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‘Balance billing’ plays key role in debate over health care
Capitol Weekly - 03-20-2008 - Getting healthy sometimes means getting stuck with a bill - even for those who think they have coverage through their health care insurer. The phenomenon known as "balance billing" has not figured prominently in the debate over health care reform, but it is moving into prominence as the on-again, off-again negotiations continue over health care reform.
Different players, same tune
Sacramento Bee - 03-20-2008 - Now, another example of how nothing much changes, and when it does, it doesn't change much: After his health insurance reform proposal went down the tubes in late January, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger tried to reduce the sting by putting it in historical perspective. "If it were easy, California would have gotten universal coverage 60 years ago," the governor said. "That's when Gov. Earl Warren's reform plan fell short by a single vote." The California Medical Association didn't like the idea either, in part because Warren's plan could wreak havoc with its 7-year-old insurance company, called California Physicians' Service (later Blue Shield).
Nurse to head UCI medical center
Los Angeles Times - 03-20-2008 - UC Irvine on Wednesday appointed to head its medical center a registered nurse who spent 12 years as one of the hospital's top administrators during a period in which it suffered a series of scandals, including one in which more than 30 patients on the liver transplant list died as the hospital turned down scores of organs that were then successfully transplanted elsewhere.
Stem-cell science ready for go-ahead
San Jose Mercury News - 03-20-2008 - Hundreds of embryonic stem-cell lines that provide hope for treating devastating disorders such as sickle cell anemia and Down syndrome are available for research but are off-limits to federal scientists because of White House restrictions, scientists said Wednesday.
New stem cell variety found in menstrual blood
San Diego Union-Tribune - 03-20-2008 - A startup stem cell company with part of its operations in San Diego has discovered a new type of stem cell in menstrual blood, a finding that might allow researchers to avoid the medical and ethical issues surrounding the use of human embryonic stem cells.
Study says diesel emissions raise cancer risk
San Diego Union-Tribune - 03-20-2008 - Diesel emissions from trucks, machinery and other sources elevate the risk of premature death, cancer, asthma and other chronic diseases for more than 3 million people living in West Oakland and the surrounding region, according to the most detailed study yet on the issue.
Study cites risks of older stored blood
Los Angeles Times - 03-20-2008 - The heart surgery findings add to the growing concern about the safety of hospital transfusion practices.
Are Guns a Public Health Issue?
Wall Street Journal - 03-20-2008 - A handgun case landed in the Supreme Court this week, stirring up an old question: Are handguns a public health issue? You betcha, argues an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine.
