Latest California Healthline Stories
Fresno Center Nabs Grant for Health Care Jobs Training
The Fresno not-for-profit training network SER-Jobs for Progress International has received a $2.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to help people find jobs and education in the health care field. The grant money comes from the federal economic stimulus package. Fresno Business Journal.
California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of June 18, 2010
Marc Benioff, founder of Salesforce.com, donated $100 million to help UC-San Francisco build a children’s hospital in Mission Bay. Meanwhile, Parkview Community Hospital Medical Center missed a deadline to pay its estimated $27 million debt to Prime Healthcare Services.
CDC: Number of Uninsured U.S. Residents Rose in 2009
This week, CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics released a new survey finding that 46.3 million individuals lacked health insurance coverage in 2009, up from 43.8 million in 2008. Researchers say the increase in uninsured U.S. residents likely stemmed from the recession and decreased access to employer-sponsored insurance plans. The survey was based on data from the 2009 National Health Interview Survey. Reuters et al.
Study: Physicians Recovered From Lower Medicare Pay
Doctors were able to make up for reductions in Medicare payments for chemotherapy by treating more patients, according to a new Health Affairs study. Congress in 2003 reduced payments for chemotherapy doctors provided in their offices to address concerns that physicians were profiting from providing such treatment. Study author Joseph Newhouse, a health policy professor at Harvard University, said the study shows lawmakers should carefully consider any changes in Medicare payments.
Panel Votes Against Altering FDA Policy on Blood Donation
HHS’ Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability recently voted against changing an FDA policy prohibiting men who have sex with men from donating blood. According to the panel, there is a small but still unacceptable increased risk of contamination to the blood supply if the government altered current blood donation standards. The committee also acknowledged the uneven treatment of men who have sex with men and called the current donor system “suboptimal.” Wall Street Journal‘s “Health Blog,” Los Angeles Times.
4 State Worker Unions Reach Tentative Deal To Trim Pension Benefits
Yesterday, the leaders of four state workers’ unions brokered a tentative agreement with Gov. Schwarzenegger’s administration to scale back pension benefits. The unions include bargaining units that represent health and social service employees. Los Angeles Times et al.
Patients Notified in Possible Equipment Contamination
Palomar Pomerado Health System has sent letters informing 3,400 patients that they could be at risk of infection because of improperly disinfected endoscopic equipment at the 319-bed Palomar Medical Center in Escondido. The letters recommend that affected patients return to the hospital for no-cost testing. A spokesperson for Palomar Pomerado Health said officials had seen no indication that any patients had contracted infections from the equipment. The hospital has reported the incident to the California Department of Public Health, as required under state law. HealthLeaders Media, San Diego Union-Tribune.
Villines Ahead of FitzGerald in Race for Top Insurance Post
Assembly member Mike Villines (R-Clovis) has taken a 2,746 vote lead over Brian FitzGerald, an enforcement attorney in the Department of Insurance, in the Republican primary race for insurance commissioner. The race is still undecided, with 773,497 ballots left to be counted. Sacramento Bee et al.
Democrats Continue To Scale Back ‘Doc Fix’ in Substitute Amendment
Yesterday, Senate Democrats unveiled a new substitute amendment to the “extenders” bill after a procedural vote blocked the legislation from advancing to final approval. The amendment would delay a scheduled cut to Medicare physician payments by six months. CQ Today et al.
HHS Pledges $250M To Strengthen Primary Care Work Force Nationwide
Yesterday, HHS announced that it will allocate $250 million from a public health fund established under the federal health reform law to help produce 16,000 new primary care physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners by 2015. CQ HealthBeat et al.