Latest News On Hospitals

Latest California Healthline Stories

Hospitals Want To Cut Back On Free Care. Critics Say No Way.

Four California hospitals have asked the state attorney general to reduce the amount of free and discounted care they’re required to provide, arguing there’s less need for it under the Affordable Care Act. Critics say millions of people still can’t afford their hospital bills.

Hospital Honchos Hone New Message In Wake Of Opioid Crisis: Expect Pain

“We really do have a lot of responsibility and culpability,” says one hospital official who is part of a working group trying to address the opioid epidemic. Patients have to expect more pain after surgery and understand the risk of addiction, says another doctor.

Despite Prod By ACA, Tax-Exempt Hospitals Slow To Expand Community Benefits

Nationally, the ACA’s efforts to nudge nonprofit hospitals to provide more community-wide benefits have had limited success. Still, “California’s community benefits programs work well – and have since the 1990s,” a California Hospital Association official says.