Latest California Healthline Stories
House Passes Bill To Provide $5.6 Billion for Project BioShield
As expected, the House on Wednesday voted 414-2 to pass the Project BioShield Act (S 15), guaranteeing $5.6 billion over the next 10 years for the private sector development of bioterror countermeasures and vaccines to treat U.S. residents in the event of a biological, nuclear, radiological or chemical attack, the AP/Las Vegas Sun reports.
U.S. System of Health Care Information Technology Must Improve, Gingrich Says
Efforts to improve the U.S. health care information technology system must happen more quickly than anticipated, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said Wednesday at a hearing of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and the Census, CongressDaily reports.
CalPERS To Allow Four Hospitals To Remain in Blue Shield HMO Network After Negotiating Lower Rates
Four hospitals that were scheduled to be dropped from CalPERS’ Blue Shield of California HMO network beginning in 2005 will remain in the system after negotiating lower reimbursement rates with pension fund officials, the Sacramento Bee reports.
The House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday approved by a voice vote an amendment to the fiscal year 2005 spending bill covering HHS, the Department of Labor and the Department of Education, that would deny funding to federal, state or local agencies that act against health care providers or insurers for refusing to cover abortion services, provide abortions or give abortion referrals, the AP/Las Vegas Sun reports.
Alameda County Social Services Agency To Receive Award for Health Coverage Enrollment Program
The National Association of Counties on Sunday will present a national achievement award to Alameda County’s social services agency for its “No Wrong Door” health coverage enrollment program, the Contra Costa Times reports.
HHS To Allow Expanded Medicare Coverage for Obesity Treatments
HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson on Thursday plans to announce at a Senate hearing that the department will remove language from the Medicare manual that states obesity is not an illness but will not classify the condition as a disease, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Palomar Pomerado Health Board Endorses $753 Million Renovation, Construction Plan
The board of directors of Palomar Pomerado Health in Escondido, the state’s largest public hospital district, on Tuesday unanimously voted to endorse a $753 million plan to build a new hospital and renovate the district’s two existing hospitals to meet state-mandated seismic standards and accommodate a growing patient population, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Democratic Lawmakers’ Studies Show Medicare Prescription Drug Discount Cards Offer Little Savings
House Democrats issued two reports this week analyzing the potential savings offered through the new Medicare prescription drug discount card program, Long Island Newsday reports.
Los Angeles County Not Complying With Nurse Staffing Rules, Union Says
A union representing nurses on Wednesday issued a “white paper” to members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors calling for the county to hire more nurses and criticizing the county for failing to meet nurse staffing ratios that took effect Jan. 1, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.
Sacramento Judge Rules That State Must Pay for Mental Health Program
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Gunther this month ruled that San Diego County has the right to refuse to pay for a state-mandated mental health program for schoolchildren, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.