Latest California Healthline Stories
BCBS Association Expects Legislation to Delay HIPAA Rules
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association said yesterday that it “expects members of Congress to introduce legislation in the next two weeks” that would delay the implementation of the simplification regulations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, CongressDaily reports.
San Diego County Medical Society Grapples with Capitation
The San Diego County Medical Society wants to “reduce or eliminate” the capitated payment model, saying “it provides an incentive to provide less care,” the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Survey Finds Pay and Morale Problems Contribute to Nursing Shortage
Over the next five years, one in five nurses plan to leave the profession, citing “poor working conditions” as the top reason why, a survey by the Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, a division of the AFL-CIO’s American Federation of Teachers, found.
PlanetRx.com on Verge of Bankruptcy, Faces Lawsuits
Online pharmacy PlanetRx.com announced plans last month to liquidate its assets and dissolve the company and is facing at least three shareholder lawsuits “alleging a violation of federal securities laws,” the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports.
Norwood Says Bush ‘Has Had Long Enough’ With Patients’ Rights
Rep. Charlie Norwood (R-Ga.) “apparently has decided that the Bush administration has had long enough” to develop a patients’ rights bill, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
White House Releases Details of Tax Credit Plan
The Bush administration yesterday released the details of its proposal to use tax credits to help an estimated six million uninsured Americans purchase health coverage, the Washington Post reports.
CHCF Awards Grant to Study Computer System’s Impact on Reducing Medication Errors
The California HealthCare Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have awarded a grant to the Leapfrog Group, a consortium of about 80 firms working to improve health care safety, to develop testing criteria to evaluate the efficacy of CPOE, the computer based physicians order entry system.
Immigrants Had Little Impact on Mid-90s Rise in Uninsured Rate
The rise in the number of uninsured Americans between 1994 and 1998 “had little to do with recent immigrants,” finds a new report released today by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured as part of a briefing packet, titled “Immigrants: Coverage and Access.”
Drug Companies Withdraw Lawsuit Against South Africa
The Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of South Africa and 39 pharmaceutical companies today agreed to drop their lawsuit against the South African government over a law that would allow the country to import and manufacture cheaper generic AIDS drugs, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reports.
EPA Calls for Review of Arsenic Drinking Water Standard
The Environmental Protection Agency announced yesterday plans to postpone until February a decision on a standard for the permissable amount of arsenic in drinking water, but agency officials said that a new rule would “definitely call for a reduction” of at least 60% from the current allowable level, the New York Times reports.