Latest California Healthline Stories
New York Times Looks at Debate Over Employer-Sponsored Coverage Bill
The New York Times today considers the debate over a bill (SB 2) passed Friday by the Legislature that would require businesses with 50 or more employees to offer health insurance or pay into a fund that would provide such coverage.
Pleasant Hill City Council Votes To Tighten Conditions for Crestwood Behavioral Health Center
The Pleasant Hill City Council on Monday voted 3-1 to “tighten the conditions” under which it approved the opening of an unlocked treatment center for people with mental illnesses, the Contra Costa Times reports.
Report Criticizes School Vending Machine Snacks for Contributing to Obesity
The Center for Science in the Public Interest on Monday released a report on “Better and Worst Snacks” for school vending machines and asked parents to lobby for healthier snacks in schools to help address the issue of childhood obesity, Knight Ridder/Akron Beacon Journal reports.
A ban enacted last month that prohibits Santa Clara County paramedics from using four “potentially life-saving procedures” has raised concerns about the quality of emergency care in the county, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Washington Post Series Examines Issues Related to the Uninsured
The Washington Post recently published a series examining issues surrounding uninsured U.S. residents.
Red Cross Quarantines Three-Day Supply of Blood for Southern California
The American Red Cross has quarantined about a three-day supply of blood for the Southern California region after two new refrigerators at its Irvine facility malfunctioned, Red Cross officials announced yesterday, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Some Businesses Oppose Employer-Sponsored Coverage Bill
A bill (SB 2) passed Friday by the Legislature that would require some employers to provide health insurance to employees or pay into a state fund that would provide health coverage has drawn criticism from business leaders, who say that the measure will cost “billions and could trigger layoffs or cause companies to flee the state,” the Fresno Bee reports.
Court Rules To Postpone Recall, Proposition 54 Election
A three judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco yesterday ruled to postpone the Oct. 7 gubernatorial recall election, possibly until March 2004, a decision that also delayed a vote on Proposition 54, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Aetna, Health Net, Sierra Oppose Decisions on Tricare Contracts
Aetna, Health Net and Sierra Health Services are objecting to the federal government’s decisions in awarding Tricare contracts, the Hartford Courant reports.
Subsidies to private health plans and rebates to seniors, as proposed in the House and Senate Medicare bills (HR 1 and S 1), could result in beneficiaries’ paying “substantially different” premiums in different regions, according to an internal Bush administration assessment of the plan, the Wall Street Journal reports.