Latest California Healthline Stories
The Senate Finance Committee yesterday voted 13-8 to approve a welfare bill, known as the Work, Opportunity and Responsibility for Kids Act of 2002, that includes an amendment that would let states enroll documented immigrant children and pregnant women in their Medicaid and CHIP programs, the Washington Post reports.
New York Times Looks at Failings of Federal Mammography Standards
Although the federal government 10 years ago issued standards to address a “mammography industry awash in scandal” and make reading mammography films easier, the standards have “largely failed to remedy what many experts say is the biggest problem of all: the skill of the doctors who interpret those X-ray films,” the New York Times reports in the first part of a two-part series, called “Blurred Vision.”
House GOP Leaders Work for Votes on Medicare Reform Package, Democrats Unveil Rx Drug Plan
While House Republican leaders yesterday “vigorously” worked to garner the votes needed to pass a GOP-backed $350 billion Medicare reform package that includes a prescription drug benefit, House Democrats formally introduced their own drug coverage plan, the Washington Post reports.
IRS Rules That Defined Contribution Plan Funds Can Be Rolled Over
As expected, the IRS yesterday decided that money left in defined contribution health plans at the end of the year can be rolled over to the next year, tax free, the AP/New York Times reports.
Dental Health Advocates Urge Increase in Medicaid, CHIP Reimbursements for Dentists
Dental care does not receive the “same priority” as other health care, which forces millions of children to “suffer unnecessarily” from tooth decay, dental health advocates told members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee at a hearing Tuesday, the Mobile Register reports.
African-American AIDS Patients in San Francisco Die Faster Than White, Latino Patients, Study Finds
African-American AIDS patients in San Francisco die more quickly than white and Latino AIDS patients, according to a study conducted by the San Francisco Department of Public Health, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Information Technology Could Help Hospitals Address Some Effects of Nursing Shortage, Report Finds
The implementation of information technology at hospitals can help improve the quality of care delivered by and productivity of nurses, according to a report released today by the California HealthCare Foundation and First Consulting Group.
Assembly Committee Votes to Commission Study on Role of Schools in Student Psychiatric Drug Use
The Assembly Education Committee yesterday approved a bill (SB 1289) that would require the Department of Education to study the role of school personnel in recommendations on whether students should take psychiatric drugs, such as Ritalin, to control their behavior, the Sacramento Bee reports.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors yesterday unanimously voted to close 11 of the county’s 18 public health clinics, end inpatient services at High Desert Hospital and lay off 5,000 health care workers — the “deepest cuts ever” to the county’s health system, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Supporters of a failed bill (SB 458) that would have allowed patients to bypass mandatory arbitration and file lawsuits against HMOs in some case of care denials say that a Los Angeles County labor leader is responsible for the defeat, the Sacramento Bee reports.