Layers of Subcontracted Services Confuse and Frustrate Medi-Cal Patients
Many of the 14 million patients in Medi-Cal are in managed care health plans that outsource their care to subcontractors or sub-subcontractors. For patients with difficult health care needs, it can be hard to know where to turn.
Covered California鈥檚 Insurance Deals Range From 鈥楴o-Brainer鈥 to Sticker Shock
Families of four with incomes of less than about $40,000 a year can pay no premiums and have low deductibles. For some others, health insurance in 2022 will cost more than in 2021 鈥 in some cases, significantly more.
Nueva ley de California facilita el proceso de ayuda para morir
Una modificaci贸n a la ley vigente reduce el tiempo entre las peticiones necesarias para obtener los medicamentos para terminar con la vida. Tambi茅n protege m谩s a los pacientes.
New California Law Eases Aid-in-Dying Process
Nearly 2,000 terminally ill Californians have used a 2015 law to end their lives with a doctor鈥檚 assistance. A revision of the law will make it easier to do so.
Tu gasto de bolsillo en atenci贸n m茅dica no debe ser un misterio
Una ley de California firmada por el gobernador Gavin Newsom en octubre puede ayudar a clasificar una mara帽a de facturas m茅dicas para entender qu茅 cubre el plan de salud y cu谩ndo comenzar谩 la cobertura.
Your Out-of-Pocket Health Care Costs Need Not Be a Mystery
A new California law requires health insurance companies to notify consumers how much remains on their deductibles and how close they are to their annual out-of-pocket spending limits.
California Law Aims to Strengthen Access to Mental Health Services
The law doesn鈥檛 take effect until July, but its passage should force insurers to expand their rosters of therapists. Here鈥檚 how you can challenge your health plan鈥檚 mental health services until then.
Atenci贸n primaria directa con un toque de Robin Hood
St. Luke’s Family Practice es una respuesta local a los problemas sist茅micos de la sanidad estadounidense, como el agotamiento de los m茅dicos, la insatisfacci贸n de los pacientes y el hecho de que millones de personas sigan careciendo de asistencia.聽
Direct Primary Care, With a Touch of Robin Hood
Some doctors, sick of mainstream health care鈥檚 red tape, are finding refuge in practices that combine concierge medicine with charity care.
Wildfire Smoke Is Here to Stay. Here鈥檚 How to Clean the Air Inside Your Home.
There are many ways to cleanse indoor air of dangerous smoke particles, which are particularly harmful to people with chronic respiratory and cardiac conditions. Some are expensive, but cheap alternatives exist.
California鈥檚 Reboot of Troubled Medi-Cal Puts Pressure on Health Plans
The nine commercial insurers in Medi-Cal must reapply by submitting bids for new contracts. The state hopes the process will improve care for low-income residents and tighten accountability, something critics say has been missing.
Leader of California鈥檚 Muscular Obamacare Exchange to Step Down
Peter Lee helped create Covered California, which has been lauded as a national example among the Affordable Care Act鈥檚 insurance marketplaces, and he fiercely opposed Republican efforts to repeal the federal health reform law.
Providence-KP Team Up to Attract Patients in California鈥檚 Growing High Desert Region
Providence, the country鈥檚 10th-biggest hospital chain, says it鈥檚 too expensive to upgrade an older hospital, so it will join forces with giant Kaiser Permanente to build a new one.
Effort to Decipher Hospital Prices Yields Key Finding: Don鈥檛 Try It at Home
Your dutiful columnist tried to make use of a federal 鈥渢ransparency鈥 rule to compare the prices of common medical procedures in two California health care systems. It was a futile exercise.
Being Vaccinated Doesn鈥檛 Mean You Must Go Maskless. Here鈥檚 Why.
It won鈥檛 hurt to remain cautious, even as California reopens for business in response to mass vaccinations and diminishing cases of covid.
Can a Subscription Model Fix Primary Care in the US?
Medical subscriptions, a $199 million CEO payday and the race to fix primary care in the U.S. One Medical is betting big that a subscription model can fix primary care. But the firm faces competition from CVS, Target and large hospital systems.
Covered California dice que el seguro de salud se ha vuelto demasiado barato como para ignorarlo
Una nueva ley federal podr铆a hacer que sea mucho m谩s barato comprar tu propio seguro si no tienes cobertura a trav茅s de un empleador o un programa del gobierno como Medicare o Medicaid.
Covered California Says Health Insurance Just Got Too Cheap to Ignore
Californians who passed up health coverage in the past may be pleasantly surprised by the lower prices available thanks to the new federal relief act.
Some County Jail Inmates See Vaccination as Ticket to a Better Life 鈥 In the State Pen
In the Los Angeles County Jail system, many inmates hope being vaccinated will get them transferred more quickly to state prison. Some just want to protect themselves against covid, while others are distrustful and refuse vaccination.
Orange County Hospital Seeks Divorce From Large Catholic Health System
Frustration with the standardization of care across 51 hospitals, loss of local control and restrictions on reproductive health care have pitted Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian against the Providence chain.
