Latest California Healthline Stories
Orange County Supervisor To Request Funding for Children’s Health Initiative
Orange County Supervisor Lou Correa on Tuesday plans to ask the county Board of Supervisors to provide $2.1 million over the next three years to join the statewide Children’s Health Initiative to expand health care coverage to uninsured children, the Orange County Register reports.
Serono To Pay $704M for Fraud Related to AIDS-Related Medication
The Swiss biotechnology company Serono on Monday agreed to pay $704 million to settle a Department of Justice investigation into the company’s sales and pricing practices of its drug Serostim, which is used to treat AIDS-related wasting, the New York Times reports.
Spending by Counties, Special Programs Could Be Affected by Proposition 76
Proposition 76 — a Nov. 8 special election ballot measure that would place a cap on the state budget — could require counties to fund Medi-Cal in the event of a state budget deficit because the initiative would allow the governor to reduce state funding to the program without permitting him to reduce benefits, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Schwarzenegger Names Orange County Health Director as State Public Health Officer
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on Monday appointed Orange County Health Officer Mark Horton to the position of state public health officer, the Los Angeles Times reports.
States Criticize ‘Clawback’ Provision Payments Under Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit
The Bush administration on Monday informed states about the amount that they must pay the federal government under the “clawback” provision in the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, the New York Times reports.
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a government appeal of a ruling that denied the Department of Justice’s attempts to claim a $280 billion penalty from several large tobacco companies in its civil racketeering lawsuit, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Medicare Fraud Operations Expand in Northern California
Medicare fraud scams “are rapidly spreading” from Southern to Northern California as “shady doctors and clinic operators” have opened businesses in the Bay Area, health experts say, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
20.6% of Women Giving Birth in California Have Little or No English Proficiency
California leads the nation in language barriers among women giving birth, with 20.6% of women giving birth in California hospitals not speaking English or not speaking it well, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, the Modesto Bee reports.
Boston Globe Examines Issues Related to Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance
The Boston Globe on Sunday examined various approaches to health policy that suggest easing the reliance on employer-sponsored health insurance as a means to reduce the number of uninsured U.S. residents.
Bush Administration Calls for Renewal of Assistance Program for Low-Income Medicare Beneficiaries
The Bush administration on Friday in an e-mail to Congress said 192,000 low-income Medicare beneficiaries could face higher out-of-pocket costs next year because lawmakers have not renewed a program that subsidizes their Part B premiums, the New York Times reports.