Latest California Healthline Stories
Despite the failure of several Internet-based health care sites, Irving, Texas-based HealthVision Inc., which offers health care organizations technology to link patients to physicians and hospitals online, believes it has “found a way to sell its services” and succeed, the Dallas Morning News reports.
Study Finds Prescription Drug Use Varies Widely Across U.S.
“Wide variations” exist from state to state in the use of prescription drugs, especially antidepressants and estrogen-therapy drugs, according to a new study from Express Scripts Inc.
DMHC Will Not Regulate Discount Health Plans, Zingale Says
The Department of Managed Health Care will not regulate a “controversial” type of health plan that allows consumers to receive discount cards from a variety of medical providers because such plans “are not a form of health insurance,” according to DMHC director Daniel Zingale, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
‘Delegated Model’ of Health Care Effective, But Needs Improvement, Study Finds
The “delegated model” of health care in California has successfully lowered costs and improved quality of care, a new report from the Integrated Healthcare Association finds.
Local Foundation’s Purchase Provides ‘Stability’ for Ojai Valley Community Hospital
Since physicians and community leaders formed a not-for-profit foundation and purchased Ojai Valley Community Hospital last year, a “sense of stability has settled over the hospital,” despite financial uncertainty, the Los Angeles Times reports.
New Study Reports 10.7% Uninsured Rate in Sacramento Region
Nearly 200,000 people in the Sacramento region lack health insurance, according to a new study that provides the first “regional snapshot” of the uninsured in Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer and Yolo counties, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Funding for Heath Coverage for Immigrants Is a Growing Problem
As Congress prepares to discuss patients’ rights and Medicare reform, a “more complicated insurance problem is brewing” — who should pay for immigrants’ health insurance, columnist Jennifer Steinhauer writes in the New York Times.
Assembly Bill Giving Doctors More Bargaining Clout May Spur Similar Measures Nationwide
An Assembly bill (AB 1600) that would give doctors “more bargaining power” over managed care plans “could spur similar initiatives across the country” if passed, the Wall Street Journal reports.
AMA Vice President Sues Group for Breach of Contract
The American Medical Association’s vice president and CEO, E. Ratcliffe Anderson, has filed a lawsuit in Illinois’s Cook County Circuit Court against the group charging defamation and breach of contract, the Chicago Tribune reports.
GOP Delays Debate on Kennedy-McCain Patients’ Rights Bill
Seeking more time to review “last-minute changes” to the patients’ rights bill “pushed” by newly empowered” Senate Democrats, Republicans moved yesterday to delay debate on the legislation, the Los Angeles Times reports.