Latest California Healthline Stories
Sacramento Bee Examines ‘Plight’ of California’s Rural Hospitals
The Sacramento Bee examines the “plight of many of California’s 71 rural hospitals” — which posted $70 million in combined losses in 1999 — and profiles the financial problems at Trinity Hospital in Weaverville and Jerold Phelps Community Hospital in Garberville.
Attorney General Files Felony Charges Against 16 Individuals Accused of $11M in Medi-Cal Fraud
Attorney General Bill Lockyer (D) Wednesday filed 104 felony charges against 16 individuals who allegedly defrauded Medi-Cal for $11 million by “charging for fake tests at fly-by-night laboratories” — one the “most egregious Medi-Cal fraud cases in recent years,” the Orange County Register reports.
State Appeals Court Rules DMHC Cannot Force Kaiser Permanente to Cover Viagra
The Department of Managed Health Care cannot force Kaiser Permanente to cover prescription costs for the sexual dysfunction treatment Viagra, according to a decision yesterday by a state appeals court in Sacramento, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
House Passes GOP Medicare Reform Bill Early this Morning on Party-Line Vote
In what would be the “largest expansion of Medicare since its creation in 1965,” the House voted early this morning to pass a GOP-backed $350 billion Medicare reform bill that includes a prescription drug benefit, the New York Times reports.
Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Doctors’ Motion to End Contracts with Health Plan of the Redwoods
A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Santa Rosa yesterday temporarily blocked a motion filed by 17 physicians to end their contracts with Health Plan of the Redwoods, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports.
U.S. Teens Less Likely To Practice ‘Risky Behaviors,’ New CDC Report Finds
U.S. teenagers over the past 10 years have become less likely to practice some behaviors that “put them at risk of injury or disease,” but other risky behaviors have “remained stable or increased,” according to a report in the June 28 issue of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
New York Times Examines Practice of ‘Keeping Score’ of Breast Cancer Cases
In the second part of a two-part series on mammography, the New York Times today reports on Dr. Kim Adcock, head of radiology at Kaiser Permanente Colorado in Denver.
Two Generic Makers Agree to Settle FTC Charges that They Colluded to Prevent Competition
Generic drug makers Biovail Corp. and Elan Corp. have agreed to settle FTC charges that they brokered a deal that prevented competition and lower market prices for a generic version of Bayer AG’s blood pressure medication Adalat.
UNOS Recommends Study of Cash Incentives to Promote Organ Donation
The United Network for Organ Sharing, the agency that manages the national organ transplant system, yesterday voted to lobby Congress for studies examining the possibility of offering financial incentives for cadaver organ donations.
National Association of People With AIDS Sponsors 8th Annual National HIV Testing Day Today
Today’s 8th annual National HIV Testing Day, first declared in 1995 by the National Association of People With AIDS, is designed to increase awareness of the disease and encourage Americans to be tested for the virus.