Latest California Healthline Stories
Senate Working on Legislation To Increase Funding for Medicare Providers
Several senators have begun working “behind the scenes” on legislation that would provide more than $30 billion to increase funding to Medicare providers, CongressDaily/AM reports.
Many Americans Seek Treatment with Medical Marijuana in Canada, New York Times reports
The New York Times on Sunday reported on the number of Americans who have “flocked” to western Canada to avoid a Bush administration “crackdown” on medical marijuana cooperatives.
Raley’s Reaches Tentative Agreement with Pharmacists
Raley’s supermarket chain and its pharmacists, who are represented by the Independent Pharmacists Association, on Monday announced a tentative four-year labor agreement, the Sacramento Bee reports.
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has denied a request from Hollywood Community Hospital and City of Angels Medical Center-Ingleside for a preliminary injunction to overturn an order from the county Department of Mental Health that “removed the psychiatric hospitals’ authority to detain and treat mentally ill patients against their will,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Bee Examines Blue Cross Policy To Limit Children’s Access to Psychiatric Treatments After One Year
The Sacramento Bee yesterday examined a one-year-old Blue Cross of California policy that requires children with mental illness to visit a specialist before they can receive prescriptions for antipsychotic treatments — a policy that “seems to be working.”
New York Times Examines CDC’s ‘Uncomfortable Metamorphosis’ After Anthrax Incidents
The New York Times today examines the “uncomfortable metamorphosis” in the role of the CDC after the anthrax incidents last fall.
Medicare+Choice HMOs To Drop 200,000 Members Next Year, AAHP Survey Finds
HMOs serving about 200,000 seniors will exit the Medicare+Choice program next year in large part because of inadequate reimbursement rates from the federal government, according to an American Association of Health Plans survey released yesterday, the last day for health plans to tell the government whether they will participate in the program in 2003.
Los Angeles Times Recommends Approval of Several Health-Related Bills
A Los Angeles Times editorial today recommends that Gov. Gray Davis (D) sign several health-related bills passed by the Legislature this year.
FDA Orders Allergan To Pull Botox Ads, Brochures, Calling Them Misleading
The FDA has ordered Botox manufacturer Allergan to “immediately” pull all Botox television ads and brochures that contain certain statements the agency says are “misleading,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Contra Costa County officials yesterday introduced a proposal that would restore some health programs for children younger than age five that the county Board of Supervisors eliminated in a $1 billion fiscal year 2002-2003 budget plan approved last month, the Contra Costa Times reports.