Latest California Healthline Stories
Davis Says Healthy Families Expansion Will Go Forward This Year if Lawmakers ‘Find the Money’
Gov. Gray Davis (D) has decided to move forward with the state’s plan to expand coverage to 300,000 low-income children and parents this year rather than delay the expansion until 2003, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Bush to Address Rx Benefit, Uninsured in State of the Union Address
President Bush will call for a prescription drug benefit for Medicare beneficiaries and tax credits to help unemployed workers purchase health insurance during his State of the Union address Tuesday, the Washington Post reports.
HHS Official First Told Riordan, Not Davis, About Healthy Families Waiver Approval
As HHS last week prepared to approve a waiver request submitted by Gov. Gray Davis (D) to expand Healthy Families to cover the parents of uninsured children, the Los Angeles Times reports that a department official first called Republican gubernatorial candidate Richard Riordan, not Davis, with the news.
Some Medicare+Choice Beneficiaries Forego Treatment to Avoid ‘Steep’ Copayments
Facing “steep” new copayments for some medical services, some Medicare+Choice patients say they will have to forego treatments, USA Today reports.
Bush to Ask Lawmakers to Back Pharmacy Discount Card Plan
The Bush administration plans to ask Congress to pass legislation that would allow the White House to move ahead with a proposal to offer pharmacy discount cards to Medicare beneficiaries if its original plan, proposed last July, does not withstand the court challenges against it, the Wall Street Journal reports.
White House Office of National AIDS Policy Director Scott Evertz last week said that the San Francisco-based Stop AIDS Project, which has been labeled obscene by some federal officials, does “good work” and “ought to be left alone,” the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Lawsuits Should Not Replace Patients’ Rights Legislation, Washington Post Editorial Says
A “rash” of class-action lawsuits being filed against managed care plans is an attempt by “self-appointed public advocates” to “relieve the legislature of its responsibility” for passing patients’ rights legislation, a Washington Post editorial says.
Editorials Weigh In on State’s New Nurse Staffing Ratios
The new minimum nurse-to-patient ratios unveiled by Gov. Gray Davis (D) on Tuesday “put California in the forefront of efforts to protect hospital patients from dangerously low levels of staffing” and “should assure patients they will receive top-quality care,” according to a San Jose Mercury News editorial.
Bush Proposes $6B for Bioterrorism Preparedness in FY 2003 Budget
President Bush announced yesterday that he would request about $38 billion to boost homeland security, including funds to improve the nation’s response to bioterrorism, in his proposed fiscal year 2003 budget, the New York Times reports.
Inmate Heart Transplant Prompts Debate Over the Cost of Medical Care in State Prisons
A 31-year-old California inmate has become the first individual to receive an organ transplant while in state prison, adding “fuel to the debate over the costs of providing medical care to an expanding, and aging, prison population,” the Sacramento Bee reports.