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As California Attorney General Xavier Becerra cracks down on pharmaceutical companies he said paid competitors to delay generic versions of their drugs, he’s also pushing for legislation that would give his department tools to catch more of them. It’s the first of its kind in the nation.
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
California lawmakers on Wednesday pulled legislation that would have protected some patients from surprise medical bills for emergency care, citing opposition from hospitals. They vowed to resurrect the bill next year.
Enrollment among undocumented immigrant children in California’s Medicaid program started strong before stagnating and then falling. Although this decline is similar to an enrollment decline among all children in Medicaid nationwide, experts believe there are different reasons behind it.
A new law took effect Monday that requires anyone buying ammunition in California to undergo a background check at the time of each purchase. Public health leaders hope this, and other provisions of Proposition 63, will help reduce the rate of gun violence.
Although laws prohibit price gouging on precious resources in times of emergency, states have been forced to compete for a share of the nation’s stockpile of ventilators — used to treat the sickest COVID patients — or pay top dollar on sideline deals. With quality and quantity control lacking, what happens when the pandemic’s second wave hits?
California lawmakers spent big on Medi-Cal in the 2019-20 state budget, voting to cover more older residents and people with disabilities, restore benefits cut during the recession and open the program to eligible young adults who are in the country illegally.
As hospitals across the country are forced to delay or cancel certain medical procedures in response to the surge in patients with COVID-19, those hard choices are disrupting care for some people with serious illnesses.
Her doctor worried she had COVID-19 but couldn’t test her for it until she ruled out other things. That test cost a bundle.
Millions of Californians are vulnerable to hefty surprise medical bills from their trips to the emergency room. Now, state lawmakers are considering a measure to cap how much out-of-network hospitals can charge privately insured patients for emergency care, which could serve as a model for other states.
California officials announced a ban on chlorpyrifos, a widely used pesticide that has been linked to lower IQs, lower birth weights and other developmental issues in children, even as the federal government fights to protect it.
The pesticide chlorpyrifos has been linked to developmental problems in children. Some state and federal lawmakers want the chemical banned, but federal regulators are fighting to keep it on the market.
Premiums will grow by an average of 0.8% next year on the state health insurance exchange. Officials cite two new policies for the relatively low rate hike: a new state tax penalty on Californians who don’t have health insurance coupled with state-based tax credits to help enrollees afford their premiums, including middle-income people who make too much money to qualify for federal financial aid.
Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to help an estimated 850,000 Californians pay their health insurance premiums and would fund his plan with a tax penalty on people who don’t have coverage. If he succeeds, California would be the first state to subsidize middle-income people who make too much to qualify for federal financial aid.
California hospitals must comply with a new state law that requires them to try to find a safe place for homeless patients upon discharge. But hospitals say doing so isn’t as easy as calling a shelter and securing a cot.
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health care policy stories each week, so you don't have to.
An Oakland dental clinic has started screening its patients for depression, and referring them to a mental health counselor down the hall for immediate care if necessary. The program at Asian Health Services could be replicated elsewhere, and make help for mental health problems more accessible to hard-to-reach populations.
A New York City woman, worried that her sore throat might be strep, got swabbed at her doctor’s office. The sample was sent to an out-of-network lab for sophisticated DNA tests ― with a price tag similar to a new SUV.
Inspired by Los Angeles teachers, who were promised 300 more school nurses after striking last month, unions in Denver, Oakland, Calif., and beyond are demanding more school nurses or better compensation for them.
SmileDirectClub and similar startup companies say they provide these services at what can be thousands of dollars less than office-visit teeth straightening, but proof is lacking and patients can be left with no recourse if problems arise.
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