Latest California Healthline Stories
Chinese Community Health Plan Extends Coverage To Locked-Out Hotel Workers
Chinese Community Health Plan officials on Wednesday agreed to extend health coverage for two months to about 190 currently enrolled San Francisco hotel employees if a labor dispute over the workers’ contract is not resolved before Dec. 1, the San Francisco Chronicle reports (San Francisco Chronicle, 11/18).
A portion of 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 for social services programs that can reduce juvenile crime, police chiefs and crime prevention advocates said on Wednesday, the AP/Contra Costa Times reports.
Drug Enforcement Administration Database Could Help Identify Areas With High Levels of Drug Abuse
The Drug Enforcement Administration on Wednesday announced that it is testing a computer database that will allow federal agents to monitor death reports from local medical examiners and toxicologists in an effort to identify areas that should be targeted for drug abuse investigations, USA Today reports.
FDA Approves Genentech Lung Cancer Treatment Tarceva
FDA on Thursday approved Tarceva, manufactured by Genentech, as a second- or third-round treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer, the New York Times reports.
Attorney General Declines To Intervene in Hospital Closure
State Attorney General Bill Lockyer (D) on Thursday declined to use the state Corporations Code to prevent the voluntary closure this week of the 209-bed Northridge Hospital Medical Center-Sherman Way, the Los Angeles Times reports.
U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler on Thursday heard two 90-minute interim summaries from the Department of Justice and lawyers representing the tobacco industry in a $280 billion racketeering lawsuit, the New York Times reports.
Garamendi Files Suit Against Four Insurers, Alleging Kickbacks
Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi (D) on Thursday filed suit against MetLife, Prudential Financial, Cigna and UnumProvident, alleging that they paid insurance broker Universal Life Resources “tens of millions of dollars in hidden kickbacks in exchange for winning contracts” with major U.S. companies, Reuters/Orange County Register reports.
Opinion Pieces Address Delayed Implementation of State Nurse Staffing Rules
The Los Angeles Daily News and Sacramento Bee recently published opinion pieces on the emergency regulations issued by the Department of Health Services earlier this month to delay compliance deadlines for some state nurse staffing rules for hospitals.
Report Calls for HCA To Delay Closure of San Jose Medical Center
Nashville-based HCA Healthcare should postpone until June closing San Jose Medical Center to “limit the health care difficulties that are likely to follow,” according to an outside analysis released Tuesday, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Proposed Land Sale Could Lead to Reopening of Closed Santa Paula Memorial Hospital
A Manhattan Beach homebuilder bid $13.1 million to purchase more than half of the 30-acre medical campus of bankrupt Santa Paula Memorial Hospital, advancing the possibility of reopening the facility, the Ventura County Star reports.