Latest California Healthline Stories
Two San Francisco Hospitals Might Miss Seismic Retrofit Deadline
At least two of San Francisco’s three largest hospitals might not be able to meet the January 2013 deadline to comply with state seismic safety requirements, the San Francisco Business Times reports.
VA Denies Health Coverage for Higher-Income Veterans
The Department of Veterans Affairs in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2005, denied enrollment for health coverage for 263,257 higher-income veterans without service-related injuries or illnesses as part of an effort to reduce costs, the AP/Los Angeles Times reports.
Bush To Call for Tax Credits Related to Health Spending
A top economic adviser to President Bush on Tuesday said Bush is considering proposing in his State of the Union address new tax breaks for out-of-pocket medical expenses as part of an effort to curb rising health costs through consumer-directed health care, USA Today reports.
Voters Should Decide on Physician-Assisted Suicide, Gov. Says
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on Tuesday said that voters — and not the Legislature — should decide whether to legalize physician-assisted suicide for some terminally ill patients, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Federal Government Will Pay States for Emergency Drug Benefit Costs
The federal government will reimburse California and other states for expenses they incur by covering the cost of prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries who have had difficulty obtaining medications under the new drug benefit, the Bush administration said on Tuesday, the New York Times reports.
Second County Moves To Challenge State Medical Marijuana Laws
The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to sue the state to overturn California’s medical marijuana laws, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.
California Healthline Highlights Recent County Action on Health Issues
Supervisors in five counties recently took action on a number of health related issues.
Proposed Legislation Would Reverse Provision for Insurers in Budget
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) on Tuesday said they plan to introduce legislation to restore a provision in the fiscal year 2006 spending reduction package (S 1932) that would cut billions of dollars to private insurers participating in the Medicare program, the Washington Post reports.
Gifts to Doctors Should Be Banned, JAMA Article Says
Gifts, free samples and other promotional incentives given to doctors by pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers undermine medical care and should be prohibited, a group of doctors wrote in an article in Wednesday’s Journal of the American Medical Association, the New York Times reports.
Stem Cell Task Force Releases Intellectual Property Policy Proposal
Not-for-profit research institutions would have to develop a plan to make new therapies available to low-income and uninsured state residents to receive grants from Proposition 71 under a proposal released Monday by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine intellectual property task force, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.