Latest California Healthline Stories
Medicare To Cover Smoking Cessation Counseling for Some Beneficiaries
Medicare will cover the cost of smoking cessation counseling for beneficiaries with diseases caused or complicated by tobacco use, CMS officials announced on Tuesday, the AP/Long Island Newsday reports.
Senate, House Could Be Willing To Compromise on Medicaid Cuts
Senate and House members might compromise on the extent of Medicaid cuts, though they are proposing “vastly different” fiscal year 2006 budget resolutions, CongressDaily reports.
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted unanimously to commission a study to assess the ability of local hospitals, trauma centers, emergency departments and outpatient facilities to care for low-income patients over the next 20 years, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The county expects to spend as much as $400,000 for the study, using funds from the tobacco settlement.
FDA Issues Guidelines for Submission of Data From Genetic Tests
FDA on Tuesday released new guidelines “intended to encourage” pharmaceutical companies to collect and submit data from genetic tests with applications for new medications, a practice that could represent a “significant step … toward the development of so-called personalized medicine,” the New York Times reports.
State Lawmakers Consider Mandating Coverage for Obesity Surgery
Lawmakers in Connecticut and other states are considering requiring health insurers to cover obesity surgery, the AP/Virginian-Pilot reports.
Status of Proposed Ballot Measures Addressing Prescription Drug Costs Examined
The San Diego Union-Tribune on Wednesday examined the “battle between consumer groups and the pharmaceutical industry” over lower-cost prescription drugs that is “threatening to escape the confines of the Legislature and escalate into a full-scale ballot war in the fall.” The article highlighted the status of various groups’ proposed ballot measures.
University of California nurses on Tuesday expressed concern that a proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) to eliminate guaranteed pension benefits for state workers proposed would override ongoing contract negotiations and complicate efforts to recruit candidates for nursing jobs at UC, the Sacramento Bee reports.
CDC Officials Evaluate 2004-2005 Flu Season, Vaccine Shortage
People in high-priority groups to receive the flu vaccine in the 2004-2005 season were inoculated at rates similar to the previous flu season despite an unexpected shortage of vaccine, CDC immunization expert Jeanne Santoli said Tuesday at the National Immunization Conference in Washington, D.C., the AP/Las Vegas Sun reports.
Los Angeles Police Department To Train Officers To Better Manage People With Mental Illnesses
Los Angeles Police Department officers in April will begin taking Internet courses to help them recognize common symptoms of mental illnesses and appropriately address situations involving people with such conditions, the AP/San Luis Obispo Tribune reports.
San Francisco AIDS Foundation Names New Executive Director
Officials for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation on Monday announced that Mark Cloutier — current executive director of Continuum, a “highly regarded” San Francisco-based HIV/AIDS care group — on June 1 will become the foundation’s executive director, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.