Latest California Healthline Stories
NPR’s ‘Morning Edition’ Reports on Legislation To Provide Health Coverage for Uninsured Residents
NPR’s “Morning Edition” yesterday reported on several “sweeping plans” that state lawmakers will consider this legislative session to extend health coverage to the uninsured.
Action on Federal Smallpox Compensation Program Expected in Congress
Several lawmakers from both houses yesterday said that they will “move quickly” to approve a federal program proposed Wednesday by the Bush administration that would compensate health care and emergency workers who experience adverse reactions to the smallpox vaccine as part of the national vaccination plan, but the program remains “far from a done deal,” CongressDaily/AM reports.
San Francisco STD Director Fights for STD Warning on Viagra, Wall Street Journal Reports
The Wall Street Journal today examines the efforts of Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, the San Francisco Department of Public Health director of sexually transmitted disease prevention and control, in his “uphill battle” to change the warning labels on Pfizer’s male impotence drug Viagra to include a statement “explicitly warn[ing]” users about STDs and promoting the use of condoms.
Los Angeles Times Examines Program at County-USC Medical Center To Train Navy Medical Personnel
The Los Angeles Times today examines a program at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in which U.S. Navy medics, nurses and other medical personnel train at the hospital to prepare for a potential war with Iraq.
Medicare Payment Advisory Commission Payment Recommendations ‘Outrage’ Providers
Recommendations by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission that most health providers in the Medicare program not receive a pay increase next year “touched off a round of outrage” yesterday during a House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee hearing, CongressDaily/AM reports.
Medical Liability Reform Bill Passes House Energy and Commerce Committee, Moves to House Floor
The House Energy and Commerce Committee yesterday by voice vote approved a bill (HR 5) that would cap noneconomic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits at $250,000, the New York Times reports.
High Rates of Uninsured Residents Can Affect Community Care Access
A large number of uninsured residents in a community can affect access to care for the entire community, according to an Institute of Medicine report released yesterday, the AP/Detroit News reports.
Washington Post Looks at Kaiser Permanente’s Placement of PCs in Exam Rooms
The Washington Post yesterday looked at HMO Kaiser Permanente’s move to put personal computers in physicians’ exam rooms and create electronic medical records for Kaiser’s 8.4 million members.
Sharp Memorial Hospital Agrees To Pay $6.2 Million To Settle Medicare Fraud Case
A U.S. attorney yesterday announced San Diego-based Sharp Memorial Hospital will pay the federal government $6.2 million to settle a lawsuit alleging it misrepresented costs related to heart and kidney transplants to overcharge Medicare, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Los Angeles County, State Launch ‘Surprise Inspections’ of Two Mental Health Facilities
Los Angeles County and state officials yesterday launched “surprise inspections” of Sylmar-based Foothill and Sylmar health and rehabilitation centers, which treat patients with severe mental illnesses and have been “beset by escapes, assaults and patient-care violations,” the Los Angeles Times reports.