Wildfire Smoke Is Here to Stay. Here’s How to Clean the Air Inside Your Home.
By Bernard J. Wolfson
There are many ways to cleanse indoor air of dangerous smoke particles, which are particularly harmful to people with chronic respiratory and cardiac conditions. Some are expensive, but cheap alternatives exist.
California abre el Medi-Cal a adultos mayores indocumentados
By Bernard J. Wolfson
Photos by Heidi de Marco
El estado vuelve a ser pionero en su esfuerzo porque todos tengan seguro de salud, más allá de su estatus migratorio.
Providence-KP Team Up to Attract Patients in California’s Growing High Desert Region
By Bernard J. Wolfson
Providence, the country’s 10th-biggest hospital chain, says it’s too expensive to upgrade an older hospital, so it will join forces with giant Kaiser Permanente to build a new one.
Effort to Decipher Hospital Prices Yields Key Finding: Don’t Try It at Home
By Bernard J. Wolfson
Your dutiful columnist tried to make use of a federal “transparency” rule to compare the prices of common medical procedures in two California health care systems. It was a futile exercise.
KHN on the Air This Week
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
State Inks Sweetheart Deal With Kaiser Permanente, Jeopardizing Medicaid Reforms
By Bernard J. Wolfson and Angela Hart and Samantha Young
The backroom deal with politically connected Kaiser Permanente, which infuriated other Medi-Cal health plans, allows the health care giant to continue selecting the enrollees it wants.
Being Vaccinated Doesn’t Mean You Must Go Maskless. Here’s Why.
By Bernard J. Wolfson
It won’t hurt to remain cautious, even as California reopens for business in response to mass vaccinations and diminishing cases of covid.
Can a Subscription Model Fix Primary Care in the US?
By Bernard J. Wolfson
Medical subscriptions, a $199 million CEO payday and the race to fix primary care in the U.S. One Medical is betting big that a subscription model can fix primary care. But the firm faces competition from CVS, Target and large hospital systems.
Leader of California’s Muscular Obamacare Exchange to Step Down
By Bernard J. Wolfson and Angela Hart
Peter Lee helped create Covered California, which has been lauded as a national example among the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplaces, and he fiercely opposed Republican efforts to repeal the federal health reform law.
New California Law Makes It Easier to Get Care for Mental Health and Substance Abuse
By Bernard J. Wolfson
The measure, which took effect Jan. 1, removes loopholes that made it easy for insurers to use arcane company guidelines to avoid paying for care. Patients now have an easier way to challenge those denials.
