Latest California Healthline Stories
BlueCross BlueShield Association Study Finds Hospital Costs Increasing in California
California’s hospital costs have increased at nearly twice the national rate in recent years, due in large part to the state’s “acute” nursing shortage, the cost of new technology and hospital mergers, according to a BlueCross BlueShield Association study released Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reports.
No Congressional Action Expected on Provider ‘Giveback’ During Lame-Duck Session
Congress will not likely consider a Medicare provider “giveback” bill or a prescription drug benefit bill before the end of the lame-duck session, Bloomberg/Salt Lake Tribune reports.
A majority of California residents support state programs to provide clean needles to illicit drug users and condoms to prisoners, according to a statewide survey released yesterday, the Contra Costa Times reports.
Seniors Group Asks State Officials To Begin Campaign To Promote Generic Treatments
The San Francisco-based seniors group Senior Action Network has made encouraging expanded use of generic drugs its top priority, citing statistics finding that California residents could save a total of $2 billion each year by opting for generic instead of name-brand drugs, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Problems at Tenet Prompt CMS To Probe Hospital Outlier Payments Nationwide
Prompted by recent allegations that Tenet Healthcare inappropriately used the outlier payment formula to boost its Medicare reimbursements, CMS Administrator Tom Scully said yesterday that his agency will “fix” the formula and launch a review of hospitals nationwide to determine whether they have “taken advantage” of the regulations, the New York Times reports.
U.S., Canadian Groups Establish Certification Program for Online Pharmacies
U.S. and Canadian professional pharmacy associations have established an online pharmacy certification program that “purposely will exclude” Canadian pharmacies that ship drugs to the United States, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Los Angeles County Health Care Workers, Patients Protest Rancho Los Amigos Closure
A number of Los Angeles County health care workers and patients have launched a campaign to save the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, which county officials last month voted to close, the Los Angeles Times reports.
House Republican Leaders Seek To ‘Reenergize Bid’ To End Lame-Duck Session This Week
House Republican leaders plan to address a continuing resolution to fund government operations through Jan. 11, 2003, and a compromise homeland security bill in a “reenergized bid” to end the lame-duck session this week, CongressDaily/AM reports.
CMS Releases Online Quality Ratings For Nation’s Nursing Homes
As expected, CMS yesterday released a guide detailing quality of care at all 17,000 of the nation’s nursing homes as part of its Nursing Home Quality Initiative, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.
Use of E-Prescription Technologies Can Reduce Costs, Medication Errors, CHCF Report Finds
New e-prescription technologies can “significantly” reduce the costs and medication errors associated with physician prescription habits, but few companies that offer such products provide “practical, interim alternatives to more costly and complex integrated prescribing-writing solutions,” according to a new report commissioned by the California HealthCare Foundation.