Latest California Healthline Stories
How Much Will That Surgery Cost? đ€· Hospital Prices Remain Largely Unhelpful.
Health care price transparency is one of the few bipartisan issues in Washington, D.C. But much of the information that hospitals and health plans have made available to the public is not helpful to patients, and thereâs no conclusive evidence yet that itâs lowering costs or increasing competition.
Trump Says Heâll Stop Health Care Fraudsters. Last Time, He Let Them Walk.
In his first term, President Donald Trump granted pardons or clemency to more than 60 convicted fraudsters, including health care executives who defrauded Medicare out of hundreds of millions of dollars, courts and juries found. Now, Trump says cracking down on fraud is a priority.
Montanaâs Small Pharmacies Behind Bill To Corral Pharmacy Benefit Managers
A bill designed to force PBMs to pay higher fees to independent drugstores sailed through the state House, but lobbyists are marshaling their forces to kill the measure in the Senate.
âThey Wonât Help Meâ: Sickest Patients Face Insurance Denials Despite Policy Fixes
The fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson prompted both grief and public outrage about the ways insurers deny treatment. Republicans and Democrats agree prior authorization needs fixing, but patients are growing impatient.
Their Physical Therapy Coverage Ran Out Before They Could Walk Again
Health plans limit physical or occupational therapy sessions to as few as 20 a year, no matter the patientâs infirmities. The limits persist despite federal rules banning insurers from setting annual dollar limits on the care they will provide.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The Ax Falls at HHS
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced a proposed reorganization for the department â which, counting those who already have left the agency, amounts to about a 25% cut in its workforce. And its planned âAdministration for a Healthy Americaâ will collapse several existing HHS agencies into one. Meanwhile, the department continues to cut billions in health spending while the nation faces measles outbreaks in several states and the continuing possibility of another pandemic, such as bird flu. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join KFF Health Newsâ Julie Rovner to discuss the news.
Amid Plummeting Diversity at Medical Schools, a Warning of DEI Crackdownâs âChilling Effectâ
Enrollment of underrepresented groups at medical schools fell precipitously this academic year after the Supreme Courtâs 2023 ban on affirmative action. Education and health experts worry the Trump administrationâs anti-DEI measures will only worsen the situation, even in states like California that have navigated bans on race-conscious admissions for years.
Checking the Facts on Medicaid Use by Latinos
Republicansâ moves to scale back Medicaid are leading to more misinformation about immigrants, especially Latinos, circulating on social media platforms. The misconceptions include the myths that Latinos covered by Medicaid donât work and that they use Medicaid significantly more than others.
Scientist Whose Work Led FDA To Ban Food Dye Says Agency Overstated Risk
Almost 40 years ago, Joseph Borzelleca published a study on red dye No. 3, a petroleum-based food coloring. The FDA cited his work to ban the additive in January. But Borzelleca says itâs safe.
Progressives Seek Health Privacy Protections in California, But Newsom Could Balk
Democratic state lawmakers in California have proposed bills to protect women, transgender people, and immigrants in response to concerns that their health data could be used against them. If the measures reach his desk, Gov. Gavin Newsom could lay such legislation aside to focus on securing federal funds.