Latest California Healthline Stories
1st District Court of Appeal Begins Case on Health Insurance Law Referendum
The 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco on Thursday will begin considering a case that involves the placement of a proposed referendum to repeal an employer-sponsored health insurance law (SB 2) on the March statewide ballot, the Sacramento Bee reports.
United Airlines To Increase Retiree Contributions for Health Benefits
Officials for United Airlines on Wednesday said that the company plans to shift some of the cost of health care benefits to its 35,000 retired U.S. employees, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Some Large U.S. Employers Plan To Reduce Health Benefits for Future Retirees, Survey Finds
With the cost of providing retiree health benefits rising, 10% of large companies say that they eliminated health coverage for future retirees last year, and 20% say that they plan to do so in the next three years, according to a survey of large, private-sector employers that offered retiree health benefits in 2003, the Washington Post reports.
Institute of Medicine Report Calls for U.S. Universal Health Coverage System by 2010
The Institute of Medicine on Wednesday issued a report in which the agency for the first time formally recommended that by 2010 the United States implement a universal health insurance system to “prevent more unnecessary suffering, death and economic costs to society,” the Washington Post reports.
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle Calls HHS Information on New Medicare Law ‘Propaganda’
A two-page notice from HHS to Medicare beneficiaries explaining the new Medicare law (HR 1) is “just a piece of propaganda” that “has no business being paid for by the American taxpayer,” Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) said on Wednesday, the AP/Las Vegas Sun reports.
San Diego County Board of Supervisors Votes Not To Renew Contract With Home Health Care Agency
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously voted not to renew a $15.5 million-per-year contract with Addus HealthCare, which provides elderly and disabled residents with health care aides, because of increasing costs and state budget cuts, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Voters in 2004 as Concerned About U.S. Health Care System as in 1992, Survey Finds
Voters in 2004 have a similar level of anxiety about the U.S. health care system as voters did in 1992, when former President Bill Clinton introduced a universal health plan, according to a survey released Wednesday by the American Hospital Association, CongressDaily reports.
Health Officials React to Schwarzenegger’s Proposed Budget Cuts to Health Programs
In a teleconference with reporters on Wednesday, advocates for hospitals, clinics, physicians and patients said that funding cuts to health care programs in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s (R) budget proposal for fiscal year 2004-2005 could increase the number of uninsured residents in the state and might cause more patients to seek routine medical care from emergency rooms, the Sacramento Bee reports.
California Nurses Association Begins Survey on Compliance With Nurse-to-Patient Ratios
The California Nurses Association on Tuesday began to survey registered nurses at every hospital in the state to determine if facilities are complying with the new state nurse-to-patient ratio rules that took effect Jan. 1, the Oakland Tribune reports.
Community Memorial Hospital Expands Staff, Services at Clinics in Santa Paula, Fillmore
Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura on Monday will expand its services, staff and hours at medical clinics in Santa Paula and Fillmore in response to the closure last month of Santa Paula Memorial Hospital, the only hospital in the area, the Los Angeles Times reports.