Latest California Healthline Stories
Orange County Obesity, Autism Programs to Receive Proposition 10 Funds
The Children and Families Commission of Orange County announced last Monday about $9.3 million in grants for 54 programs to help children, the Orange County Register reports.
Fauci Details NIH Plans for FY 2003 Bioterrorism Spending
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, on Sunday offered the “first detailed view” of the NIH’s plan to spend the $1.7 billion in anti-bioterrorism funding in President Bush’s fiscal year 2003 budget proposal, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Self-Insurance Gaining Popularity Among Small Businesses
Faced with rising health care costs, many small businesses are “dumping” traditional managed care and instead are self-insuring their employees’ health care, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Thompson Defends Bush Medicare Budget Plan in Congress
Facing criticism from many lawmakers, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson at a Senate Budget Committee hearing yesterday defended the Bush administration’s fiscal year 2003 budget proposal to provide $190 billion for Medicare reform, including a prescription drug benefit, CongressDaily reports.
Vacaville and Chowchilla Prison Nurses Stage ‘Sickout’
About 50 registered nurses who work at three state prisons are staging a “sickout” this week in an effort to gain better pay, improved benefits and larger staffs, the Fresno Bee reports.
DMHC Proposes Regulations Requiring HMOs to Reveal More Information About Arbitration Cases
The Department of Managed Health Care has proposed regulations that would require HMOs to provide the agency with additional information to investigate patients’ complaints, eliminating the “secrecy of the current arbitration process,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Watchdog Groups Question Whether Lawmaker’s Part Ownership of Medical Group Is Conflict of Interest
Assembly member Keith Richman’s (R-Granada Hills) part ownership of the medical group Lakeside Health Care is a potential conflict of interest because he has sponsored legislation that would benefit medical groups, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Colin Powell Advocates Condom Use to Prevent HIV, STDs
Secretary of State Colin Powell last night in an MTV international youth forum “strongly advocated” the use of condoms as a means of preventing HIV transmission and other sexually transmitted diseases, “setting himself apart from” President Bush’s views on sex education and angering many conservatives who back abstinence-only HIV/AIDS prevention programs, the Washington Post reports.
Sharp HealthCare System Launches Spanish-Language Web Site
The not-for-profit health system Sharp HealthCare has launched a Spanish-language Web site to provide health information to its “many Hispanic patients.” According to the San Diego-based health system, the site is the first site of its kind in San Diego County.
San Diego County Supervisors Vote to ‘Split Up’ Public Health Service Contract
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors Tuesday voted unanimously to “split up” the county’s public health contract and solicit competitive bids to administer eight health programs, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.