Latest California Healthline Stories
Ambulance Company to Halt Some Rides in Southern Calif., Citing Low Medicaid Rates
American Medical Response, the largest U.S. ambulance company, is ending nonemergency transportation for 12 hospitals in Los Angeles and Orange counties, saying the state doesn’t pay enough to transport low-income patients. The state is pushing back.
Readers and Tweeters Take Positions on Sleep Apnea Treatment
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Empleadores se preocupan por la salud mental, pero no hay suficientes proveedores
Casi la mitad de los grandes empleadores encuestados, con al menos 200 trabajadores, informaron que una proporción cada vez mayor de sus empleados utilizaba servicios de salud mental.
$38,398 for a Single Shot of a Very Old Cancer Drug
Lupron, a drug patented half a century ago, treats advanced prostate cancer. It’s sold to physicians for $260 in the U.K. and administered at no charge. Why are U.S. hospitals — which may pay nearly as little for the drug — charging so much more to administer it?
How Private Equity Is Investing in Health Care: A Video Primer
Investors are putting money into everything from emergency room obstetrics units and dermatology practices to nursing homes and hospice care — from cradle to grave.
A Billing Expert Saved Big After Finding an Incorrect Charge in Her Husband’s ER Bill
A medical billing specialist investigated her husband’s ER bill. Her sleuthing took over a year but knocked thousands of dollars off the hospital’s charges — and provides a playbook for other consumers.
An Abortion Rights Question on the California Ballot Revives the Debate Over ‘Viability’
California voters will decide in November whether to amend the state constitution to explicitly protect abortion rights. But there is disagreement over whether the proposal, Proposition 1, would merely enshrine existing rights or expand them.
Listen: How Does Human Composting Work?
California Healthline’s Bernard J. Wolfson went on the air to explain a new California law that will allow people to have their bodies reduced to compost after death, an alternative to the traditional-but-toxic methods of cremation and burial.
Awaiting Voters’ Decision on Abortion, When Medicine and Politics Collide
As Michigan and several other states await voters’ verdicts on ballot measures about abortion, the providers, patients, and activists on both sides strategize their next steps.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Biden Hits the Road to Sell Democrats’ Record
With the midterm elections rapidly approaching, President Joe Biden has taken to the road to convince voters that he and congressional Democrats have delivered for them during two years in power. Among the health issues highlighted by the administration this week are pandemic preparedness and the availability of over-the-counter hearing aids. The president also promised to sign a bill codifying the abortion protections of Roe v. Wade if Democrats maintain control of the House and Senate — even though it’s a long shot that there will be enough votes for that. Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Mary Agnes Carey of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.