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Los Angeles County is deploying a small team of occupational therapists to help newly housed individuals adjust to life indoors. Therapists are trained to recognize disabilities and help with basic living skills, such as hygiene and cleanliness, that can help prevent clients from getting evicted or slipping back onto the streets.
Dozens of crisis counselors responded to a survey about their work experiences, painting a picture of uneven training, uncertainty about how long to stay on the line, and different policies on whether to inform a caller when police are on their way.
The suicide rate for Hispanics in the United States has increased significantly over the past decade. The reasons are varied, say community leaders and mental health experts, citing factors such as language barriers, poverty, and a lack of bilingual mental health professionals.
When bankers and investors flocked to San Francisco for the largest gathering of health care industry investors, the buzz was all about artificial intelligence, the next hit weight-loss drug, and new opportunities to make money through nonprofit hospitals.
California’s governor vetoed a bill extending insurance coverage for kids with hearing loss, but most states now require it.
Small, community hospitals face challenges in paying for the capital improvement projects they need to stay open.
In spite of labor concern about any rollback, Gov. Gavin Newsom is revisiting California’s planned $25 minimum wage for health workers less than three months after approving the measure despite an uncertain price tag. The projected $4 billion first-year cost forms part of the state’s estimated $38 billion deficit.
Abortion restrictions in 18 states have curtailed access to training in skills that doctors say are critical for OB-GYN specialists and others. A new California law makes it easier for out-of-state doctors to get experience in reproductive medicine.
The Biden administration is allowing states to use money from the insurance program for low-income and disabled residents to pay for gun violence prevention. California and six other states have approved such spending, with more expected to follow.
The Medical Board of California, which licenses MDs, is developing a program to evaluate, treat, and monitor doctors with alcohol and drug problems. But there is sharp disagreement over whether those who might volunteer for the program should be subject to public disclosure and over how much participants should pay.
Only a few states have rules to protect workers from the growing threat of extreme heat, either indoors or outdoors. California is expected to adopt heat standards for indoor workers in spring, even as federal legislation has stalled.
More than 1 million immigrants, most lacking permanent legal status, are covered by state health programs. Several states, including GOP-led Utah, will soon add or expand such coverage.
California’s Medicaid program is undergoing major changes that could improve health care for residents with low incomes. But they are happening at the same time as several other initiatives that could compete for staff attention and confuse enrollees.
Delaying cancer treatment can be deadly — which makes the roadblock-riddled process that health insurers use to approve or deny care particularly daunting for oncology patients.
Thousands of medical devices are sold, and even implanted, with no safety tests.
Stories of chronic pain, drug-hopping, and insurance meddling are all too common among patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Precision medicine offers new hope.
Doulas, independent workers who act as advocates for birthing parents, have been shown to help prevent pregnancy complications and improve the health of both mothers and babies. California’s Medicaid program started covering their services this year, but some doulas say bureaucratic obstacles and inadequate pay prevent their effective use.
As opioid settlement dollars land in government coffers, a swarm of businesses are positioning themselves to profit from the windfall. But will their potential gains come at the expense of the settlements’ intended purpose — to remediate the effects of the opioid epidemic?
In the new year, California’s Medicaid program will open to otherwise eligible immigrants ages 26 to 49 without legal residency. They will join children, young adults, and adults over 50 enrolled in Medi-Cal through previous expansions to residents lacking authorization. The change is expected to add over 700,000 first-time enrollees.
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