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Delays in Medicare payments hurt doctors
Ventura County Star - 10-04-2008 - Medicare patients in need of a cardiothoracic surgeon this week should avoid the Oxnard office of Dr. Richard Declusin. Starting today, Declusin is staging a boycott against Medicare... "It is incredibly widespread," said Ned Wigglesworth, a spokesman for the California Medical Association, an advocacy organization on behalf of California physicians and their patients."
Editorial: Medi-Cal oddity: Crime does pay
Sacramento Bee - 10-04-2008 - Want to keep your Medi-Cal benefits? Commit a crime. That is the message – no doubt unintended – that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sent when he signed one bill dealing with Medi-Cal benefits and vetoed another. The bill he signed, Senate Bill 1147 by Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, requires the Department of Health Services to reinstate Medi-Cal benefits automatically for youthful offenders when they are released from juvenile hall or a state correctional facility.
Sleuths go door to door to sniff out Medicare fraud
USA Today - 10-04-2008 - They're seeking an 86-year-old man — allegedly a homebound diabetic whose home health care agency is billing Medicare for daily visits by a nurse to help him inject insulin. He wasn't home when they stopped by twice the day before, but this time they hear someone inside.
Supreme Court starts new season Monday
Sacramento Bee - 10-05-2008 - A business-friendly Supreme Court will start another season Monday on familiar turf... Nearly 30 groups – ranging from the California Medical Association to Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California and Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida – have filed friend-of-the-court briefs, known as amici curiae, in the Wyeth case.
Doctors decry payment delays after Medicare overhauls carrier system
American Medical News - 10-13-2008 - Medicare contracting reform was supposed to improve the physician claims process and make the program run more efficiently. But for many doctors, the process so far has had the opposite effect.
Flu shots plentiful, doctors urged to get as well as give
American Medical News - 10-13-2008 - It's flu season. Again. The good news is this year's vaccine is in ample supply. But with it, comes a challenge. Physicians should not only seek to immunize as many patients as possible, but also their staff members -- and themselves.
Premiums for job-offered health insurance up 5% this year
American Medical News - 10-13-2008 - Employer-sponsored health insurance premiums increased moderately in 2008 while more employees faced higher deductibles and opted for consumer-directed health plans.
Mental Health Court makes strides, but funds drying up
Sacramento Bee - 10-06-2008 - Every week, Superior Court Judge Jaime Román finds a reason among a pile of stuffed manila folders to lead applause in his courtroom. Both sides of the courtroom join him with genuine joy.
Concerns hang over new L.A. County-USC hospital
Los Angeles Times - 10-05-2008 - Officials wonder if the 600-bed facility, whose opening has been delayed until next month, will face a shortage of space and if there will be enough doctors to staff the expanded emergency room.
Obama attacks McCain's healthcare proposal
Los Angeles Times - 10-06-2008 - Barack Obama has sharply criticized John McCain's healthcare proposals, saying they could force millions of Americans to struggle to buy medical insurance. Obama gave a detailed outline of his own plans in a 40-minute speech at a waterside park in Newport News, VA. Obama told the thousands in attendance that he would make coverage more affordable to most Americans, he said, paying for the subsidies largely by canceling the Bush administration's tax cuts for people making more than $250,000 a year.
In some cultures, cancer stirs shame
Wall Street Journal - 10-06-2008 - When Mildred Wong received a diagnosis of breast cancer last year, she faced two tough decisions: what treatment to pursue and whom, if anyone, to tell about it.
