Latest California Healthline Stories
House Committee Addresses National Standards for Internet Pharmacies
The House Committee on Government Reform on Thursday held a hearing on a bill (HR 3880) that would revise the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938 to develop a “national standard for valid prescriptions for sales over the Internet” and require Internet pharmacies to provide information about the licenses and physical locations of their pharmacists, Bloomberg/Boston Globe reports.
FBI Raids Three Southern California Clinics in Alleged $300 Million Health Care Scam
The Federal Bureau of Investigation raided three outpatient clinics in Southern California as part of a 15-month investigation into a health care scheme in which patients are recruited for medically unnecessary and overpriced procedures so their insurers can be billed for the costs, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Senate Democrats Ask GAO To Investigate Medicare Actuary’s Claims
Eighteen Senate Democrats on Thursday asked the General Accounting Office to look into allegations that the Bush administration prevented CMS’ chief actuary from releasing his cost estimates for the Medicare legislation to Congress, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports.
Federal Judge Rejects Tobacco Companies’ Motion To Dismiss Justice Department Lawsuit
U.S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler on Wednesday rejected a motion by four tobacco companies to dismiss a racketeering lawsuit filed by the Justice Department based on claims that the suit violated the separation of powers in the U.S. Constitution, Bloomberg/Winston-Salem Journal reports.
Kaiser Permanente Announces Management Changes
Oakland-based HMO Kaiser Permanente officials on Thursday announced plans for a “management overhaul,” including a new electronic medical record system and new insurance products, the Sacramento Bee reports.
A reduction in federal funds that San Francisco receives to provide services to people with HIV/AIDS “will have a devastating impact” on such services in the Bay Area, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) wrote in a letter to HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Negotiating Prescription Drug Prices Would Create Supply Shortage, Opinion Piece Says
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have criticized the new Medicare law as a “bitter pill” for seniors and have submitted their own bill that would put the government “into the game of jawboning down prescription drug prices” by allowing CMS to negotiate directly with drug makers, which “all sounds innocent,” James Pinkerton, a fellow at the New America Foundation, writes in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece.
Sacramento County Will Research Canadian Prescription Drug Reimportation Options
Two Sacramento County supervisors this week asked officials from the county’s Health and Human Services Department to examine the feasibility of reimporting lower-cost, U.S.-made prescription drugs from Canada, the Sacramento Bee reports.
2003 Profits for HMOs Operating in Sacramento Area 605% Higher Than 2002 Profits
The six largest HMOs operating in the Sacramento area recorded combined net profits of more than $2.3 billion in 2003, up 605% from profits in 2002, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.
House Panel Launches Probe Into Alleged Bribery for Medicare Vote
The House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct on Wednesday voted to begin a formal investigation into allegations that unnamed Republican lawmakers last November “improperly pressured” Rep. Nick Smith (R-Mich.) to vote in favor of the Medicare legislation, Roll Call reports.