Latest California Healthline Stories
Thousands of Uninsurable Californians on Waiting List as State Program Lacks Funds
Although California’s Major Risk Medical Insurance Program is designed to offer coverage to the uninsurable, a fixed budget and increasing medical costs have prompted program officials to cut enrollment, the Orange County Register reports.
Clinton to Propose Bill to Protect State Tobacco Ad Restrictions
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) last week said that she will soon introduce legislation that would give state and local governments the right to restrict tobacco advertising beyond the limits set by the federal government, the AP/New York Post reports.
Davis Unveils Plan to Expand State’s Patients’ Rights Laws
Seeking to build on California’s patients’ rights laws passed in 1999, Gov. Gray Davis (D) on Aug. 29 announced a plan to protect patients who are “caught in the middle” of contract disputes between their doctors and managed care companies, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
HealthNet Eliminates Sutter Health from Medicare+Choice ‘Giant’
Woodland Hills-based HealthNet has announced that as of Jan. 1, it no longer will pay for its 25,000 beneficiaries in Seniority Plus, a Medicare+Choice plan, to receive care from health system “giant” Sutter Health, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Los Angeles County’s Board of Supervisors today will hold its “first formal discussion” about creating a public health authority to control the county’s health department, as supervisors’ long-time “opposition” to such a move has been “softened” by the department’s projected $884 million deficit and reports of substandard care in county hospitals, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Action on Uninsured, Medicare Unlikely This Year, Thompson Says
HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson said yesterday said that the slowing economy and increased “budget pressures” have decreased the chance that Congress will be able to fund proposals to reduce the number of uninsured and reform Medicare this year, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Boxer Urges Bush to Expand Federal Funding for Embryonic Stem Cell Research
California Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) has sent a letter to President Bush urging him to “loosen” his restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
HHS Needs to Act on State’s Request to Expand Healthy Families, Mercury News Says
Noting that the federal government has approved several other states’ proposals to expand CHIP programs, a San Jose Mercury News editorial says that “California is wondering when the phone is going to ring” on its expansion request.
China Admits to ‘Rapidly Spreading’ HIV/AIDS Epidemic
A senior Chinese health official yesterday acknowledged that AIDS is “spreading rapidly” in China, due “not only” to drug use and unsafe sex but also to the practice of villagers selling their blood, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Workers’ Compensation Premium Rates on the Rise After Deregulation
California’s deregulation of workers’ compensation insurance in 1995 has produced an “unexpected fallout,” as premium rates are on the rise, with a 30% increase expected this year, the Wall Street Journal reports.