Latest California Healthline Stories
State Must Increase Doctors’ Pay at Prisons to Improve Retention, Report Finds
The state should increase doctors’ salaries and take other steps to recruit and retain prison medical workers to begin addressing inadequate conditions within the prison health care system, according to a report released on Monday, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Lawmakers Reject Funding for Avian Flu in Labor-HHS-Education Measure
Lawmakers in the House-Senate conference committee on the fiscal year 2006 spending bill (HR 3010) for the Departments of Labor, HHS and Education agreed to a discretionary spending level of $142.5 billion and rejected any emergency spending items, including funding to combat an outbreak of avian flu, CQ Today reports.
Enrollment in Medicare Drug Benefit Begins
Enrollment in the Medicare prescription drug benefit begins on Tuesday amid both praise and criticism for the new coverage, which will cost an estimated $724 billion over 10 years, USA Today reports.
FDA Rejection of Plan B ‘Unusual,’ GAO Report Says
FDA’s 2004 rejection of Barr Pharmaceuticals’ application to allow nonprescription sales for the emergency contraceptive Plan B was “unusual,” and “not typical” of FDA’s regular review process, according to a GAO report released on Monday, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Pay-for-Performance Improves Quality of Care in Hospitals, CMS Says
Connecting Medicare hospital payments to the quality of care can “significantly improve” care, according to first-year results of the CMS/Premier Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration, CMS officials said on Monday, the New York Times reports.
Budget Negotiators Approve $22.5B for Veterans’ Health Administration
House and Senate budget negotiators on Monday approved a $22.5 billion appropriation for Veterans Health Administration medical services — $2.5 billion more than President Bush had requested — and considered funding reductions for HHS, the Wall Street Journal reports.
HIV/AIDS Prevention Efforts on California-Mexico Border Examined
In the fourth of a five-part series titled, “Crossing the Border: California and Mexico’s Shared Health Challenges,” KQED’s “The California Report” on Monday reported on outreach efforts to prevent HIV transmission by bridging the medical and cultural divides between Tijuana and San Diego.
Hearings Address Enforcement of Nursing Home Standards
Sen. Elaine Alquist (D-San Jose) said she plans to introduce legislation to increase funds for more nursing home inspectors and will continue to hold hearings on the enforcement of care standards in nursing homes, the Sacramento Bee reports.
CalPERS Calls for Investigation of Proposed PacifiCare-UnitedHealth Merger
The CalPERS board of directors on Monday voted unanimously to oppose the proposed merger of PacifiCare Health Systems with UnitedHealth Group unless shareholders voted separately on an executive compensation package, the AP/San Jose Mercury News reports.
Lawsuit Seeks Guaranteed Medicare Drug Coverage for Dual Eligibles
Eight advocacy groups filed a lawsuit against the federal government on Monday alleging that CMS has failed to enact adequate safeguards to ensure that beneficiaries dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid will not lose prescription drug coverage when their coverage switches from Medicaid to Medicare on Jan, 1, 2006, the New York Times reports.