Latest California Healthline Stories
Stanford Medical Center to Drop Six Insurers’ Managed Care Plans
As part of a cost-cutting effort, “cash-strapped” Stanford University Medical Center will stop accepting six insurers’ managed care plans on Jan. 1 unless the insurers can renegotiate contracts with the center, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Lawmakers Add Additional $28B in Budget to Aid Uninsured
House and Senate leaders yesterday hammered out a compromise budget resolution that includes a provision allocating an additional $28 billion to provide health coverage for the nation’s uninsured population, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Medicare Patients Can Sue HMOs, State Supreme Court Rules
California Medicare+Choice beneficiaries can sue their health plans in state court for denying “necessary but expensive medical treatment,” the California Supreme Court ruled in a 5-2 decision yesterday, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Committee Looks at FDA Pediatric Exclusivity Provision
While members of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on health indicated yesterday that they are “inclined” to seek minor adjustments rather than a “complete overhaul” of the 1997 FDA Modernization Act, some questioned the value of the law’s pediatric exclusivity provision, CongressDaily/AM reports.
Florida Hospital Uses Software to Prevent Medication Errors
To prevent medication errors, the Orlando-based Florida Hospital is using a Siemens Co. computer software program system designed to track and cross-reference patients’ medications to ensure the drugs do not have a “negative interaction” with one another, the Orlando Business Journal reports.
Davis Approves $1.7M For ‘Essential Services’ at Barstow Veterans Home
Gov. Gray Davis (D) yesterday signed a bill (SB 45) that provides $1.7 million to the Department of Veteran Affairs to provide health services at the 240-bed Barstow veterans home, the AP/San Diego Union Tribune reports.
Bill Would Enroll Newborns in National Health Program
Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) introduced legislation yesterday that would “automatically enroll” all newborns into a national health care plan, the Denver Rocky Mountain News reports.
Senators Examine Prescription Technology to Curb Medical Mistakes
During a hearing yesterday, the Senate Special Committee on Aging reviewed new technologies, including pill-sorting robots, computerized syringes and hand-held computers, that could help curb medication mistakes.
San Bernardino County’s Move to Ban Emergency Contraception ‘Effectively’ Denied
Local health officials yesterday “effectively denied” an April request from the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors to end the distribution of emergency contraception in county health clinics, a move “expected to draw the Bush administration into a volatile debate over women’s rights,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Fresno Bee Calls for More Nurses Training
California’s nursing shortage “threatens only to get worse” unless more nurses are trained to enter the profession, a Fresno Bee editorial states.