Latest California Healthline Stories
Assembly-Senate Committee Approves Workers’ Compensation Reform Bill
A six-member Assembly-Senate committee early Thursday morning voted unanimously to approve a bill (SB 899) that would reform the state workers’ compensation system, the Orange County Register reports.
Sonoma County Voters Pass Measure To Increase Parcel Tax To Fund Healdsburg District Hospital
Nearly three-fourths of Healdsburg hospital district residents who voted on Tuesday supported a measure to increase parcel taxes from $85 to $150 to fund the Healdsburg District Hospital in Sonoma County, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Federal Government May Purchase Large Amounts of New Smallpox Vaccine for National Stockpile
The federal government may purchase large amounts of a new form of smallpox vaccine to supplement the national stockpile and help “resuscitate the floundering” national smallpox vaccination campaign, the Washington Post reports.
Telecommunications Firms Launch Radio Ad Campaign in Response to Initiative To Fund Emergency Care
In response to the submission of about one million signatures in favor of a ballot initiative that would add a monthly surcharge on residential, business and wireless telephone bills to fund emergency department services, telecommunications firms on Monday announced a statewide radio advertising campaign that asks voters to reject what they call “a new tax on talking,” the Ventura County Star reports.
Advocacy Group Report Criticizes Sutter Health Debt Collection Practices
Advocacy group Health Access on Thursday is expected to release a report accusing Sutter Health of “using aggressive debt-collection practices” and “discriminat[ing] against the uninsured” with its billing system, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Kaiser Permanente Reorganizes Northern California Service Areas
Kaiser Permanente on May 1 will reapportion its six Northern California service areas into 12 as part of a “major” restructuring effort intended to improve the HMO’s responsiveness to local concerns, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports.
Assembly Health Committee Approves Bill To Establish Prescription Drug Reimportation Web Site
The Assembly Health Committee on Tuesday voted to approve legislation (AB 1957) that would require the Department of Health Services to establish a Web site to facilitate reimportation of lower-cost, U.S.-made prescription drugs from Canadian online pharmacies that meet certain safety requirements, the Ventura County Star reports.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Launches Two New Investigations Into Tenet Healthcare Hospitals
Federal prosecutors have opened two new probes into hospitals owned by Santa Barbara-based Tenet Healthcare, company officials said Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Report From Medicare Trustees Underestimates Financial Problems of Program, Columnist Writes
An “accounting convention” that allowed the Medicare trustees to count general revenue transfers as dedicated resources for two of Medicare’s subprograms in their annual report “should be changed” because it allowed trustees to underestimate Medicare’s true financial situation, Jagadeesh Gokhale, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.
Medical Residents Hold News Conference on Staffing Levels at Children’s Hospital in Oakland
Staffing problems at Children’s Hospital & Research Center at Oakland “routinely cause patient backups and force doctors to perform duties that divert attention from treating patients,” medical residents at the hospital said at a news conference on Friday, the Contra Costa Times reports.