Angela Hart

California鈥檚 $12 Billion Medicaid Makeover Banks on Nonprofits鈥 Buy-In

蘑菇影院 Health News Original

California鈥檚 Medicaid program is relying heavily on community groups to deliver new social services to vulnerable patients, such as security deposits for homeless people and air purifiers for asthma patients. But many of these nonprofits face staffing and billing challenges and haven鈥檛 been able to deliver services effectively.

California Voters Are Skeptical That More Money Is the Answer to Homelessness

蘑菇影院 Health News Original

California Gov. Gavin Newsom鈥檚 signature ballot measure to address mental illness, addiction, and homelessness with a $6.4 billion bond and other reforms, is barely ahead in the ongoing ballot count. The slim margin reflects a growing unease among Californians over the governor鈥檚 homelessness initiatives.

Newsom鈥檚 $6.4 Billion Homelessness Gambit Hangs by a Thread

蘑菇影院 Health News Original

California Gov. Gavin Newsom鈥檚 ambitious attempt to combat the mental health and addiction epidemic in his state is leading by a razor-thin margin, calling into question whether voters trust him to confront the state鈥檚 growing homelessness crisis. Newsom asked voters on Tuesday to approve his $6.4 billion bond measure, dubbed 鈥淭reatment not Tents鈥 鈥 the […]

The Supreme Court Confronts a Public Health Challenge: Homeless Encampments

蘑菇影院 Health News Original

Homelessness is a soaring public health crisis, with a record 653,000 unhoused people in the United States, according to federal estimates. Tent and recreational vehicle encampments have exploded in recent years, crowding streets and sidewalks from Portland, Ore., to New York. In California, where roughly a third of all the nation鈥檚 homeless people live, doctors […]

California Gov. Newsom Wants Voters to Approve Billions More to Help the Homeless. Will It Help?

蘑菇影院 Health News Original

A March 5 ballot initiative seeks $6.4 billion to build thousands of new housing units and provide mental health treatment for homeless people 鈥 on top of the billions already being spent to address the public health crisis. Despite significant support from health and law enforcement officials, many front-line workers are skeptical that more money is the answer.

Is Housing Health Care? State Medicaid Programs Increasingly Say 鈥榊es鈥

蘑菇影院 Health News Original

States are using their Medicaid programs to offer poor and sick people housing services, such as paying six months鈥 rent or helping hunt for apartments. The trend comes in response to a growing homelessness epidemic, but experts caution this may not be the best use of limited health care money.

Desantis, Newsom to Tangle Over Hot-Button Health Issues

蘑菇影院 Health News Original

Florida鈥檚 Republican presidential hopeful, Ron DeSantis,and Democratic firebrand Gavin Newsom of California square off today in a contest of governors that can best be described as the debate to determine 驴qui茅n es m谩s macho? 鈥 who is more manly 鈥 about protecting your freedoms.  Both men have led their respective states since 2019, and they鈥檝e […]

Health Care Is Front and Center as DeSantis and Newsom Go Mano a Mano

蘑菇影院 Health News Original

Florida鈥檚 Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and California鈥檚 Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom will square off in a first-of-its-kind debate on Nov. 30. 蘑菇影院 Health News compared the political rivals鈥 health care positions, showing how their policies have helped 鈥 or hindered 鈥 the health of their states鈥 residents.

Street Medicine Practitioners Are Getting Paid. Now They Want Higher Rates.

蘑菇影院 Health News Original

Street medicine, the practice of caring for homeless people outdoors, is a burgeoning field 鈥 an unfortunate reality as America confronts a growing homelessness epidemic. But it鈥檚 at least become a little more rewarding after the Biden administration made an under-the-radar yet revolutionary change to Medicaid. Starting this month, doctors, nurses and other providers can bill […]

Health Care 鈥楪ame-Changer鈥? Feds Boost Care for Homeless Americans

蘑菇影院 Health News Original

This month, the federal government started paying for treatments delivered outside hospitals and clinics, expanding funding for 鈥渟treet medicine鈥 teams that treat homeless patients. California led the way on the change, which could help sick and vulnerable patients get healthy, sober, and, in some cases, into housing.

Pregnant and Addicted: Homeless Women See Hope in Street Medicine

蘑菇影院 Health News Original

As homelessness explodes across California, so does the number of expectant mothers on the streets. Street medicine doctors are getting paid more by Medicaid and offering some of those mothers-to-be a chance to overcome addiction and reverse chronic diseases so they can have healthy babies 鈥 and perhaps keep them.

Covered California to Cut Patient Costs After Democratic Lawmakers Win Funding From Gov. Newsom

蘑菇影院 Health News Original

California鈥檚 health insurance exchange will reduce how much some patients pay for care next year, including hospital deductibles, appointment copays, and prescription drugs. Lawmakers pressed Gov. Gavin Newsom to make good on a four-year-old pledge to use proceeds from a tax penalty on uninsured people to help people pay for treatment.

Industry Groups in California Vie for New Medicaid Money

蘑菇影院 Health News Original

State officials have promised to boost funding for California鈥檚 Medicaid program by $11.1 billion starting next year, with most of that money earmarked for higher payments to doctors, hospitals, and other providers. But the details have yet to be worked out, and powerful health industry groups are jockeying for position.