Longtime Head of L.A. Care To Retire After Navigating Major Medi-Cal Changes
By Bernard J. Wolfson
John Baackes, who steered Medi-Cal’s largest health plan following the Affordable Care Act expansion, and later prepared it for a state overhaul of Medi-Cal, will retire after this year. Baackes believes low payments to doctors and other providers, along with an acute labor shortage, hamper Medi-Cal’s success.
In San Francisco’s Chinatown, a CEO Works With the Community To Bolster Hospital
By Bernard J. Wolfson
Jian Zhang, an immigrant from China with a doctorate in nursing, leads the 88-bed Chinese Hospital in San Francisco. The facility faces financial constraints like other independent hospitals, but its strong community support and partnerships have helped it weather tough times.
California Bill Would Require State Review of Private Equity Deals in Health Care
By Bernard J. Wolfson
Proposed legislation would require the state attorney general’s consent for a wide range of private equity acquisitions in health care. The hospital lobby negotiated an exemption for for-profit hospitals.
California Leaders Tussle With Health Industry Over Billions of New Dollars for Medi-Cal
By Bernard J. Wolfson
Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to pull funds earmarked for new investment in Medi-Cal to help plug California’s $45 billion deficit. A state budget passed June 13 by the legislature largely endorsed Newsom’s plan. Voters could settle the matter in an industry-backed initiative that has qualified for the November ballot.
California Dabbles With Reining in Health Spending
By Bernard J. Wolfson
California is now among the states trying to keep health-care costs down by setting spending caps — a task that pits public officials against a deeply entrenched and heavily lawyered set of players. It’s uncertain whether the state can get insurers, hospitals and medical groups to collaborate on containing costs even as they jockey for […]
California Becomes Latest State To Try Capping Health Care Spending
By Bernard J. Wolfson
California is the ninth state to set annual health spending targets for the industry. Already hospitals and doctors are voicing resistance to the fledgling Office of Health Care Affordability, even as they avoid overtly opposing its goals.
The Psychedelics-As-Medicine Movement Spreads to California
By Bernard J. Wolfson
Ecstasy, “magic mushrooms” and other psychedelic drugs could soon be recognized as therapeutic in California — one of the latest states, and the biggest, to consider allowing their use as medicine. Legislation by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D) and Assembly member Marie Waldron (R) would allow the therapeutic use of psilocybin, mescaline, ecstasy and dimethyltryptamine […]
First Responders, Veterans Hail Benefits of Psychedelic Drugs as California Debates Legalization
By Bernard J. Wolfson
California lawmakers have modified a psychedelic drug bill that was vetoed last year, narrowing it to allow only supervised use of psilocybin mushrooms, ecstasy, and other hallucinogens rather than decriminalize more broadly. The current bill would establish new state agencies to regulate the program.
Listen: Potential Hospital Bailout Under Fire, as Information Gap Threatens Medi-Cal Renewals
By Bernard J. Wolfson and Samantha Young and Stephanie O'Neill Patison
California Healthline journalists discuss the need to update personal information to maintain Medi-Cal coverage, why health finance experts caution against a sweeping hospital industry bailout, and more recent reporting.
Starting Jan. 1, All Immigrants May Qualify for Medi-Cal Regardless of Legal Status
By Bernard J. Wolfson
In the new year, California’s Medicaid program will open to otherwise eligible immigrants ages 26 to 49 without legal residency. They will join children, young adults, and adults over 50 enrolled in Medi-Cal through previous expansions to residents lacking authorization. The change is expected to add over 700,000 first-time enrollees.
