Health Industry

Latest California Healthline Stories

Listen: Valley Fever, Health Worker Pay, and Ambulance Rides

California Healthline journalists report on the intersection between drought and valley fever, a union’s campaign to boost the minimum wage for some health care workers, and an ambulance company’s decision to stop providing some nonemergency services.

Despite Katie Couric’s Advice, Doctors Say Ultrasound Breast Exams May Not Be Needed

When Katie Couric announced she had breast cancer, she urged women to get a mammogram — and, if they have dense breasts, to get supplemental screening by ultrasound. But medical experts point out that ultrasound and other auxiliary screenings haven’t been proven to do more than regular mammography in reducing mortality.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Voters Will Get Their Say on Multiple Health Issues

Abortion isn’t the only health issue voters will be asked to decide in state ballot questions next month. Proposals about medical debt, Medicaid expansion, and whether health care should be a right are on ballots in various states. Meanwhile, the latest lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act has expanded to cover all preventive care. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Victoria Knight of Axios join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more.

Ambulance Company to Halt Some Rides in Southern Calif., Citing Low Medicaid Rates

American Medical Response, the largest U.S. ambulance company, is ending nonemergency transportation for 12 hospitals in Los Angeles and Orange counties, saying the state doesn’t pay enough to transport low-income patients. The state is pushing back.