Latest California Healthline Stories
Pharmaceutical Spending Rose 18.8% in 2000
Spending on prescription drugs “shot up” 18.8% last year, rising to $131.9 billion, with two dozen treatments accounting for half the increase, a new National Institute for Health Care Management study has found.
Is the AMA Shifting to the Democratic Camp?
Although the American Medical Association has been “largely aligned” with the Republican Party, the organization is currently “being painted by an increasing number of GOP stalwarts as a booster of Democrats and their causes,” the Chicago Tribune reports.
Complaints Rise Against Behavoiral Managed Care Company
As Magellan Health Services Inc., the nation’s largest managed care company for mental health and substance abuse treatment, has grown in size, the number of complaints lodged by beneficiaries and providers against the company also has grown, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Advocates for Disabled Call on PUC, Davis to Address Blackout Concerns
With more rolling blackouts likely in coming months, members of the Oakland-based Disability Rights Advocates are asking Gov. Gray Davis (D) and the California Public Utilities Commission to implement a “comprehensive statewide system” to ensure that people with disabilities “do not fall through the energy crisis safety net,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Despite Some Reservations, Doctors Embracing Internet
While many patients “feel their physicians are behind the electronic-health curve,” doctors are increasingly incorporating the Internet and computer technology into their daily interactions with patients and other providers, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Washington Times reports.
Dutch Online Drug Firm Tests Closed German Market
While Germany’s corner drugstores “still evoke memories of a more innocent era,” the “medicine monopoly” that requires “face-to-face consultation” between pharmacists and patients before selling even a “single aspirin” has become a “costly and inconvenient anachronism,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Department of Health Services Nursing Home Report Delayed
A Department of Health Services report due last Tuesday that is “expected to call for increased staffing” in California nursing homes has not yet been released, “fueling speculation that it may call for funding the Davis administration cannot afford,” the Contra Costa Times reports.
Elderly Chronic Disabilities Decline ‘Sharply’
The rate of chronic disability among elderly Americans is declining, which could translate into “dramatically lower costs” for Medicare, a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals.
Doctors, MCOs Battle Over Class Action Suit
Lawyers representing physicians from Texas, California and Georgia who have accused eight managed care companies of “conspir[ing] to fraudulently deny reimbursements for medical expenses” yesterday asked a federal judge in Miami to consolidate the similar claims of 600,000 doctors nationwide as a single class-action suit, saying it is the most “efficien[t]” way to address the complaints, the Dallas Morning News reports.
Although Latinos in Contra Costa County are “healthier than those in California as a whole,” they have higher rates of uninsurance and are less likely to use public medical services than other groups, according to a new study released today by the not-for-profit Latino Leadership Council of Contra Costa.