Latest California Healthline Stories
The San Diego Health and Faith Alliance has decided to drop its proposal to open a clinic in an Encanto church that would have trained health care and pastoral care workers and provided no-cost care to uninsured people two days per week, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Workers’ Compensation Costs Up 17.5% in 2002, Study Says
“Surging medical expenses” in 2002 caused workers’ compensation payments in California to increase by 17.5% to $11.3 billion, according to a National Academy of Social Insurance study released Monday, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Raise Risk of Diabetes, Obesity in Women, Study Finds
Women who drink at least one serving of non-diet soda or fruit punch per day gain “much more weight” and have a “sharply elevated risk” of developing type 2 diabetes than women who drink less than one serving per month, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Washington Post reports.
Information Technology an Important Part of Health Care Reform, Frist, Clinton Write
A bipartisan consensus has emerged that the U.S. health care system needs “major, transformative change” in which information technology is used to “improve care, lower costs, improve quality and empower consumers,” Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) write in a Washington Post opinion piece.
The campaign in favor of Proposition 71 — a measure on the Nov. 2 statewide ballot that would issue state bonds to raise an average of $295 million annually over 10 years to promote stem cell research — this year has raised more than $12 million, the Ventura County Star reports.
Five Expensive Conditions Cause Rise in Health Care Spending, Study Finds
Five medical conditions are responsible for nearly one-third of the $314 billion increase in health care spending in the United States between 1987 and 2000, according to a Health Affairs Web exclusive study, Scripps Howard/Detroit News reports.
Democratic Presidential Nominee Kerry Addresses Health Care in Anticipation of New Census Report
Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) on Tuesday “refocused his campaign” on “core domestic issues” such as health care, in a New York speech that marked a “pre-emptive shot” at next week’s Republican National Convention in Manhattan, the Washington Post reports.
Hospitals, Community Colleges Work To Increase State Nursing Workforce
Enrollment in community colleges statewide has increased continually over the last five years, driven in large part by a growing interest in health sciences, particularly nursing programs, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
San Diego Union-Tribune Series Considers Health Insurance Cost Increases
The San Diego Union-Tribune this week examined rising health insurance costs in a three-part series that began on Sunday.
Almost One-Third of U.S. Adults Have Hypertension, Study Finds
Almost one-third of U.S. adults have hypertension, and the number who have the condition has increased by about 30% over the past 10 years, according to a study published on Tuesday in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association, the Wall Street Journal reports.