Latest California Healthline Stories
President Bush To Discuss Health Care at Campaign Events in Minnesota
President Bush on Thursday at campaign events in Minnesota plans to focus on health care — an issue “where Bush is weakest in polls” against rival Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) — and “paint Kerry as a big-government, anti-business, anti-patient politician,” the AP/Hartford Courant reports.
San Francisco Coalition To Provide No-Cost Prostate Cancer Care to Low-Income African Americans
Public and private hospitals in San Francisco will provide no-cost care for prostate cancer to African-American men who cannot afford treatment, under a new program city officials announced Tuesday, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
PacifiCare To Acquire American Medical Security Group
PacifiCare Health Systems announced Wednesday that it would buy Wisconsin-based American Medical Security Group for $502 million in an effort to expand services to the small-business and individual health insurance market, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
Newspapers Examine Reaction to FDA Panel Recommendation for Black Box Warning on Antidepressants
Articles in two newspapers on Thursday examined the reaction of physicians to a decision on Tuesday by an FDA advisory committee to recommend that all antidepressants include a black box warning — the strongest warning issued by the agency — to inform consumers that the medications can cause suicidal thoughts and behavior in patients ages 18 and younger.
New Medicare Web Site Compares Drug Prices for Beneficiaries
CMS on Wednesday unveiled its “Lower Cost Rx Comparison Tool” on the Medicare Web site and a toll-free phone service to offer consumers a way to compare prices for some medications, the St. Petersburg Times reports.
JCAHO Votes To Begin Process of Revoking King/Drew Medical Center’s Accreditation
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations on Wednesday voted to begin the process of revoking Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center’s accreditation after finding the center has “failed to correct severe lapses in patient care” since the commission’s inspectors visited the facility in May, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau Recommends 3.5% Increase in Premium Rates for 2005
The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau, a not-for-profit group that represents insurers and recommends premium rates, on Wednesday at a hearing recommended that insurers increase workers’ compensation insurance premium rates by 3.5% for policies written or renewed on or after Jan. 1, 2005, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Department of Health Services Approves Correction Plan for Vallejo Hospital
The Department of Health Services has approved a correction plan submitted by Sutter Solano Medical Center in Vallejo following a June CMS report that found several violations at the hospital, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Most U.S. Residents Back ‘Guarantee’ Health Care System, Survey Finds
Seventy-eight percent of United States residents support government-regulated health care, and two-thirds said they support a health care “guarantee,” like systems in Canada and Great Britain, according to a survey released Wednesday by a division of the Civil Society Institute, Long Island Newsday reports.
Sacramento Bee Examines Advertisement Recommending Repeal of Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage Law
The Sacramento Bee on Wednesday published an analysis of a television advertisement by groups recommending that state residents reject a law (SB 2) that will require some employers to provide health insurance to their employees or pay into a state fund to provide such coverage.