Latest California Healthline Stories
Quality of Hospitals Varies From State to State, Study Finds
Hospital quality varies from state to state, according to the sixth annual “Hospital Quality in America” study released Monday, the Newark Star-Ledger reports.
Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Withdraws Support for Proposal To Limit Disability Benefits
The Bush administration on Tuesday stepped back from supporting a proposal that would reduce disability benefits for many veterans, the AP/Las Vegas Sun reports.
Education Level of Nurses Relates to Quality of Care Provided, Study Finds
Hospitals with low percentages of nurses who have bachelor’s degrees have nearly twice as many surgery patient deaths as those with high percentages of nurses with bachelor’s degrees, according a study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Public Opinion on Racial Disparities in Health Care Varies Widely, Survey Finds
At a forum on health care disparities in Nashville yesterday, Harvard University’s Interfaculty Program for Health Systems Improvement released a survey on public opinion about racial disparities in the health care system, the Tennessean reports.
Los Angeles County Reinstates Doctors’ Benefits Package
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Tuesday voted to restore a “generous benefits package” it had stripped from 800 county doctors when they unionized four years ago, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Bush Administration Supports Senate Medicare Bill Provision on Dual-Eligibles
The Bush administration has “quietly told Congress” it supports a provision in the Senate Medicare bill (S 1) that calls for Medicaid, rather than Medicare, to continue to cover drug costs of the more than six million people eligible for both programs if a Medicare drug benefit is enacted, the New York Times reports.
Democrat Moseley Braun Formally Launches 2004 Presidential Campaign
Former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun (D-Ill.) on Monday at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and later at events in Columbia, S.C., and Chicago, formally announced that she will seek the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination and renewed her call for a single-payer health care system in the United States, the Washington Post reports.
Los Angeles Times Examines Growing Criticism of Botox
The Los Angeles Times yesterday examined the growing criticism of Botox. Botox, or botulinum toxin, has been used as a “wrinkle cure” by approximately 500,000 U.S. residents and sales “continue to soar.”
Opponents File Lawsuit To Block Implementation of Law Expanding Domestic Partner Benefits
As expected, Sen. Pete Knight (R-Palmdale) and the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund yesterday filed a lawsuit in Sacramento County Superior Court seeking to stop enforcement of a law (AB 205) that would expand health coverage and other benefits to same-sex, registered couples, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Boards of Directors of AAHP, HIAA Approve Proposed Merger
The boards of directors for the American Association of Health Plans and the Health Insurance Association of America last week voted to merge the two insurance industry trade groups, a move that would establish a “lobbying powerhouse for an industry that already holds considerable clout,” the Wall Street Journal reports.