Latest California Healthline Stories
Administration Expands Medicaid To Cover Former Prisoners In Halfway Houses
People who are still incarcerated are not eligible for the program, but there had been questions previously about their eligibility once they moved to a halfway home. The administration also wants correction departments to begin signing up prisoners before they are released to help ease the transition.
San Francisco General Hospital Physician Named Director Of AHRQ
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, a division of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, aims to produce research and evidence to improve the quality and safety of health care. Dr. Andrew Bindman will start May 2.
Health Officials Warn 30-Plus States Are In Danger As Zika Overruns Puerto Rico
The mosquito that carries Zika is already in several states, including California, where 35 people have acquired the virus through travel. Meanwhile, experts have begun calling the constellation of maladies linked to the virus congenital Zika syndrome, because they go far beyond what happens with babies who just have microcephaly.
Mental Health Court Shepherds Probationers Along Alternative Path To Success
The mental health court works with nonprofits and county agencies to help people — who the public defender has identified as being candidates for the program — find the right medication, stay off illegal drugs and alcohol, learn job skills, and find housing.
California’s departments of public health and education are trying to clear up confusion surrounding a new vaccination law that removes personal belief exemptions from immunization requirements.
AbbVie To Buy San Francisco-Based StemCentrx
StemCentrx has a potential lung cancer treatment in late-stage development, and AbbVie said the purchase will help boost its long-term growth and development of cancer treatments.
Alta Bates Hospital, ER To Close Before Seismic Standards Are Enforced
Its owner, Sutter Health, says the building is “not seismically compliant” with the law, which requires inpatient hospitals to withstand a quake and be fully functional in the aftermath, as well. In other hospital news, the nurses union for two Stanford hospitals has reached a tentative agreement, which would avert a possible strike.
White House Picks Sacramento For Health Career Pathways Pilot Program
Under the program, the city’s hospitals, community colleges and other employment groups will identify needs and demands in the health care workforce and provide tailored training to job seekers from low-income backgrounds building careers in the field.
Valeant Officials, Blasted By Lawmakers For ‘Immoral’ Pricing Practices, Admit To Making Mistakes
“Pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered. It’s time to slaughter some hogs,” Sen. Claire McCaskill said in opening the committee hearing on high drug prices. Valeant’s outgoing CEO J. Michael Pearson offered his regrets to a skeptical panel, while investor Bill Ackman promised a shift in pricing strategy going forward.
Ryan Calls For End To Health Law’s Premium-Cost Protections For People Who Are Ill
House Speaker Paul Ryan says the provisions that keep insurers from charging sick people higher rates has raised costs for healthy consumers while undermining choice and competition, Reuters reports.