The Health Law

Latest California Healthline Stories

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ There’s A Really Big Health Bill In That Budget Deal

In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times discuss the health policy changes included in the just-concluded bipartisan budget deal on Capitol Hill. The panelists also talk about the final enrollment numbers for individual insurance purchased under the Affordable Care Act, and possible drug price proposals in President Donald Trump’s upcoming budget. Plus, Rovner interviews Andy Slavitt, who this week launched a health care advocacy group called “The United States of Care.”

Bipartisan Senate Budget Deal Boosts Health Programs

The agreement would add $2 billion to the National Institutes of Health and fund community health centers around the country. But it does not include provisions to help stabilize the federal health law’s marketplaces.

Despite Changes That Undercut ACA Enrollment, Marketplaces ‘Remarkably Stable’

A report issued by the National Academy for State Health Policy shows a small decrease in sign-ups last fall. California saw a 2.3 percent drop, and in general states running their own marketplaces did better than those that didn’t.

Community Health Centers Caught In ‘Washington’s Political Dysfunction’

Without action by Congress, federal funding for the centers will end March 31. California, with more than 1,300 centers providing care for 6.5 million people, will be hit hard if the money dries up. Nationwide, nearly 10,000 centers serve 27 million people and get about 20 percent of their funding from the federal government.