Latest California Healthline Stories
Employers Could Receive ‘Windfall’ From Medicare Drug Coverage Subsidy Provision
In proposed regulations released Monday governing the new Medicare law, CMS expressed concern about the possibility of employers receiving “windfalls” from subsidies intended to encourage them to maintain retiree prescription drug coverage, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Anthem Announces Plans To File Suit Over Garamendi’s Decision To Block Part of Merger With WellPoint
As expected, officials for Indiana-based Anthem in a conference call to investors on Tuesday said that the company plans to file a lawsuit “within the next several days” to challenge a decision by Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi (D) to block part of a proposed merger with California-based WellPoint Health Networks, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Provision in New Workers’ Compensation Law on Age-Related Conditions Could Reduce Benefits
A “key part” of a workers’ compensation law (SB 899) enacted this year could cost injured workers tens of thousands of dollars in benefits in cases in which physicians find that their workplace injuries resulted in part from age-related conditions such as arthritis and osteoporosis, the AP/Modesto Bee reports.
HHS Releases Draft Version of Rules for New Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit
HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson on Monday released a draft version of regulations for the new Medicare drug benefit, calling the 1,956 pages of rules “another giant step forward” toward implementing the Medicare law enacted in December, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Los Angeles Times Profiles Alternative Medicine Practitioner at Cedars-Sinai
The Los Angeles Times on Monday profiled Evan Ross, a practitioner of complementary and alternative medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Schwarzenegger and Legislators Reach Budget Agreement
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and legislative leaders on Monday reached an agreement on an estimated $103 billion 2004-05 budget that relies on “billions of dollars in borrowing and one-time savings” and contains “little of the cuts” that the governor proposed in January, the AP/Contra Costa Times reports.
About 195,000 U.S. Patients Die Each Year From Medical Errors, Study Finds
An average of 195,000 patients die annually from preventable hospital errors, according to a HealthGrades study released Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reports.
CMS officials on Tuesday are scheduled to announce proposed rules that would reduce Medicare reimbursements to medical specialists for about 30 of the most expensive oncology and respiratory drugs that are administered in doctors’ offices, the New York Times reports.
Ventura Gang Violence Injunction Prompts Officials To Look at Violence, Children’s Health Link
The Los Angeles Times on Monday examined the possible connection between the mental and physical health of children in Ventura County and their exposure to violence in the community, following an injunction in June against members of the Colonia Chiques gang because of excessive violence.
VA To Terminate Use of $472 Million Computer System
The Department of Veterans Affairs is ending the trial of a $472 million computer system at the Florida-based Bay Pines VA Medical Center after the system failed, the St. Petersburg Times reports.