Latest California Healthline Stories
Medicare Conferees Reach Tentative Deal on Prescription Drug Discount Cards
Members of the conference committee charged with reconciling the House and Senate Medicare bills (HR 1 and S 1) yesterday announced they have reached a tentative agreement on a proposal that would give Medicare beneficiaries drug discount cards before a drug benefit takes effect, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Roseville Joint Union School District Overturns Student Medical Privacy Policy
The Roseville Joint Union School District board last night voted to overturn a policy that, under state law, allowed seventh- through 12th-grade students to leave school for confidential medical appointments without parental consent, the Sacramento Bee reports.
House Bill Would Exclude Medical Information From Credit Reports
The House this fall will likely consider a bill (HR 2622) that would limit the amount of medical information that could appear in credit reports as part of the renewal of provisions in the Fair Credit Report Reporting Act scheduled to expire Jan. 1, the Wall Street Journal reports.
More than 1,400 San Joaquin County employees represented by Service Employees International Union Local 790 on Monday went on strike to protest a county contract proposal that would increase their copayments for physician visits and prescription drugs, the Stockton Record reports.
Judge Denies Injunction To Block Regulation of State Compensation Insurance Fund Suit During Lawsuit
San Francisco Superior Court Judge James Warren yesterday denied the State Compensation Insurance Fund a preliminary injunction that would have barred the Department of Insurance from regulating the fund’s finances, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Oroville Hospital Workers May Join Union
Three Oroville Hospital departments with more than 500 employees on Friday voted on a measure to join the United Steelworkers of America, the Chico Enterprise-Record reports.
Institute of Medicine Recommends Federal Requirements, Subsidies for Immunizations
The federal government should require all private and public health plans to cover government-recommended immunizations, subsidize related costs for health plans and provide vouchers to the uninsured to obtain vaccinations, according to a report released today by the Institute of Medicine, the New York Times reports.
Tenet Healthcare Names New Compliance Officer, Special Adviser
Officials at Santa Barbara-based Tenet Healthcare, the second-largest for-profit hospital chain in the nation, yesterday named Cheryl Wagonhurst as the new compliance officer, the Los Angeles Times reports.
About 40,000 Low-Income San Mateo County Residents May Face Restricted Access to Physicians
About 40,000 San Mateo County residents enrolled in Medi-Cal, Healthy Families and the county’s Healthy Kids and Well programs will have fewer choices of doctors if the state and federal governments do not intervene to halt the Health Plan of San Mateo’s expected bankruptcy in October, according to the Bay City News Report.
The cost of staying in a nursing home increased nearly four times the rate of inflation over a 15-month period, and in-home care cost increases, while smaller, also outpaced inflation over the same time period, according to a MetLife Mature Market Institute survey to be released today, the Wall Street Journal reports.