Latest California Healthline Stories
Health Care Costs Contribute to Ventura County’s Projected Deficit
Ventura County faces a $7.3 million budget shortfall in the 2001-02 fiscal year, in part due to deficits at the county Health Care Agency and Ventura County Medical Center, according to a budget report released yesterday, the Ventura County Star reports.
AMA Outlines Legislative Priorities for the Year
Patients’ rights, an antitrust bill and increased coverage for the uninsured top the legislative agenda of the American Medical Association, CongressDaily reports.
MCOs No Longer on the Defensive?
The managed care industry is “shifting to offense from defense,” ready to use its “thousands of allies” outside the health care industry and large advertising budget as ammunition to help it “reach a compromise on managed care reform,” the Chicago Tribune reports.
Bush Set to Unveil Budget Package
Set to address a joint session of Congress and the nation tonight, President Bush will unveil his $1.95 trillion FY 2002 budget, including a 10-year, $1.6 trillion tax cut package — a proposal that Democrats have criticized as “too much money to the rich at the expense of social programs” such as Medicare, USA Today reports.
Web Sites Recruit Drug Trial Participants Online
Pharmaceutical and biotech companies are turning to the Internet to recruit patients for clinical trials, and an increasing number of Web sites have been developed to meet the demand, the New York Times reports.
Thompson Addresses Medical Privacy In AAHP Speech
Speaking yesterday at an American Association of Health Plans conference, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson said he would “reconsider” the Clinton administration’s medical record privacy rules, the New York Times reports.
Orange County Supervisor Drops Objections to Measure H
Orange County Supervisor Jim Silva said Monday he would oppose an appeal of a court ruling last week that affirmed the constitutionality of Measure H, the Orange County Register reports.
Secure Horizons Continues Negotiations With Mercy Physicians’ Group
Secure Horizons and Mercy Physicians Medical Group are continuing to negotiate a new contract in the hopes of allowing 5,200 Medicare beneficiaries to continue to see providers affiliated with the medical group, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Consumers Flocking to Internet for Health Information
Using the Internet for health information is “becoming the rule rather than the exception” for consumers, as more than 40 million Americans now search for such information online, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Marketing Practices of Bristol Myers Squibb Investigated
The U.S. Attorney’s office in Boston has sent grand jury subpoenas to Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., the largest supplier of oncology products, in an investigation of whether the company illegally marketed its anticancer drugs and other products and whether it “encouraged doctors to improperly” bill Medicaid and Medicare, the Wall Street Journal reports.