Latest California Healthline Stories
CMS Rule Revises Medicare Physician Reimbursements
The rule is intended to increase reimbursements for the time and effort that physicians spend to evaluate patient conditions and advise patients on their health management. CQ HealthBeat, CMS.
Pay-for-Performance Programs Could Save Medicare $1B
The study finds that implementing recommended care measures for pneumonia and heart bypass surgery would have resulted in fewer deaths, medical complications, hospital readmissions and days in the hospital. CQ HealthBeat.
Immigration Affects California Health Care
KQED’s “Health Dialogues” on June 22 will examine the impact of immigration on health care in California, where one in three current residents was born in another country. Audio.
A study by the Center for Studying Health System Change finds that physician reimbursement from neither Medicare nor private insurers outpaced inflation from 1995 to 2003. New York Times, Cleveland Plain-Dealer.
Businesses Criticize Proposed Health Plan Contribution Mandates
Legislation by San Francisco Supervisor Tom Ammiano would require employers to contribute in one of four ways to workers’ health plans, but some businesses say costs associated with the legislation could force them to close. San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Chronicle.
Stem Cell Agency Audit Finds No Problems
A required annual audit flagged no problems at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, but the state controller’s office raised questions about access to certain documents that the auditors would not allow state officials to copy. San Francisco Chronicle.
Bulk Purchasers Seek Drug Discounts
Slow development of new medicines, increasing availability of generics and increasing power among bulk buyers is fostering increased price competition for prescription drugs. Wall Street Journal.
CalPERS Opts for Premium Increases
The CalPERS board of trustees, as expected, rejected changes to members’ health benefits for 2006 and voted to increase premiums by 11.6% on average for HMOs and 12.6% on average for PPOs. Sacramento Bee et al.
California Healthline Highlights Recent County Actions
Union members in Los Angeles County say low salaries prevent qualified workers from applying for jobs at the county Department of Health Services; Orange County considers strategies for retiree health care liability
Kaiser Permanente plans to ask as many as two million members in Northern California for DNA samples to create a database to help identify genetic and environmental links to various diseases. San Francisco Business Times.