Latest California Healthline Stories
Kaiser Posts Highest Health Care Reinvestment Rate
The Kaiser Foundation Health Plan led all other managed care plans in the state in the amount of revenue it reinvested back into medical care in fiscal year 2000, according to a California Medical Association report released Friday, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
FDA May Issue New Warnings about Acetaminophen Overdose
New findings indicating that many Americans may “poison their livers” by “unwittingly taking toxic doses” of acetaminophen have prompted the FDA to consider issuing “stiffer warnings” for the popular over-the-counter painkiller, the AP/Baltimore Sun reports.
Number of Employers Offering Coverage Increases, New Survey Finds
A new employer survey released today shows that a “strong economy and tight labor market” led 60% of California’s employers to offer health insurance coverage last year, up from 48% in 1999, but job-based coverage still remains lower in the state than the nationwide average, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Three State MD Associations Join Lawsuit Against HMOs
State medical associations in California, Georgia and Texas joined individual doctors from seven states yesterday in a federal lawsuit accusing eight health insurers of “a pattern of racketeering activity” to deny necessary medical care, the New York Times reports.
WebMD Revises Deal With Microsoft, Reports Losses
WebMD Corp. announced last week that it has reached a tentative agreement to revise its strategic partnership with Microsoft Corp., but the health portal also said that it suffered a “widened” fourth-quarter net loss, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Sutter’s Attempts to Expand Along Highway 50 Corridor Fail
Sutter Health’s efforts to affiliate with hospitals in Placerville and Carson City, Nev., have “fizzled,” the Sacramento Business Journal reports.
HHS ‘Tough’ on Medicaid Loophole, Despite Opposition
Over “protest” from states, HHS plans to propose a new regulation this month to tighten further a Medicaid “loophole” that has cost the federal government “billions of dollars” in “inflated” matching funds, which states have used to augment their budgets and have spent on “just about anything,” the AP/Los Angeles Times reports.
Tobacco Industry Targets Women, Surgeon General Reports
Tobacco advertising — dominated by themes of “social desirability and independence” and images of “slim, attractive, athletic models” — “heavily” targets women, according to a new report from the surgeon general.
Bush May Attempt to Reduce Attorney Fees in Tobacco Suit
President Bush may take action to reclaim or tax what he has labeled “excessive” fees awarded to attorneys who represented states in the national tobacco settlement, CongressDaily reports.
Fresno County Officials, Addiction Counselors Meet to Discuss Proposition 36
Roughly 800 to 1,000 Fresno County residents will be affected by Proposition 36, the ballot initiative passed in November that will send first- and second-time drug offenders to treatment programs rather than jail, county officials said at a meeting Friday, the Fresno Bee reports.