Latest California Healthline Stories
UC-Davis Nets Federal Grant for Expanding Primary Care
The UC-Davis School of Medicine has secured a $1.92 million federal grant to add to its primary care residency program. Nationwide, funding also will provide education, training and support services for low-income individuals seeking careers in the health care sector. Sacramento Business Journal.
Measures Allow CSU To Award Physical Therapy, Nursing Doctorates
Gov. Schwarzenegger has signed two bills allowing California State University to confer doctoral degrees in physical therapy and nursing. Meanwhile, the governor vetoed a bill calling for further study on malpractice insurance for volunteer dentists. Sacramento Bee et al.
CalOptima Foundation Tapped To Help Advance Health Care IT Efforts
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has selected the CalOptima Foundation as a regional extension center for Orange County. RECs aim to help health care providers transition to electronic health records. The Hill‘s “Healthwatch” et al.
New Lawsuit Challenges Medicare Hospital Rule Within Health Overhaul
Physician Hospitals of America and Texas Spine and Joint Hospital are suing HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius over a health reform provision that prevents physician-owned hospitals from expanding or participating in Medicare. Austin American-Statesman, Politico‘s “Pulse.”
Legislature’s Approval Ratings Hit All-Time Low, Poll Finds
A Field Poll released on Tuesday finds that only 10% of California’s registered voters approve of the state Legislature’s performance, while 80% disapprove. The latest approval ratings are the lowest the Legislature has received since the poll began in 1983. Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll, said the Legislature’s low approval ratings likely stem from lawmakers’ record-breaking delay in passing a budget for the current fiscal year. San Francisco Chronicle.
Sebelius: Reform Providing Needed Oversight of Insurers
Recent criticism of HHS — which has been accused of “thuggery” and “Soviet tyranny” — is “objectionable” because it means that such critics “believe that any oversight of the insurance industry is too much and that consumers would be better off in a system where they have few rights or protections,” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece. Sebelius continues, “If critics really want to go back to the days when insurance companies ran wild with no accountability, they should have the courage to say so openly instead of hiding behind distracting attacks.” Wall Street Journal.
Supreme Court To Hear Case on Alleged Rx Drug Overcharging
The court has agreed to hear an appeal from six pharmaceutical companies over a 2005 ruling that the drugmakers violated federal law by overcharging for prescription drugs. The case stems from a lawsuit filed by Santa Clara County. Reuters.
Editorial Criticizes Campaign Against Insurance Exchange
Anthem Blue Cross and the California Chamber of Commerce “are spreading a trio of fear-mongering falsehoods” against legislation that would create the California Health Benefit Exchange, a Sacramento Bee editorial states. Anthem and the chamber’s “bill-killing effort” says that the legislation would “create a new branch of government,” would expose “taxpayers to costs associated with ‘fraud, inefficiency or abuse'” and would “have broad authority to levy fees on health insurance plans, hurting consumers,” all of which are untrue, according to the Bee. Sacramento Bee.
Court Extends Temporary Stay on Stem Cell Funding
On Monday, a three-judge panel in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., extended a temporary stay on a U.S. district court judge’s preliminary injunction on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, allowing U.S. researchers to continue work on federally approved projects. The stay remains in place until a final ruling is issued on the legality of federally funding such research, which may not arrive for several weeks or months. AP/Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal.
Study Predicts Uptick in 2011 Health Care Costs for Employers, Workers
Next year, employers and employees will bear a greater share of health costs, according to new projections from Hewitt Associates. The study predicts that employers will pay 9% more in health costs and that workers will pay about 12% more. Los Angeles Times et al.