Latest California Healthline Stories
Some Analyses Find Bush’s Health Care Plan Would Help Fewer Than 10 Million Uninsured
Several independent analyses of President Bush’s proposal to extend health care to 10 million uninsured U.S. residents at a cost of $102 billion over 10 years found that the “hard data fell far short of the claims,” the Washington Post reports.
New York Times Examines Emergency Care ‘Crisis’ in Los Angeles County
The New York Times on Saturday examined the “crisis” in Los Angeles County’s emergency health care system as Van Nuys-based Northridge Hospital Medical Center announced plans to close by Dec. 31.
State legislators on Friday said a letter from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s (R) administration indicating his intention to veto four bills addressing the reimportation of lower-cost, U.S.-made prescription drugs in favor of his own prescription drug discount plan was a “decoy” that was “floated so late in the legislative session” it could delay a vote on the issue until next year, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Northridge Hospital Medical Center Campus To Close
Northridge Hospital Medical Center on Thursday announced that it is closing its Sherman Way campus, making it the sixth and largest emergency department scheduled for closure in Los Angeles County in the past 14 months, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) on Thursday said that President Bush has begun to lessen his opposition to the reimportation of lower-cost, U.S.-made prescription drugs from Canada and suggested that opinion polls may have influenced the change, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Proposed Guidelines for Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Formulary Released
As expected, the United States Pharmacopeial Convention on Thursday released its proposed guidelines for the creation of a prescription drug formulary for the new Medicare drug benefit, the AP/Las Vegas Sun reports.
Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Kim Belshe on Thursday sent a letter to state lawmakers that indicated Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) will veto four bills that would allow the purchase of prescription drugs from Canada unless the bills are revised to include a new program to provide discounts for uninsured low-income state residents, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Consumer-Directed Health Plans Not Likely To Reduce Costs, Report Finds
Consumer-directed health care plans — “promoted as a means to encourage consumers to take better care of themselves and thus reduce medical costs” — may “worsen outcomes” instead, according to a Commonwealth Fund report released Thursday, the Kansas City Star reports.
U.S. Teens With Sexually Active Friends More Likely To Use Alcohol, Drugs and Tobacco, Study Finds
U.S. teenagers who report that at least half of their friends are sexually active are more likely to use alcohol, drugs and tobacco than teens who report having fewer sexually active friends, according to the “National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse IX: Teen Dating Practices and Sexual Activity” released yesterday by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, the AP/New York Post reports.
FDA officials likely will call for changes to labels on antidepressant medications in light of a new agency analysis that shows “evidence of a link between the drugs and suicidal tendencies in young people,” the Wall Street Journal reports.