a seven-page letter, the agency’s Civil Rights Division wrote that the medical school “continues to intentionally discriminate against applicants based on their race after the Supreme Court’s decision in Harvard by granting and denying admission on the basis of race.” That 2023 decision — Students for Fair Admissions vs. Harvard — barred race-conscious admissions at colleges and universities but allowed schools to consider how race affected students if they wrote about their experiences in essays.

A UCLA medical school spokesperson said that admissions are “based on merit” and that the school follows the law...

Full story at https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-06/ucla-medical-school-illegal-use-race-admissions-doj-investigation-findings.

Health Watch

Click on image to clarify
===

Tomorrow, the Regents lead off with the Health Services Committee. Various objectives are summarized on the image above. Note that one set of goals involves employee and student health plans. Employee plans in particular, however, are provided by private insurance carriers such as Kaiser and Anthem Blue Cross. It seems clear that UC Health would like to capture more of that business for the various campus health enterprises.* As noted on the image below, UC Health is in the midst of "planning" with HR concerning that objective.

Click on image to clarify
===

Source of images: https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/may26/h5.pdf.

===

*The UC Health strategic plan clearly states a goal of:

More employees as a percentage of total are attracted to the Blue & Gold health benefit plan.

See https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/may26/h5attach1.pdf.

Dickson Awards

From a recent email:

The Dickson Emeritus Professorship Award is funded from a gift endowment established by the late Edward A. Dickson, Regent of the University of California, to honor outstanding research, scholarly work, teaching, and service performed by an Emeritus or Emerita Professor since retirement.

Three UCLA emeriti professors have been selected to receive the 2025 – 2026 Edward A. Dickson Emeritus Professorship Award, which includes a prize of $5,000: Distinguished Research Professor Arthur P. Arnold, Professor Emeritus Sander Greenland, and Professor Emeritus David A. Talan.

Arthur P. Arnold, Distinguished Research Professor of Integrative Biology and Physiology retired in 2018. Professor Emeritus Arnold has continued to demonstrate extraordinary intellectual vitality and global leadership. As a neuroscientist and behavioral biologist, he transformed the scientific understanding of sexual differentiation by establishing that sex chromosomes directly shape brain development and disease vulnerability. During his emeritus years, he has published more than 40 peer-reviewed papers in leading journals including Science Translational Medicine, Nature Immunology, and Journal of Neuroscience. His work has redefined how researchers conceptualize sex differences in physiology and medicine and continues to influence biomedical research worldwide. Professor Emeritus Arnold has also secured competitive NIH funding during retirement, including multiple R01 awards, and has led the development of innovative Four Core Genotype rat models that will advance sex-differences research across disciplines. His service to the scientific community remains exemplary. He has served on the NIH Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health, contributed to a National Academies report on chronic conditions in women, and continues to shape international standards for rigor in sex-based biomedical research.

Sander Greenland, Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology and Statistics, retired in 2012. Since retirement, Professor Greenland has remained one of the most influential scholars in epidemiology worldwide. From 2019 through 2025, he has been consecutively named a Clarivate/Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher, placing him among the top 1% of researchers globally. During his emeritus years alone, he has authored or co-authored more than 90 peer-reviewed publications, many in leading journals including the American Journal of Epidemiology, and International Journal of Epidemiology. His work on causal inference, bias analysis, Bayesian methods, and meta-analysis continues to shape modern epidemiologic methodology and inform public health policy around the world; reflecting a career that bridges deep theory and practical application. He continues to mentor junior investigators and faculty across institutions internationally, serving as senior or corresponding author on numerous collaborative publications that elevate the next generation of methodologists. His leadership and intellectual generosity have sustained UCLA’s reputation as a global center for excellence in epidemiologic research and training.

David A. Talan, Professor Emeritus of Emergency Medicine retired in 2014. Dr. Talan continues to produce practice-changing research published in the highest-impact medical journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, and The Lancet. His NIH-funded trial has reshaped emergency and infectious disease care worldwide, most notably through landmark multicenter trials of modern management of skin abscesses. As co-Principal Investigator of the landmark PCORI-funded Comparison of Antibiotic Drugs and Appendectomy (CODA) trial, he helped redefine the management of uncomplicated appendicitis, advancing patient-centered, nonoperative care worldwide. His ongoing leadership of the CDC-funded EMERGEncy ID NET and current NIH-supported investigations into antimicrobial resistance and vaccine development continue to influence global health policy and practice. He has created advanced infectious diseases educational programs within the department and established an Emerging Infections Fellowship to train the next generation of physician-scientists. His mentorship spans emergency medicine, infectious diseases, and surgery, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration across UCLA.

Please join me in wishing them a well-deserved congratulations for outstanding contributions to their respective fields since retirement and for serving as powerful examples of intellectual and professional achievement.

Sincerely,

Michael S. Levine

Chair, Edward A. Dickson Emeritus Professorship Award Selection Committee

Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs & Personnel

Klitzner

From a recent email:

The Carole E. Goldberg Emeriti Service Award, established in 2015, recognizes UCLA emeriti for exemplary service by an emeritus/emerita professor to the academic enterprise after retirement. The award honors outstanding service in professional, University, Academic Senate, emeriti, departmental or editorial posts, or committees.

UCLA Professor Emeritus Thomas S. Klitzner has been selected to receive the 2025 – 2026 Carole E. Goldberg Emeriti Service Award, which includes a prize of $1,000.

Thomas S. Klitzner, Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics retired in 2016. Dr. Klitzner has sustained a vigorous record of service to UCLA, the medical profession, and the broader community. At UCLA, he remains an active research collaborator focused on complex care for children, advancing national models for home and care coordination. In 2022 he endowed the Thomas Klitzner Medical Home Lectureship for Complex Care, bringing leading scholars to campus to strengthen education and practice. Beyond campus, Dr. Klitzner serves on the Strategic Planning Committee of the Venice Family Clinic and chairs the board of Seeds to Plate, a nonprofit providing garden-based education in Los Angeles public schools, fostering meaningful engagement between UCLA pediatric residents and local students. His continued participation in professional and advisory roles reflects decades of leadership in pediatric health system innovation.

Please join me in wishing Professor Emeritus Klitzner a well-deserved congratulations for outstanding service to UCLA since retirement and for serving as a powerful example of intellectual and professional achievement.

Sincerely,

Michael S. Levine

Chair, Carole E. Goldberg Emeriti Service Award Selection Committee

Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs & Personnel

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 154

From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard Medical School faculty offered diverging assessments of the school’s revised mission statement, with several professors welcoming a tighter focus on patient care and research while others said the rewrite stripped out language central to the practice of medicine. HMS dean George Q. Daley ’82 unveiled the new statement on April 9, defending it as a “leaner” articulation of the school’s purpose. The previous version opened with a pledge to “nurture a diverse, inclusive community dedicated to alleviating suffering.”

The revised statement removes that language and centers the school’s work on improving “health and wellbeing,” with the diversity commitment relocated to a separate community values statement that affirms HMS as “a diverse and inclusive community.”

Several faculty members said the revision was an improvement... HMS professors Hao Wu and Joseph P. Newhouse offered similar assessments. Wu wrote that the previous statement “sounded a bit sad,” while Newhouse called the revision “appropriate.” ... Other faculty were sharply critical... David S. Jones, a professor of the culture of medicine at HMS... questioned whether political pressure had driven the revision... Christophe O. Benoist, a professor of immunohematology, said he understood the criticism but saw the changes as a strategic concession... Stephen Lory, a retired microbiology professor, said the revisions would not change the day-to-day work of the school’s labs...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/4/27/hms-mission-faculty-reactions/.

The Regents are Coming to UCLA May 5-6, 2026 (Tuesday-Wednesday)

Agenda: May 5-6, 2026 - Luskin Conference Center, UCLA

===

Tuesday, May 5, 2026

10:00 am Health Services Committee (open session- includes public comment session) 

Public Comment

--

Upon end of open session:

Health Services Committee (closed session) 

H1(X) Discussion: Strategic Planning, UCLA Health: Future Alignments and Acquisitions

H2(X) Discussion: Litigation Update: Evolving Risk in Reimbursement

H3(X) Discussion: UC Health Litigation Update

H4(X) Discussion: UC Irvine Health Acquisition Integration and Risk Review

--

Upon end of closed session:

Health Services Committee (open session) 

Action: Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of March 17, 2026

H5 Discussion: Review of the UC Health Division 2025-28 Strategic Plan and Fiscal Year 2026-27 Budget

--

1:00 pm Board (open session) 

Remarks of the Chair of the Board

Remarks of the President of the University

Remarks of the Chair of the Academic Senate

B1 Discussion: UC Inspires: Leveraging the Power of UC Alumni

B2 Discussion: UCLA Bruins NCAA Champion Women’s Basketball Team

--

2:45 pm Governance Committee (closed session) 

Action: Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of March 18, 2026

G1(X) Discussion: Collective Bargaining Matters

NOTE: A potential AFSCME strike is scheduled for May 14.

G2(X) Discussion: Appointment of and Compensation for Laboratory Director, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

--

Upon end of closed session:

Governance Committee (open session) 

Action: Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of March 18, 2026

G2 Action: Approval of Appointment of and Compensation for Laboratory Director, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as Discussed in Closed Session 

--

3:45 pm Board (open session) 

Committee Report Including Approvals of Recommendations from Committees: Governance Committee

--

4:00 pm Investments Committee (open session) 

Action: Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of March 17, 2026

I1 Discussion: Review of Third Quarter 2025–26 Fiscal Year Performance for UC Retirement, Endowment, and Working Capital Assets

===

Wednesday, May 6, 2026

8:30 am Board (open session - includes public comment session) 

Public Comment Period (30 minutes)

Approval of the Minutes of the Meetings of November 19, 2025 and March 17 and 18, 2026

Remarks from Student Associations

B3 Discussion: UC Research Landscape and Impact

B4 Discussion: Balancing Environmental and Financial Sustainability Considerations to Build Next-Generation University Energy Systems 

--

10:15 am Board (closed session) 

B5(X) Discussion: External Funding Litigation and Legal Issues

NOTE: This item refers to the current UC/UCLA conflict with the federal government. Normally, a special committee of the Board deals with this conflict between full Regents sessions. This discussion, in contrast, is with the full Board.

--

11:15 am Compliance and Audit Committee (closed session) 

C1(X) and C2(X) Review of various medical malpractice and other cases. Included is a pre-lawsuit case involving UCLA and a software/hardware company, Oracle America (and likely refers to the failed Ascend 2.0 matter), and what are referred to as "Remote" cases (which may refer to requests for tuition refunds due to the COVID pandemic). Also included are private and federal cases involving antisemitism, cases related to protests, and a case concerning UCLA's attempt to move out of the Rose Bowl.

C3(X) Information: Settlements and Separation Agreements under Delegated Authority Reported from February 1, 2026 to March 31, 2026

--

12:15 pm Board (closed session) 

Action: Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of March 17-18, 2026

Committee Reports Including Approval of Recommendations from Committees:

- Compliance and Audit Committee

- Governance Committee

- Health Services Committee

Officers’ and President’s Reports:

- Personnel Matters

- Report of Interim Actions

- Report of Materials Mailed Between Meetings

--

1:30 pm Finance and Capital Strategies Committee (open session) 

Action: Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of March 18, 2026

Consent Agenda:

- F1A Action: Consent Item: Fiscal Year 2026-27 Bond Issuances

- F1B Action: Consent Item: Advanced Work Phase of the Mission Bay Education Center and Dental Clinics, San Francisco Campus: Construction Funding, Scope, and Design Following an Exemption Determination Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act

- F1C Action: Consent Item: Adoption of Expenditure Rate for the General Endowment Pool

- F1D Action: Consent Item: Adoption of Endowment Administration Cost Recovery Rate 

F2 Action: Heller Student Housing South, Santa Cruz Campus: Budget, Scope, External Financing, and Design Following Consideration of an Addendum to the Student Housing West Environmental Impact Report Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act

F3 Action: Mission Bay Block 16A Building, San Francisco Campus: Budget and External Financing for UCSF’s Contribution to the Project, Scope, Design Following Consideration of an Addendum to the UCSF Long Range Development Plan Environmental Impact Report Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act, and Acceptance of Gift of Real Property

F4 Action: University of California Retirement Plan – Amendment to Previously Approved Action: Suspension of $550 Million Short Term Investment Pool Transfer In 2026–27 

F5 Action: Fiscal Year 2026-27 Budget for the University of California Office of the President 

--

3:00 pm Academic and Student Affairs Committee (open session) 

Action: Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of March 18, 2026

A1 Discussion: UC Center Sacramento and UC Washington Center: Cultivating Future Leaders for the State and Nation

--

3:30 pm Public Engagement and Development Committee (open session) 

Action: Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of January 20–21, 2026

P1 Discussion: State Governmental Relations Update 

--

3:45 pm Board (open session) 

Committee Reports Including Approvals of Recommendations from Committees:

- Academic and Student Affairs Committee

- Finance and Capital Strategies Committee

- Health Services Committee

- Investments Committee

- Public Engagement and Development Committee

Resolutions

Officers’ and President’s Reports

Report of Materials Mailed Between Meetings

===

Source: https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/meetings/agendas/may26.html

Caution Advised

There have been reports of phone calls that purport to be from Navitus, the company that manages drug costs for some of UC's health insurance plans.

If you get a call that indicates a problem with your prescriptions, the best thing to do is to avoid responding directly. The general number for Navitus for those covered by its plan is 844-268-9789. If you get a message on your voicemail, call that number - not the number that may have been indicated in the phone call message - and ask if there is really a problem. 

If you answer the original call, do not provide any information to the caller. Call back at the 844 number above.

News: Possible Mid-May UC Strike

From the Sacramento Bee: A union representing University of California service and health care workers plans to launch an open-ended strike next month over allegations that the university had illegally increased members’ insurance costs and refused to bargain over housing benefits. The union said the open-ended strike, scheduled to begin May 14, would be the first of its kind at UC health systems and would impact all 10 university campuses and other facilities across the state. “Instead of the university really bargaining in good faith, they illegally have imposed these terms that amount to pay cuts,” Michael Avant, president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, said in an interview.

AFSCME Local 3299’s last contract with UC expired in July 2024. Negotiations have continued on and off in the two years since bargaining began. In November 2024, AFSCME Local 3299 went on a multi-day strike over low wages and health care costs. The union represents roughly 40,000 UC service and patient care technical workers who work at university facilities across the state... UC Health cares for 2.5 million patients each year and serves Californians in 99% of the state’s ZIP codes.

Heather Hansen, a spokesperson for UC’s Office of the President, said in a statement that the university was disappointed at the union’s strike announcement. “Given the progress at the table, an open-ended strike is unnecessary and risks disruption for patients, students, and campus operations,” Hansen said...

Full story at https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article315419872.html.

Note that the Regents will be meeting May 5-6 at UCLA, i.e., before the May 14th deadline. So, if there is no settlement by then, there will likely be much said about this matter during public comments.

Harvard's Budget Leak

Since we have been blogging about UCLA budget matters on and off (including yesterday), it might be of interest to look at another university's budget. 

Harvard operates on a more decentralized basis than UCLA. And it doesn't have its own hospital (although it has a med school). Apparently, for years, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) has released aggregate budgets: Income statements (Revenues, Expenditures) and balance sheet (assets and liabilities). But after FY 2025 had passed, it didn't make a public release of its financial report. Nonetheless, it provided the FY 2025 report to selected individuals, one or more of which leaked it to the Harvard Crimson. The Harvard Crimson then published the report.* You can find the report at:

https://ia903207.us.archive.org/35/items/ucla-budget-book-v-final-feb-2026/Harvard%20Faculty%20of%20Arts%20and%20Sciences%20financial%20report%20FY2025.pdf

The income statement in the report shows a deficit for FY 2025 of $7.7 million. How bad is that? Expenditures were about $1.8 billion so the deficit was 0.4% of spending. How much did FAS have in the bank (liquid assets) to cover the deficit? The balance sheet in the report says there are "deposits with the university" of around $2 billion. So presumably, nobody is panicking. Why there was an attempt to keep the report semi-secret is an interesting question.

UCLA needs at a minimum to turn out reports such as Harvard's on a reasonably timely basis. Yes, it is more complicated at UCLA because of the health enterprise, as we noted yesterday. But it isn't impossible.

===

*https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/4/13/fas-unpublished-annual-report/.

Straws in the Wind - Part 318

From the Yale Daily News: Sen. Rick Scott called... for the federal government to cut off funding from Yale over the Yale Political Union’s decision to host the left-wing streamer Hasan Piker, who previously suggested that Scott should be killed. Scott — a Florida Republican who spoke at the political union last semester in favor of the resolution “Buy American” — posted on X that the government should “IMMEDIATELY revoke” Yale’s federal funding. 

While Republicans were developing President Donald Trump’s 2025 “One Big Beautiful Bill,” Piker said during a livestream — responding to comments by House Speaker Mike Johnson that Republicans were focusing on Medicaid fraud — that “if you cared about Medicare fraud or Medicaid fraud, you would kill Rick Scott.” Scott was the chief executive of a hospital company that later paid $1.7 billion in settlements to the government relating to fraud...

Full story at https://yaledailynews.com/articles/senator-calls-for-government-to-revoke-yale-funds-over-ypu-speaker.

Heaps Again

From the LA Times: A former UCLA gynecologist pleaded guilty Tuesday to sexually abusing five of his patients during examinations, and the once-renowned cancer expert was sentenced to 11 years in state prison. James Heaps, 70, pleaded guilty to 13 felonies, including multiple counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person, and must register as a sex offender for life.

The plea came after a three-justice panel of the California 2nd District Court of Appeal overturned his conviction for sexual abuse of two patients with three counts of sexual battery by fraud and two counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person. The court determined that the trial judge failed to inform his lawyers that some of the jurors raised questions about the English proficiency of one of the panel members and ordered a retrial...

[If there had been] a second trial, Heaps faced the prospect of more charges and a potential conviction with a longer sentence... Tuesday’s plea means Heaps will be eligible for parole in 2028 with time served...

Full story at https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-04-14/ex-ucla-doctor-admits-to-sexually-abusing-five-patients-after-previous-conviction-overturned.

As blog readers will know, UCLA paid out over $700 million to victims in a settlement. We have been separately posting from time to time about the university budget. Exactly where did that funding come from? Insurance? Someplace else? Even with insurance, premiums tend to rise after big payouts. Anybody asking? We'll be looking at the health enterprise budget in a future post.

Straws in the Wind - Part 312

From Bloomberg: President Donald Trump’s administration has opened a new front in its campaign to reshape US colleges, homing in on racial diversity at some of the top medical schools in the country. The Department of Justice has launched investigations into medical programs at Stanford, the University of California San Diego and Ohio State University, accusing them of giving a leg up to minority applicants. The administration has made similar claims about a swath of universities. But for medical schools, those accusations — and the accompanying risk to their federal funding — are an especially potent weapon.

Medical programs already took a hit last year when the president slashed billions in research grants, which disproportionately affects biomedical fields. The National Institutes of Health alone terminated nearly $2 billion in payments to medical schools as of last June. But even bigger sums could be at stake if the DOJ investigations widen beyond the initial slate of schools.

The NIH awarded over $19 billion to medical programs last year, and students rely on federal aid and loans to afford famously expensive medical degrees. If schools are found to be in violation of anti-discrimination law, they risk getting cut off from all this funding...

Full story at https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-08/trump-targets-top-medical-schools-as-next-higher-ed-battleground.

Disappeared - Part 3

As blog readers will know, the individual convicted of child sex abuse as an employee in a UCLA child care center was convicted but disappeared while out on bail. Yours truly could find no news stories indicating that Christopher Rodriguez, the convicted former employee, has been found. In contrast, the lawsuit against UCLA has not disappeared. From the Daily Bruin:

Teachers at UCLA’s Early Care and Education centers told administrators in 2017 that they were struggling to meet teacher-student ratios and did not have enough supervision in their classrooms. Seven years later, their colleague of nearly 25 years was arrested for sexually abusing the children under his care. Twenty-five teachers from various ECE locations said they did not have enough staff to supervise their classrooms, according to a 2017 internal task force report obtained by the Daily Bruin. One teacher alleged in the report that their classroom did not have enough caretakers to meet legal supervision requirements at least 50% of the time due to staffing fluctuations...

One parent and UCLA faculty member whose child was in Rodriguez’s class when he worked at the Krieger Center said they pulled their child out of ECE because of what they saw as a lack of classroom management over a year before his arrest. Their child had experienced night terrors and behavioral issues throughout their time at Krieger, they added...

A spokesperson for UCLA ECE said in an emailed statement that they are committed to providing a safe environment for their community, but do not comment on pending legal matters...

Full story at https://dailybruin.com/2026/04/04/child-care-teachers-reported-understaffing-years-before-coworkers-arrest-document-shows.

As we have noted before, whatever happens in the litigation, this case seems like another Big Dollar settlement is brewing.

If only we could cut out the academics...

...things would be great at Dartmouth:

From The Dartmouth: On March 10, the Dartmouth Student Government released the results of their 2025-2026 student issues survey, which was authorized by DSG’s Student Issues Task Force in September 2025. DSG uses data from the survey, which typically draws over 1,000 student respondents, to understand student needs and support projects in conversations with the College. The Dartmouth reviewed the 52-page document. The majority of students agreed that freedom of speech is protected at Dartmouth. They agreed that academics had a negative impact on their mental health, but that all other surveyed factors had a positive impact...

Full story at https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2026/04/student-issues-survey.