Latest California Healthline Stories
L.A. County Health Agency Criticized for Lax Oversight
On Tuesday, Los Angeles County supervisors faulted the county Department of Health Services for allowing a database intended to track problem employees at Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Medical Center to lapse for almost a year. The database was restored on Monday. Los Angeles Times.
Report Traces Medicare Fraud Charges to Use of Dead Doctors’ IDs
From 2000 to 2007, Medicare paid between $60 million and $92 million in fraudulent claims submitted using dead doctors’ Medicare identification numbers, a Senate committee report indicates. ID numbers for almost 3,000 deceased physicians remain active in Medicare files. Washington Post et al.
Leavitt: Congress Must Act on Competitive Bidding Program
“This week Congress will demonstrate if it is serious or not about reining in entitlement spending” as it considers a competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt writes in an opinion piece. He concludes, “If Congress fails to uphold even this modest effort at entitlement reform, there is little reason to believe its members will muster the political courage for the unspeakably harder choices that await them.” Wall Street Journal.
Research Shows Some Veterans’ Health Costs Exceed Other Retirees’
Research from the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs shows that disabled veterans injured in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan face higher medical costs than other retirees. The report advocates waiving Medicare premiums for some disabled veterans. CongressDaily, AP/Chicago Tribune.
Funding Crunch Forces Alameda County Healthy Kids Program To Close
The Healthy Kids program in Alameda County provides medical, vision and dental care to about 1,000 uninsured children who do not qualify for Medi-Cal or other programs. The program will be the first Healthy Kids program in the state to close. East Bay Business Times.
Study Findings Suggest Online Rx Drug Abuse
A significant majority of Web sites that advertise or sell controlled medications do not require a proper prescription, according to a new study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. In addition, the Drug Enforcement Administration found that 85% of all online prescription drug sales involved controlled substances, compared with 11% of those filled through traditional pharmacies — suggesting that online sales often are intended for abuse. New York Times.
New Suit Alleges Inadequate Health Care in State Prisons
A federal lawsuit seeking class-action status alleges that California prisons do not adequately treat inmates with hepatitis C or screen inmates for the disease. The court-appointed receiver for California’s prison medical system says the complaint is redundant because health care in the prisons has been addressed in a separate suit. Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Daily Journal.
McCain’s Health Care Reform Plan Could Prove Costly
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain has pledged to expand federal support for state high-risk health insurance pools or create a structure modeled after them, but his plan does not yet address individuals who do not qualify for government programs or subsidies but because of pre-existing conditions are often denied private coverage and unable to pay the premiums of high-risk pools. New York Times.
California Leaders Help Kick Off U.S. Coalition To Extend Health Care
The Health Care for America Now coalition is leading a $40 million campaign to push health care reform in the 2008 elections. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Lt. Gov. John Garamendi appeared at rallies in San Francisco and Los Angeles, respectively. Contra Costa Times.
Dispute on Health, Climate Change Centers on Cheney
Yesterday, former Environmental Protection Agency Deputy Associate Administrator Jason Burnett said that members of Vice President Dick Cheney’s staff censored congressional CDC Director Julie Gerberding’s testimony last October about health threats posed by global warming. Washington Post et al.