Latest California Healthline Stories
Bush Budget Proposal Would Reduce Uninsured, Overhaul Medicaid
President Bush in his fiscal year 2006 budget proposal will recommend spending an extra $140 billion over 10 years to expand health coverage to U.S. residents while simultaneously reducing Medicaid spending by tens of billions of dollars, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt announced Thursday, the Washington Post reports.
Stanislaus County Launches Wellness Campaign
The Stanislaus County Health Services Agency on Wednesday announced a countywide initiative to promote healthier lifestyles after Department of Health Services data showed that the county has the highest mortality rate from heart disease in the state, the Modesto Bee reports.
U.S. District Judge Delays Decision on Dismissing Kickback Case Against Alvarado, Tenet
U.S. District Judge M. James Lorenz on Thursday said that he will not immediately rule on Tenet Healthcare’s motion to dismiss charges in a federal criminal trial that alleges two former Alvarado Hospital Medical Center administrators illegally negotiated about $10 million in physician-relocation agreements with physician groups to increase patient referrals and revenue, Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times reports.
Schwarzenegger, Legislative Leaders To Meet With Congressional Delegation
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and state legislative leaders on Feb. 17 will meet in Washington, D.C., with leaders of California’s congressional delegation to discuss the state’s legislative interests, possibly including Medi-Cal funding, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Senate Judiciary Committee Likely To Approve Class-Action Measure
As President Bush in his State of the Union address on Wednesday night reiterated his call for federal tort reform, action on the issue in the Senate Judiciary Committee this week “is quickly turning into the political laboratory for what will be doable and what will be difficult,” the New York Times reports.
King/Drew Medical Center To Lose CMS Funding if Facility Fails Final Inspection
Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center as of Feb. 18 will be ineligible for about $200 million in annual CMS funding unless the hospital passes an inspection before that date, CMS officials said Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Health Care Costs Cause Millionaires To Put Off Retirement, Survey Finds
A new survey of 1,312 people with “at least $1 million to invest, not including the value of their residences” indicates that significant assets do not “eliminate worries over increasing health care costs,” Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal reports.
Bush Reiterates Support for Tort Reform, Tax Credits in State of the Union Address
President Bush on Wednesday in his State of the Union address “laid out an exceptionally ambitious agenda” that calls for efforts to “rein in what he views as litigious legal system,” maintain tight ethical standards in embryonic stem cell research and continue to encourage an “ownership society” through health savings accounts and tax credits to help people purchase health coverage, the Washington Post reports.
Thirty Employers Join Together To Monitor Pharmacy Benefit Manager Medco
Thirty large employers on Thursday announced that they have formed a group called Rx Collaborative that will monitor the practices of pharmacy benefit manager Medco Health Solutions and work to reduce prescription drug spending, the New York Times reports.
McClellan Addresses Future of Medicaid in Health Policy Speech
CMS Administrator Mark McClellan on Wednesday addressed the future of Medicaid while speaking at the 2005 National Health Policy Conference, sponsored by AcademyHealth and the journal Health Affairs.