Latest California Healthline Stories
Kennedy To Outline New Health Care Reform Agenda in Speech Today
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) today plans to “put universal health care back at the top of the national agenda” during a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., in which he will outline a series of health reform proposals, the Boston Herald reports.
State Residents Near Two Nuclear Plants to Receive Pills to Protect Against Radiation Exposure
State officials plan to distribute potassium iodide pills to about 500,000 individuals who reside within 10 miles of two nuclear power plants to help protect against radiation exposure in the event of a terrorist attack on the facilities, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Faced with a projected $800 million deficit by 2005, Los Angeles County Department of Health Services officials will recommend closing 11 health clinics, eliminating school-based medical programs and converting Lancaster-based High Desert Hospital to an outpatient clinic, the Los Angeles Times reports.
UCI Posts Videos of Eight 2002 Health Care Forecast Conference Sessions Online
The Health Care Management Program at the University of California-Irvine Graduate School of Management has posted online eight sessions on “Health Politics and Policies in the Bush Administration” from the 2002 Health Care Forecast Conference, held in February.
The Assembly Health Committee today will consider a Senate-passed bill (SB 458) that would allow patients to bypass mandatory arbitration and file lawsuits against health plans when an HMO “interferes with doctor-recommended treatment and substantial harm results,” the Sacramento Bee reports.
Health Insurance Premiums Expected To Rise 20% in 2003, UCLA Study Determines
Many employers nationwide expect health insurance premium rate increases of 20% or more next year and plan to make “substantial changes” to their health plans to shift more of the cost to employees, according to a survey released today by the University of California-Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The Assembly Health Committee today will consider a bill (SB 1785) that would allow adults to purchase as many as 30 hypodermic needles at licensed pharmacies without a doctor’s prescription, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Medical Journal Series Examines Medical Errors in Eight-Part Case Study Series
The June 4 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine features the first in a series of articles the journal plans to run examining medical errors at hospitals, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Patient Advocates Raise Concerns Over AMA President-Elect’s Comments on Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
The election of Donald Palmisano — a New Orleans physician and lawyer who founded a company to advise doctors on “how to avoid” medical malpractice lawsuits — as the next president of American Medical Association has received criticism from patient advocates who have say that the AMA has become “focused too heavily on legal strategy and not enough on good medicine,” the Washington Post reports.
Health Experts Question House Republican Medicare Rx Drug Benefit Plan
The House Republican plan to provide a prescription drug benefit to Medicare beneficiaries through private health insurers has received a “skeptical reaction from many health policy experts,” the New York Times reports.