Latest California Healthline Stories
CMS to Delay 2002 Medicare Outpatient Rates
CMS has announced that it will delay the implementation of 2002 Medicare hospital reimbursement rates for outpatient services until April 1 and will continue to reimburse hospitals at 2001 rates in the meantime, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Although Latinas in California are less likely to receive prenatal care than California women in most other ethnic groups, Latino infants are on the whole as healthy as or healthier than other babies, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.
CalPERS ‘Aggressive Financial Turnaround Plan’ for Self-Insured Health Plans Has ‘Positive Effects’
CalPERS officials yesterday announced “signs of progress” in an “aggressive financial turnaround plan” that the pension fund launched in February, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Anti-smoking Groups File FDA Petitions to Regulate Tobacco
A group of health organizations yesterday filed petitions with the FDA asking the agency to regulate several new tobacco products, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Mental Health Parity Amendment Voted Down in Committee
As expected, members of a House-Senate conference committee yesterday voted against adding the Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2001 as an amendment to the fiscal year 2002 Labor-HHS appropriations bill, the New York Times reports.
House to Vote on Own Stimulus Bill as Talks Deadlock
Negotiations on an economic stimulus bill “moved to the brink of collapse” yesterday, with Republicans and Democrats still “deeply divided” over provisions to help unemployed workers purchase health insurance, the New York Times reports.
Davis Announces $204M in Bonds to Help Kaiser Permanente Build New Facilities
Gov. Gray Davis (D) yesterday announced that Kaiser Permanente will receive $204 million in tax-exempt revenue bonds to construct and equip an outpatient surgery center and nine medical office buildings.
New Institute to Address Rising Costs of Insurance Premiums
The Washington Business Group on Health, an employer health policy group, has founded a new institute to develop proposals to address the increased cost of health benefits for employees, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Smokeless Tobacco Makers Settle State Lawsuit by Paying Damages, Posting Warnings
Nine producers and sellers of smokeless tobacco have agreed to settle a California lawsuit by paying $2.75 million for anti-tobacco education programs and distributing warning signs about the health risks of their products, Reuters/Los Angeles Times reports.
HHS Approves Voluntary Anthrax Vaccine Program
HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson announced yesterday that about 3,000 congressional and postal workers who were potentially exposed to anthrax earlier this fall will be offered the anthrax vaccine, as well as 40 additional days of antibiotic treatment, to “kill any living spores still present in their bodies,” USA Today reports.