Latest California Healthline Stories
UnitedHealthcare To Exit All But ‘Handful’ Of Obamacare Markets In 2017
UnitedHealthcare said Tuesday it will leave most of the 34 states in which it offers health insurance under Obamacare, but Nevada and Virginia are two markets it will retain a presence. Company officials would not say if the changes would affect customers in California, but United had a small portion of the Covered California market.
Competition Suffers Most If UnitedHealth Exits Obamacare In 2017: Analysis
A Kaiser Family Foundation analysis released Monday, a day ahead of UnitedHealth’s expected announcement, finds 1.1 million consumers would have no choice in health insurance plans if the giant insurer drops out of Obamacare marketplaces as threatened.
Tainted Scope Infections Far Exceed Earlier Estimates
House panel concludes inquiry on superbug outbreaks; one member prepares legislation “to make sure these situations don’t happen again.”
A Dearth Of Hospital Beds For Patients In Psychiatric Crisis
A California Assembly bill would require creating a mandatory registry for available psychiatric hospital beds, but the state hospital association calls it unworkable.
A researcher and MinuteClinic executive discuss the conclusions in a recent study suggesting that the clinics actually add to outpatient costs.
Anthem-Cigna Merger Proposal Takes A Grilling
The state insurance commissioner and consumer advocates expressed skepticism at a hearing on the huge insurance deal.
Mortgages For Expensive Health Care? Some Experts Think It Can Work.
An MIT economist and Harvard oncologist propose offering loans to patients to cover the cost of expensive, curative drugs, financed by private sector investment in loan securities.
Big Insurance Deal Under Scrutiny in California
Anthem and Cigna must persuade insurance commissioner Dave Jones their proposed $54 billion mega-merger is a good thing.
Device Maker Olympus Hiked Prices For Scopes As Superbug Infections Spread
The device manufacturer had a close relationship with Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles — until its scopes were linked to infections and the company raised the price for new ones by 28 percent.
More Sickle Cell Patients Survive, But Care Is Hard To Find For Adults
For many years, most people with sickle cell died in childhood or adolescence, and the condition remained in the province of pediatrics. During the past two decades, advances in routine care have allowed many people to live into middle age and beyond, but barriers to care remain.