Latest California Healthline Stories
National Research Council Calls for More Oversight of Biotechnology Research
Before beginning research projects, biotechnology scientists should submit their proposals to specially trained panels of scientists and national security experts to determine whether the study’s potential benefits would outweigh any threat of bioterrorists’ misusing the information, according to a National Research Council — a branch of the National Academy of Sciences — report released Wednesday, the Washington Post reports.
Scully Warns Medicaid Program Needs Reform More Than Medicare
Medicaid “is arguably more in need of reform” than Medicare, CMS Administrator Thomas Scully told participants in a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on Wednesday, CongressDaily reports.
President Bush last week for the first time intervened directly in negotiations to reconcile the House and Senate Medicare bills (HR 1 and S 1) when he told Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) that he “opposed the direction lawmakers appeared to be taking” on prescription drug coverage for beneficiaries eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid, the Washington Post reports.
Children under age 12 with severe asthma start to experience symptoms even when air quality levels fall within the Environmental Protection Agency’s “good” range, according to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Reuters/Los Angeles Times reports.
Insurance companies participating in the Integrated Healthcare Association’s “Pay for Performance” program are beginning to announce the bonuses they will award to some 40,000 doctors for the quality of care that they provide, American Medical News reports.
Employer-Sponsored Health Care Bill Could Provide Answers to Uninsured Problem, Column States
A bill (SB 2) that Gov. Gray Davis (D) on Sunday signed into law will provide “just the kind of grand-scale experiment this country needs to assess possible solutions to the problem of our growing ranks of uninsured,” columnist Michael Waldholz writes in a Wall Street Journal Online opinion piece.
About 33% of U.S. Residents Born in 2000 Likely To Develop Diabetes, Study Finds
About 33% of U.S. residents born in 2000 will likely develop diabetes in their lifetimes, according to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Healthday/Detroit Free Press reports.
Davis Recalled; Schwarzenegger Elected Governor
Voters on Tuesday recalled Gov. Gray Davis (D) and elected Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) as the new governor, the Sacramento Bee reports.
State Compensation Insurance Fund Will Not Renew Contract With PricewaterhouseCoopers
The State Compensation Insurance Fund — which provides workers’ compensation coverage to businesses that cannot get coverage from commercial insurers — will not renew an accounting contract with PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Democratic Presidential Candidates Express Support for House Prescription Drug Importation Bill
Eight of the nine Democratic presidential candidates have said they support allowing people in the United States to buy FDA-approved prescription drugs sold in Canada and other industrialized nations, where they are often cheaper, the Washington Post reports.