Latest California Healthline Stories
New ‘Offbeat’ Medicare Ads Feature Actor Leslie Nielsen
To “change its image as a burned-out bureaucracy,” CMS has launched a $30 million national television advertising campaign to promote a new toll-free Medicare hotline, the Baltimore Sun reports.
Former Eden Medical Center Employees File Suit Against Hospital Over Working Conditions
Former employees of Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley filed a lawsuit against the hospital Tuesday for allegedly “exposing them to a toxic working environment that led to cancer and other illnesses, then firing them when they reported the problem,” the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Senate OKs House Version of HIPAA Transactions Delay Bill
The Senate on Wednesday passed by unanimous consent the House version of a bill that would delay the compliance deadline for the HIPAA transactions and code set regulations by one year, to October 2003.
Surgeon General Issues Action Plan for Obesity
U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher yesterday released a report on the prevalence of obesity in the United States that outlined a “national plan of action” to “fight the epidemic,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Orange County Has Lowest Adult Smoking Rate in U.S., CDC Study Finds
Orange County has the lowest adult smoking rate in the country, with only 13% of its residents reporting they smoke, according to a new CDC study released today, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Satcher’s Obesity Plan Should Challenge Ads, Some Say
HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson and Surgeon General David Satcher will introduce a campaign today to fight obesity in Americans, but they will face “determined and well funded opposition” by “scores of companies dedicated to keeping the country fat and happy,” MPR’s “Marketplace” reports.
Speier Accuses Medicare+Choice Plans that Drop Coverage in Certain ZIP Codes of ‘Cherry-Picking’
Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough), chair of the Senate Committee on Insurance, said yesterday that many California Medicare+Choice plans have eliminated “crucial benefits” for beneficiaries and have “sliced up counties to avoid patients in certain ZIP Codes,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
House Passes Bioterrorism Bill to Boost U.S. Response
The House yesterday voted 418-2 to approve a $2.7 billion bill to improve U.S. preparedness in the event of a bioterrorist attack, the Wall Street Journal reports.
California Hospital Web Sites Have Limitations, Study Says
Although most California hospitals maintain Web sites, the sites are often difficult to locate and provide “inconsistent and underdeveloped” content, according to a review of more than 200 California acute care hospital Web sites in this month’s Western Journal of Medicine.
States File Antitrust Lawsuit against Bristol-Myers Squibb Over Generic Drug Delays
Attorneys general from 29 states and Puerto Rico filed a federal antitrust lawsuit yesterday against Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., alleging that the drug maker illegally prevented generic versions of its anti-anxiety drug BuSpar from entering the market, the Newark Star-Ledger reports.