Latest California Healthline Stories
Fresno Lawmakers Introduce Health Care-Related Bills
Despite the California Legislature’s “focus on the energy crunch,” Fresno-area lawmakers have recently introduced several health care bills, the Fresno Bee reports.
Medical Privacy Issue May Not Resonate with Public
While lawmakers are likely to have a “heated” debate over the Clinton administration’s medical privacy rules, the issue may not resonate with the American public, Time reports.
Bush Presses for Medicare Overhaul This Year
In a White House meeting yesterday, President Bush “urged” congressional health care leaders to “restructure Medicare this year,” AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Thomson Bill Would Allow ‘Medically Uninsurable’ to Get Coverage through CalPERS
A bill (AB 1147) sponsored by Assembly member Helen Thomson (D-Davis) would extend health insurance under CalPERS to about 18,000 people considered uninsurable because of pre-existing health conditions, the AP/Sacramento Bee reports.
Blue Cross Saves Money Through Anti-Fraud Measures
By “stepping up [its] war on health care fraud,” the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association recovered or saved more than $130 million from fraud settlements in 1999 and 2000, the Chicago Tribune reports.
WebMD, Quintiles Discussed Possible Merger
WebMD Corp. and its strategic partner Quintiles Transnational Corp., though currently engaged in a lawsuit over their data-sharing agreement, discussed a possible merger or acquisition “as recently as January,” according to court documents filed by Quintiles.
Industry Sees ‘Returns’ on Bush Campaign Investments
For businesses that invested “more money than ever before” in President Bush’s “costly” bid for the White House, the Wall Street Journal reports that the “returns have already begun.”
Small Sonoma Hospitals in Financial Peril
Once a “fixture of stability” in their respective towns, the five small hospitals in Sonoma County are facing growing financial difficulties in a health care environment ill-suited to their survival, the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat reports.
NYT Looks at Use and Abuse Oxycontin
The New York Times today in a front page story examines how the growth in the prescription use of the narcotic pain killer OxyContin has coincided with the illegal use of the drug, resulting in at least 120 deaths to date.
Ruling Lets Doctors Proceed In Miami HMO Case
A federal judge in Miami Friday rejected eight insurance companies’ motions for dismissal of 20 “wide-ranging” lawsuits by physicians, the New York Times reports.