Latest California Healthline Stories
House Subcommittee Approves Bill To Allow Trade Groups To Form Association Health Plans
The House Education and Workforce Employer and Employee Subcommittee yesterday voted 13-8 to approve a bill (HR 660) that would allow businesses in the same trade groups to form association health plans exempt from state laws that require health plans to provide certain benefits, according to CongressDaily Markup Reports.
Tenet To Keep Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital Open
Santa Barbara-based Tenet Healthcare yesterday reversed its decision to close Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital in Marina del Rey, making an “open-ended commitment to running the hospital,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
HHS Decision Blocks Trial To Test Smallpox Vaccine in Children
Officials from HHS and the FDA have blocked a study that would have tested the effectiveness of diluted doses of the smallpox vaccine in children ages two to five, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Supreme Court Ruling on Punitive Awards May Help Tobacco Companies
A Supreme Court ruling yesterday that overturned a large punitive damage award might help tobacco companies, which face an increasing number of large jury awards, the Los Angeles Times reports.
CEOs, Clinical Officers Cite Financial Constraints as Primary Barrier to IT Adoption, Survey Finds
Both chief executives and clinician executives at health care facilities cite the lack of financial support as the largest barrier to implementing information technology, according to a Health Information and Management Systems Society survey released yesterday.
U.S., World Health Officials Testify on SARS Outbreak in Senate HELP Committee Hearing
Cooperation at local, national and international levels has helped slow the spread of the illness known as severe acute respiratory syndrome, but officials still must be prepared to address more cases of the unidentified illness as they occur, health officials from the United States and the World Health Organization yesterday said in Senate testimony, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Davis Unveils Four New Anti-Tobacco Advertisements
Gov. Gray Davis (D) yesterday unveiled four new state-produced anti-tobacco advertisements, one week after two of the nation’s largest tobacco companies filed a lawsuit that seeks an injunction against the ads, the AP/Contra Costa Times reports.
Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Arbitration with Physicians in HMO Suit
The Supreme Court yesterday ruled that HMOs PacifiCare Health Systems and UnitedHealth Group could send disputes with their physicians to arbitration, “preventing physicians from taking their racketeering claims directly to the courts” in a larger lawsuit, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Defendants Sentenced to 51 Months in Prison, Ordered To Repay $6.4 Million in Medi-Cal Fraud Case
The former owners of the Los Angeles Bio-Clinical Laboratory, who pled guilty in October to charges of conspiracy and money laundering for billing Medi-Cal $19 million for “bogus” blood tests, were sentenced Monday to 51 months in federal prison and ordered to pay back $6.4 million, the AP/Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.
States File Brief To Lower Philip Morris’ Appeals Bond in Illinois Decision
Attorneys general from 37 states yesterday filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging an Illinois court to reduce a $12 billion bond needed for Philip Morris USA to appeal a recent decision, the AP/Long Island Newsday reports.