Latest California Healthline Stories
Cancer Patients Face Frightening Delays in Treatment Approvals
Delaying cancer treatment can be deadly — which makes the roadblock-riddled process that health insurers use to approve or deny care particularly daunting for oncology patients.
Bold Changes Are in Store for Medi-Cal in 2024, but Will Patients Benefit?
California’s Medicaid program is undergoing major changes that could improve health care for residents with low incomes. But they are happening at the same time as several other initiatives that could compete for staff attention and confuse enrollees.
‘AGGA’ Inventor Testifies His Dental Device Was Not Meant for TMJ or Sleep Apnea
The FDA and Department of Justice are investigating the Anterior Growth Guidance Appliance, or “AGGA.” TMJ and sleep apnea patients have filed lawsuits alleging the device harmed them. Its inventor now says the AGGA was never meant for these ailments.
Se avecinan cambios para Medi-Cal en 2024, pero ¿beneficiarán a los pacientes?
A partir del próximo año, más de 700,000 inmigrantes sin papeles serán elegibles para una cobertura completa de Medi-Cal.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': 2023 Is a Wrap
2023 was another busy year in health care. As the covid-19 pandemic waned, policymakers looked anew at long-standing obstacles to obtaining and paying for care in the nation’s health care system. Meanwhile, abortion has continued to be an issue in much of the nation, as states respond to the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning the constitutional right to the procedure. This week, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and wrap up the year in health. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Jordan Rau about his joint KFF Health News-New York Times series “Dying Broke.”
Inside the Pentagon’s Painfully Slow Effort to Clean Up Decades of PFAS Contamination
Cost estimates balloon and complications mount as the Defense Department grapples with PFAS pollution at hundreds of its bases and surrounding communities.
The Year in Opioid Settlements: 5 Things You Need to Know
In the past year, opioid settlement money has gone from an emerging funding stream for which people had lofty but uncertain aspirations to a coveted pot of billions being invested in remediation efforts. Here are some important and evolving factors to watch going forward.
Deep Flaws in FDA Oversight of Medical Devices, and Patient Harm, Exposed in Lawsuits and Records
Thousands of medical devices are sold, and even implanted, with no safety tests.
‘I Am Just Waiting to Die’: Social Security Clawbacks Drive Some Into Homelessness
The Social Security Administration is reclaiming billions of dollars in alleged overpayments from some of the nation’s poorest and most vulnerable, leaving some people homeless or struggling to stay in housing, beneficiaries and advocates say.
A New Test Could Save Arthritis Patients Time, Money, and Pain. But Will It Be Used?
Stories of chronic pain, drug-hopping, and insurance meddling are all too common among patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Precision medicine offers new hope.