Latest California Healthline Stories
Orange County Supervisors Reject Caremark Drug Contract
The Orange County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to reject a $14 million contract to administer county employees’ prescription drug benefits with Tennessee-based Caremark and instead will contract with Walgreen, the Orange County Register reports.
USDA Reverses April Decision on Organic Labels for Cosmetics
USDA has reversed an April decision to remove USDA Organic labels from cosmetics, the AP/Billings Gazette reports.
Many Caregivers Have Health, Financial Problems, Study Finds
Many adults caring for sick or disabled relatives have their own health problems, lack health insurance and face trouble paying medical bills, according to a study by the Commonwealth Fund released Wednesday, Healthday News/Detroit Free Press reports.
ICOC Members Address Stem Cell Research Technique in San Francisco Chronicle Opinion Piece
A “crucial distinction” exists between human reproductive cloning and “the research that may create disease-specific therapies through somatic cell nuclear transfer,” Independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee members Edward Penhoet and Sherry Lansing write in a San Francisco Chronicle opinion piece.
Number of Overweight Kids in California Up 6% Since 2001
Twenty-eight out of every 100 school children in California were overweight in 2004, up 6% from 2001, according to a report issued on Wednesday by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance More Widely Available in Western States
Employees in the Western U.S. are more likely to be offered employer-sponsored health insurance but less likely to be offered retiree health care benefits than workers nationwide, according to a report released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Modesto Contract Negotiations Hinge on Health Care, Retiree Benefits
More than 200 Modesto municipal employees on Monday participated in a one-day strike to “showcase the plight of the city’s 550 rank-and-file workers, who receive less benefits than their counterparts in public safety and management,” the Modesto Bee reports.
Cost of Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Has Increased for Workers, Study Finds
Workers’ contributions to employer-sponsored health coverage for families increased by an average of 79% from 1996 to 2003, according to an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality study published on Wednesday, the Washington Post reports.
Lockyer To Add Pharmaceutical Companies to 2003 Medi-Cal Lawsuit
Attorney General Bill Lockyer (D) on Thursday is expected to announce the names of as many as three dozen pharmaceutical companies he is adding to a 2003 lawsuit that accuses Abbott Laboratories and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals of inflating drug prices for Medi-Cal, AP/Contra Costa Times reports.
Infant Mortality Rates in the Antelope Valley Decrease for Blacks, Increase for Latinos
Infant mortality rates among blacks in the Antelope Valley have decreased by about 50% from 2002 to 2003, but rates have increased for Latino residents, according to a new report, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.