Latest California Healthline Stories
Washington State Retools First-in-the-Nation Long-Term Care Benefit
The WA Cares Fund program, which would provide workers in the state a lifetime benefit of $36,500, was set to begin collecting money through a payroll tax in January, but it was delayed while lawmakers made adjustments to address equity problems. Now the payroll deductions will begin in July 2023, and benefits will become available in 2026.
Nursing Homes Bleed Staff as Amazon Lures Low-Wage Workers With Prime Packages
Add nursing homes to the list of industries jolted by Amazon’s handsome hourly wages. Enticed by an average starting pay rate of $18 an hour and the potential for benefits and signing bonuses, low-wage workers are fleeing entry-level elder care for jobs packing boxes.
States Pull Back on Covid Data Even Amid Delta Surge
As covid case numbers rise nationwide, Georgia and some other states have restricted the case count data they share publicly.
Paying Billions for Controversial Alzheimer’s Drug? How About Funding This Instead?
Aduhelm, approved by the Food and Drug Administration last month despite questions about its efficacy, could be prescribed to at least 1 million patients a year, for a price tag of about $56 billion. Experts suggest there might be better ways to spend that money.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: How to Expand Health Coverage
Democrats in Congress and the states are devising strategies to expand health coverage — through the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Medicaid and a “public option.” But progress remains halting, at best. Meanwhile, lawmakers in Washington may have to agree on how to control prescription drug prices if they wish to finance their coverage initiatives. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews Michelle Andrews, who reported and wrote last month’s KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” episode about a very expensive sleep study.
The number of Americans 65 and older is expected to nearly double in the next 40 years. Finding a way to provide and pay for the long-term health services they need won’t be easy.
Biden Seeks $400 Billion to Buttress Long-Term Care. A Look at What’s at Stake.
Long-term care options are expensive and often out of reach for seniors and people with disabilities. The president has proposed a massive infusion of federal funding for home and community-based health services that advocates say will go a long way toward helping individuals and families.
Texas Winter Storm Exposes Gaps in Senior Living Oversight
As the recent winter storm disaster in Texas showed, many long-term care sites aren’t required to have backup power supplies or other redundancies to keep residents safe when disaster strikes.
Reopening of Long-Term Care Facilities Is ‘an Absolute Necessity for Our Well-Being’
Relatives and advocates are calling for federal authorities to relax restrictions in long-term care institutions and grant special status to “essential caregivers” — family members or friends who provide critically important hands-on care — so they have the opportunity to tend to relatives in need.
Por el bienestar de los abuelos, buscan reabrir hogares de adultos mayores
Ahora es el momento de aliviar a los residentes del abrumador y brutal aislamiento, dice un grupo cada vez más grande de expertos, cuidadores, consumidores y médicos.