Latest California Healthline Stories
EEOC Defends Recent Decision on Employer Health Benefits for Retirees Older Than Age 65
Responding to negative reaction about the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s recent decision to allow employers to drop retirees’ health benefits once they become eligible for Medicare, EEOC Commissioner Leslie Silverman on Monday defended the move at a hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, saying it was intended to “preserve benefits,” the Chicago Tribune reports.
Proposed Medi-Cal Reimbursement Rate Increase Could Improve Outlook for Health Plan of San Mateo
Health Plan of San Mateo and the seven other county-run Medi-Cal health plans will receive a 3% increase in reimbursements for treating beneficiaries under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s (R) revised $103 billion fiscal year 2004-2005 state budget, the San Mateo County Times reports.
The new prescription drug discount card program established as part of the Medicare law might not offer lower prices than existing sources for medications, according to a study released Friday by Oakland-based Medicine for People in Need, the AP/Contra Costa Times reports.
Health Policy Experts Question Bills Introduced To Address Issue of the Uninsured
Health policy experts said the handful of bills proposed by Congress during “Cover the Uninsured Week” were “notable mostly for their modesty” and were “not real solutions,” despite claims by politicians from both parties that reducing the number of uninsured is a “top priority,” CongressDaily reports.
Medicare Prescription Drug Discount Card Program Telephone Hotline Overwhelmed
The 1-800-MEDICARE hotline, dedicated to helping Medicare beneficiaries determine which prescription drug discount card best fits their needs, has been overwhelmed in recent weeks by millions of people calling to speak to benefit counselors, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Insurance Commissioner Drops Lawsuit Against State Compensation Insurance Fund
Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi (D) has dropped a lawsuit against State Compensation Insurance Fund, according to a statement the Insurance Department released Monday, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Acting FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford Launches Internal Investigation Into Consulting Payments
Acting FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford earlier this month launched an internal investigation to determine the extent of pharmaceutical and biotechnology company payments to agency officials, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Nineteen House Democrats File Lawsuit To Force Release of CMS Medicare Law Cost Estimates
Nineteen Democratic members of the House Committee on Government Reform filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles on Monday to force HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson to release Medicare chief actuary Richard Foster’s cost estimates for the new Medicare law, CongressDaily reports.
Los Angeles Prosecutors Using Tax Evasion Charges To Convict Doctors of Health Insurance Fraud
The Los Angeles Times on Monday examined a strategy by Los Angeles County prosecutors to seek “relatively simple tax evasion charges” rather than lengthy investigations into people who have allegedly committed health care fraud. While the technique is not new, “prosecutors say it is rarely used and has the potential to catch big-time swindlers in a simple, straightforward way,” the Times reports.
Ventura County Civil Suit Details Gang’s Effect on Hospital
Ventura County last month filed a civil lawsuit seeking to impose an injunction against members of the Colonia Chiques gang because of the gang’s illegal activities, including a “pattern of harassment and crime” at St. John’s Regional Medical Center, Oxnard’s only hospital, the Los Angeles Times reports.