Latest California Healthline Stories
States Looking To Tax Opioids Pin Hopes On November Elections
At least 11 states are going to try to tax opioids despite pushback from pharmaceutical companies.
Avoidable Sepsis Infections Send Thousands Of Seniors To Gruesome Deaths
No one tracks sepsis cases closely enough to know how often these severe infections turn fatal. But the toll — both human and financial — is enormous, finds an investigation by KHN and the Chicago Tribune.
California: A Health Care Laboratory With Mixed Results
California frequently innovates to address its wide-ranging health care needs, but it has not always achieved its aims. A series of articles in the journal Health Affairs shows, among other things, that efforts to care for HIV patients, provide better access to reproductive services for low-income women and fill gaps in primary care have sometimes fallen flat.
Rudy Giuliani’s Consulting Firm Had Hand In Halting Florida’s Opioid Investigation
Post-9/11, Giuliani Partners helped craft a plan that put a halt to a probe into Purdue’s marketing of OxyContin.
Surprise Medical Bills Are What Americans Fear Most In Paying For Health Care
Two-thirds of Americans worry about unexpectedly large bills from doctors, hospitals or other medical providers, a poll shows. Four in 10 have received one in the past year.
As California Hospitals Sweep Up Physician Practices, Patients See Higher Bills
A Health Affairs study quantifies the financial effects of such mergers on consumers and their insurers. The hospital industry and doctor practices say the consolidation leads to better coordination of care.
A Texas Lawsuit Being Heard This Week Could Mean Life Or Death For The ACA
On Wednesday, a federal judge in Fort Worth, Texas, is set to hear arguments from Republican attorneys general who want him to strike down the federal health law and from Democratic counterparts who say the law is constitutional and should remain.
Creating Rituals To Honor The Dead At Long-Term Care Facilities
Death and its companion, grief, are often ignored at nursing homes and assisted living centers, yet ignoring the loss can lead to depression, staff burnout and other problems.
Lawmakers Push To Protect Patients And Counter Trump
California legislators approved some significant health care proposals in their rush to meet the Friday end-of-session deadline. They tackled controversial topics, such as making abortion pills available on college campuses, and adopted measures countering Trump administration attacks on the Affordable Care Act.
Low-Income Californians Feel Twice The Burn From Wildfires
People living near highways and agricultural and industrial zones get hit with a “double whammy” when smoke blows into their neighborhoods, where the air is often polluted already.