Latest California Healthline Stories
Feds To Pay Settlement Over Palo Alto VA Treatment Case
The U.S. government will pay $250,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by an 87-year-old veteran who claimed that treatment he received at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System left him legally blind. An investigation determined that hospital optometrists did not follow proper policy relating to vision care. San Jose Mercury News.
CDC Report Finds 59M U.S. Residents Did Not Have Insurance in 2010
Roughly 59 million Americans lacked health insurance coverage this year, an increase of four million in the last two years, a new CDC study finds. In addition, the report concludes that about 40% of uninsured individuals also have one or more chronic diseases. Reuters.
Education Groups File Lawsuit Over Mental Health Care Cuts
The California School Boards Association and two school districts have filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn Gov. Schwarzenegger’s recent line-item veto of mental health services funding for special education students. Sacramento Bee‘s “Capitol Alert.”
State Expected To Face Serious Shortage of Eldercare Providers
Yesterday, California lawmakers held a hearing to discuss the need for more geriatric care providers as the state’s population continues to age. The number of Californians ages 65 or older is expected to grow from 4.4 million to 11.5 million by 2050. “California Watch Blog.”
Survey: Enrollment Rising for High-Deductible Health Plans
Over the past four years, the number of U.S. workers enrolled in health plans with deductibles of $1,000 or more has nearly tripled to about 20 million, according to a recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust. In California, the number of workers with high-deductible health plans more than tripled to 674,000 between 2006 and 2009, according to the survey. Los Angeles Times.
New Volunteer-Staffed S.F. Clinic Opens for Uninsured
A new medical clinic, Clinic by the Bay, opened on Tuesday to provide no-cost care for San Francisco-area uninsured residents. It is the first in Northern California to be affiliated with Volunteers in Medicine, an organization that sets up medical clinics run mainly by retired health care professionals. Eliza Gibson, director of the clinic, estimated the facility will serve about 1,400 patients in its first year. San Francisco Chronicle.
Editorial: Rationing Fears Can Hinder Health Cost Controls
“Americans have a hard time accepting limits on their access to care, even if the treatment or drug is shown to be ineffective,” a Los Angeles Times editorial states. The editorial concludes, “It’s fair to debate how best to achieve health care reform. But it’s hard to see how health care costs can be brought under control if attempts to make the system more efficient and effective get waylaid by irrational fears about rationing.” Los Angeles Times.
U.S. Obesity Rate Expected To Hit 42% by 2050, Study Finds
The U.S. obesity rate will continue to increase over the next four decades until it reaches about 42%, according to a study published last week in the journal PLoS Computational Biology. The study also found that people with friends who are obese are at a greater risk of becoming obese themselves. Los Angeles Times, Reuters.
Kaiser Permanente Reports Q3 2010 Profits of $634M
Kaiser Permanente has announced a third-quarter 2010 profit of $634 million on $11.1 billion in revenue, up from a $569 million profit on $10.5 billion in revenue in Q3 2009. Its operating income for the quarter was $366 million, up by about 9% from last year. San Francisco Business Times.
New Health Innovation Fund Aims To Improve Access to Care in Calif.
The California HealthCare Foundation has announced a $10 million investment fund to provide seed financing and other support to organizations working to improve access to affordable health care for underserved populations in California. San Francisco Business Times.