Latest California Healthline Stories
Last Thing Patients Need During Pandemic: Being Last to Know a Doctor Left Network
Health plan network changes occur all the time as doctors retire, relocate or leave networks. Unfortunately, patients may be the last to find out about such changes because there are often few requirements that either providers or insurers inform them.
With DACA Ruling, Did Supreme Court Grant Trump New Powers To Reshape Health Care?
There’s a theory now being embraced by President Donald Trump that the Supreme Court’s recent DACA decision makes it harder for a new president to undo the executive action of a predecessor. He cited it in a recent interview, saying that finding gave him the power to issue new health care and immigration plans. And some legal scholars disagree.
Another Problem on the Health Horizon: Medicare Is Running Out of Money
With millions out of work because of the coronavirus pandemic, fewer payroll taxes are coming in to help keep Medicare’s trust fund intact.
Administration Eases Rules to Give Laid-Off Workers More Time to Sign Up for COBRA
Under the federal COBRA law, people who lose health coverage because of a layoff or a reduction in their hours generally have 60 days to decide whether to pay to maintain that coverage. But under new regulations, the clock won’t start ticking until the government says the coronavirus national emergency is over, and then consumers will have 120 days to act.
For COVID Tests, the Question of Who Pays Comes Down to Interpretation
Additional guidance issued late last month by the Trump administration added to the confusion. Some consumers may find themselves unexpectedly on the hook for the cost of a test.
KHN’s Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber drills through the vital health care policy stories of the week, so you don’t have to.
Trump Administration’s Sudden Shift on COVID Data Leaves States in the Lurch
Missouri Hospital Association says the switch of data collection from the CDC to a new HHS contractor is “a major disruption.” In Kansas, the move likely will delay hospitalization data.
Azar Says Federal Law Had Preexisting Conditions Covered Before ACA. Not So Much.
This appears to be an overstatement.
Could Trump’s Push To Undo The ACA Cause Problems For COVID Survivors? Biden Thinks So.
The speech by the presumptive Democrat presidential nominee was delivered the same day the Trump administration reaffirmed its support of a lawsuit that would invalidate all of the Affordable Care Act, including the law’s preexisting condition protections.
COVID Catch-22: They Got A Big ER Bill Because Hospitals Couldn’t Test For Virus
Americans who had coronavirus symptoms in March and April are getting big hospital bills — because they were not sick enough to get then-scarce COVID tests. Some insurers say they are trying to correct these bills, but patients may have to put up a fight.