Latest California Healthline Stories
La Casa Blanca revela norma final sobre transparencia de precios en salud
La norma establece que, a partir de 2021, los hospitales deben publicar los precios de todos sus servicios en internet, para que los consumidores tengan información.
White House Unveils Finalized Health Care Price Transparency Rule
The final directive drew swift responses from the hospital and insurance industries. The Trump administration also released a proposed rule that would require health insurers to spell out for all services beforehand just how much patients may owe for their out-of-pocket costs.
‘An Arm And A Leg’: Mom Vs. Texas In A Fight To Get Kids’ Hearing Aids Covered
Health insurance in Texas didn’t cover hearing aids for kids — which can cost $6,000 and need to be replaced about every three years. So Stephanie Wittels Wachs teamed up with other moms to lobby the Texas legislature for change, and they won.
Dialysis Patients Panic As Financial ‘Life Raft’ Becomes Unmoored
An organization that helps nearly 4,000 California dialysis patients pay for their insurance is threatening to cut off aid in January because of a new law that is expected to reduce dialysis industry profits. Patients fear they won’t be able to afford their life-saving treatment.
Big picture remains hazy, but these numbers add up.
Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health care policy stories each week, so you don’t have to.
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Elections Matter
Key Democratic wins in 2019 state elections in Virginia and (probably) Kentucky could have big implications for health care in general and Medicaid in particular. And in the Democratic presidential primary, Elizabeth Warren is catching flak from all sides over her “Medicare For All” plan. This week, Joanne Kenen of Politico, Caitlin Owens of Axios and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, Rovner interviews KHN’s Laura Ungar, who wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month.” For “extra credit,” the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week.
The Air Ambulance Billed More Than His Surgeon Did For A Lung Transplant
After Tom Saputo underwent double lung transplant surgery in 2018, he was stunned by a surprise bill of more than $11,000 for the 27-mile air ambulance ride to the hospital. State and federal proposals would crack down on extreme air ambulance charges, including a new California law that will limit how much some patients pay for air ambulance rides.
Analysis: Elizabeth Warren Throws Down The Gauntlet
She has led the way, but all the candidates need to come clean about their health care proposals.
FDA Keeps Brand-Name Drugs On A Fast Path To Market ― Despite Manufacturing Concerns
The agency approved Gilead’s “game changer” hepatitis C cure, bypassing concerns raised by its own federal inspectors. The problems they found at the company’s main U.S. drug-testing laboratory in Foster City, Calif., were so bad, they recommended withholding approval.