Latest California Healthline Stories
CalPERS CEO Burton To Leave Position This Month
CalPERS officials on Monday announced that CEO James Burton will leave the health system by Aug. 23, earlier than expected, to take a position with the World Gold Council in London, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Santa Clara County Healthy Kids Program a Model for Similar Programs Statewide, Mercury News Says
The Santa Clara County Healthy Kids program, which announced last week that enrollment has increased to more than 10,000, began in January 2001 as an “unrealistic dream” to provide universal health coverage for county children but has become the “flagship for similar efforts” statewide, according to a San Jose Mercury News editorial.
HHS Secretary Thompson Asks Governors To Expand Home Care Medicaid Options
HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson on Monday sent a letter to the nation’s governors encouraging them to “overcome the institutional bias” of placing Medicaid beneficiaries with disabilities in nursing homes and “assure … they are served in the most appropriate setting.”
Health Care May Play Smaller Role in 2002 Elections than in 2000, Health Affairs Reports
Health care “may play even less of a role” in the 2002 mid-term elections than it did in the 2000 presidential election because Americans are more concerned about the economy and terrorism, according to a new article published today on the Health Affairs Web site.
Wall Street Journal Examines PBMs’ Relationships With Brand-Name Drug Companies
The Wall Street Journal today examines how pharmacy benefit managers have “quietly moved into a new business: helping … big pharmaceutical companies market their expensive brand-name drugs.”
Tobacco Industry Influence Weakened Marketing of Smoking Cessation Products, JAMA Study Finds
Tobacco companies in the 1980s and 1990s asserted their influence over pharmaceutical companies to “tone down” marketing of nicotine gum and nicotine skin patches, according to a new analysis of internal industry documents, according to a new study in JAMA.
Federal Officials To Review Treatment, Marketing of Hormone Replacement Therapy
To address the “widespread confusion” surrounding hormone replacement therapy, federal officials yesterday announced that they have started a “major reassessment” of the benefits and risks of all products containing estrogen that are used by post-menopausal women, the Washington Post reports.
Senate Democrats, Republicans May Introduce New Medicare Rx Drug Benefit Bills in October
Democratic and Republican Senate leaders may introduce new Medicare prescription drug benefit legislation in October, when a bill would require a simple majority of votes for passage, Roll Call reports.
Gingrich Calls for ‘Health Court System’ To Curb Rising Medical Malpractice Insurance Premiums
A new “health court system” is the only solution that would be “fair to all sides” in resolving the “calamity” of rising medical malpractice rates, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) writes in a USA Today opinion piece.
CDC Prevention Programs Target People with HIV To Reduce Spread of Virus
Alarmed by the continuing spread of HIV, the CDC and AIDS educators have started encouraging people with HIV to “take responsibility for not transmitting the virus” rather than relying on the “traditional prevention approach” of informing HIV-negative people about how to protect themselves, the New York Times reports.