Latest California Healthline Stories
New HPR Plan Offers Direct Specialist and Hospital Access
Health Plan of the Redwoods is offering local companies “a new group health plan” giving members “direct access” to specialists and hospitals, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports.
Massachusetts SoS Galvin Seeks To Limit HMO Political Spending
“Outraged” by the nearly $4 million that Massachusetts nonprofit HMOs spent to campaign against Question 5, a failed state ballot initiative that would have mandated universal health care in the state, Secretary of State William Galvin announced yesterday that he will introduce legislation “to curtail their ability to finance such campaigns,” the Boston Globe reports.
AHRQ Publishes Statistics on Hospital Comorbidities, Admissions
More than half of all hospital patients have coexisting diseases, according to an AHRQ report issued Nov. 17 that summarizes information from the 1997 Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), a survey of seven million records.
Teaching Hospitals Struggle With Inpatient Surgery ‘Boom’
Inpatient surgery volume is “booming” at Massachusetts’ top teaching hospitals, sometimes leading to long waits for elective surgeries, the Boston Globe reports.
CHW Credit Rating Drops After Larger than Expected Losses
“Struggling” Catholic Healthcare West remains in the “financial sick bay,” having lost almost $90 million more than expected in fiscal year 2000, the San Francisco Business Times reports.
Controversy Surrounds Mercury Thermometers
Municipal and state governments around the country are pushing to “legislat[e]” “potentially lethal” mercury thermometers “out of existence,” USA Today reports.
HIAA, Families USA and AHA Unite to Solve Problem of Uninsured
Putting aside several years of feuding, three “strange bedfellows” — the Health Insurance Association of America, Families USA and the American Hospital Association — came together at a press conference yesterday to unveil a joint proposal to halve the number of uninsured Americans.
Daily Dose of Tamiflu Prevents Flu
The FDA announced yesterday that Tamiflu, a prescription flu therapy, can prevent the flu among those ages 13 and older when taken once daily during an outbreak of the virus, the AP/New York Times reports.
Clinton Issues Patients’ Rights Rules to Speed Claims
President Clinton issued new rules yesterday requiring most private insurers to shorten the amount of time they take to decide initial claims and giving patients additional time to file appeals when coverage is denied.
Bay Area Emergency Rooms in ‘Critical Condition’
With cutbacks in reimbursements from the government and insurers and increasing numbers of uninsured patients, hospitals in the Bay area are “increasingly strained,” the San Francisco Chronicle reports.