Latest California Healthline Stories
QRS Diagnostics Offers Computer Cards to Monitor Vital Signs
QRS Diagnostic, a Plymouth, Minn.-based technology company, is targeting health care providers and patients with a line of sensors and computer cards designed to enable personal computers, and eventually even personal digital assistants, to monitor vital signs, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.
Stanford University Hospital Pulls Sponsorship from Coastal Clinic, Citing Financial Losses
Stanford University Hospital officials last week informed 39 staff members at the Stanford Coastal Medical Clinic, the only facility of its kind between Pacifica and Santa Cruz, that it intends to “end the hospital’s sponsorship” of the clinic on Aug. 31, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
State Lawmakers Threaten Funding Loss Unless Los Angeles County Boosts Pay for Home Care Workers
Attempting to “intervene in a Los Angeles County labor dispute,” state lawmakers are “threatening to withhold” $50 million in state funding for services for children and the mentally ill unless the county agrees to raise wages for home care workers, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Employer-Based Insurance for Retirees Declining, Report Says
Despite a relatively “strong economy” and “several years of relatively low” increases in health insurance premium rates, the decline in employer-based health benefits offered to retirees has continued, and “several indicators” suggest “further erosion” of such benefits, according to a report from the General Accounting Office.
Maxicare Will Not Challenge State Takeover
Maxicare Health Plans Inc. agreed yesterday not to challenge its takeover by the state Department of Managed Health Care, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Extending Medicaid and CHIP Coverage to Parents Improves Kids’ Coverage, Study Finds
States that have expanded their Medicaid and CHIP programs to parents have “far lower” rates of uninsured eligible children than states that do not cover parents, according to a new study from the Commonwealth Fund.
Has Bush ‘Flushed Away’ Anti-Smoking Efforts?, USA Today Editorial Asks
The “once-beleaguered tobacco industry has seen its fortunes flip” since President Bush assumed office, a USA Today editorial maintains, adding that the Bush administration has left “footprints that mark a sharp retreat from Clinton-era anti-smoking strategies.”
CDC Looks for Solutions for Potential Flu Vaccine Shortages
So long as only a few companies are producing the influenza vaccine, the United States “risk[s]” a shortage like last year’s, participants at a CDC meeting yesterday said.
New Senate Faces Same Issues, Staffers Say
Senate Democrats, poised to assume control of the chamber after Sen. James Jeffords’ (I-Vt.) departure last week from the Republican Party, will likely tackle a number of health issues this year, but they will still have to iron out differences with GOP lawmakers to “get things done,” several top congressional staffers and a member of the Bush administration said.
FDA’s Handling of Lotronex ‘Disturbing,’ Los Angeles Times Says
Although the FDA may have “good reason for a limited reintroduction” of Lotronex, GlaxoSmithKline’s treatment for irritable bowel syndrome, a Los Angeles Times editorial says that such a decision should “be made only with proper oversight by an FDA that is subject to public scrutiny.”