Latest California Healthline Stories
Health Plan for Low-Income Alameda County Residents Will Eliminate Coverage for 4,000 Beneficiaries
Alameda County’s Alliance Family Care plan, which provides health coverage to people with incomes between 250% and 300% of the federal poverty level, will eliminate coverage for about 4,000 beneficiaries beginning July 1, county officials confirmed Wednesday, the Oakland Tribune reports.
Valley Fever Cases Increase in Southern California Following Wildfires
Ventura County has seen a “spike” in cases of valley fever — a flu-like illness caused by airborne fungus — since last fall’s wildfires, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Department of Health Services Cites Patton State Hospital in Patient’s Death
The Department of Health Services in January cited Patton State Hospital and issued a $25,000 fine for failing to prevent the death last June of a patient who had a heart attack after being restrained by at least five staff members, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.
Panel Named for Investigation of Bribery Allegations Surrounding Medicare Vote
The House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct on Thursday appointed four members to a subcommittee that will investigate whether Rep. Nick Smith (R-Mich.) was offered a bribe last November in exchange for his vote in favor of the Medicare legislation, CongressDaily reports.
Ventura County Supervisors Vote To Further Consider Ambulance Contracts
The Ventura County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted 4-1 to extend by 30 days consideration of whether the county should renegotiate current contracts with private ambulance providers or open the process to competitive bidding, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.
In a March 19 article, the Sacramento Bee erroneously reported that Kaiser Permanente had announced plans to market a preferred provider organization health plan. Kaiser has not made such an announcement.
IOM Report Recommends More Regulation in Pediatric Studies
Pediatric medical research is “supervised in a disorganized and sometimes contradictory way, which could increase hazards for some pediatric subjects,” according to an Institute of Medicine report released on Thursday, the Baltimore Sun reports.
Assembly Budget Committee Questions Medi-Cal Claims Processing Contract
Assembly Budget Committee members gained “little insight” into the rising value of the state’s contract with Electronic Data Systems to process Medi-Cal claims at a hearing on the issue Wednesday, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Salaries, Conflict-of-Interest Policies Examined at NIH
The Washington Post on Thursday examined the salaries of the director of NIH and the heads of 27 agency centers amid questions about whether NIH should allow employees to receive “far more than would be possible under the General Schedule payroll system — and at the same time disclose less than others about outside income and possible conflicts of interest.”
House OKs Bill To Pay for Nonmedical Expenses of Organ Donation
The House on Wednesday voted 414-2 to approve a bill (HR 3926) that would reimburse organ donors for travel and other nonmedical expenses involved in transplant surgery, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports.