Latest California Healthline Stories
Los Angeles County Sheriff Proposes Ballot Measure To Fund Emergency Care, Terrorism Preparedness
Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca yesterday said that he will ask county supervisors to place a measure on the 2003 ballot that would increase the county sales tax by a half-cent to provide additional funds for emergency care and terrorism preparedness, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Los Angeles County health officials this year have received reports of 18 new HIV cases among children, more than have been reported in any one year since 1998, the Los Angeles Times reports.
HHS Approves New Rapid HIV Test
The FDA yesterday approved a rapid HIV test that provides results in 20 minutes and is easier to use than existing rapid test kits — two aspects that experts say will reduce the number of people who are unknowingly infected and will boost the number who are treated for HIV infection.
Sacramento Bee Examines Scheduled Sacramento-Area Medicare HMO Premium Increases
The Sacramento Bee today examines the rising monthly premiums and “steeper fees” that Medicare HMO beneficiaries in the Sacramento area will face next year.
CMS Administrator Tom Scully on Wednesday met with Los Angeles County officials to discuss a budget deficit in the county’s health system and said that the federal government would work with the county on a “permanent fix” for the problem but would not provide a third bailout, the Torrance Daily Breeze reports.
Los Angeles Times Examines Impact of Republican-Controlled Congress on Drug Industry
The Los Angeles Times today looks at how the drug industry appears “positioned to reap the rewards of the election returns” more than any other business sector because of its campaign spending.
Service Workers at Stanford, Lucille Packard Children’s Hospitals To Vote on Proposed Contract
Service and maintenance workers at Stanford Hospital and Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital today plan to vote on a new contract agreement, the AP/Fresno Bee reports.
Seventh West Coast Trial Against Tobacco Companies Begins in Sacramento
Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds “defrauded the public,” hid the “addictive and cancer-causing effects of smoking” and “targeted the nation’s youths as prime customers,” according to opening arguments made yesterday in a Sacramento smoker’s lawsuit against the companies, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Republican-Controlled Congress Likely To Shift Health Care Agenda
Republican lawmakers, who will assume control of both the House and Senate in the 108th Congress next year, will likely use their “substantially increased power” to “change the national debate” on health care and enact market-based reforms, the Wall Street Journal reports.
HHS Office of Inspector General Will Audit Medicare Outlier Payments at Tenet Hospitals Nationwide
Officials from Santa Barbara-based Tenet Healthcare, the nation’s second-largest for-profit hospital chain, announced yesterday that HHS Office of Inspector General is preparing to audit the company’s hospitals nationwide in an attempt to determine whether Tenet properly billed Medicare for certain services, the Los Angeles Times reports.