Latest California Healthline Stories
Unemployed Californians Dig Deeper as COBRA Subsidies Expire
The federal stimulus package included money to help newly unemployed pay for health insurance, but those subsidies are coming to an end. Health advocates say uninsured ranks will grow if subsidies aren’t renewed.
Stimulus Health Care Provisions Move From Planning to Doing
Closing in on the first full year of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, some health care provisions in the federal stimulus package are approaching critical junctures as federal agencies begin moving from the planning stages to implementation.
Senate Bill Could Dilute Consumer Protections by Creating Interstate Market for Health Plans
Jerry Flanagan of Consumer Watchdog, Nadereh Pourat of UCLA, J.P. Wieske of the Council for Affordable Health Insurance and Mike Larsen, a spokesperson for Rep. Jackie Speier, spoke with California Healthline about the proposal.
California’s Safety Net Health Centers Seeing More Low-Income Patients, Less State Funding
Carmela Castellano-Garcia of CPCA, Melissa Stafford Jones of CAPH and William Walker of Contra Costa Health Services spoke with California Healthline about growing strain on the state’s safety net health care system.
HHS Issues Rule Aligning HITECH Privacy Language With HIPAA
Hoping to beef up its enforcement of already-existing privacy laws covering health information, the federal government published a rule that aligns HIPAA provisions with new, more stringent regulations in the federal stimulus package.
New Grants Aim To Help California Scientists Leverage Stem Cells for Medical Research
Donald Kohn of UCLA’s Human Gene Medicine Program, Bettina Steffen of CIRM and Irving Weissman of Stanford University’s stem cell biology institute spoke with California Healthline about the recent research grants.
Reform Could Shift Medicare Money Away From California
Realigning regional spending on Medicare could help pay for national health reform by saving $1.42 trillion over the next 15 years, but some parts of the country — including California — stand to pay a higher Medicare toll for reform than others.
School-Based Telehealth in Line for Double-Barreled Boost
A new report detailing the potential of school-based telehealth services arrives as those services move into position for an extra boost from broadband expansion plans in the federal stimulus package and new funding in national health reform legislation.
Non-Native English Speakers Face Numerous Linguistic, Cultural Barriers to Medical Care
Mary Masland of UC-Berkeley, Rachel Mutrux of the Missouri Telehealth Network, Margaret O’Kane of NCQA and Gayle Tang of Kaiser Permanente discussed intercultural communication challenges with California Healthline.
Recent Injunction Blocking In-Home Care Cuts Highlights Impact of Reducing Safety-Net Care
Melinda Bird of Disability Rights California, Laura Dunn of UC-San Francisco and Joseph Hafkenschiel of the California Association for Health Services at Home spoke with California Healthline about the recent ruling.