Latest California Healthline Stories
Los Angeles County Supervisors Increase Funds for Mental Health Services
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a plan to spend $11 million to expand mental health services, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.
More Employers Offer Disease-Management Programs, Survey Finds
A growing number of employers are establishing disease-management and wellness programs in an effort to reduce long-term health care costs, according to a survey of 207 companies by Aon, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
Navigant Report Addresses Pace of Progress at King/Drew Medical Center
Negative media reports, interference from county officials and hesitation by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has slowed progress in fixing various problems at Martin Luther King/Drew Medical Center, according to a report Navigant Consulting presented to the board on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times reports.
State Board Seeks Court Order To Prevent Nurse Strike at UC Facilities
The Public Employment Relations Board on Tuesday filed a complaint in Sacramento Superior Court seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent members of the California Nurses Association from carrying out a planned one-day strike at five University of California teaching hospitals on Thursday, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Health Insurers, Group Launch Educational Campaigns for Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit
Several health insurers and a group of organizations have launched campaigns to educate Medicare beneficiaries about the new prescription drug benefit, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports.
Draft Legislation Would Shift NIH Authority, Funding
As part of an effort to reauthorize NIH for the first time since 1993, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Joe Barton (R-Texas) on Tuesday released draft legislation that would consolidate institutes and centers at the agency, the Washington Post reports.
Senate HELP Committee Chair To Introduce Joint Measure on Health Care IT
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.) on Tuesday announced a compromise measure that would combine a bill he cosponsored with committee ranking member Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) with a measure co-sponsored by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) designed to expand the use of health care information technology, CongressDaily reports.
BART Workers Approve Union Contract Including Higher Health Care Costs
Bay Area Regional Transit workers represented by the transit system’s two largest unions on Tuesday approved a four-year contract that increases wages while also raising workers’ contributions to health care costs, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
FDA Issues Health Advisory for Mifepristone; Label To Be Updated
FDA on Tuesday issued a public health advisory warning physicians to watch for any signs of sepsis or other infection among women who have taken Danco Laboratories’ Mifeprex — known generically as mifepristone — which when taken with misoprostol can cause a medical abortion, the AP/Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports.
Schwarzenegger Appoints Members to 911 Advisory Board
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on Friday announced appointments to the State 911 Advisory Board.