Latest California Healthline Stories
Health Net Sends Mental Health Patient Lists to Wrong Doctors
California-based insurer Health Net last month “violated patient confidentiality” for 12,000 members undergoing treatment for depression and anxiety by accidentally sending their names to the wrong doctors, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
New California Laws Take Effect Jan. 1
Helping to ring in 2001, several new California health care laws took effect Jan. 1, including a provision that allows patients to sue their HMOs, the AP/San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
HMOs Pull Out of Medicare+Choice Program in Four Bay Area Counties
On Jan. 1, four HMOs — Aetna, Blue Shield, Blue Cross and National Health Plans — Medicare+Choice program in several Bay Area counties, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Bush Taps Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson for HHS
President-elect Bush drew praise and criticism Friday when he nominated Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson (R) for the position of HHS secretary, the Washington Post reports.
Two-Week St. John’s Nurses Strike Ends Without Settlement
A two-week nurses’ strike at St. John’s hospitals in Oxnard and Camarillo ended Dec. 28 with no settlement, the Ventura County Star reports.
New Medicare Policy Mandates Disclosure of Medical Errors
Federal officials will soon reverse a policy preventing Medicare recipients from obtaining information about doctors under investigation for medical mistakes, ending a two-decade rule that has “kept medical errors secret,” the New York Times reports.
Shalala Rejects Drug Reimportation Plan
HHS Secretary Donna Shalala will not implement a law that would allow drugstores and distributors to buy U.S.-produced drugs in certain countries for resale in the United States, the Washington Post reports.
California Proposes Covering Parents Under Healthy Families
California officials yesterday submitted a proposal to HCFA that would expand Healthy Families to include some parents of children already enrolled in the program, the Contra Costa Times reports.
“[D]etermined to fashion a legacy of major initiatives in areas” such as public health and workers rights, President Clinton is “rushing out a stream of regulations,” including rules protecting workers against repetitive stress injuries and miners with black lung disease, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
State Illegally Denies Aid to Disabled Poor, Suit Contends
Advocates for poor people seeking disability benefits have filed a lawsuit charging that the state Department of Social Services has “illegally den[ied]” disability benefit requests “by manipulating medical evidence and ignoring the applicants’ doctors,” the San Francisco Chronicle reports.