Latest California Healthline Stories
Providers, Insurers Play Blame Game Over Patients’ Surprise Medical Bills
Physicians groups say the problem is surprise gaps in insurance coverage while insurers counter that more doctors are rejecting in-network rates, then charging out-of-network fees that are many times higher.
With Eye On Sanders’ Endorsement, Clinton Offers Expanded Health Care Proposal
Hillary Clinton reaffirms her support for a “public option” and proposes doubling funding for “federally qualified “ health centers, which serve about 25 million low-income people in the U.S. Meanwhile, Donald Trump will lay out his vision for veterans’ health care, and a new video from KHN looks at why the presidential candidates’ proposals for regulating drug prices may not be good ideas.
Brain-Dead Toddler Whose Family Fled U.S. To Keep Him Alive May Return
Although the toddler was declared brain dead by three different doctors, the family sued to keep him on life support. The case was pending when his parents obtained last-minute passports and private funding to airlift him out of the country to a Central American hospital.
Officials Bring In Outside Help To Stave Off Financial Collapse Of Sebastopol’s Hospital
Palm Drive Health Care District, which provides funding and oversight for the hospital, has hired consultants to stabilize the hospital. “They’ve taken on hospitals in the heart of Los Angeles, in some of the most underserved communities, I would say, in America and made those hospitals successful in pretty short order,” says Dan Smith, president of the board of directors of the nonprofit Sonoma West Medical Center.
Early Death Has Become Fact Of Life For Sacramento’s Black Children
Between 2010 and 2015, African American children died at well above the rates of any other racial or ethnic group in Sacramento County. The Sacramento Bee investigates why.
OxyContin-Maker Purdue Kept Quiet While A Los Angeles Drug Ring Thrived
The drugmaker tracked the clinic that was prescribing a jaw-dropping amount of OxyContin — one employee wrote in an email: “I feel very certain this is an organized drug ring…” — but said nothing to the DEA until years later, according to the Los Angeles Times. The paper also looks at the Washington city that was ravaged by the drug ring.
San Francisco’s Nursing Home Costs Sky High Compared To Rest Of Country
The annual price tag a person can expect to pay for private nursing home care in San Francisco is $182,316, which is 97 percent more than the national average.
Employee Loyalty To Theranos Fades, As Founder Shrouds Company In Secrecy
Elizabeth Holmes has a long-standing practice of keeping information from her employees, The Wall Street Journal reports, but as investigations and penalties ramp up, it’s starting to cause tension among her workers.
Calif. Lawmakers Hope Shining Spotlight On Drugmakers Will Keep Prices In Check
But drugmakers say the transparency requirements in the proposed legislation would create a distorted view of drug pricing, failing to account for negotiated discounts or price decreases.
Geographical Realities Shape GOP Divide Over Health Law Access For Immigrants
Five GOP members of Congress from California have declined to sign a letter from their colleagues demanding the Obama administration shoot down the request to allow immigrants who are in the country illegally buy subsidized plans from Covered California.