Latest California Healthline Stories
As Workers Struggle With Pandemic’s Impact, Employers Expand Mental Health Benefits
Many job-based health plans broadened their mental health and substance use coverage to make sure workers had the support they needed this year as pandemic stress lingered, the annual KFF survey finds. Also, the proportion of employers offering health insurance to their workers remained steady, and increases for premiums and out-of-pocket health expenses were moderate.
Medicare’s Open Enrollment Is Open Season for Scammers
Medicare officials say complaints are rising from seniors lured into private plans with misleading information or enrolled without their consent. In response, officials have threatened to penalize the private companies selling Medicare Advantage and drug plans if they or agents working on their behalf mislead consumers.
Medicare Enrollment Blitz Doesn’t Include Options to Move Into Medigap
TV ads and mailings targeting seniors tout Medicare Advantage plans this time of year, but millions choosing traditional Medicare make a costly and difficult decision about Medigap coverage, which gets much less attention.
La catarata de información sobre la inscripción a Medicare no explica bien las opciones de Medigap
En parte porque las políticas sobre el acceso y los costos de Medigap cambian dependiendo del estado, o por la información confusa, muchos beneficiarios no eligen lo que más les conviene.
Democrats Plan to Expand Medicare Hearing Benefits. What Can Consumers Expect?
KHN answers questions for seniors about how this new benefit might work.
Investigaciones han demostrado que la pérdida de la audición puede socavar la calidad de vida de las personas mayores, lo que conduce a la soledad, el aislamiento, la depresión, y trastornos de la comunicación.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Compromise Is Coming — Maybe
Democratic negotiators on Capitol Hill appear to be nearing a compromise on President Joe Biden’s social spending agenda, spurred partly by Democratic losses on Election Day in Virginia. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court hints it might allow abortion providers to sue Texas over its restrictive new ban. But the relief, if it comes, could be short-lived if the court uses a second case, challenging a law in Mississippi, to weaken or overturn Roe v. Wade. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN’s Rae Ellen Bichell, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about an emergency bill for a nonemergency birth.
New Health Plans Offer Twists on Existing Options, With a Dose of ‘Buyer Beware’
Fueled by consumer frustration with high premiums and deductibles, two new offerings promise a means for consumers to take control of their health care costs. But experts say they pose risks.
Uninsured in South Would Win Big in Democrats’ Plan, but Hospitals Fear Funding Loss
The latest iteration of President Joe Biden’s social-spending package would close the health insurance gap for at least 2.2 million people, making a huge difference especially in the South, where political opposition has blocked Medicaid expansion.
‘An Arm and a Leg’: Need Surgery to Save Your Life? Tips for Getting Insurance to Pay
Laurie Todd calls herself the “Insurance Warrior” and is sharing her strategies for getting health insurance companies to bend to her will.