Latest California Healthline Stories
IOM Calls for Significant Increase in Annual U.S. Public Health Spending
A report by an Institute of Medicine panel calls for the federal government to more than double its annual public health spending. The report recommends levying a tax on health care services and health insurance to raise funds for the increased spending. The Hill‘s “Healthwatch” et al.
Appeals Court To Hear Case on Tobacco Warning Labels
On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will hear oral arguments in a case examining a law that requires graphic warning labels on cigarette packages. In February, a federal district judge ruled that the graphic labeling requirement is unconstitutional because it violates tobacco companies’ free speech rights. The Hill‘s “Healthwatch.”
Opinion: Democrats Oppose Some of Brown’s Budget Cuts
Ventura County Star columnist Thomas Elias writes that even though “legislative Democrats have large majorities in both the Assembly and state Senate,” it “doesn’t mean [they] will accept every budget proposal” that Gov. Brown issues. With his proposed fiscal year 2012-2013 budget plan, Brown is “tweaking the noses of well-established core Democratic constituencies, and they don’t like it,” according to Elias. Ventura County Star.
BLS Report: Health Sector Added 26,000 Jobs in March
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly employment report, the health care sector added 26,000 jobs in March, or 22% of the total number of jobs that the U.S. economy added last month. Hospitals added 8,100 jobs, the report found. Modern Healthcare.
Survey: Annual Health Plan Costs To Increase by Less Than 10%
A new survey by Buck Consultants estimates that the average annual costs for all types of health plans will increase by less than 10% in 2012, marking the firm’s smallest projections for health plan rate hikes since 2001. Sacramento Business Journal.
Health Reform To Add Billions to Deficit Over 10 Years, Report Says
A report released today by the GOP trustee for Medicare and Social Security estimates that the health reform law will add more than $340 billion to the federal deficit over the next 10 years. The Obama administration criticized the report’s calculation methods. Reuters et al.
U.S. Must Address Health Care Costs, Opinion Piece Says
In an opinion piece for the Los Angeles Times‘ “Opinion L.A.,” Art Kellermann — a physician and vice president at Rand Health — writes that the U.S. “spends far more on health care — per capita and as a percentage of GDP — than any other nation on Earth.” He adds, “Only by confronting the brutal facts … can we hope to improve America’s costly and underperforming health care system into the high-value system Americans need and deserve.” Los Angeles Times‘ “Opinion L.A.”
Group Launches Campaign To Thwart Compromise Tax Plan
On Monday, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association launched its “Don’t Sign the Petition” campaign against the compromise tax plan developed by Gov. Brown and supporters of the “Millionaires Tax.” HJTA President Jon Coupal said Brown’s characterization of the plan as a tax on millionaires is misleading. Sacramento Bee.
Legislators Consider Alternative to Brown’s Pension Reform Plan
State legislators are looking at a pension reform proposal based on a plan offered by the California State Teachers’ Retirement System. Some lawmakers are concerned that the pension proposal offered by Gov. Brown would open pensions up to significant losses. Los Angeles Times‘ “PolitiCal.”
Brown, Unions Reach Tentative Labor Pacts To Extend Contracts
Gov. Brown has reached tentative agreements with four state worker unions to extend their existing contracts for another year. The agreements would push contract negotiations until after a potential November vote on Brown’s compromise tax hike plan. Sacramento Bee‘s “The State Worker,” Sacramento Bee.