Latest California Healthline Stories
The funding voters earlier this month approved under Proposition 63, which raises the state’s personal income tax by 1% on annual incomes that exceed $1 million to fund mental health services, should be used to create “innovative, community-based programs” to improve mental health services across the state, mental health advocates said Tuesday, the Contra Costa Times reports.
President Bush Calls on Congress To Pass Legislation To Limit Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
President Bush on Wednesday in a speech in Collinsville, Ill., launched a “campaign for sweeping changes in the nation’s civil justice system” and asked Congress to “take immediate action” to limit medical malpractice lawsuits, which he said have led to increased malpractice insurance costs and reduced access to care for patients, the New York Times reports.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Calls for Proposal for Independent Health Authority
Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe on Tuesday asked county officials to propose a “workable plan” for an independent board of health experts that would oversee all county hospitals, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Easy Access to Emergency Contraception Not Likely To Encourage Unprotected Sex, Study Says
Women who have ready access to emergency contraception are no more likely to engage in unprotected sex or abandon use of other contraception methods than women who do not have easy access to the pills, according to a study published in the Jan. 5 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, USA Today reports.
Treasury Secretary Denies Request To Revise ‘Use-It-or-Lose-It’ Flexible Spending Account Rule
Treasury Department Secretary John Snow has denied a request from Senate Finance Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to revise a rule that requires employees at the end of the year to return to their employers any unspent funds in their flexible spending accounts, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Treasurer Phil Angelides (D) on Tuesday launched a television advertisement accusing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) of “failing to deliver on his promise to balance the state’s books and running up more debt than ousted Gov. Gray Davis (D),” leading to potential funding cuts in health care programs, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Tenet Healthcare Finalizes Sale of Los Angeles Hospital
Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare has completed the sale of Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center to CHA Medical Group, the Dallas Business Journal reports.
Consumer Advocates Raise Concerns About Schwarzenegger Prescription Drug Discount Proposal
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) this week plans to release a proposal to provide discounts of about 40% on prescription drugs for uninsured state residents, but consumer advocates have raised concerns because the plan “relies on voluntary participation” by pharmaceutical companies and “only covers the uninsured,” the Orange County Register reports.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on Wednesday in his State of the State speech will ask legislators to support his plan to address prescription drug costs, sources familiar with the plan said, the Contra Costa Times reports.
A tentative labor agreement reached last month between grocery store chains Safeway, Albertsons and Kroger and workers represented by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 558 would increase workers’ health care costs and the time it would take for new employees to reach the same benefit levels as existing employees, the Contra Costa Times reports.