Latest California Healthline Stories
Trump, Clinton Super Tuesday Victories Solidify Front-Runner Statuses, But Rivals Hold On
Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump nabbed at least seven states, with Sen. Bernie Sanders holding on to four, including his home state of Vermont, and Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio taking three and one, respectively. The vast majority of voters did not rank health care as the most important issue.
Despite Legality Concerns, San Francisco Bumps Age To Buy Tobacco To 21
Opponents say that California law, which sets the age at 18, cannot be trumped by cities’ legislation.
San Diego, Riverside Health Centers Integrate Operations, Adopt Managed Care Model
The 12 organizations join a new entity called Integrated Health Partners that provides primary care services to about 500,000 people across 72 locations that largely serve the region’s low-income Medi-Cal population.
Another Theranos Setback?: Walgreens Wants To Cut Ties, Sources Say
The drugstore giant has asked its lawyers to find a way out of its deal with the troubled blood-testing startup, according to unnamed sources who spoke to The Financial Times.
Scope Maker Olympus To Settle Federal Kickback Investigation For $646 Million
The company agreed to the payment to end civil and criminal probes of charges that it bribed doctors and hospitals to buy Olympus endoscopes and devices. A corporate whistleblower may collect $51 million from the settlement.
Vote To Close Medi-Cal Budget Hole Breaks Republicans’ Anti-Tax Streak
Although the bills are being called a “tax cut” by some due to the fact that there’s a net positive fiscal effect on some of California’s largest insurers, Republican lawmakers had to weigh the political ramifications of voting for a tax.
Brown Signs Health Plan Tax Package
The bills are designed to help avoid losing more than $1 billion in federal matching funds for Medi-Cal. They had cleared the state Senate on a 28-11 vote and then sailed through the Assembly 61-16 with support from almost a dozen GOP lawmakers before heading to the governor’s desk.
Digital Health Record Initiative Aims To Unclog Bottleneck, But Doubts Remain
Federal health official announced that technology companies, hospital systems and doctors’ groups have agreed to take steps that will make electronic health records easier to use by improving patient access to their own files, allowing information sharing and putting standards for digital communication between systems in place. But some worry the deal allows companies too much wiggle room.
Coalition Develops Guidelines For Alzheimer’s Diagnosis, Care
The Alzheimer’s Disease Clinical Roundtable was scheduled to present its findings from the past 18 months to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors and local doctor groups on Tuesday.
High Use Of Expensive Therapy In Orange County Nursing Homes Raises Concerns
At 16 of Orange County’s more than 60 nursing homes, over 80 percent of Medicare patients received therapy at the highest rate allowed in 2014, according to an analysis, and therapists are saying that level of treatment is not necessary.