Latest California Healthline Stories
The California Endowment today will announce a $621,721 grant to the Fresno Metro Ministry, a group focusing on improving health services for the county’s poor and uninsured, the Fresno Bee reports.
Pharmacy Groups File Suit Over Medicare Prescription Drug Discount Card
The National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the National Community Pharmacist Association yesterday filed suit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., to block implementation of President Bush’s prescription drug prescription drug discount card plan for Medicare beneficiaries, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Tribes Can’t Sue for Share of Tobacco Settlement Funds
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled Monday that a group of American Indian tribes do not have the right to sue tobacco companies for a share of the 1998 national tobacco settlement, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
House Committee Votes for FEHBP Contraceptive Coverage
The House Appropriations Committee yesterday voted 40-21 against President Bush’s proposal to eliminate required contraceptive coverage for federal employees, the Washington Post reports.
Thousands of Ventura County workers represented by Service Employees International Union Local 998, including employees from the County Medical Center, will go on strike today after union officials rejected the county’s final contract offer yesterday, the Ventura County Star reports.
Woman With HIV Sues HMO for Liver Transplant Coverage
The AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts plans to ask a federal judge today for an emergency order to “force” a health insurance company to pay for a liver transplant for a woman infected with HIV and hepatitis C, the Boston Globe reports.
Hospitals Look to Expand Profits in Alameda, Contra Costa Counties
Several new health care projects on the “eastern fringes” of Alameda and Contra Costa counties are under construction or in the planning stages, as hospitals and health systems look to expand to more profitable areas, the Contra Costa Times reports.
Kaiser Permanente to Raise Salaries for Northern California Nurses
Facing a nursing shortage that “promises to worsen,” Kaiser Permanente announced plans Tuesday to “substantially increase” salaries for the HMO’s Northern California nurses to “remain competitive in a tight market,” the Contra Costa Times reports.
Infectious Disease Web Site Ican Inc. Ceases Operations
Minnesota-based Ican Inc., a subscription-based news and information site for “people studying and fighting” infectious disease outbreaks, last week laid off its final 10 workers and ceased operations, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.
PacifiCare Stock Falls Despite Beating Q2 Earning Estimates
Shares of PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. dropped 8.9% Tuesday, one day after the company announced that its second-quarter profits “beat estimates,” Bloomberg News/Los Angeles Times reports.