Latest California Healthline Stories
Lawmakers Weigh FDA User Fee Agreement
The FDA’s new deputy commissioner told lawmakers yesterday that the tentative deal the agency has reached with the pharmaceutical industry to secure more user fees from drug makers would both speed up the approval process and greatly expand the FDA’s post-market oversight of medications, CongressDaily reports.
Racial Disparities Exist on Most Health Quality Measures
Minority Americans do not fare as well as whites on almost every measure of health care quality, according to a new Commonwealth Fund survey.
Most State Nursing Home Closures Not Related to Bankruptcy, UCSF Study Finds
Nursing home bankruptcies, a “highly publicized” issue in the state, have not prompted many facilities to close nor led to a shortage of services for seniors, a University of California-San Francisco study has found, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Anacapa Hospital in Port Hueneme closed yesterday — a move that “triggered the emergency transfer” of about 60 patients and left Ventura County with only one free-standing inpatient facility for juvenile psychiatric treatment, the Los Angeles Times reports.
New York Insurer Becomes One of the First Health Plans Nationwide to Offer Spanish-Language Web Site
HIP Health Plan of New York Monday announced the launch of a Spanish-language version of the HIP Web site, making it “one of the first” health plans in the nation to provide the service, according to the American Association of Health Plans.
ADA Files Breach of Contract Suit Against WellPoint
The American Dental Association and three member dentists have filed suit against Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based managed care company WellPoint Health Networks and its subsidiary Blue Cross of California, alleging breach of contract, “unlawful interference” with the dentist-patient relationship and trade libel, the Wall Street Journal reports.
In a March 6 story on a medical management firm that acquired the contracts of seven doctor groups, California Healthline incorrectly identified North American Medical Management as a Canadian company. NAMM is based in Ontario, Calif.
Voters Approve Parcel Tax Increase to Fund Sonoma Valley Hospital
Sonoma Valley Hospital yesterday became the third hospital in Sonoma County to “convince” local residents to subsidize operations by raising parcel taxes, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports.
Ontario Medical Management Firm Acquires Contracts of Seven California Medical Groups
Ontario-based North American Medical Management has acquired the contracts of seven medical groups in Los Angeles and Orange counties, giving it control over doctor groups that provide care for 517,000 California patients, the Los Angeles Times reports.
House Republicans said yesterday that they may include provisions in their draft of legislation to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare to “encourage the use of low-cost generic drugs” over brand-name treatments, the New York Times reports.