Latest California Healthline Stories
Kaiser Permanente Disease Management Program Increases Access, Value
Kaiser Permanente’s “systematic, computer-assisted approach” to managing high cholesterol among its three million northern California members allows the company to “reach more patients” and get “better results for its money,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Gov. Gray Davis (D) should sign “posthaste” a bill (AB 2197) sponsored by Assembly member Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood) that would expand Medi-Cal coverage to HIV-positive beneficiaries who have not received an AIDS diagnosis, according to a San Francisco Examiner editorial.
Only 33% of California Newborns Receive State-Funded Test for 30 Inherited Metabolic Diseases
Only about 33% of California newborns have received a state-funded test under a pilot research program launched in January to screen newborns for 30 genetic diseases, the Sacramento Bee reports.
FDA Proposes New Regulations on Livestock Antibiotics To Test for Resistent Strains of Bacteria
The FDA yesterday proposed regulations that would require testing of newly developed livestock antibiotics to determine if such medications could produce bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics used in humans, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health has signed a four-year, $19 million contract with a group of companies to bring the department in compliance with the HIPAA transaction and code sets rule.
Gov. Gray Davis (D) should sign a bill (SB 1785) that would allow adults to purchase as many as 30 hypodermic needles at licensed pharmacies without a prescription to “move public policy in the right direction,” Marsha Cohen, a law professor at Hastings College of the Law, writes in a Sacramento Bee opinion piece.
A group of nurses employed in outpatient mental health clinics operated by Ventura County yesterday asked the county Board of Supervisors to provide them with the same bonuses that most other county-employed nurses receive, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Adults Using Active Coping Strategies After Sept. 11 Suffered Less Stress, Study Says
Adults who live outside New York City suffered less stress in the wake of Sept. 11 if they used “active coping” strategies immediately after the attacks, according to a new study in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, USA Today reports.
States Explore Universal Coverage Options, Oregon Puts Issue on November Ballot
The Business Journal of Portland on Sept. 6 examined actions considered by several states to implement universal care systems.
House Committee Approves Bill Capping Awards in Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
The House Judiciary Committee yesterday approved by voice vote a bill that would cap awards in medical malpractice cases in an effort to control “skyrocketing” liability insurance rates, CongressDaily/AM reports.