Latest California Healthline Stories
Sonoma County Home Care Workers Receive Pay Raise, Health Benefits
Home care workers in Sonoma County’s In-Home Supportive Services Program have successfully negotiated higher wages and — for the first time in the program’s 30-year history — health benefits, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports.
Bush’s Budget Presumes Slower Medicare Growth Than CBO
Predictions for Medicare growth over the next decade in President Bush’s fiscal year 2003 budget plan are “unrealistic[ally]” low, according to some experts and lawmakers, the
New York Times reports.
Details of Bush’s Proposal Fiscal Year 2003 Budget Released
President Bush yesterday released a $2.13 trillion proposed budget for fiscal year 2003 that calls for a Medicare prescription drug benefit and tax credits for the uninsured, the New York Times reports.
CHL Compiles Reaction to Bush’s FY 2003 Budget Proposal
California Healthline has compiled some reactions to President Bush’s budget proposal from newspapers and health policy organizations.
Los Angeles County health officials on Monday issued a public alert “urging” pregnant women to be tested and treated for HIV infection to prevent vertical transmission of the virus, after seven new HIV cases among infants were reported in the county last month, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Louisiana Charity Hospital Treats Fewer Low-Income Patients
Because Louisiana “essentially” has shifted all state prisoners with chronic illnesses to Louisiana State University’s Earl K. Long Medical Center for treatment, the medical center has less room and money to care for low-income people, the Baton Rouge Advocate reports.
WHO Web Site Gives Poor Nations Free Access to Medical Journals
The World Health Organization last Thursday launched the Health InterNetwork Web site, which will give approximately 70 developing nations online access to medical journals free of charge or at significantly reduced prices.
Los Angeles County Officials ‘Pleased’ with Early Results of Proposition 36
About 30% of Los Angeles County defendants sentenced to drug treatment under Proposition 36 “failed to show up or dropped out of treatment programs” in the first six months after the law took effect last July, but some judges and county officials “say they are pleased” with the early results, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Study Showing Farm Workers at Higher Risk of Some Cancers Reignites Debate Over Farm Safety
Hispanic farm workers are at higher risk for certain types of cancer than other Hispanics in the state, according to a study of United Farm Workers union members appearing in the December issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.
New Nurse Unionization Law at Center of Dispute in Palomar Pomerado Health System
In the latest skirmish between pro-union nurses in the Palomar Pomerado Health System and administrators, the system may challenge a new state law that allows nurses to approve unionization through signatures rather than a vote, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.