Latest California Healthline Stories
Bush Seeks Medicaid Cuts, Anti-Bioterror Increase in FY 2003 Budget
The proposed fiscal year 2003 budget that President Bush submitted to Congress today would save $9 billion over five years by “reducing [Medicaid] payments to public hospitals and by cracking down on state efforts to obtain extra federal money to finance health care for the poor,” the New York Times reports.
Decision to Give Inmate Heart Transplant Based on Medical, Not Social, Criteria, Stanford Says
With people nationwide expressing “outrage” that a California prison inmate received a heart transplant while thousands of law-abiding citizens remain on an organ waiting list, officials at Stanford University Medical Center have said that medical criteria — not social criteria — were the deciding factors in the decision, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Rate of Uninsured Children 11.2% in 2001, Down from 13.9% in 1997
The rate of U.S. children without health insurance dropped from 13.9% in 1997 to 11.2% in the first six months of 2001, according to preliminary findings from an annual CDC survey.
Daughters of Charity Acquire Seven State Hospitals
The Daughters of Charity order of Catholic nuns has assumed control of operations at Robert F. Kennedy Medical Center, a former Catholic Healthcare West facility, and six other state hospitals, the Torrance Daily Breeze reports.
HHS Issues First Part of $1.1B to Improve State Bioterrorism Responses; California to Receive $69.7M
HHS yesterday released the first installment of a $1.1 billion plan to improve bioterrorism preparedness in hospitals and state and local health agencies that includes $69.7 million for California, the Washington Post reports.
Bush Administration Proposes Making Fetuses Eligible for CHIP Programs
HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson said yesterday that the Bush administration will soon issue a proposed regulation that would make a fetus at any stage of development eligible for health coverage under the Children’s Health Insurance Program, marking the “first time that a federal program has attempted to define childhood as beginning before birth,” the Washington Post reports.
Embryos From Monkey Eggs Could Avert Debate Over Stem Cells
Monkey eggs that are chemically stimulated to grow into embryo-like organisms without the use of sperm can develop and yield embryonic stem cells capable of becoming other forms of tissue, a development that may alter the debate over cloning and embryonic stem cell research, the Boston Globe reports.
Los Angeles County Officials Close Unlicensed Abortion Clinic
Los Angeles County health and law enforcement officials have closed a reportedly unlicensed abortion clinic and are investigating whether the clinic’s owner is licensed to practice medicine, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Philip Morris Co. to Run Cigarette Ads in Fewer Magazines
Philip Morris Co., maker of Marlboro, Parliament and Virginia Slims cigarettes and “one of the nation’s biggest advertisers,” will “substantially reduc[e]” the number of magazines it advertises its cigarettes in this year, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Smog May Cause Asthma in Healthy Children, Study Finds
Children who play sports and reside in smoggy communities develop asthma at triple the rate of children who live in communities with cleaner air, according to a new study conducted by University of Southern California and government researchers.