Latest California Healthline Stories
Some Los Angeles, San Diego Physicians To Ask CMA To Withdraw Support for Health Insurance Law
Some physicians from Los Angeles and San Diego counties this weekend at the California Medical Association’s annual house of delegates conference in Sacramento will introduce a resolution to withdraw CMA’s support for SB 2, which will require some employers to provide health insurance for employees or pay into a state fund to provide such coverage, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
CMS Actuary Told To Withhold From Lawmakers Cost Estimates for New Medicare Law, E-Mail Says
Before Congress approved the Medicare legislation last fall, Richard Foster, the chief actuary for CMS, informed colleagues in an e-mail that he was told to withhold a series of Bush administration cost estimates for the legislation that could have “torpedoed” its passage, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
FDA Orders Companies To No Longer Market, Distribute Products With the Dietary Supplement Andro
FDA on Thursday in a letter ordered 23 manufacturers to immediately stop marketing and distributing products with the dietary supplement androstenedione, or andro, because it can have “irreversible health consequences,” FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan said, the Los Angeles Times reports.
To afford the cost of living in San Diego County, low-wage earners rely on state social service programs, such as Medi-Cal and Healthy Families, according to a Center on Policy Initiatives report released Wednesday, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Scripps Health Board of Trustees Approves Plan To Merge Two Hospitals
The Scripps Health board of trustees has voted to approve “a money-saving strategy” to merge Scripps Memorial Hospital in Chula Vista and Scripps Mercy Hospital in Hillcrest under one hospital license, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Senator Requests Immediate Workers’ Compensation Rate Cuts
As expected, Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Van Nuys) on Wednesday requested that workers’ compensation insurance carriers immediately reduce premium rates, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Doctors Testify in Favor of Bill Restricting Drug Companies’ Access to Prescription Information
At a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday, doctors from around the state testified in favor of a bill (AB 262) that would allow them to place themselves on a list that would prohibit drug companies from using information about their prescription habits in marketing, the Sacramento Bee reports.