Health Care Costs

Latest California Healthline Stories

Shift in Child Hospice Care Is a Lifeline for Parents Seeking a Measure of Comfort and Hope

Terminally ill children, unlike adults, can get hospice services while continuing to receive life-extending or curative care. More than a decade after the inception of the federal policy, it is widely credited with improving the quality of life for ailing children and their families, even as some parents find themselves in a painful stasis.

While Inflation Takes a Toll on Seniors, Billions of Dollars in Benefits Go Unused

With prices of necessities rising dramatically, many older Americans are having trouble making ends meet. They often don’t know that help is available from a variety of programs, and some sources of financial assistance are underused.

Medical Coding Creates Barriers to Care for Transgender Patients

The codes used by U.S. medical providers to bill insurers haven’t caught up to the needs of trans patients or even international standards. Consequently, doctors are forced to get creative with what codes they use, or patients spend hours fighting big out-of-pocket bills.