Latest California Healthline Stories
Catholic Healthcare West Reports 64% Reduction in Operating Losses in Fiscal Year 2002
San Francisco-based Catholic Healthcare West, the state’s largest not-for-profit hospital chain, yesterday reported $47.4 million in operating losses in fiscal year 2002 — a 64% decrease from FY 2001 and a “sign of a financial turnaround” after combined losses of $933 million over the four previous years, the Sacramento Bee reports.
A majority of parents in Orange and San Bernardino counties support “comprehensive sex education,” which teaches both abstinence and contraceptive use, as part of school curriculum, according to a Planned Parenthood survey released yesterday, the Orange County Register reports.
Untreated Diabetes, Hypertension Linked to Higher Rate of Dementia in Latinos, Study Finds
Older Latinos have a 50% higher rate of dementia than whites as a result of their higher rate of diabetes and hypertension, for which they often do not receive treatment, according to a new study scheduled for release next month, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Businesses in Two Washington Counties To Conduct Online Employee Health Questionnaires
Some members of the Inland Northwest Business Coalition on Health in two Washington counties plan to ask employees to complete an online “point-and-click assessment” of their health as part of an effort to reduce “skyrocketing” health care costs, the Spokane Spokesman-Review reports.
CMS Says 33 Plans Either Exiting Medicare+Choice or Scaling Back Services Next Year
CMS officials announced yesterday that 33 health plans will either exit or “reduc[e] their service areas” under the Medicare managed care program next year, meaning that nearly 200,000 beneficiaries will need to find an alternate plan or return to traditional fee-for-service Medicare, the AP/Las Vegas Sun reports.
Economy, War Force Damaging Medicaid Cuts and Access to Care for the Working Poor, Op-Ed Says
The Bush administration and Congress should “take a little time away from war planning to consider what the economic downturn” is doing to the working poor, particularly to their access to health insurance through Medicaid, Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne writes in an opinion piece.
Davis Signs a Number of Health-Related Bills
Gov. Gray Davis (D) recently signed several health-related bills into law.
Senators Lobby To Add Other Health Measures to Medicare ‘Giveback’ Bill
Pressure to address Medicare provider rates and other related health measures is increasing as “giveback” legislation remains stalled in the Senate Finance Committee, CongressDaily/AM reports.
U.S. Health Care Spending Increased 10% in 2001, HSC Study Says
Health care spending in the United States increased 10% during 2001, the largest jump in more than 10 years, according to a study published today on the Web site of the journal Health Affairs.
The Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana yesterday filed suit in federal court to request the return of 167 medical marijuana plants seized in a raid by federal agents earlier this month, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.