Cost and Quality

Latest California Healthline Stories

Buy and Bust: When Private Equity Comes for Rural Hospitals

Noble Health swept into two small Missouri towns promising to save their hospitals. Instead, workers and vendors say it stopped paying bills and government inspectors found it put patients at risk. Within two years — after taking millions in federal covid relief and big administrative fees — it locked the doors.

Covid Funding Pries Open a Door to Improving Air Quality in Schools

Researchers say the billions in pandemic funding available for ventilation upgrades in U.S. schools provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to combat covid-19, as well as making air more breathable for students living with allergies, asthma, and chronic wildfire smoke.

Children’s Vision Problems Often Go Undetected, Despite Calls for Regular Screening

Eye exams for children are required under federal law to be covered by most private health plans and Medicaid, and many states mandate school vision screenings. But a federal survey finds that a quarter of children and teens are still not getting the recommended tests.

Why So Slow? Legislators Take on Insurers’ Delays in Approving Prescribed Treatments

Insurers say prior authorization requirements are intended to reduce wasteful and inappropriate health care spending. But they can baffle patients waiting for approval. And doctors say that insurers have yet to follow through on commitments to improve the process.