Latest California Healthline Stories
University of California-San Francisco Receives $35 Million for New Cancer Research Center
A $35 million private donation from the Helen Diller Family Foundation will go toward a new cancer center on the University of California-San Francisco’s Mission Bay campus, university officials announced Tuesday, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials on Monday stopped negotiations with striking unionized mechanics, estimating that the two sides were “$37 million apart on health benefits and $98 million apart overall,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Davis Plans To Appoint Two Aides To Medical Commission, San Jose Mercury News Reports
Gov. Gray Davis (D) is planning to appoint Chief of Staff Lynn Schenk and Appointments Secretary Michael Yamaki to the California Medical Assistance Commission, according to an administration source, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Democratic Presidential Candidate Wesley Clark To Release Plan To Boost Health Coverage for Children
Presidential candidate former Army Gen. Wesley Clark (D) would allocate roughly $695 billion over 10 years to provide all U.S. children with health insurance and increase access to coverage for adults, according to the text of a speech he is scheduled to deliver Tuesday, the AP/Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.
Kaiser Permanente To End Coverage for Brand-Name Prescription Drugs in Medicare+Choice Plan
Effective Jan. 1, Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente’s Medicare+Choice plan, called Senior Advantage, will end coverage of brand-name prescription drugs and raise copayments for various services, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Health Plan of San Mateo Could Cease Operations in December
Continuing financial losses may force Health Plan of San Mateo, which provides coverage to an estimated 43,000 Medi-Cal beneficiaries, to cease operations in December unless the state bails out the health plan, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Los Angeles Times Examines County Labor ‘Unrest’ Over Health Insurance
The Los Angeles Times on Monday examined the “labor unrest” that has begun to “ripple into the far-flung corners of county government” over contract offers, particularly to in relation to health insurance premiums.
Medicare Negotiators Miss Self-Imposed Friday Deadline
Negotiators attempting to reconcile the House and Senate Medicare bills (HR 1 and S 1) failed to meet their self-imposed goal of drafting an outline of a deal by Friday, the AP/St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
Figueroa To Introduce Bill That Would Block California Hospitals From Sending Medical Data Overseas
Sen. Liz Figueroa (D-Fremont) has announced that in January she will introduce a bill that would prohibit state hospitals from transmitting patient data to medical transcription firms based outside of the United States, San Francisco Chronicle columnist David Lazarus reports.
Anthem Agrees To Purchase WellPoint Health Networks for $12 Billion in Stock, Cash
Indiapolis-based Anthem has agreed to purchase Thousand Oaks-based WellPoint Health Networks for more than $12 billion in stock and cash, a move that will “create one of the nation’s biggest managed care companies,” the Wall Street Journal reports.