Latest California Healthline Stories
Medicaid-Funded Prenatal Care for Immigrants a ‘Legal Conundrum’
The New York Times recently featured a story regarding the recent federal appeals court ruling that declared pregnant immigrant women residing illegally in the United States ineligible for Medicaid-provided prenatal care.
Assembly Approves Budget, Davis Expected to Sign
Ending an impasse that had lasted more than three weeks, the state Assembly yesterday approved a $101 billion budget for fiscal year 2001-02, sending it to the desk of Gov. Gray Davis (D), the Sacramento Bee reports.
Scully Lays Out Goal of Expanding Medicare Beneficiaries’ Use of the Internet
A $35 million Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services advertising campaign to be conducted this fall will target Medicare beneficiaries, seeking to make them more aware of the Web-based services the agency (formerly HCFA) has to offer, Administrator Thomas Scully said yesterday.
State Appellate Court to Hear Arguments on Proposition 36 Cutoff Date
The state’s 2nd District Court of Appeals has agreed to hear arguments on whether people convicted of drug offenses before Proposition 36 took effect July 1 are eligible for the initiative’s treatment programs, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Anaheim Prosecutors Mount First Legal Challenge to Proposition 36 Rulings
The Anaheim city attorney’s office has filed the “first legal challenges” to Proposition 36, charging that judges have “unlawfully” used the initiative in cases involving defendants whose crimes are not covered under the law, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Washington Post Profiles Patients’ Rights Debate
In its continuing series on the “new balance of power” on Capitol Hill, the Washington Post today looks at the patients’ rights debate, with particular emphasis on President Bush’s role.
Citing Contract Dispute, Health Net Announces Plans to ‘Sever Ties’ With St. Joseph Health System
Health Net of California, one of the state’s largest managed care organizations, with 2.4 million members statewide, announced Friday that it will not renew its contract with St. Joseph Health System of Orange County, a move that could cause 31,000 Health Net members to lose their doctors, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Survey Findings on Poor Health of Welfare Recipients Should Spur Congress to Adjust Welfare Laws
A new survey of 4,000 single women who depended on welfare in 1995 — which found that more than 40% had “multiple health problems … compounded by other barriers to getting and holding down a job, such as little education, no work experience, limited English skills and having a large number of children” — should “influence how Congress adjusts the welfare reform law when it comes up for reauthorization next year,” according to a Los Angeles Times editorial.
Should Cigarettes Enjoy Free Trade Protections?
Foreign governments are increasingly siding with anti-tobacco activists in taking the view that tobacco products should not fall under the free trade rules of normal goods but should instead be treated as “bads” that “need their own set of regulations,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Senate Approves $101B Budget, Debate Moves Back to Assembly
The state Senate early Sunday morning approved a $101 billion spending plan for 2001-02, sending the debate “back to the state Assembly,” where a dispute over several trailer bills is holding up final passage of the budget, the Los Angeles Times reports.