Latest California Healthline Stories
A federal judge yesterday rejected a pharmaceutical industry challenge to a Maine prescription drug discount program for low- and moderate-income residents, ruling that HHS had the authority to grant the state a waiver to “use its Medicaid program” to provide discounts to non-Medicaid beneficiaries, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Congressional Democrats and Republicans are “in rare agreement” that President Bush’s $190 billion proposal to provide a Medicare prescription drug benefit spends “too little money” to solve “one of the main problems in the nation’s health care system,” the Washington Post reports.
Santa Clara Pilot Project Aims to Reduce Repeat Patients’ Use of Emergency Departments
Santa Clara County hospitals are beginning a 12-month pilot project at two hospitals designed to reduce the number of patients who repeatedly visit emergency rooms, a practice that costs hospitals millions of dollars a year, the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal reports.
Business for Affordable Medicine, a coalition of governors, businesses and labor unions, said yesterday that changes to the 1984 Hatch-Waxman Act could save state Medicaid programs $600 million in prescription drug costs over the next three years, USA Today reports.
HIV Infection Rate High Among Gay, Bisexual Latinos in San Diego-Tijuana Border Region
The rate of HIV infection among young gay and bisexual Latinos in California’s San Diego-Tijuana border area is three times the rate of HIV infection among Latinos in other California cities, according to a University of California Universitywide AIDS Research Program survey released on Friday, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
NIH, Department of Defense to Merge HIV Vaccine Research Efforts
The NIH and the Department of Defense are planning to merge their HIV vaccine trials, countering criticism that the two efforts were “duplicati[ve],” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Kaiser Family Foundation Study Examines Impact of Law Authorizing Syringe Exchange Programs
A new study released by the Kaiser Family Foundation examines the impact of AB 136, a state law authorizing local governments to legalize syringe exchange programs if they declare a public health emergency because of a high HIV infection rate.
Los Angeles County Awarded $7M State Grant to Restructure Health Services Department
Los Angeles County has received a $7 million annual state grant to help fund a program to train and retrain county health care employees, Gov. Gray Davis (D) announced last Friday. The program, a provision of the county’s five-year federal Medicaid waiver, represents part of an effort to restructure the county’s Department of Health Services.
HHS, Ed. Dept. Launch Program to Combat Nursing Shortage
HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson and Education Secretary Rod Paige last week announced the start of “Kids into Health Careers,” a program intended to encourage children to consider careers in the health care field, particularly nursing.
Number of U.S. HIV Cases Rose by 50,000 Between 1998 and 2000, CDC Says
The number of Americans diagnosed with HIV increased by 50,000 between 1998 and 2000, according to Dr. Harold Jaffe, acting director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention, Newsday reports.