Daily Edition for Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Safety in extreme heat, mental health beds, measles, bird flu, drug overdoses, weight loss meds, Medicare Advantage, and more are in the news.
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 […]
Tribal Nations Invest Opioid Settlement Funds in Traditional Healing To Treat Addiction
By Aneri Pattani and Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez
Hundreds of Native American tribes are getting money from settlements with companies that made or sold prescription painkillers. Some are investing it in sweat lodges, statistical models, and insurance-billing staffers.
After a Child’s Death, California Weighs Rules for Phys Ed During Extreme Weather
By Samantha Young
A California lawmaker wants the state to craft guidelines for how and when schoolchildren can play or exercise during extreme weather, including heat waves. The bill comes after a 12-year-old boy died after a physical education instructor told him to run as the temperature topped 90 degrees.
Why One New York Health System Stopped Suing Its Patients
By Noam N. Levey
Most U.S. hospitals aggressively pursue patients for unpaid bills. One New York hospital system decided to work with them instead.
Daily Edition for Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Newsom’s budget plan, Medi-Cal makeover, UCLA protest, covid deaths at San Quentin, mental health beds, weight loss, and more are in the news.
Nursing Homes Wield Pandemic Immunity Laws To Duck Wrongful Death Suits
By Fred Schulte
More than 172,000 nursing home residents died of covid. In lawsuits, some families who lost loved ones say they were misled about safety measures or told that covid wasn’t a danger in their facilities.
Newsom’s $12 Billion Medicaid Makeover Banks on Nonprofits’ Buy-In
By Angela Hart
California’s Medicaid program is relying heavily on community groups to deliver new social services to vulnerable patients, such as security deposits for homeless people and air purifiers for asthma patients. But many of these nonprofits face staffing and billing challenges and haven’t been able to deliver services effectively.
Medicaid ‘Unwinding’ Decried as Biased Against Disabled People
By Daniel Chang
People with disabilities say they are abruptly losing their Medicaid home health benefits and are being advised incorrectly when they call state offices for more information. “Every day the anxiety builds,” one beneficiary told KFF Health News.
