Latest California Healthline Stories
Los Angeles Times Examines Employer Efforts To Make Employees Quit Smoking
The Los Angeles Times on Friday examined how some employers have begun “refusing to hire applicants who smoke and … firing employees who refuse to quit” to help reduce health care costs.
Medi-Cal Redesign Would Give Enrollment Contract to ‘Controversial’ Company
A provision of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s (R) proposed Medi-Cal redesign plan that would give a “controversial private firm some Medi-Cal work now handled by county employers” is “igniting a debate over whether giving the job to a private company is the best way to improve customer service,” the Sacramento Bee reports.
California Healthline Rounds Up News on Potential Medicaid Cuts
California Healthline rounds up recent coverage of Medicaid news.
Bush Plans To Restore $50 Million in Funding for Pilot Programs on Electronic Health Records
President Bush on Thursday sent a letter to Congress saying he planned to restore $50 million in funding to finance projects to spur the adoption of computerized health records, the New York Times reports.
KQED’s ‘This Week’ To Discuss Lockyer Suit To Block Abortion Amendment in Appropriations Bill
KQED’s “This Week in Northern California” on Friday will include a discussion of Attorney General Bill Lockyer’s (D) suit against the Bush administration alleging that an amendment to the fiscal year 2005 federal omnibus appropriations bill — the Hyde-Weldon Amendment, which eliminates federal funding to agencies that require health care providers to provide abortions or referrals in some situations — is unconstitutional.
CDC Announces Plans To Allow Physicians To Purchase 3.1 Million Stockpiled Doses of Flu Vaccine
CDC officials on Thursday announced that the agency will make about 3.1 million doses of flu vaccine available for physicians to purchase through pharmaceutical firm Sanofi Pasteur, USA Today reports.
Sen. Hillary Clinton Criticizes Expected Bush Administration Medicaid Reform Proposal
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) on Thursday said that the Bush administration likely will offer a Medicaid reform proposal that would “threaten to destroy the health safety net” for the “poorest of the poor” and the “sickest of the sick,” CQ Today reports.
About 200 Vietnamese-American doctors, pharmacists and Medi-Cal beneficiaries on Wednesday in Orange County met to protest CalOPTIMA, which runs the county’s Medi-Cal program, and said that the agency is discriminating against them, the Orange County Register reports.
Medicare Finalizes Decision To Expand Coverage of Implantable Defibrillators to More Beneficiaries
As expected, Medicare officials on Thursday announced plans to expand coverage of implantable cardioverter defibrillators to a larger group of beneficiaries, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Campbell Notes Proposed Increased Funding for Medi-Cal in Appearance Before Legislature
Finance Director Tom Campbell on Wednesday in his first appearances before the Legislature said the fiscal year 2005-2006 state budget “cannot satisfy every need” but noted that funding for Medi-Cal and education programs would increase under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s (R) budget proposal, the San Jose Mercury News reports.