Latest California Healthline Stories
Vermont Governor Signs Legislation To Create Single-Payer System
Today, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin signed a bill that would take the first steps toward establishing a single-payer health care system in the state. Businesses and workers likely would subsidize the single-payer system through taxes. Modern Healthcare et al.
New Medicare Bidding Program Posing Issues for Medical Suppliers
Medical supply companies and economists are raising concerns that a new Medicare bidding program will drive out smaller medical supply firms. Federal officials already have launched an early rollout of the program in nine communities, including one in California. California Watch.
Editorial Outlines Options for State in Wake of Prison Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court “went to great lengths to give California officials maximum discretion” in upholding a federal panel’s ruling “to reduce the state prison population … from the current 143,000 inmates to 110,000,” a Sacramento Bee editorial states. According to the editorial, California “doesn’t have to release inmates, although it should and probably will;” it can “build new prisons”; or “it can reduce the number of inmates flowing into the system,” which is “the sensible solution.” To accomplish this, the state can implement “Gov. Jerry Brown’s realignment proposal to divert more parole violators to local jails” and “flow more nonviolent felons to local detention,” the Bee writes. Sacramento Bee.
Opposition to Medicare Overhaul Helps Decide N.Y. Special Election
Observers say that a Democrat won a special election in a conservative district of New York because of her opponent’s support for a Republican proposal to overhaul Medicare, and many are viewing the outcome as a referendum on the GOP’s plan. AP/Washington Post et al.
Calif. Congress Member Fighting Bill To Reduce Doctor Training Funds
Rep. Dennis Cardoza is criticizing federal legislation that he says would jeopardize funding to train new physicians. Cardoza said the bill would threaten health reform law funding for Modesto’s Valley Consortium for Medical Education. Merced Sun-Star, The Hill‘s “Floor Action Blog.”
San Francisco, Sacramento Make List of Healthy Cities
San Francisco tied with Hartford, Conn. as the sixth healthiest place to live among the 50 most populous U.S. metropolitan areas, according to the American College of Sports Medicine’s 2011 American Fitness Index. Sacramento ranked as the 10th healthiest place to live. The index evaluated the cities based on factors such as healthy eating, physical activity and chronic health conditions. Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento Bee.
CalPERS Achieves Large Savings Through Health Benefit Changes
A staff report finds that CalPERS cut costs by nearly $1 billion in 2010. About $600 million of the reductions stemmed from changes to CalPERS’ health benefits program, such as a greater focus on disease management. Sacramento Business Journal.
Report: Fewer Antibiotic Rx, Tests Could Improve Care
Prescribing fewer antibiotics and ordering fewer tests could improve care quality and reduce health care costs, according to a report by the National Physicians Alliance. The report discourages doctors from ordering ECGs or CT scans in symptom-free, low-risk individuals. It also discourages physicians from prescribing antibiotics for a sore throat unless the patient tests positive for strep throat. Reuters.
Sebelius: Health Reform Law Is Strengthening Medicare
“Over the past few weeks, much of the Medicare debate has focused on the long-term consequences of the House Republican plan to end Medicare as we know it, and turn future beneficiaries over to [a] private insurance company voucher program,” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius writes in a Politico opinion piece. “[A]nother consequence of the GOP budget is that Medicare beneficiaries would lose important new benefits they’re now getting under the Affordable Care Act,” including discounts “on brand-name medications for those in the Medicare prescription drug ‘donut hole'” and reduced costs for preventive screenings, Sebelius adds. Politico.
State Denies First Plea Under Inmate Medical Parole Law
On Tuesday, the California Board of Parole Hearings denied medical parole to a 42-year-old quadriplegic Corcoran State Prison inmate. The hearing was the first under a new state law that grants release to inmates deemed permanently medically incapacitated and not a threat to public safety. John Peck — commissioner of the parole board — said the inmate “would pose an unreasonable threat to public safety” because the inmate could use other individuals to carry out his threats. The inmate’s medical bills average $625,000 annually. The state has scheduled medical parole hearings in June for five more inmates. San Francisco Chronicle, AP/Ventura County Star.