Latest California Healthline Stories
Multiple Prescriptions Rise by One-Third, CDC Study Finds
From 1985 to 1999, the average number of drugs prescribed at U.S. doctor visits increased 33% and Americans over the age of 64 “increased their rate of doctor visits” by more than 20%, to an average of roughly six times year, according to a CDC annual survey of physicians released yesterday.
Bush Administration Ergonomics Hearings Begin
The Bush administration yesterday held the first of three scheduled hearings on ergonomics, with the “same old battle lines drawn” between business groups opposed to regulation and labor unions that back “forceful government action,” Gannett News Service/Arizona Republic reports.
Contra Costa County Supervisors to Request Audit of County Health Department
Two Contra Costa County supervisors today will request an “outside” audit of the county health department after a “critical” grand jury report stated that the agency was in “such financial peril” that services for the poor and uninsured would have to be “slash[ed],” the Contra Costa Times reports.
Ventura County Medical Group to Break Contract with Health Net
A Ventura County medical group made up of Buenaventura Medical Group, Sea View IPA and Valley Care IPA has informed Woodland Hills-based Health Net that it will terminate its contract with the insurance company Oct. 9, the Ventura County Star reports.
Two Weeks Past Deadline, Assembly Approves State Spending Plan
More than two weeks after missing the July 1 deadline to pass the state budget, the Assembly yesterday approved a $101 billion spending plan by the minimum 54 votes required for a two-thirds majority, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Wyden, Snowe to Reintroduce Medigap Rx Drug Bill
Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) plan to reintroduce a bill S 1480 in the 106th Congress that would help seniors obtain prescription drug coverage, CongressDaily/AM reports.
AHRQ Launches Outcomes Database for U.S. Pediatric Inpatient Care
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality on Thursday announced the launch of the nation’s first database of pediatric inpatient care, designed to allow researchers to easily access and compare outcomes and hospital charges for children’s treatment.
South Carolina Medical Association Files Suit Against HHS Privacy Rules
The South Carolina Medical Association has filed suit against HHS to overturn new medical privacy rules that regulate access to medical records, the AP/Washington Post reports.
State Senate Panel Tables Pair of Child Vaccination Bills
The Senate Health and Human Services Committee last week “turned away” two bills that would have required California children to receive vaccines for hepatitis A and bacterial meningitis before entering preschool or kindergarten, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Bush’s Medicare Reform Plan ‘Skips’ Harder Questions, Washington Post Writes
Although President Bush’s “new ‘principles’ for strengthening Medicare are a little more specific than the fuzzy generalities that got him through last year’s campaign,” a Washington Post editorial says that Bush “continues to skip past the harder questions, the answers to which would require him to say that sooner or later some people are bound to pay more or benefit less.”