Latest California Healthline Stories
Bay Area Medical Marijuana Clubs Move Records, Inform Patients in Preparation for DEA Raids
Following two recent federal raids on California medical marijuana clubs, clubs in the Bay Area are acting to protect their clients’ privacy and are urging them to grow marijuana at home, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Medicare+Choice Withdrawals Hit California Seniors ‘Especially Hard’ This Year
About 88,000 California seniors — including more than 28,000 in the Bay Area — will lose Medicare+Choice coverage next year, and many others enrolled in Medicare HMOs will face increased premiums and “dramatic” reductions in benefits, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Many Counties Not Spending Tobacco Settlement Funds on Health Care or Smoking Cessation Programs
The vast majority of funds received by California counties through the national tobacco settlement have been allocated toward budget items that are not related to health care or smoking cessation, the AP/Contra Costa Times reports.
Oregonians ‘Outraged’ by Ashcroft’s Directive Targeting State’s Physician-Assisted Suicide Law
USA Today reports on the “outrage” that many Oregon public officials and patients are expressing after Attorney General John Ashcroft last week issued a directive to the Drug Enforcement Administration to target the prescription licenses of doctors who prescribe lethal drugs for terminally ill patients.
Safety Net for Uninsured ‘Straining’ as Layoffs Increase
The New York Times today looks at how the declining economy is putting more Americans at risk of losing their health insurance, and how Democrats and Republicans differ on the best way to help the recently uninsured maintain coverage.
The Uninsured are ‘Weakest Link’ in U.S. Bioterrorism Defense
The “armies” of uninsured Americans represent “one of the weakest links in our homeland defense” against bioterrorism, Ted Halstead and Michael Lind of the New America Foundation write in a USA Today opinion piece.
CDC Struggles to Coordinate Efforts with FBI
As the CDC works with the FBI to investigate anthrax cases, the two agencies have experienced a “clash of cultures,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Health Workers at Mercy Healthcare Sacramento Set to Vote on Unionization
Hourly workers at Mercy Healthcare Sacramento will vote Tuesday and Wednesday on whether to join the Service Employees International Union, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Health Net Q3 Income Drops 95% on $79.7M ‘Restructuring’ Charge
Health Net of California announced a 95% drop in net income for the third quarter as a result of a $79.7 million pretax charge for “restructuring and cutting more than 1,500 jobs” — 15% of the company’s workforce, Bloomberg News/Los Angeles Times reports.
Merck-Medco Opens ‘World’s Largest Automated Pharmacy’
Pharmacy benefits manager Merck-Medco today opened the world’s largest automated pharmacy in Willingboro, N.J., the AP/Bergen Record reports.