Latest California Healthline Stories
Cigna To Stop Offering Individual Health Insurance Policies in California
Cigna Healthcare of California on April 1 stopped offering new individual health insurance policies and on Oct. 31 will stop renewing existing individual policies, pending state approval, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Federal Officials Ask States To Revise Smallpox Vaccination Plans
Federal health officials have asked states to revise smallpox vaccination plans to take into account budgetary restraints and citizens’ reluctance to receive the inoculation, the AP/Nando Times reports.
Scientists Turn Mouse Stem Cells Into Egg Cells; Discovery Could Impact Future Medical Research
Researchers yesterday announced that they were able to cause stem cells from mouse embryos to transform into egg cells, a finding that could remove a major objection to research cloning and could “blur the biological line” between female and male reproduction, the Washington Post reports.
In an opinion released Wednesday, the Legislative Counsel said the state must provide $120 million in the fiscal year 2003-2004 budget to treat drug offenders under Proposition 36, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Los Angeles County Will Not Renew Contracts With Two Sylmar-Based Private Psychiatric Centers
After a months-long investigation into Foothill and Sylmar health and rehabilitation centers, Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health officials said they would not renew their contracts with the two Sylmar-based private psychiatric facilities and must now find new placements for 170 mentally ill patients by June 30, the Los Angeles Times reports.
House Approves $15 Billion International HIV/AIDS Bill
The House yesterday approved 375-41 an international HIV/AIDS bill (HR 1298), which would authorize $15 billion over five years to fight AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean, with amendments that give the bill a “more conservative cast,” the Washington Post reports.
Tustin Hospital and Medical Center To Reapply for Medi-Cal Funding
Tustin Hospital and Medical Center officials said that its pediatric skilled nursing center will reapply for Medi-Cal funding at a meeting next week with Department of Health Services officials, the Orange County Register reports.
Individual HMO Members Drop Lawsuits Against Insurers After Denial of Class-Action Status
After individual HMO members were denied class-action status in a case filed against insurers, attorneys representing the individuals are “quietly” beginning to drop lawsuits that they had hoped would become “a national vehicle for a microscopic examination of the managed care industry’s business practices,” the Hartford Courant reports.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert Announces Principles for Medicare Reform Bill
House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) yesterday announced principles for legislation to reform Medicare and add a prescription drug benefit to the program, CongressDaily reports.
PacifiCare Reports $70.8 Million in First-Quarter Earnings
As expected, Cypress-based PacifiCare Health Systems, the nation’s largest Medicare health plan operator, yesterday reported first-quarter earnings of $70.8 million, or $1.91 per share, compared to a loss of $858.8 million, or $24.86 per share, a year earlier, the Wall Street Journal reports.