Latest California Healthline Stories
California Case Highlights ‘Soaring’ Costs in Prison Health Care
A California inmate who received a heart transplant earlier this month represents a “sign” of the “soaring” prison health care costs that “many states may soon face,” the New York Times reports.
Blood Industry Experienced Several ‘Shortcomings’ After Sept. 11, Reports Says
The blood industry experienced several “shortcomings,” including “wasted blood” and increased donor screening errors, in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, according to a report to be presented today to an HHS blood advisory committee by a “task force of blood centers,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
As the National Institutes of Health’s budget continues to increase, lawmakers are trying to use “power politics” to “lock up” new research facilities that “will assure a steady flow of money to their home states,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Bush’s Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Needs Improvement, Los Angeles Times Says
Congress should “press” President Bush to “improve” the Medicare prescription drug benefit plan he will include in the fiscal year 2003 budget proposal submitted Feb. 4, a Los Angeles Times editorial says.
San Diego County Forum Aims to Prevent Diabetes, Heart Disease Among African-American Residents
The Sweet Heart Project, a San Diego County outreach program funded by the CDC, co-sponsored a forum last weekend on diabetes and heart disease prevention for the county’s African-American residents, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Many Physicians Hesitant to Consult with Patients Via E-Mail, Survey Says
Most physicians are still waiting for insurance reimbursement for or convincing proof of the clinical and financial value of communicating with patients via e-mail, according to a survey released Tuesday by Deloitte and Touche and Fulcrum Analytics.
Los Angeles Supervisors Approve Closure of Five Clinics; Larger Health Cuts Loom
As expected, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors yesterday approved a plan to close five county health clinics and to consolidate some positions within the county’s health department, marking the first, small step toward reducing the department’s projected $688 million deficit, the Los Angeles Times reports.
State of the Union Address Mentions Medicare Reform, Bioterror Prep
President Bush called on Congress last night to pass a patients’ bill of rights and legislation reforming Medicare that includes a prescription drug benefit, saying, “Americans know economic security can vanish in an instant without health security.”
Department of Corrections Agrees To Improve Inmate Medical Care To Settle Class-Action Lawsuit
The Department of Corrections yesterday agreed to “spend millions to upgrade the medical care” in 33 state prisons to settle a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of prison inmates, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Proposition 36 May ‘Carry Us Too Far’ in Treating Criminals, Press-Enterprise Says
As Proposition 36, a voter-approved initiative that sends nonviolent first- and second-time drug offenders to treatment rather than jail is implemented, it “resembl[es] the original blueprint less and less” and might go “too far” in trying to treat criminals with “serious, long-term addictions,” according to a Riverside Press-Enterprise editorial.