Journalists Talk Madera Hospital Bankruptcy Woes and Savings for Covered California Enrollees
By Bernard J. Wolfson and Melissa Montalvo, The Fresno Bee and Stephanie O'Neill Patison
California Healthline senior correspondent Bernard J. Wolfson and Fresno Bee reporter Melissa Montalvo discuss community efforts to save a bankrupt hospital from liquidation. California Healthline contributing radio correspondent Stephanie O’Neill Patison reports how lawmakers won additional Covered California subsidies.
Recovery From Addiction Is a Journey. There’s No One-and-Done Solution.
By Bernard J. Wolfson
Drug use has become a major public health crisis, but effective treatment remains hard to find. It does exist though. Columnist Bernard J. Wolfson offers advice on finding help and says not to expect a quick solution.
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.
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.
Listen: How Does Human Composting Work?
California Healthline’s Bernard J. Wolfson went on the air to explain a new California law that will allow people to have their bodies reduced to compost after death, an alternative to the traditional-but-toxic methods of cremation and burial.
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.
Faces of Medi-Cal
Featured Stories Share your Medi-Cal story We want to hear about your experiences and, with your permission, may incorporate your story into our coverage. Please tell us what it has been like for you as you have sought and received care, including the good and the bad, the obstacles and the successes. Comparta su historia […]
How Potential Medicaid Cuts Could Play Out in California
By Bernard J. Wolfson
As Donald Trump prepares to reenter the White House with a Republican-controlled Congress, health officials and community advocates in California worry that large-scale Medicaid cuts could be enacted as soon as next year. More than 60% of California’s $161 billion Medi-Cal budget comes from Washington.
Ballot Measure on New Medi-Cal Spending Has Broad Support, But Opponents Flag Pitfalls
By Bernard J. Wolfson
Proposition 35, which would use revenue from a tax on managed-care plans to raise the pay of health care providers who serve Medi-Cal patients, has united a broad swath of California’s health care, business, and political establishments. But a newly formed, smaller group of opponents says it will do more harm than good.
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.
