Latest California Healthline Stories
Health-e-App Shows Web’s Streamlining Potential, Smith Says
Health-e-App, the online enrollment program for children and pregnant women eligible for Medi-Cal and Healthy Families, shows the “enormous potential for the Internet to modernize and simplify government functions,” California HealthCare Foundation President and CEO Mark Smith said last week at the First National Health Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., sponsored by Health Affairs and the Academy for Health Services Research and Health Policy.
Are Vioxx and Celebrex ‘Wonder’ Drugs?
While the arthritis drugs Vioxx and Celebrex have produced sales in the billions since their respective launches in 1999, it is still inconclusive whether these “wonder” drugs are any safer than over-the-counter pain relief drugs, and the FDA is concerned that they may put patients at risk of unforseen side effects, USA Today reports.
Norwood Pulls Support for Patients’ Rights Bill at Bush’s Request
Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) this morning introduced a “compromise” version of patients’ rights legislation that extends the right to sue HMOs, but Rep.
Charles Norwood (R-Ga.), who called the press conference and with Rep. John Dingell helped craft both the original bill that passed the House last year and the new “compromise” version, “abruptly canceled his participation in the news conference.”
Negotiations Begin for Breaux-Frist Medicare Plan
Sens. John Breaux (D-La.) and Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) will introduce legislation on Wednesday that would “overhaul” Medicare and add a prescription drug benefit to the program, Reuters/Los Angeles Times reports.
Norwood-Dingell Patients’ Rights ‘Compromise’ Likely
A “compromise” version of the House-passed Norwood-Dingell patients’ bill of rights has enough Senate support to make it “filibuster-proof” and will likely pass this year, according to a spokesperson for Rep. Charles Norwood (R-Ga.), the bill’s co-sponsor.
Outgoing EPA Chief Leaves Childrens’ Health ‘Legacy’
When former Environmental Protection Agency Secretary Carol Browner began her eight-year tenure in the department, she established the Office of Children’s Health to “improve the well-being” of the nation’s “youngest and most vulnerable” population — a program that will continue under newly confirmed EPA head Christine Todd Whitman, the Miami Herald reports.
Study Asks Consumers About Cost Control Initiatives
The not-for-profit health policy organization Sacramento Healthcare Decisions is holding discussions with about 300 Sacramento-area residents to learn how consumers think cost should factor into medical decisions, the Sacramento Bee reports.
CHCF’s Smith Discusses Role of Internet in Consumers’ Health Decisions
With more than 22,000 ehealth Web sites available, the Internet is “clearly playing a key and growing role in consumers’ health care decision-making processes,” California HealthCare Foundation President and CEO Mark Smith said Friday at the First National Health Policy Conference in Washington, D.C.
Patent Extension Law Boosts Industry’s Profits
A 1997 law intended to promote pediatric testing of pharmaceuticals has had the “unintended consequence” of allowing several drug companies to reap big rewards through patent extensions, the Wall Street Journal reports.
UC Medical Centers to Pay $22.5M to Settle Medicare Fraud Charges
The University of California has reached an agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office in San Francisco to settle allegations that doctors at UC’s five teaching hospitals improperly billed Medicare, the Los Angeles Times reports.