Latest California Healthline Stories
PBGH to Offer New Fixed Account Health Plan Designed to Cut Business’ Costs
The Pacific Business Group on Health, a San Francisco-based purchaser of insurance for 44 California employers, is expected to announce today that it will offer a new plan designed to shift more costs to employees and give them greater flexibility, the Contra Costa Times reports.
L.A. Care Names Kahn as New CEO
Officials at L.A. Care, the nation’s largest public managed care plan, Tuesday appointed Howard Kahn as the plan’s new CEO, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Voters in Northern Sonoma County Approve Parcel Tax to Provide Funding for Healdsburg Hospital
Residents in northern Sonoma County voted Tuesday by an 84%-16% margin to approve an $85 annual parcel tax that will provide funding for medical services at Healdsburg General Hospital, the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat reports.
FTC Investigation of Anti-Bioterrorist Internet Sites ‘Widening’
The Federal Trade Commission has widened its investigation of Internet sites claiming to offer cures or prevention for bioterrorism, the AP/Dallas Morning News reports.
California Launches ‘Voluntary’ Medicare Rx Drug Program
In a “first-in-the-nation program,” California will begin asking pharmaceutical companies to offer “voluntary” discounts on “commonly used drugs” for seniors and people with disabilities, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Senate Democrats to Push Through Economic Stimulus Bill
Senate Democrats are expected to try again tomorrow to seek Senate Finance Committee approval for their $90 billion economic stimulus package that would include aid to unemployed workers to cover health insurance costs, the Washington Times reports.
HHS to Select Smallpox Vaccine Contract Winner
HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson said yesterday he expects to sign a contract with pharmaceutical companies this weekend to purchase enough smallpox vaccine to inoculate “every man, woman and child” in the United States, the Washington Post reports.
Budget Deficit Could Force Lawmakers to Cut Programs, Jeopardize Healthy Families Expansion
Faced with a possible budget deficit that “could hit” $14 billion, Gov. Gray Davis (D) may call for “trims or delays” in new programs and expansions approved during the legislative session that ended in September, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Court Reverses FDA Approval of Generic Version of Taxol
A Washington, D.C., federal appeals court ruled yesterday that the FDA was mistaken in allowing Ivax Corp. to produce and market a generic version of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s cancer drug Taxol, the New York Times reports.
Health Net of California has notified its members that it might not reach an agreement with the John Muir/Mount Diablo Health Network before their contract expires Dec. 31, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.