Latest California Healthline Stories
In a recent letter, CMS officials urged state Medicaid administrators to maintain momentum on efforts to comply with HIPAA transactions standards, despite recent legislation that delays the deadline for compliance by one year.
The CDC yesterday called for improved screening of organ and tissue transplants as it issued separate reports linking three transplant patients’ deaths to infections, including two from a rare disease previously confined to Latin America, the AP/South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports.
CMS Should Have Approved Waiver to Treat Partners of Medi-Cal Beneficiaries with Chlamydia, Bee Says
The Bush administration made “something that should be easy into something difficult” when CMS this week rejected a waiver request that would have allowed the state to cover the cost of antibiotic treatment for the sexual partners of Medi-Cal beneficiaries infected with chlamydia, regardless of whether the partners qualify for Medi-Cal, according to a Sacramento Bee editorial.
CMA President Says Bill Would Improve Enforcement of Contracts Between Providers, Health Plans
A proposed state bill (AB 1600) that would allow doctors to sue health plans over alleged violations of contracts is “highly needed … if patients are going to get the care they need,” John Whitelaw, president of the California Medical Association, writes in a Sacramento Bee opinion piece.
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations yesterday returned “conditional accreditation” to Parkview Community Hospital in Riverside after the facility “demonstrated that it had complied with some of the commission standards” it had violated, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.
The House Budget Committee last night approved a $2.1 trillion budget proposal for fiscal year 2003 calling for $350 billion over 10 years to reform Medicare and create a prescription drug benefit — $160 billion more than proposed by President Bush in his fiscal year 2003 budget proposal, the Los Angeles Times reports.
House Committee Holds Hearing on Mental Health Parity Legislation
The House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations yesterday held a hearing on mental health parity legislation, CongressDaily/AM reports.
One-Quarter of Obese Children Face Increased Risk for Type II, Study Finds
Twenty-five percent of obese children could be at risk of developing Type II diabetes “sooner rather than later” in their lifetimes, according to a study in today’s New England Journal of Medicine, the Hartford Courant reports.
Patients Often Use ‘Suboptimal’ Techniques to Search for Health Information Online, Study Finds
Patients often use “suboptimal” techniques when they search for health information online, but most successfully find answers to their questions, according to a new study published in the March 9 issue of the British Medical Journal.
San Diego’s Business Healthcare Connection will receive an $800,000 grant from the California Endowment to establish a “one-stop center” for small businesses seeking information on health insurance for their employees, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.