Latest California Healthline Stories
PacifiCare Cuts Earning Estimates, Pointing to High Costs in California
Citing “higher-than-expected medical costs” at its California health plan operations, PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. has “slashed” its earnings estimates for the year from a profit of $99 million to between $56 million and $59 million — a decrease of as much as 43%, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Stock Market Decline Hits Not-for-Profit Hospitals
Declining operating margins among the nation’s not-for-profit hospitals in the second half of the 1990s led many to shift their assets into the stock market, a move that helped some “money-losing hospitals” to expand or “survive” during the bull market — but the recent downturn in the market has placed the hospitals in a “risky situation,” the Wall Street Journal reports
San Mateo County Proposes Cutting Staff at Health Clinics
San Mateo County’s $1.09 billion budget proposal for the year beginning July 1, released yesterday, would cut staff at the county health center and ask the county Human Services Agency and Mental Health Services Division to “tap reserves” to help offset a possible $12.3 million funding shortage for San Mateo’s public hospital and clinics, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Needle Exchange Becomes Issue in California Race for Open U.S. House Seat
Former state Sen. Diane Watson (D), a candidate in the race to fill the seat of the late Rep. Julian Dixon (D), has criticized challenger Noel Irwin Hentschel (R) for sending out a flier denouncing Watson’s support of needle-exchange programs, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Web Sites Offering Second Opinions Raise Concerns
Offering the “latest and clearest” indication that some physicians are practicing medicine over the Internet on patients they have never seen, a number of new Web sites are providing patients with online second opinions, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Some Cancer Centers Limit Option of Second Opinion
Some of the nation’s most “prestigious” cancer centers are taking steps to limit patients’ ability to receive second opinions on their treatment options, at a time when such consultations “are increasingly in demand,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Cancer Patients Group Sues Five MCOs for Denial of ‘Proton Beam’ Therapy Coverage
A not-for-profit organization yesterday filed suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleging that five managed care companies have “unlawfully den[ied] coverage” for a prostate cancer treatment, Bloomberg News/Los Angeles Times reports.
Food Industry Issues Voluntary Guidelines on Allergens
The Grocery Manufacturers of America and the National Food Processors Association, two of the largest food industry groups, are issuing voluntary labeling guidelines that will indicate if products contain “everyday ingredients” that can cause potentially fatal allergic reactions, the New York Times reports.
Federal Workers’ Long Term Care Plan May Follow CalPERS
The Washington Post‘s “Federal Diary” column today gives a “peek” at how the long term care insurance program for federal employees will operate when it becomes available in October 2002, saying it will likely be modeled in part after coverage offered by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.
Daughters of Charity to ‘Take Back’ Seven Hospitals from Catholic Healthcare West
After a five-year affiliation with Catholic Healthcare West, the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul of the West have decided to “take back” management of seven hospitals — four in the Bay Area and three in the Los Angeles area — which represent 18% of CHW’s assets, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.