Latest California Healthline Stories
Registered Nurses Begin Four-Day Strike at Los Angeles Hospital
About 350 registered nurses at St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles yesterday began a four-day strike, calling for improved wages, the Los Angeles Times reports.
HHS ‘Wrongly’ Approved CHIP Waivers Allowing States To Use Funds To Cover Childless Adults, GAO Says
HHS may have “wrongly” allowed states to use unspent CHIP funds to provide health coverage for adults without children, according to a GAO report released Tuesday, the AP/Atlanta
Journal-Constitution reports.
CMS To Release Nationwide Quality Guide on Nursing Homes This Fall
CMS this fall will release a guide on the quality of care at nursing homes nationwide as part of a program to allow patients to compare the performance of the facilities, CMS Administrator Tom Scully said, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Patient Confidence in Nation’s Health Care System Grows ‘Slightly,’ Survey Says
Patient confidence in the nation’s health care system “increased slightly” between 1997 and 2001, in part because of eased restrictions in managed care plans and new state patient protection laws, according to a report released today by the Center for Studying Health System Change.
WebMD Reports Decreased Net Loss in the Second Quarter of 2002
New Jersey-based WebMD Corp. on Tuesday announced that the company’s second-quarter net loss dropped as a result of reduced expenses and “restructuring efforts,” Dow Jones Business News reports.
The University of California, the American Heart Association, California chapters of the Alzheimer’s Association and other health groups have started lobbying state lawmakers to pass legislation that would give medical researchers “more leeway” to enroll patients who are incapable of giving their own consent to participate in medical studies, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Business Times Examines Move to ‘Consumer-Driven’ Health Plans in Bay Area
The East Bay Business Times last week examined “consumer-driven” health plans, which several large Bay Area companies plan to offer late this year or early next year to help control health care costs.
Senate Considers Legislation To Allow DMHC To Regulate HMO Prescription Drug Benefits
A bill (SB 842) introduced this week by Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) would allow the Department of Managed Health Care to regulate the treatments covered by HMOs that offer prescription drug benefits, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Assembly Defeats Proposal To Cover State Budget Deficit with Cigarette Tax Increase
The Assembly yesterday voted 50-20 to reject a budget proposal that would have increased the state’s tax on cigarettes to $3 per pack, the AP/Contra Costa Times reports.
JCAHO Survey Linking Nursing Shortage to Medical Errors Released
As expected, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations today released a report finding that the nursing shortage has “contributed to nearly a quarter of the unanticipated problems that result in death or injury to hospital patients,” the New York Times reports.