Latest California Healthline Stories
Supreme Court To Hear Case on Cities’ Liability Under ADA
The Supreme Court agreed last Friday to hear a case that may determine whether cities can face “big-dollar” punitive damage verdicts for “not accommodating the disabled,” the AP/Baltimore Sun reports.
More States Consider Raising Levies on Cigarettes
More than 12 states are considering raising cigarette taxes as a way to raise revenue and “discourage smoking,” USA Today reports.
Health Care Advocates Question Medi-Cal Provisions in Davis’ Proposed Budget
Following Gov. Gray Davis’ (D) release last week of his fiscal year 2002-2003 proposed budget, health care advocates expressed concern that some of the cuts to health care programs, including Medi-Cal, would have a negative impact on sick and low-income state residents, the Los Angeles Times reports.
‘Fiscal Crisis’ May Force States to Cut Back Medicaid Programs
A combination of “soaring costs and declining state revenues” has put Medicaid in a “fiscal crisis” that will force state legislatures convening this month to “look for ways to cut benefits and reduce payments” to hospitals, nursing homes and pharmacies, the New York Times reports.
Patients’ Rights Debate Will be Revived, Editorial Says
Patients’ rights legislation may be “on life support,” but it will likely not die because voters will “demand” that the issue be given “attention in the coming election cycles,” a Los Angeles Times editorial says.
HHS Moves to Centralize Agency Communication Departments
HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson has started a “major consolidation” of the communication, legislative and public affairs offices within HHS in an attempt to “improve the quality” of the health-related information that is disseminated to the public, the Washington Post reports.
U.S. Supreme Court Case to Determine Fate of California’s Independent Review Program
A U.S. Supreme Court case examining the validity of independent reviews for patients in managed care plans could “gut” California’s patient protection laws if the court rules that employees cannot use state external review programs to appeal a denial of care and force their insurer to cover a disputed treatment, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Kaiser Permanente Will Require Copays for Prostheses, Other Medical Devices and Services
To help reduce its costs, Kaiser Permanente will now require patients to provide copayments for prosthetic limbs and other durable medical goods, the AP/Contra Costa Times reports.
San Jose Mercury News President Urges Financial Support for Children’s Health Initiative
Joe Natoli, the president and publisher of the San Jose Mercury News, writes in an opinion piece for his paper that Santa Clara County’s Children’s Health Initiative “could be a potential model for all of America.”
Enrollment in Two Sonoma County Medicare+Choice Plans Increases Despite Hikes in Monthly Premiums
Enrollment has increased in two Sonoma County Medicare+Choice programs offered by Health Plan of the Redwoods and Kaiser Permanente, despite the fact that premiums have more than doubled for each plan, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports.