Latest California Healthline Stories
Berkeley Students Vote on Campus Health Care Fees
Students at the University of California-Berkeley are expected to begin voting Tuesday on whether to increase the amount they pay for on-campus health care, the Contra Costa Times reports.
Santa Barbara County Care Data Exchange Effort Moves Forward
The Santa Barbara County Care Data Exchange is expected to be functioning by this summer, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Group of Conservatives Drafts Bioethics Agenda
A group of “influential” conservatives has been drafting a “bold and plausible ‘offensive’ bioethics agenda” to replace the “too narrowly focused and insufficiently ambitious” congressional agenda that so far has failed to ban human cloning or impose limits on research involving human embryos, according to a document circulating among members of Congress, the Washington Post reports.
Regular Low-Dose Aspirin Reduces Risk of Stroke in Women by at Least 17%, Study Finds
Women ages 45 and older who take 100 milligrams of aspirin every other day reduce their risk of stroke by at least 17%, although aspirin does not appear to protect women against heart attacks as it does men, according to a study presented on Monday at the American College of Cardiology meeting in Orlando, Fla., the Washington Post reports.
Workers’ Compensation Legislation Re-emerging as Priority
Legislation to address employers’ workers’ compensation insurance costs “remains high on lawmakers’ radar screens” despite efforts to overhaul the system over the last two years, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Defense Calls First Witness in DOJ Racketeering Case Against Tobacco Companies
Attorneys for cigarette manufacturers on Monday opened their defense in a Department of Justice civil racketeering lawsuit by calling the newly retired head of research and development from R. J. Reynolds as their first witness, the AP/Las Vegas Sun reports.
Medicaid Overpays for Prescription Drugs, GAO Report Finds
CMS does not enforce a 1990 law that requires pharmaceutical companies to provide Medicaid with the “best price” for brand-name prescription drugs, according to a Government Accountability Office report released on Monday, the New York Times reports.
Gregg To Propose $14 Billion Reduction in Medicaid Spending
Senate Budget Committee Chair Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) on Tuesday is expected to propose a budget for fiscal year 2006 that would reduce Medicaid spending by about $14 billion over the next five years, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Lawsuits, Failed Inspections Push Back Opening Date of UCLA-Westwood Hospital
The new $677.7 million hospital project on the University of California-Los Angeles’ Westwood campus likely will be completed later this year or next year, much later than the initial plan to have the project finished five months ago, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Judge Declares Request for Delay in Nurse-Staffing Changes Illegal
Superior Court Judge Judy Holzer Hersher on Friday upheld a tentative ruling she made Thursday, stating that the Department of Health Services illegally delayed changes to state nurse staffing rules when it issued an emergency declaration to block a lower ratio from taking effect, the Los Angeles Times reports.