Latest California Healthline Stories
Fact Check: Who’s Right On Protections For Preexisting Conditions? It’s Complicated
Consumers favor ACA’s safeguards on the promise that patients who have health problems can get insurance. In the heat of the midterm campaigns, politicians in both parties agree, but their arguments don’t always add up.
No More Secrets: Congress Bans Pharmacist ‘Gag Orders’ On Drug Prices
Congress approved two bills last month that prohibit provisions keeping pharmacists from telling patients when they can save money by paying the cash price instead of the price negotiated by their insurance plan.
Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health articles from the week so you don’t have to.
Patient Advocacy Or Political Ploy? Union, Industry Square Off Over Dialysis Initiative
The measure, which will appear on the November ballot, seeks to cap industry profits. The SEIU-UHW union has raised almost $17 million, but opponents from the industry have invested more than four times that.
In The Battle To Control Drug Costs, Old Patent Laws Get New Life
Health insurers and pharmacy benefit managers are exploring how two legal provisions — which have been on the books for decades — could bring down the price tags of certain prescription medications.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Some Things Old, Some Things New
In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner discuss final action on bills in Congress to address the opioid epidemic and fund federal health agencies. They also look at new efforts by the Food and Drug Administration to crack down on teen nicotine use.
High-Deductible Health Plans Fall From Grace In Employer-Based Coverage
Once viewed as a promising cost-control tool, such insurance faces new competition on benefits menus from more traditional insurance. But, according to new research, none of those choices is getting less expensive.
Immigrants’ Health Premiums Far Exceed What Plans Pay For Their Care
Immigrants accounted for nearly 13 percent of premiums paid to private plans but only about 9 percent of insurers’ expenditures, according to a new study in Health Affairs. The cost of care for the group of native-born customers, however, exceeded their premiums. In California, per enrollee, immigrants contributed an average of $795 more to private insurance than what they spent.
Inmigrantes pagan mucho más en seguros de salud de lo que gastan en atención
Un estudio publicado halló que los inmigrantes con seguro de salud privados y sus empleadores contribuyeron con casi $25 mil millones más en primas en 2014 de lo que gastaron en atención médica.
California’s Newly Minted Health Care Laws: Doctor Misconduct, Drug Prices, Kids’ Meals And More
Gov. Jerry Brown approved numerous new health care laws addressing a broad range of issues, but he vetoed several bills, including one that would have allowed parents to administer medical marijuana to their children in school and another that would have made the abortion pill available at the student health centers of California’s public universities.