Latest California Healthline Stories
HHS Approves Waiver for Healthy Families Initiative
HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson on Friday granted a waiver to allow California to use some funds intended for Healthy Families administration to provide supplemental rural health services, including services for some children who otherwise would not be eligible for Healthy Families.
Kaiser Permanente Shuts Down Online Application System Following Security Breach
Oakland-based HMO Kaiser Permanente last month shut down its online application system for several hours after a software error resulted in a security breach, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Congress of California Seniors Files Suit Against GlaxoSmithKline Over Generic Paxil Sales
The Congress of California Seniors, a coalition of consumer groups, on Thursday filed suit against GlaxoSmithKline, the second-largest pharmaceutical company in the world, over allegations that the company is “marketing a knockoff of its Paxil antidepressant to undercut a generic competitor,” Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times reports.
Schwarzenegger To Compromise on Workers’ Compensation Reform
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on Thursday said that he is willing to compromise on his proposed $11.3 billion in cuts to the state workers’ compensation system, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Survey Examines Parents’ Views on Childhood Obesity
The San Jose Mercury News this week featured a series of articles on childhood obesity that included results from a survey of parents conducted by the Mercury News and the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Federal Government To Purchase 75 Million Doses of Experimental Anthrax Vaccine
The government is preparing to purchase 75 million doses of an experimental anthrax vaccine to inoculate 25 million people in case “terrorists launched a broad assault” on U.S. cities, according to documents released on Thursday, the Washington Post reports.
Senate Approves $2.36 Trillion Fiscal Year 2005 Budget Resolution Without Health-Related Amendments
The Senate on Friday morning voted 52-45 to approve a $2.36 trillion fiscal year 2005 budget resolution (S Con Res 95), after lawmakers rejected “a mountain of Democrat amendments,” some of which would have reduced tax cuts and shifted the funds to health care and other programs, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports.
Two Alameda County Supervisors May Join ACMC Board of Trustees
Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson on Tuesday proposed a plan to add fellow supervisors Scott Hagerty and Nate Miley to the Alameda County Medical Center board of trustees as part of a response to “months of frustration over being asked to provide emergency funding for the medical center, while being given little information about steps being taken to correct the center’s financial troubles,” the Contra Costa Times reports.
CMS will revoke Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center’s certification to participate in Medicare if the facility does not correct “serious flaws in the way it handle[s] prescription drugs” by March 23, according to a letter from the agency sent Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Senate by Voice Vote Confirms FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan as New CMS Administrator
The Senate early Friday morning by voice vote confirmed FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan as the new CMS administrator with no debate, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports.