Latest California Healthline Stories
Health Care Costs Increase Less Than Expected for U.S. Employers, Study Finds
U.S. employers shifted “an unprecedented share” of health care costs to employees in 2003 and “slowed their runaway health care costs more sharply than expected,” and an additional “wave of cost shifting is likely next year,” according to a study released Monday by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Sacramento Business Journal Profiles Electronic Prescribing Projects at California Health Systems
The Sacramento Business Journal on Friday profiled the progress of some California health systems in adopting electronic prescribing systems.
Legislature Defeats Bond, Spending Limit Proposals
In the “first major legislative defeat” for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), lawmakers on Friday rejected proposals that would have put on the March 2004 ballot measures to cap state spending and use a $15 billion bond to restructure state debt, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
President Bush on Saturday signed a bill that gives Congress 60 days to review any decision by the Veterans Affairs secretary to close VA hospitals, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports.
University of California-Davis Medical Center Announces Profit for Fiscal Year 2003
Following a year of “tight management and tough decisions,” the University of California-Davis Medical Center reported a net income of $43.3 million on net patient revenue of $767.8 million for fiscal year 2003, which ended June 30, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Los Angeles Times Examines Private-Sector Payments to NIH Researchers
The Los Angeles Times on Sunday examined the “increasingly common” practice of NIH scientists serving as paid consultants to private industry and receiving outside paychecks and stock options from pharmaceutical companies.
Special Workers’ Compensation Fund Runs Out of Money, Awaits Emergency Loan
More than 1,600 workers with more than one permanent disability have not received checks from a special workers’ compensation fund for more than a month because a the fund temporarily has run out of money, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Justice Department Asked To Investigate Complaints of Medicare Vote Bribe
Democratic National Committee Chair Terry McAuliffe and legal watchdog groups have requested that the Justice Department review complaints that some House Republicans offered Rep. Nick Smith (R-Mich.) money for his son’s election campaign if he voted for the Medicare legislation (HR 1), USA Today reports.
Monterey County Voters Reject Measure To Increase Sales Tax To Fund Natividad Medical Center
Monterey County voters on Tuesday rejected Measure Q, which would have increased the county sales tax by a half-cent to fund Salinas-based Natividad Medical Center, the Monterey County Herald reports.
Flu Outbreaks Indicate Severe Season, Health Officials Say
Early and “intense” outbreaks of influenza in the United States and a “nasty strain of the flu virus” not included in this year’s vaccine has prompted health officials to warn of the possibility of “one of the worst flu seasons in years,” the Washington Post reports.