Latest California Healthline Stories
California Healthline Highlights Recent Health Policy Events, Op-Eds
Several newspapers this week have addressed health policy events and published editorials and opinion pieces on bills under consideration by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R).
Schwarzenegger Supports ‘Concept’ of Parental Notification
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on Tuesday said he agrees with “the concept” of parental notification before an abortion but has not decided if he will endorse Proposition 73, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Amendment Would Require Conflict-of-Interest Disclosure for FDA Advisory Committees
The Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed an amendment to the fiscal year 2006 Agriculture appropriations bill (HR 2744) that would require members of FDA advisory committees to disclose publicly 15 days before meetings any conflicts of interests for which members had to obtain waivers to allow them to participate, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Garamendi Criticizes Low-Cost, Limited-Coverage Health Insurance Policies
Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi (D) on Tuesday voiced concerns about low-cost health insurance policies with limited benefits at a hearing regarding regulation of the plans, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
CalPERS Announces Telemedicine Project
CalPERS on Tuesday announced a telemedicine program that will be available beginning Jan. 1, 2006, to the nearly 90,000 CalPERS members who live in rural areas, the Sacramento Bee reports.
FDA Names Acting Women’s Health Director
FDA on Friday named Theresa Toigo, director of the agency’s Office of Special Health Issues, acting director of the Office of Women’s Health, the Washington Post reports.
McClellan Recommends Individual State Medicaid Waivers To Address Hurricane Evacuees
CMS Administrator Mark McClellan on Tuesday said that individual state Medicaid waivers, such as the one for Texas announced on Sept. 15, will allow Hurricane Katrina evacuees to “get access to health care now instead of waiting for Congress to act” on legislation, CQ HealthBeat reports.
Los Angeles County Hospitals Need $774.3M in Improvements, Health Department Says
The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services on Tuesday released a report estimating that county hospitals need $774.3 million in improvements, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Southern California, Bay Area Officials Consider Hospitals’ Disaster Preparedness
Emergency preparedness officials in Southern California are considering the region’s ability to respond to a massive-scale disaster that would displace hundreds of thousands of residents such as a major earthquake in the Los Angeles region, including how hospitals would respond. Bay Area medical facilities also “are scrambling to seismically upgrade,” and “disaster drills among hospitals are being coordinated on every county level.”
CMA Withdraws Brief in Support of Physicians Declining To Provide Fertility Treatment
The California Medical Association has withdrawn an appellate court brief supporting the position of physicians at the North Coast Women’s Care Medical Group who cited religious beliefs in declining to artificially inseminate a lesbian, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.