Latest California Healthline Stories
Stanford Medical School To Reveal Faculty’s Industry Ties
Later this year, Stanford University’s medical school will post online the links its 1,200 faculty and physicians have to the private industry. Supporters of such disclosure argue that relationships with drug companies can lead to conflicts of interest. San Francisco Business Times.
In Individual Market, Women Often Pay Higher Health Care Premiums
California and other states are considering legislation that would prohibit health insurers from considering an applicant’s sex when setting health insurance premiums. Ten other states have banned the practice. NPR’s “Morning Edition.”
Questions Raised About Critic of Obama Health Care Plan
Richard Scott is spending $5 million of his own money to campaign against President Obama’s health care overhaul efforts. Meanwhile, liberal groups are defending the administration’s health care plan and publicizing more about Scott’s background, including the fact that he was ousted from Columbia/HCA by his own board of directors in 1997 amid one of the country’s largest health care fraud scandals. New York Times.
New Study Says Hospital Readmissions Hamper Medicare, Increase Costs
According to research in the New England Journal of Medicine, Medicare paid more than $17 billion for unplanned hospital readmissions in 2004, accounting for more than 10% of Medicare payments to hospitals. Researchers advocated better discharge planning to avoid readmissions. New York Times et al.
Internists, Other Physicians Opting Out of Medicare
New Medicare beneficiaries are having problems finding doctors because many internists and other medical specialists have opted not to participate in the program and others are not accepting Medicare beneficiaries as new patients. The situation is exacerbated by a shortage of some medical professionals. New York Times.
Caregivers Union Files Suit Against Former Leader
The United Long-Term Care Workers, a Los Angeles-based chapter of the Service Employees International Union, has filed a lawsuit against its former leader Tyrone Freeman alleging breach of contract and fiduciary duty and conversion of union funds for personal benefit. The suit demands restitution of more than $1.1 million, as well as unspecified punitive damages and legal costs. Los Angeles Times.
Walgreens To Provide No-Cost Health Care for Unemployed
Walgreens in-store clinics will provide no-cost health care services to unemployed residents from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. The offer, which will continue through the rest of the year, includes routine treatments for colds, sinus infections, strep throat, seasonal allergies and other ailments. Chicago Sun-Times.
Riverside Foundation Gets Grant for Mobile Clinic
On Tuesday, the Riverside Community Health Foundation announced that it will use a $300,000 grant from Kaiser Permanente’s Riverside Medical Center to operate a mobile clinic it purchased about a decade ago to provide health care services to the city’s homeless. Riverside Press-Enterprise.
HHS Nominee Hits on Health Reform, Other Priorities in Testimony
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius pledged her support for overhauling the U.S. health care system and fielded questions about the employer-sponsored health insurance system, comparative effectiveness research and other issues in an appearance before a Senate panel. AP/Houston Chronicle.
California Facilities for Patients Face Closure
The business that operates a Ventura group home for brain injury victims, called Back in the Saddle Central Coast Home for Traumatic Brain Injury Survivors, is being evicted April 8 after a legal battle with the landlord over rent payments. Meanwhile, George Mark Children’s House, a hospice and respite-care center for children in San Leandro, has seen a sharp drop in donations and only has enough funding to operate through June. Ventura County Star, Los Angeles Times.