Health Care Coalition Jockeys Over Medi-Cal Spending, Eyes Ballot Initiative
By Angela Hart and Samantha Young
May 31, 2023
KFF Health News Original
California Healthline has learned that a coalition of doctors, hospitals, insurers, and community clinics want to lock in a tax on health insurance companies to draw in extra Medicaid funding. It also wants to make the tax permanent.
California Hospitals Seek a Broad Bailout, but They Don’t All Need It
By Samantha Young and Angela Hart
May 25, 2023
KFF Health News Original
As hospitals squeeze Democratic leaders in Sacramento for more money, health care finance experts and former state officials warn against falling for the industry’s fear tactics. They point to healthy profits and a recession-era financing scheme that allows rich hospitals to take tax money from poorer ones.
California Handed Its Medicaid Drug Program to One Company. Then Came a Corporate Takeover.
By Samantha Young
April 8, 2022
KFF Health News Original
The company awarded the state’s Medi-Cal Rx contract was taken over by another company, Centene. That left the state with a contractor it didn’t pick — one that has been accused of overbilling nine other state Medicaid programs and is now under investigation by California.
Changes to Medi-Cal’s Troubled Drug Program Reduce Backlog in California, but Problems Persist
By Samantha Young
February 24, 2022
KFF Health News Original
After a troubled start to the new Medi-Cal prescription drug program, the state’s contractor has hired staffers to reduce wait times for medication approvals and patients seeking help. But some doctors and clinics report that patients continue to face delays.
‘Somebody Is Gonna Die’: Medi-Cal Patients Struggle to Fill Prescriptions
By Samantha Young
February 9, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Problems with California’s new Medicaid prescription drug program are preventing thousands of patients from getting their medications, including some life-saving ones. State officials say they’re working on fixes.
California Attorney General Sues Drugmakers Over Inflated Insulin Prices
By Angela Hart and Samantha Young
January 12, 2023
KFF Health News Original
California Attorney General Rob Bonta is taking three major drugmakers and three distributors to court, alleging the companies illegally raised prices at the expense of diabetes patients.
Fiscal general de California demanda a farmacéuticas por “inflar” los precios de la insulina
By Angela Hart and Samantha Young
January 12, 2023
KFF Health News Original
En la demanda, Rob Bonta argumentó que los precios se han disparado y que algunos pacientes se han visto obligados a racionar sus medicamentos o renunciar por completo a comprar insulina.
California Ballot Will Be Heavy on Health Care
By Samantha Young
January 7, 2022
KFF Health News Original
In the Nov. 8 general election, California voters will consider overturning the state’s flavored tobacco ban and hiking medical malpractice awards. Other proposals to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms, target dialysis clinics and boost public health funding could also be on the ballot, along with a plan to limit business and school closures during public health emergencies.
Clinics Say State’s New Medicaid Drug Program Will Force Them to Cut Services
By Samantha Young
January 10, 2022
KFF Health News Original
On Jan. 1, California started buying prescription drugs for its nearly 14 million Medicaid enrollees, a responsibility that had primarily been held by managed-care insurance plans. State officials estimate California will save hundreds of millions of dollars by flexing its purchasing power, but some health clinics expect to lose money.
After ‘Truly Appalling’ Death Toll in Nursing Homes, California Rethinks Their Funding
By Samantha Young
December 16, 2021
KFF Health News Original
California wants to hold nursing homes accountable for the quality of care they provide by tying Medicaid funding more directly to performance. But the nursing home industry, an influential player in the Capitol, is gearing up for a fight.
Centene Agrees to Pay Massachusetts $14 Million Over Medicaid Prescription Claims
By Andy Miller and Samantha Young
September 29, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Massachusetts is the latest state to settle with St. Louis-based Centene Corp. over allegations that it overcharged Medicaid prescription drug programs.
As Foundation for ‘Excited Delirium’ Diagnosis Cracks, Fallout Spreads
By Renuka Rayasam and Markian Hawryluk and Samantha Young
December 13, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Major policy changes and disavowals have made this a watershed year for curbing the use of the discredited “excited delirium” diagnosis to explain deaths in police custody. Now the ripple effects are spreading across the country into court cases, state legislation, and police training classes.
Centene to Pay $166 Million to Texas in Medicaid Drug Pricing Settlement
By Andy Miller and Samantha Young
September 19, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Texas is at least the 12th state to settle with St. Louis-based Centene Corp. over allegations that it overcharged Medicaid prescription drug programs.
Decisión de Eli Lilly de bajar el precio de su insulina logrará cambios históricos en los costos
By Bram Sable-Smith and Samantha Young
March 2, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Expertos en precios de medicamentos celebraron la noticia de Eli Lilly y otros esfuerzos. Y estas otras iniciativas para llevar al mercado insulina de menor costo, a su vez, presionarían a Eli Lilly para que mantuviera sus precios bajos.
Eli Lilly Slashed Insulin Prices. This Starts a Race to the Bottom.
By Bram Sable-Smith and Samantha Young
March 2, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Eli Lilly’s news that it plans to cut insulin costs for patients will help, not hinder, the recent efforts in California and by entrepreneurs such as Mark Cuban to offer lower-cost alternatives, drug pricing experts said.
California’s Resolve Questioned After It Grants Medi-Cal Contract Concessions
By Bernard J. Wolfson and Samantha Young
January 27, 2023
KFF Health News Original
After the Department of Health Care Services canceled Medi-Cal contract awards under pressure from major insurers, some consumer advocates question the administration’s willpower to improve care in the safety-net program.
California Moves on Climate Change, but Rejects Aggressive Cuts to Greenhouse Emissions
By Samantha Young
September 23, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Drought, wildfires, extreme heat: California lawmakers cast climate change as the culprit in an emerging series of public health threats, setting aside billions to help communities respond. But they stopped short of more aggressively reducing the state’s share of the greenhouse emissions warming the planet.
Journalists Dish on Vaccination Loopholes and Alliances
March 27, 2021
KFF Health News Original
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
California Wants to Slash Insulin Prices by Becoming a Drugmaker. Can It Succeed?
By Angela Hart
June 7, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed spending $100 million to make insulin affordable to millions of people with diabetes under a new state generic drug label, CalRx. But state officials haven’t said how much the insulin will cost patients or how the state will deal with distribution and other challenges.
Facing Recall, Newsom Draws Support From Health Care Allies
By Samantha Young
July 30, 2021
KFF Health News Original
California Gov. Gavin Newsom faces a recall election in September, fueled in part by anger over his pandemic policies. The health care industry has ponied up more than $4.8 million so far to defend the first-term Democrat.