Latest California Healthline Stories
States Spend More Money to Address Substance Abuse
In 1998, states spent $81.3 billion to address substance abuse and addiction treatment and prevention, accounting for 13.1% of total state spending ($620 billion), according to the first-ever report that analyzes the impact of substance abuse on state budgets.
L.A. Times Profiles Kidder’s Battle With Mental Illness
Today’s Los Angeles Times looks at actress Margot Kidder’s fight against the stigma associated with mental illness.
Low Medicare Payments Put San Antonio Community Hospital in the Red
Faced with reduced Medicare reimbursements, Upland-based San Antonio Community Hospital last year experienced its first operating loss in “modern history,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
SEIU Workers to Strike at Three San Francisco Hospitals
About 700 workers from three Sutter Health-owned San Francisco hospitals will go on a three-day strike beginning today, marking the latest action in an ongoing dispute over staffing levels, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Sonoma County Summit Sets Focus on Increasing Medicare Reimbursements
Gathering at a “health care summit” last week in Sonoma County, health professionals said that one of their “key goals” is to increase the county’s Medicare reimbursement rates, the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat reports.
President Bush Launches ‘Faith-Based’ Initiative
In an effort to “invigorate religious charities and other [not-for-profit] organizations in the battle against the nation’s social problems,” President Bush yesterday signed an executive order creating the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, the Washington Post reports.
Bush Unveils ‘Stopgap’ Coverage Measure for Medicare Rx Drugs
President Bush yesterday sent Congress a “stopgap” plan that would send billions of dollars to states to help provide prescription drug coverage for low-income Medicare beneficiaries, the New York Times reports.
SFAF Sends President Bush HIV/AIDS Policy Recommendations
The San Francisco AIDS Foundation last week sent the Bush administration a set of guidelines for enacting a “comprehensive set of policy recommendations” to “heighten” the United States’ response to the AIDS pandemic.
States Not Spending Tobacco Settlement for Prevention
While states are slated to receive $250 billion over 25 years as part of the national tobacco settlement, only about 8% of the initial payments are going toward antismoking campaigns, USA Today reports.
WellPoint’s Acquisition of Cerulean Remains On Schedule
Thousand Oaks-based WellPoint Health Networks Inc., one of the state’s largest insurers, said that plans to acquire Cerulean Cos., Georgia’s largest health insurer, by March 31 remain “on track,” the Los Angeles Times reports.