Latest California Healthline Stories
HIPAA Final Rules More Expansive Than Proposed Standards
The Washington Business Journal reports on the future of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, with some calling the final rules passed by the Clinton administration “stricter and more expansive than the proposed standards.”
Women’s Foundation Gives California ‘D’ on Women’s Health Status
California gets a “D” grade on the health status of women and girls in the state, according to a report released yesterday by the San Francisco-based Women’s Foundation.
UC Davis Medical Center Could Lose Millions On Energy Sales
UC Davis Medical Center has become “one of the latest casualties” of the state’s power crisis, as a deal to sell extra megawatts of electricity to the state has collapsed, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Editorial Pages Critique Bush Rx Drug Benefit Plan
President Bush’s “stopgap” plan to send billions of dollars to states to help provide prescription drug coverage for low-income Medicare beneficiaries has generated responses on editorial pages across the country.
S.F. Health Department Requests Additional Funding
The San Francisco Department of Public Health’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2001-2000 requests an additional $22 million in funding “just to maintain services and staffing,” the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Top Democrats Propose Debt Reduction Plan with Medicare Surplus
The Congressional Budget Office today will likely release updated economic projections forecasting the federal budget surplus as $5.6 trillion over the next decade — prompting debate in Congress over how to handle the Medicare surplus, CongressDaily/A.M. reports.
URAC Works on ‘Reliable’ Health Web Site Accreditation Standards
To help consumers assess the “reliability” of health care information posted on the Internet, URAC, formerly know as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission, is developing an accreditation program for health Web sites, the Bergen Record reports.
Older Women’s League Report Urges Medicare Reforms
The typical woman over age 65 lives alone, is almost twice as likely to live in poverty as her male counterpart, spends about one-fifth of her income on medical costs, will live six years longer than the average man and is likely to need long term care, according to a report from the Older Women’s League, an advocacy group.
Orange County Uses Mobile X-Ray to Screen Immigrants for TB
St. Joseph Hospital and the Orange County Health Care Agency are teaming up to increase X-ray tuberculosis testing among the county’s immigrant population, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Palomar Trauma Center Must Not Close, Union-Tribune Says
Although a “lot of … trauma officials [in California] are spending more time these days staunching the flow of red ink instead of blood,” the financial situation of Palomar Medical Center’s trauma unit is “critical,” according to a San Diego Union-Tribune editorial.