Latest California Healthline Stories
Biden’s First Order of Business May Be to Undo Trump’s Policies, but It Won’t Be Easy
President Donald Trump made substantial changes to the nation’s health care system using executive branch authority. But reversing policies that Democrats oppose would take time and personnel resources, competing with other priorities of the new administration.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Georgia Turns the Senate Blue
Democratic victories in two runoff elections in Georgia will give Democrats control of the Senate starting Jan. 20, which means they will be in charge of both houses of Congress and the White House for the first time since 2010. Meanwhile, covid continues to run rampant while vaccine distribution lags. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
Illinois Is First in the Nation to Extend Health Coverage to Undocumented Seniors
As the pandemic hits Latino communities especially hard, Illinois is expanding public health insurance to all low-income noncitizen seniors. Advocates hope other states follow its lead.
Illinois, primer estado en ofrecer cobertura médica a adultos mayores indocumentados
Se espera que la normativa cubra inicialmente de 4,200 a 4,600 inmigrantes mayores. Defensores esperan que Illinois inspire a otros estados.
‘An Arm and a Leg’: A Look Back at 2020 — What We Learned and Where We’re Headed
T.K. Dutes — a former nurse who is now a radio host and podcast-maker — interviewed ‘An Arm and a Leg’ host Dan Weissmann about what he learned in 2020, and what’s ahead for the show.
Hospital Prices Just Got a Lot More Transparent. What Does This Mean for You?
Under a rule that kicked in Jan. 1, hospitals are required to make public the prices they negotiate with insurers. That’s a lot more information than was previously required, which was only the posting of “chargemasters” — the hospital-generated list prices that few consumers or health plans actually pay.
Many Health Plans Must Now Cover Full Cost of Expensive HIV Prevention Drugs
Most private insurance will be required to cover drugs, like Truvada, that offer protection against HIV infection, without making plan members share the cost. California also mandates that some other services be covered without members picking up any of the tab, but only for people with certain types of insurance.
Retiree Living the RV Dream Fights $12,387 Nightmare Lab Fee
A gynecologist in Carlsbad, New Mexico, tested the 60-year-old grandmother for various sexually transmitted infections without her knowledge. Her share of the lab fee was more than $3,000.
Democrats Are Running Hard on Health Care in Georgia’s Senate Runoffs. Republicans? Not So Much.
Democrats are treating health care as a more critical issue than their Republican counterparts in Georgia’s two U.S. Senate runoffs. It’s a strategy they hope will woo independents and motivate base voters. The results will determine which party controls the chamber during the first years of the Biden administration.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: All I Want for Christmas Is a COVID Relief Bill
Congress seems on the verge of finishing a long-delayed COVID-19 relief bill, which will reportedly include neither of the things each party wanted most — for Republicans, liability protections; for Democrats, funding for states and localities. That bill is likely to be tied to a package to fund the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year and, possibly, include a fix for “surprise” medical bills that patients receive when they inadvertently receive care outside their insurance network. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call and Mary Agnes Carey of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner talks to Elizabeth Mitchell, president and CEO of the Pacific Business Group on Health, about the future of employer-provided health insurance.