Latest California Healthline Stories
Bill Aims To Modify Deadlines for Hospital Compliance With State Seismic Safety Requirements
Sen. Jackie Speier (D-San Mateo) on Wednesday introduced a bill (SB 167) that would eliminate earlier deadlines for hospitals to complete some seismic retrofitting work if hospitals commit to making all improvements by 2020, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Dorgan Introduces Revised Version of Prescription Drug Reimportation Bill
Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) on Wednesday introduced a revised version of a bipartisan bill that would allow the reimportation of lower-cost prescription drugs from other nations, CongressDaily reports.
Sen. Abel Maldonado (R-San Luis Obispo) on Wednesday reintroduced a bill (SB 173) that would exempt from state taxes contributions made by residents to health savings accounts, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reports.
Healthy Kids Program Launches in San Luis Obispo County
The Children’s Health Initiative on Thursday will launch the San Luis Obispo Healthy Kids program to help expand health, vision and dental coverage to the county’s 3,000 uninsured children, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reports.
Some Health Care Providers Voice Concerns About UCSD Plan To Restructure Health Services
Physicians, health care administrators and civic leaders on Monday voiced concerns about a plan by the University of California-San Diego to move some health care services from its 386-bed hospital on the Hillcrest campus to Thornton Hospital in La Jolla, saying that the plan would negatively affect care for residents of southern San Diego County, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Palomar Doctors Ask Health District Board for Increased Staffing
Administrators for Palomar Pomerado Health district board should hire more operating-room staff at Palomar Medical Center in Escondido to prevent surgical delays, according to a petition signed by about 150 physicians and hospital employees that was presented to the center’s board of directors on Monday, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Schwarzenegger Addresses Proposition 71 With Orange County Register Editorial Board
In an interview Monday with the Orange County Register editorial board, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) addressed a variety of issues, including stem cell research.
President Bush Promotes FY 2006 Budget Proposal; Some Lawmakers Criticize Medicaid Provisions
Reaction to the $2.57 trillion fiscal year 2006 federal budget proposal that President Bush submitted to Congress on Monday indicates the president “has a lot more selling ahead of him,” as many lawmakers “found something not to like on Mr. Bush’s long list of proposed cuts” to health care and other programs, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to approve the creation of an independent panel of health care officials to oversee patient care and physician residency programs at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The new Medicare prescription drug benefit will cost more than $720 billion over its first 10 years, with costs reaching $100 billion annually by 2015, according to new estimates released Tuesday by CMS Administrator Mark McClellan, the AP/Las Vegas Sun reports.