Latest California Healthline Stories
Readers And Tweeters: Are Millennials Killing The Primary Care Doctor?
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Trump, GOP Fight Back On Health Care
In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner and Alice Ollstein of Politico discuss a flurry of proposals from the Trump administration on prices Medicare pays for drugs and the Affordable Care Act.
Spurred By Convenience, Millennials Often Spurn The ‘Family Doctor’ Model
These young adults are looking for medical care that is convenient, fast and offers cost transparency. They frequently seek treatment at retail clinics, urgent care centers or other options.
Dementia And Guns: When Should Doctors Broach The Topic?
As the number of Americans with dementia rises, health professionals grapple with how to talk to patients about gun safety at home.
California’s Newly Minted Health Care Laws: Doctor Misconduct, Drug Prices, Kids’ Meals And More
Gov. Jerry Brown approved numerous new health care laws addressing a broad range of issues, but he vetoed several bills, including one that would have allowed parents to administer medical marijuana to their children in school and another that would have made the abortion pill available at the student health centers of California’s public universities.
KHN Conversation On Overtreatment
Physicians estimate that 21 percent of medical care is unnecessary — a problem that costs the health care system at least $210 billion a year. KHN hosted a forum on how too much medicine can cause harm.
Whipsawed: Low-Income Patients At UC Davis Losing Coverage Again
UnitedHealthcare is pulling out of Sacramento County’s Medi-Cal market, which could force 1,000 patients at UC Davis Medical Center to scramble for new primary care doctors. It’s a replay of three years ago, when Health Net and the university parted ways, leaving the medical center with no managed Medi-Cal contract for primary care.
Despite Red Flags At Surgery Centers, Overseers Award Gold Seals
A decade ago, California stopped licensing surgery centers and then gave approval power to private accreditors that are commonly paid by the same centers they inspect. That system of oversight has created a troubling legacy of laxity, a Kaiser Health News investigation finds.
Doctor To The Stars Disciplined Over Use Of Controversial Menopause Therapy
Dr. Prudence Hall has made a name for herself in the field of “bioidentical hormones” — plant-based compounds purportedly customized for each patient’s needs. Experts say the popular approach is unproven; California regulators say she was grossly negligent in her care of two patients.
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.