Latest California Healthline Stories
Los Angeles County DHS Announces Plan To Hire Interim King/Drew Medical Center CEO
Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Director Thomas Garthwaite on Thursday sent the county Board of Supervisors a memo, stating his intent to hire “a turnaround consultant to fix the many problems” at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, the Los Angeles Times reports.
New Medicare Law Will Be Difficult To Implement, Former CMS Administrators Say
CMS faces “an immense task” in implementing the new Medicare law in time for the January 2006 start of the law’s prescription drug benefit, two former administrators told members of the Senate Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Government Management on Thursday, CongressDaily reports.
Sutter, CalPERS Possibly Agree To Cap Annual Price Increases
Sutter Health on Thursday reportedly agreed to a multiyear contract proposal with CalPERS that includes a cap on price increases, which could reduce CalPERS’ health insurance premiums by about $20 million next year, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Nursing Home Liability Insurance Premiums Increasing
The average liability insurance premium for the 900 members of the California Association of Health Facilities — a trade group representing nursing home owners — has increased to approximately $1,350 per bed, more than three times the premium rate recorded five years ago, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Los Angeles County officials on Tuesday informally agreed to limit to one or two at a time the number of Medi-Cal beneficiaries at Northridge Hospital Medical Center’s 11-bed psychiatric unit for teenagers, the Los Angeles Times reports.
According to a report commissioned by the Contra Costa County Emergency Medical Services agency, county residents could face “frightening scenarios” if Doctors Medical Center San Pablo/Pinole closes, Jim Beaver, executive director of the West Contra Costa Healthcare District, said, the Contra Costa Times reports.
California Healthcare Association Withdraws Support for Ballot Measure To Fund Emergency Services
Officials from California Healthcare Association on Wednesday withdrew their support for a proposed measure to raise the tax on telephone services to fund emergency care because results from a recent poll found that “voters would not support anything on the ballot they believed to be a tax,” the Sacramento Bee reports.
State Appeals Court Overturns $21.7 Million Award for Smoker
A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco on Wednesday unanimously voted to overturn a verdict that awarded a smoker $21.7 million from two tobacco companies, ruling that the jury should not have considered evidence of industry misconduct during a 10-year period when cigarette makers were protected from litigation under state law, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Grassley To Introduce Bill Allowing Reimportation of Prescription Drugs
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Thursday plans to introduce a bill that would legalize the reimportation of lower-cost, U.S.-made prescription drugs from other nations, the Des Moines Register reports.
Senators at Hearing Support Coverage for Home Care for Disabled
Lawmakers from both parties at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Wednesday supported changing federal law to extend coverage to people with disabilities who prefer to receive care in their home rather than an institution, CongressDaily reports.