Health Care Costs

Latest California Healthline Stories

Bruising Labor Battles Put Kaiser Permanente’s Reputation On The Line

Kaiser Permanente just avoided a nationwide strike by thousands of workers, but now faces a new strike threat Monday. The labor battles are exposing the health care giant to scrutiny from lawmakers, health care advocates and others who accuse it of no longer living up to its nonprofit ideals.

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.

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.

KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Spooky Stuff

If it’s Halloween, that means open enrollment for plans on the Affordable Care Act exchanges is right around the corner. Prices are down this year, but the future of the health law remains in doubt due to a lawsuit seeking to have the entire measure thrown out. This week, Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal, Mary Agnes Carey of Kaiser Health News and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, the panelists read the top entries in KHN’s Halloween Health Haiku Contest.