Latest California Healthline Stories
Republicans Encouraging Seniors To Enroll in Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit
Republican congressional leaders have urged GOP lawmakers to spend their August recess signing up seniors for the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, the Washington Times reports.
Veterans Affairs Health Care System Reforms Examined
The Washington Post on Monday examined how the Department of Veterans Affairs health system has “undergone a dramatic transformation” over the past decade, leading some researchers to consider it a “lesson in how the nation’s troubled health care system might be able to heal itself.”
Legislation To Implement Medi-Cal Agreement Could Prompt Bipartisan Action
Legislation that would implement an agreement that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) made with the federal government to restructure distribution of Medi-Cal funds could “force bipartisan action” in the last weeks of the current legislative session, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Groups Oppose Proposals To Modify Structure of Regulatory Boards for Health-Related Professions
The Los Angeles Times on Monday examined the status of policy recommendations coming from the California Performance Review, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s (R) revised proposals for state boards that regulate medical professionals.
Recent JAMA Study Looks at Risk Standards for Child Enrollees in Clinical Trials
The Washington Post on Monday examined a study published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association that looked at the risk standards used to regulate the involvement of children in medical studies.
Prescription Drug Ballot Measure Campaigns Part of Nationwide Trend
Campaigns by the pharmaceutical industry and a coalition of consumer and organized labor groups over competing propositions addressing prescription drugs on the Nov. 8 special election ballot are part of a nationwide movement to provide lower drug prices to the uninsured, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Sutter Health Files Counterclaim in Charity Care Case
Sutter Health this week filed a counterclaim against uninsured patients who were ineligible for the hospital chain’s charity care program and did not pay their medical bills, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Op-Ed Promotes Individual Health Insurance Coverage Requirement
“With 45 million Americans uninsured, achieving universal access to health care may seem daunting, but it’s not impossible,” California Medical Association CEO Jack Lewin and Aetna President Ronald Williams write in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.
California Emerges as Destination for Reproductive Services
A few thousand people annually travel to California to access reproductive technology services in part because of the state’s “abundance of good fertility clinics and laissez-faire attitude toward the technology,” the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Wall Street Journal Examines Health Coverage for Preventive Care
The Wall Street Journal on Thursday examined discrepancies among patients, doctors and insurers in defining preventive health care services and how that affects reimbursement.