Latest California Healthline Stories
OIG Uncovers ‘Widespread’ Double Billing in Medicare
HHS’ Office of the Inspector General found that doctors submitting two bills to Medicare for the same service “regularly get paid twice,” a “widespread” problem that could cost the government “substantial sums,” the AP/Lexington Herald-Leader reports.
Bush Nominates Scully to Lead HCFA
As expected, President Bush yesterday nominated Thomas Scully, currently the president of the Federation of American Hospitals, to head the Health Care Financing Administration, the Nashville Tennessean reports.
Tri-City Medical Center Could Lose Accreditation over Patient Care, Report Says
Due to an overcrowded emergency room, poor infection control and “numerous problems with cleanliness,” the Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside could lose accreditation unless it improves its quality of care, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Mandatory Contraceptive Coverage Bill Proposed in House
U.S. Reps. Jim Greenwood (R-Pa.) and Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday reintroduced the Equity in Prescription Insurance and Contraceptive Coverage Act, which would mandate that private insurers that cover prescription drugs also cover prescription contraceptives.
Utilities Do Not Object to Hospitals’ Blackout Exemption Request
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and Southern California Edison, the state’s two largest utilities, said yesterday that they had no “object[ions]” to exempting California hospitals from rolling blackouts, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Senate Committee Approves Bill to Ban Junk Food in Schools
The state Senate Health and Human Services Committee Wednesday approved a bill (SB 19) that would “ban the sale of soft drinks and severely limit the availability of junk food in schools,” the Ventura County Star reports.
Health Industry Renews Criticism of Privacy Rules
With HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson “already under pressure” to “weaken” a patient privacy rule issued in the last month of the Clinton administration, health care industry leaders and Republicans yesterday called for “major changes” to the regulation, the Washington Post reports.
Bush Allocation Rx Drug Benefit Called Inadequate
Congressional Budget Office Director Dan Crippen said yesterday that the $153 billion over 10 years that President Bush has proposed for Medicare reform and a prescription drug benefit would provide only a “fairly thin” benefit, CongressDaily/A.M. reports.
‘Flexible Benefits’ Tax Credit Plan Proposed
While lawmakers have expressed interest in using tax credits to help Americans purchase health insurance, Lynn Etheredge, senior consultant for George Washington University’s Health Insurance Reform Project, proposes in a Health Affairs Web exclusive that a broader, “flexible benefits” tax credit “could offer many more benefits for middle-class, working families.
Silicon Valley Companies to Link Employees, Doctors via Email
Six self-insured Silicon Valley companies will participate in a pilot program starting next month that will offer employees online access to their physicians, the Wall Street Journal reports.