Disability Advocates Fight Assisted Suicide Measures
Disability rights advocates are speaking up in opposition to a bill currently being considered by California legislators that would allow terminally ill patients to get prescriptions to end their lives. Their opposition stems from worries that if it becomes law, depression and incorrect prognoses may lead people with serious disabilities to end their lives prematurely.
Advocates say the law has permitted homes to give anti-psychotic drugs, use restraints and withdraw treatment without allowing patients to object. But the industry warns the ruling will make it more challenging to provide routine care to such patients.
Getting A Medi-Cal Card Doesn’t Always Guarantee Health Care
The problems with managed care plans, documented in a recent state audit, stem from meteoric enrollment growth and lack of oversight, experts say.
For Doctors Who Take A Break From Practice, Coming Back Can Be Tough
A handful of programs around the country aim to ease physicians’ reentry into clinical practice, but they can take months and cost thousands of dollars.
Paramedics See Roles Expand – Minus The Lights And Sirens
In Reno and around the country, community paramedics are providing more primary and preventive care and taking nonemergency patients to facilities other than ERs.
California Sees Housing As Significant Investment In Health Care
The state is proposing to use federal Medicaid dollars to usher ill homeless people into housing, arguing the policy saves taxpayers money.
Newly Insured Californians Wary Of Costs But Embracing Coverage
Though many newly insured Californians say they have trouble paying premiums, they find care easier to access than the uninsured and are more confident in their ability to pay for it, according to a survey.
Paramedics Steer Non-Emergency Patients Away From ERs
In Reno and around the country, community paramedics are providing more care themselves and taking non- emergency patients to facilities other than emergency rooms.
With Specialists In Short Supply, L.A. County Turns To e-Consulting
Facing a shortfall of doctors — and a dearth of money — L.A. County, Calif., is using a web-based system called eConsult that allows primary care doctors and specialists to exchange patient medical records before sending them for referral appointments.
How One Hospital Brought Its C-Sections Down In A Hurry
Faced with the possible loss of an important insurer, a large Orange County, Calif., hospital rapidly reduced excessive cesarean section rates in part by sharing each physician’s rate with everyone in the obstetrics department.
When Depression And Cultural Expectations Collide
A teen from a Taiwanese immigrant family struggles with depression as her mother worries and tries to understand. Asian American families like this one often have trouble seeking and finding appropriate treatment.
Hoping To Live, These Doctors Want A Choice In How They Die
In a California lawsuit seeking to allow doctors to prescribe lethal medications at patients’ request, two plaintiffs are physicians with serious illnesses. Both want the option of choosing to end their lives.
Inviting Patients To Help Decide Their Own Treatment
At UC San Francisco and other hospitals and clinics around the nation, “shared decision making” programs encourage doctors and patients to work together in making tough choices about care.
Slightly More Latinos and African Americans Sign Up On California Exchange
About 37 percent of subsidized Covered California enrollees are Latino, up six points compared with last year, and about 4 percent are African American, up one point.
For Many Middle-Class Taxpayers On Obamacare, It’s Payback Time
Hundreds of thousands of people who received subsidies under the Affordable Care Act may have underestimated their incomes in 2014 – drawing more assistance than they were entitled to. Now many owe the government money.
Surprise! The Taco Truck Is On Your Diet
The lunch truck menu is known more for grease and starch than leafy greens. But researchers in Los Angeles County say adding more nutritious options to the menu is one step toward reducing obesity.
Low-Income Californians More Satisfied With Their Health Care, Report Finds
A 2014 survey finds low-income California residents are happier with the quality of care they received than in 2011, before many provisions of the Affordable Care Act took effect.
California Launches Campaign To Curb E-Cigarette Smoking
Though not as harmful as smoking regular cigarettes, ‘vaping’ is both toxic and gaining in popularity, especially among young people, California officials say.
Vice President Joe Biden Calls For Renewed Focus On Patient Safety
At an Irvine, Calif., conference, Vice President Joe Biden told hospital executives and other health care leaders that it’s time to “double down” on making patients safer in hospitals and reducing infections and readmissions.
Judge Orders California To Make Timely Decisions On Medicaid Coverage
A California judge has ruled that the state must make timely decisions on Medi-Cal applicants, and that those who have waited more than 45 days for approval from the state can get temporary coverage.
