Health Care Costs

Latest California Healthline Stories

A New RSV Shot Could Help Protect Babies This Winter — If They Can Get It in Time

Supply problems, a high price tag, and bureaucratic obstacles are slowing the distribution of a therapy that can protect infants from the respiratory syncytial virus. That will leave them unnecessarily at risk of hospitalization this winter, pediatricians fear.

An Arm and a Leg: ‘Your Money or Your Life’: This Doctor Wrote the Book on Medical Debt

What happens when you can’t afford the health care you need? On this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” hear from emergency medicine physician and historian Luke Messac about the history of medical debt collection in the United States.

US to Cover HIV Prevention Drugs for Older Americans to Stem Spread of the Virus

The government has proposed that Medicare fully cover preexposure prophylaxis drugs that prevent HIV, a change that could help America catch up with nations in Europe and Africa that are on track to end new infections decades before the U.S. under its current approach.

Children Who Survive Shootings Endure Huge Health Obstacles and Costs

A new study finds that young people who have been injured by firearms are more prone to psychiatric diagnoses and developing a substance use disorder than kids who have not been shot — and their families also suffer long-term ill effects.

Medicare Expands the Roster of Available Mental Health Professionals

Medicare is expanding access to mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists come Jan. 1. But the belief that seniors who suffer from mental health problems should just grin and bear it remains a troubling barrier to care.

Medicare amplía su lista de profesionales de salud mental 

Los prejuicios sobre las afecciones mentales y la discriminación por edad hacen que algunos profesionales no tomen en serio el sufrimiento de las personas mayores, profundizando las barreras de acceso a la atención.