Latest California Healthline Stories
An Anesthesiology Practice’s Busy Day in Court Collecting on Surprise Bills
Legislative crackdowns on out-of-network bills haven’t kept specialists from hitting patients with unexpected charges running into thousands of dollars.
Rural Communities Left Hurting Without a Hospital, Ambulance or Doctors Nearby
Rural areas such as Echols County, Georgia, have high levels of uninsured people and profound physician shortages that compound the lack of health care options, especially in the 12 states that have not expanded Medicaid.
Deep Roots Help This Chicago Pharmacist Avoid Creating Another Drugstore Desert
Predominantly Black and Hispanic urban areas are more likely than white neighborhoods to see local pharmacies close and are more likely to be pharmacy deserts. In Chicago, one pharmacist is bucking the trend, operating the drugstore his father opened in the 1960s in a Black neighborhood.
Nursing Homes Bleed Staff as Amazon Lures Low-Wage Workers With Prime Packages
Add nursing homes to the list of industries jolted by Amazon’s handsome hourly wages. Enticed by an average starting pay rate of $18 an hour and the potential for benefits and signing bonuses, low-wage workers are fleeing entry-level elder care for jobs packing boxes.
As Patients Fell Ill With Covid Inside Hospitals, Government Oversight Fell Short
A KHN investigation finds that hospitals with high rates of covid patients who didn’t have the diagnosis when they were admitted have rarely been held accountable due to multiple gaps in government oversight.
Watch: One City’s Effort to Raise Vaccination Rates Among Black Residents
In Hartford, Connecticut, public health leaders engage barbers and faith leaders to combat vaccine skepticism in the Black community.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Manchin Blows Up Biden’s ‘Build Back Better’
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) dealt a blow to congressional efforts to pass President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda bill, forcing Democrats to regroup starting in 2022. Meanwhile, the omicron covid variant spreads rapidly in the U.S., threatening the stability of the nation’s health care system. Joanne Kenen of Politico and the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Rachel Cohrs of Stat and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more, plus a look back at the year in health policy. Also this week, Rovner interviews Ceci Connolly, president and CEO of the Alliance of Community Health Plans.
New Parents Slapped With Surprise Bills for Treating Newborns
Regular use of a more advanced screening method turns a low-cost procedure into a pricier one.
‘An Arm and a Leg’: The Rapid-Test Edition: Who’s Making a Buck?
In this episode, host Dan Weissmann talks to reporters who investigated the shortage of tests and traced the U.S. rapid-testing problem back to government agencies.
Layers of Subcontracted Services Confuse and Frustrate Medi-Cal Patients
Many of the 14 million patients in Medi-Cal are in managed care health plans that outsource their care to subcontractors or sub-subcontractors. For patients with difficult health care needs, it can be hard to know where to turn.