Latest California Healthline Stories
DMHC’s Takeover of Lifeguard Not Expected To ‘Immediately’ Impact Patients
The state takeover of San Jose-based Lifeguard will not cause any “immediate problems” for the not-for-profit HMO’s 168,000 patients, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Medical Marijuana Advocates Protest DEA Raids in California
Medical marijuana advocates held rallies in throughout California yesterday to protest recent raids by the Drug Enforcement Administration on medical marijuana cooperatives in the state, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Wall Street Journal Looks at Denial of Care Appeals Options
The Wall Street Journal today looks at “[n]ew channels of appeal both within health plans and outside [that] are making it easier for patients to press their case” with insurance companies.
Senate Hopes To Use Medicare ‘Giveback’ Bill To Provide Some Aid for Beneficiaries
Having failed to pass a Medicare prescription drug benefit, the Senate now faces the “politically sensitive task” of approving a package that would provide some aid for seniors before the midterm elections in November, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Congress Should ‘Think Carefully’ Before Raising Medicare Provider Payments, Washington Post Says
Following its failure to pass a Medicare prescription drug benefit this summer, Congress is “waking up to the fact that even the existing package of Medicare benefits has grown hard to sustain,” according to a Washington Post editorial.
Federal, State Officials Discuss Reduced Medicaid Spending at AAHP Conference
Increasing health care costs, balanced-budget requirements and below-average tax revenues — caused in part by the nationwide economic recession — have led many states to “significantly reduce” their spending on Medicaid, federal legislators and state officials said at a Medicare/Medicaid conference sponsored by the American Association of Health Plans.
Cigarette Makers’ Claims about Antismoking Ads’ Influence Are ‘Paranoid,’ Editorial States
The claim that the Department of Health Service’s “long-running” anti-smoking campaign is “so effective it has managed to sway entire jury panels against” tobacco companies is “a bit paranoid,” according to a San Jose Mercury News editorial.
Judge ‘Tentatively’ Dismisses Lawsuit Accusing Tobacco Companies of Targeting Ads at Teens
A San Diego judge “tentatively dismissed” a class-action lawsuit accusing Phillip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, Brown & Williamson and Lorillard of “improperly marketing cigarettes to teenagers,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Los Angeles Times Profiles Closing Clinic as Los Angeles County Shutters Nine Facilities
Nine of Los Angeles County’s 18 public health clinics closed on Friday, and the Los Angeles Times examined how the closure of one of those clinics, the Alhambra Health Center, will affect the community.
California Children at Higher Risk of Cancer than Adults from Air Pollutants
California children have a higher risk of contracting cancer from inhaling toxic air pollutants than do the state’s adults, according to an environmental study released today, the Los Angeles Times reports.