Latest California Healthline Stories
Local Officials Brace for Veto of Kids’ Health Bill
A state official predicted that Congress will pass an extension of the State Children’s Health Insurance program as it works to draft a measure that President Bush will approve. Funding allocation in the new bill will determine whether California will be forced to eliminate enrollees. Riverside Press-Enterprise.
Battle Over Children’s Health Insurance Bill Lingers in Congress
Lingering tensions over the reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program likely will make it difficult for lawmakers to override President Bush’s expected veto or forge an agreement that the president will sign. CongressDaily et al.
More Details Emerge in Auto Workers’ Health Care Deal
The president of the United Auto Workers union estimates that a health care trust fund resulting from the contract agreement will be solvent for 80 years, while stakeholders and analysts weigh the deal’s implications for Michigan’s Medicaid system, employer-sponsored health coverage and the national debate on health care reform. AP/San Mateo County Times et al.
Group Calls On Candidates To Address Chronic Disease
A newly formed public health coalition will urge presidential candidates and their staffs to include plans to prevent, treat and manage chronic diseases in their health care proposals. The coalition will not endorse a specific candidate. Boston Globe et al.
Financial Woes Hit Southern California Hospitals
A USC health policy expert and officials from Downey Regional Medical Center and the L.A. County Department of Health Services weighed in on the financial outlook for some private Southern California hospitals. KCRW’s “Which Way, L.A.?”
Pharmacy Groups Seek Delay on Medicaid Rx Pad Rule
Pharmacists argue that a rule that will require that prescriptions for Medicaid beneficiaries are written on tamper-resistant pads will force them to deny treatment to Medicaid patients. The rule is scheduled to take effect Oct. 1, but legislation has been introduced in Congress to delay the requirement for six months. CongressDaily.
Small Businesses Cut Benefits, Shift Health Costs to Employees
Many small businesses are combating increased health insurance premiums by reducing health care benefits and shifting more costs onto employees. For example, small businesses increasingly are offering high-deductible or limited-benefit health plans. New York Times.
House Democrats Introduce Stopgap Spending Measure
The stopgap spending bill would fund at current levels the budgets of Cabinet departments and government agencies until Nov. 16. None of the 12 annual appropriations bills has been signed into law, and the 2008 fiscal year begins Oct. 1. AP/Philadelphia Inquirer et al.
Kern County Receives State Funds To Fight West Nile
The county health department will use the more than $350,000 to clear areas where mosquitoes with West Nile virus might be located and raise public awareness of the virus through billboards and public service announcements. Bakersfield Californian.
California Bill Would Let Some Hospitals Delay Seismic Upgrades
Supporters of the measure say it will help keep small community hospitals from closing because they cannot afford to make the changes needed to comply with state seismic rules by 2008, or in some cases 2013. The California Nurses Association opposes the bill. Los Angeles Daily News.