Latest California Healthline Stories
Blue Cross FlexScape Plan Helps Small Businesses Subsidize Health Care Benefits
Blue Cross of California, which insures 5.5 million individuals statewide, this week announced the April 1 launch of its FlexScape program, which aims to enable small businesses to subsidize employee health care coverage at the same rate regardless of plan type, the Ventura County Star reports.
HCFA Boosts HMO Reimbursement Rates
Effective yesterday, the federal government will pay 5% more in reimbursement rates for managed care organizations participating in Medicare+Choice, with an additional 5.8% boost expected in 2002, HCFA officials said.
Nickles Says Bipartisan Patients’ Bill of Rights Won’t Pass
Senate Majority Whip Don Nickles (R-Okla.) said yesterday that the bipartisan managed care reform bill proposed by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), John Edwards (D-N.C.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) “will never be allowed to pass the Senate,” CongressDaily reports.
West Hollywood Ballot Initiative Seeks to Expand Condom Distribution
Voters in West Hollywood Tuesday will decide in a municipal election whether to expand the city’s condom distribution program to as many as 152 bars, clubs and restaurants, the Los Angeles Times reports.
HFCA Faces Investigation from Congressional Panels
Two House Energy and Commerce subcommittees Thursday jointly held the first in a series of hearings on the operations of HCFA — the “oft-maligned” agency that runs Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP — but some key Democrats have “already complain[ed]” that the bipartisan effort to improve program operations may “turn into something very different,” CongressDaily/AM reports.
WebMD Seeks to Move Quintiles Suit to Federal Court
WebMD Corp. has asked that a lawsuit over its decision to stop providing electronic health claims data to its strategic partner Quintiles Transnational Corp., be moved to federal court, the Wall Street Journal reports.
PacifiCare Agrees to Pay Fine for Late Claims Payment
PacifiCare Health Systems yesterday said it has reached an agreement with the California Department of Managed Health Care to pay penalties and interest on delinquent payments to thousands of doctors and hospitals, the Los Angeles Times reports.
New IOM Report Calls for Team Care
The Institute of Medicine, which in 1999 released a “controversial” report on the frequency of fatal medical errors, today will release a “sweeping” new report that calls for team-based care as one solution to the nation’s “fragmented” health care system, USA Today reports.
Bush Proposes Health Spending Boost in Budget Plan
The $1.96 trillion budget package that President Bush unveiled yesterday contains several provisions for health care spending, including a 5.2% boost for HHS, the Washington Post reports.
Thompson Talks Funds, Stem Cell Research on Tour of NIH
Taking his first “formal tour” of the National Institutes of Health, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson yesterday answered questions about funding boosts and embryonic stem cell research, the Washington Times reports.