Latest California Healthline Stories
Many States Do Not Determine Citizenship of Medicaid Applicants, Report Finds
Most states do not perform audits to determine the citizenship status of residents who seek Medicaid enrollment, according to a report recently released by the HHS Office of Inspector General, the AP/Las Vegas Sun reports.
Contra Costa County Study Assesses Public Health Effects of Casinos
Expanding an existing casino in San Pablo will increase utilization of hospital emergency departments, according to authors of a study on casinos commissioned by Contra Costa County, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a pilot program for seven Oakland schools to allow low-income parents to apply for Medi-Cal for their children on the same application they use to apply for free and reduced-price school lunches, the Tri-Valley Herald reports.
Garamendi Report Examines Health Insurance Costs, Includes Reform Suggestions
Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi (D) on Wednesday released a 73-page report entitled “Priced Out: Health Care in California,” which examines health insurance costs and the percentage of uninsured residents and offers a series of reform suggestions, the AP/San Jose Mercury News reports.
Los Angeles County DHS To Recommend Service Reductions at King/Drew Medical Center
The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services this week plans to recommend cutting some services at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center to make the hospital’s costs more consistent with other county hospitals and alter its mission, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Health Officials Could Contain Outbreak at Source, Studies Find
A plan that includes travel restrictions, quarantines and distribution of antiviral medications could contain an avian flu outbreak at the source in Southeast Asia, according to two new studies based on computer models that recently appeared in the journals Nature and Science, the AP/Long Island Newsday reports.
Former President Clinton Discusses U.S. Health Care Issues in Speech
Former President Clinton, speaking on Wednesday at the opening session of the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Atlanta, called the nation’s health care problems “horrible for this country and the future of our economy,” Cox/Miami Herald reports.
Grassley Introduces Bill To Increase Accessibility, Reduce Cost of Long-Term Care
Senate Finance Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has introduced a bill (S 1602) that is intended to help reduce the cost and increase the accessibility of long-term care for elderly U.S. residents and individuals with disabilities, CQ HealthBeat reports.
Medicare To Reimburse Hospitals for tPA Administered to Stroke Patients
Medicare for the first time will soon begin reimbursing hospitals specifically for the administration of tissue plasminogen activator in ischemic stroke patients, marking “what promises to create a major change in the treatment of acute stroke patients in the U.S.,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Ruling Restricts Medi-Cal Lawsuits
A three-judge panel for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled that Medicaid providers and beneficiaries, including people with disabilities and seniors, are prohibited from suing the state to enforce the equal-access and quality-of-care provisions in the federal law that governs Medi-Cal, the Sacramento Bee reports.