Latest California Healthline Stories
Inmates at Sacramento County Jail File Claims Alleging Health Damages From Second-Hand Smoke
Twenty-nine current and former inmates at the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center over the last few months have filed individual claims alleging that Sacramento County owes them a total of $1.9 million in compensation for health damages incurred from breathing second-hand smoke while in the jail, the Sacramento Bee reports.
AARP Survey Finds Support for Legalization of Prescription Drug Reimportation
AARP on Wednesday released a nationwide survey that found four of every five elderly U.S. residents support the legalization of the reimportation of prescription drugs from Canada and other nations, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports.
Disney Security Workers’ Contract Negotiations Delayed by Concerns About Health Insurance Law
Contract negotiations between Disneyland Resort officials and about 575 theme park security workers have twice stalled in part because of “uncertainties” surrounding an upcoming ballot initiative to repeal a law (SB 2) requiring some employers to provide health insurance to employees or pay into a state fund to provide such coverage, the Orange County Register reports.
Health Insurance Fraud Accounted for 5% of U.S. Health Care Expenditures in 2003, Report Finds
An estimated $85 billion, or 5%, of the $1.7 trillion in U.S. health care spending in 2003 was lost to health insurance fraud, according to a report released Tuesday by the BlueCross BlueShield Association, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
Drew University Dismisses 15 Members of Board of Trustees
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science’s board of trustees on Saturday formalized a vote to dismiss 15 members — almost two-thirds — of its board as promised earlier this year, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.), a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA and Related Agencies, on Tuesday said that FDA Chief Counsel Daniel Troy has intervened on behalf of pharmaceutical companies in several product liability lawsuits, the Bloomberg/Baltimore Sun reports.
NIH Announces Plans To Open National Embryonic Stem Cell Bank
NIH has announced plans to open a National Embryonic Stem Cell Bank and three “centers of excellence” to advance research on human embryonic stem cell lines that are currently allowed under federal funding restrictions, the AP/Tallahassee Democrat reports.
Workers’ Compensation Insurance Premium Rates Decrease by 10.38%, Garamendi Says
Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi (D) on Tuesday announced that workers’ compensation insurance premium rates have decreased 10.38% since the enactment of two recent workers’ compensation reform measures, the AP/Fresno Bee reports.
About 3.8 million Medicare beneficiaries could lose some or all of their employer-sponsored retiree prescription drug coverage when the Medicare drug benefit begins in 2006, according to new documents released by HHS, the New York Times reports.
Newsom Proposes Program Expansion To Provide Health Coverage to Young Adults
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (D) on Tuesday announced a plan that would expand the city’s Healthy Kids program to provide coverage to young adults up to age 24, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.