Latest California Healthline Stories
Scripps Clinic has reached contract agreements with all six of its health maintenance organizations, ending the possibility of a disruption in services for 120,000 patients in San Diego, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Smaller Firms Cutting Health Insurance Benefits
The recession and increasing medical costs will likely force some small businesses to reduce health care benefits for their employees after years of expansion, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Los Angeles City Council Approves Preliminary Ban on Smoking in City Parks
The Los Angeles City Council last Friday approved a preliminary ban on smoking in most areas of the city’s parks, the Los Angeles Times reports.
CMS May Not Delay Medicare Outpatient Payments After All
Amid heavy opposition from hospitals, CMS officials are “likely to scrap a plan” to delay the processing of all 2002 Medicare outpatient claims until April, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Air Pollution Linked to Birth Defects, Study Finds
Smog is “exacting a much greater toll than previously known” on developing fetuses, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California-Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reports.
‘Little Progress’ Made on Health Insurance Issue in Stimulus Bill
House and Senate lawmakers “made little progress” over the weekend in negotiations on an economic stimulus bill and could not resolve differences over a plan to help unemployed workers purchase health insurance, the Washington Post reports.
Sharp Grossmont Hospital Begins Construction on New Emergency Department, Critical Care Center
To handle the “crush of patients” arriving at Sharp Grossmont Hospital’s emergency room since Scripps Memorial Hospital-East County closed 18 months ago, the hospital has begun building a new emergency room and a critical care center, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Blue Shield of California Files Suit Against DMHC Over Coverage of Weight-Loss Drug
In the latest attempt by managed care organizations to define — and limit — the authority of the Department of Managed Health Care, Blue Shield of California filed a lawsuit last week alleging that the agency improperly ordered it to cover a drug excluded by a member’s policy, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Speier Pushes for Extension of Medicare+Choice Special Enrollment Period
With the special enrollment period to allow seniors dropped from Medicare+Choice plans to select another health plan ending Dec. 31, Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) is sending a letter to HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson asking him to extend the enrollment period into next year, the Ventura County Star reports.
War on Terrorism, Recession May ‘Sideline’ Medicare Rx Drug Issue, Advocates Fear
While a Medicare prescription drug benefit was a “top item” on Capitol Hill earlier this year, advocates for congressional action worry that the war against terrorism, a “slumping” economy and expected federal budget deficits will push the issue to the “sidelines,” the Newark Star-Ledger reports.