Latest California Healthline Stories
California Aims to Maximize Health Insurance Subsidies for Workers During Labor Disputes
Workers who lose employer-based health coverage during a strike or lockout will have access to a full-subsidy plan through Covered California.
Patient Mistrust and Poor Access Hamper Federal Efforts to Overhaul Family Planning
For decades, many women of color, particularly those with low incomes, had little control over their family planning care. Now, a White House effort aims to give patients more choices as abortion care evaporates, but patients remain wary of providers.
Audits — Hidden Until Now — Reveal Millions in Medicare Advantage Overcharges
Taxpayers had to foot the bills for care that should have cost far less, according to records released after KHN filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act. The government may seek to recover up to $650 million as a result.
As STDs Proliferate, Companies Rush to Market At-Home Test Kits. But Are They Reliable?
The popularity of at-home covid tests has amplified calls from public health researchers and diagnostic companies to make home testing similarly routine for sexually transmitted diseases. But FDA guidelines are lagging.
Mistrust and Polarization Steer Rural Governments to Reject Federal Public Health Funding
As the covid-19 pandemic grinds on, Elko County, Nevada, still lacks a public health department. Yet its elected leaders rejected federal funds that could have helped it create one. Decisions like the one in Elko, and ones made by officials with other state and local governments, leave health experts concerned about whether the country’s public health infrastructure will be prepared to handle future health challenges.
Rob Bonta Investigates Hospital Algorithms for Racial Bias
Attorney General Rob Bonta handily won election on a progressive, social justice platform. He’s already begun with an inquiry into hospital software programs that might bake in racial discrimination.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Changing of the Guard
Democrats retained control of the U.S. Senate in the midterm elections, while Republicans won a majority in the House, giving them the ability to block items on President Joe Biden’s agenda. Meanwhile, the lame-duck, Democratic-led Congress won’t have the votes to pass abortion rights legislation, although they may try to undo some long-standing anti-abortion policies in federal spending bills. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Victoria Knight of Axios, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more.
How Banks and Private Equity Cash In When Patients Can’t Pay Their Medical Bills
Hospitals strike deals with financing companies, generating profits for lenders, and more debt for patients.
Fight Over Health Care Minimum Wage Yields a Split Decision in Southern California
Voters in Inglewood were poised to approve a union-backed $25 minimum wage for workers at private hospitals and facilities, while Duarte voters rejected it.
Patients Complain Some Obesity Care Startups Offer Pills, and Not Much Else
A new wave of obesity care startups offer access to new weight loss medications. But do they offer good health care?