Latest California Healthline Stories
Jones Offers Emergency Health Response Plan to Prepare State for Terrorism, Natural Disasters
Secretary of State Bill Jones (R), who is running for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, yesterday outlined his plan to prepare California for terrorism and future natural disasters, the Los Angeles Times reports.
CDC Grant to Help Students at Two Oakland Schools Manage Their Asthma
To help students manage their asthma, the CDC has awarded a $500,000 grant to two schools in Oakland, which has one of the highest hospitalization rates for the chronic disease in state, the Oakland Tribune reports.
Mental Health Parity Measure Expected to Lose ‘Key Vote’
Members of a House-Senate conference committee today are expected to vote against adding the Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2001 as an amendment to the fiscal year 2002 Labor-HHS appropriations bill, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Governors Push for $5.5B Medicaid Relief Package
With budget shortfalls in 36 states totaling $35 billion, governors are pushing the White House and Capitol Hill to provide a $5.5 billion relief package to boost federal Medicaid payments as part of the “deadlocked” economic stimulus bill, the Washington Post reports.
Optometrists Set to Launch Proposition 10-Funded Vision Clinic in Oxnard School District
To catch vision problems “before they hinder” classroom performance, Ventura County optometrists are set to establish a vision clinic for kindergarten and preschool students in the Oxnard school district using Proposition 10 tobacco tax money, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Web-Based Public Health Reporting System is Feasible, CHCF Report Says
The California Department of Health Services could likely implement a Web-based public health reporting system and should implement a pilot program to “demonstrate the feasibility” of such a system, according to a report released yesterday by the California HealthCare Foundation.
Stimulus Negotiations Continue; No Progress Seen
Negotiations yesterday among House and Senate lawmakers to reach an agreement on an economic stimulus bill stalled again over provisions to help unemployed workers purchase health insurance, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Ventura County Public Health Programs To Share $1.2M in Tobacco Settlement Funds
Ventura County Public Health Director Paul Lorenz yesterday announced that 22 Ventura County organizations, including a bioterrorism awareness program and a cancer screening program for low-income women, will receive a total of $1.2 million in funds from the county’s share of the national tobacco settlement, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Kaiser Permanente the ‘Bad Guy’ in Legal Challenges to DMHC’s Authority, Fresno Bee Says
By asking a court to hold Department of Managed Health Care Director Daniel Zingale in contempt, the “executives at Kaiser Permanente gave [him] an early holiday present,” making him “look good” and themselves “look very bad,” a Fresno Bee editorial states.
BCBS Lobbyists Look to Limit Medicare Insurers’ Liability
As Congress hands out “last-minute legislative favors,” the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association is lobbying for legislation that would limit the liability of health insurance companies that review and pay Medicare claims, the New York Times reports.