Latest California Healthline Stories

During ACA Open Enrollment, Picking a Plan Invites New COVID Complications
COVID-19’s “long haulers” — patients with lingering effects of the disease — have joined the ranks of Americans with preexisting conditions. For those shopping for health coverage on the individual market, here’s help navigating an uncharted insurance landscape.

Durante la inscripción de ACA, elegir un plan genera nuevas complicaciones de COVID
Las personas que compran su propio seguro médico enfrentan desafíos, en particular los pacientes que tuvieron COVID-19 y que presentan problemas de salud persistentes.

‘An Arm And A Leg’: Am I Protected If I Need COVID-19 Care?
“An Arm and a Leg” is back sharing stories about the ways COVID-19 intersects with the cost of health care. To tackle a listener’s question about health coverage, Dan Weissmann spoke with one of the country’s top insurance nerds.

Trump Wrongly Said Health Insurers Will Pay For All Coronavirus Treatment
There are important distinctions between how insurance companies will cover the test and the treatment. This makes the president’s statement an exaggeration, at best.

Cómo elegir un seguro de salud de manera inteligente
Las estadísticas muestran que la mayoría de las bancarrotas ocurren a causa de cuentas médicas. Por eso hay que elegir bien, para evitar facturas de horror.

It’s Not Just You: Picking Health Insurance Is Hard. Here’s How To Be Smart About It.
It’s open enrollment season for health insurance. And choosing the best plan is tricky whether you have to buy insurance on your own or just figure out which plan to sign up for at work. Here’s what you need to know.

Analysis: Choosing A Plan From The Impossible Health Care Maze
In 21st-century US health care, everything is revenue, and so everything is billed.

Age-Old Health Care Debate Shifts From Insuring More People To Cutting Costs
U.S. political parties for years have argued about the role of government in providing health care and expanding coverage to more people. But as the cost of medical services continues to grow faster than most Americans’ incomes, even people with private insurance coverage are finding the cost of care becoming unaffordable, KHN’s Julie Rovner writes in a new article in BMJ.

Hospitals Chafe Under Medicare’s New Payment Rule For Off-Campus Clinics
Under the rule that took effect this year, Medicare will lower payments for clinic visits performed at hospital-owned facilities to a rate that is equivalent to what it pays an independent doctor. Federal officials expect the move will save the government $380 million this year.

Insured But Still In Debt: 5 Jobs Pulling In $100K A Year No Match For Medical Bills
An Arizona couple played by the rules and bought employer-provided health insurance. But after they had a baby last year, their out-of-pocket hospital costs and doctors’ bills climbed to more than $12,000 — and medical debt now threatens their new family.