Latest Morning Briefing Stories
Old Motels Get New Life Helping Homeless Heal
Using run-down motels to care for and temporarily house homeless people recently discharged from the hospital helps stabilize them inexpensively, preventing unnecessary and costly returns to ERs and hospitals.
‘Digital Health’ Not Just For Well-Heeled Fitness Fiends
A small group of advocates and entrepreneurs is using mobile phones and digital scales to make a difference in the health of poor people, too.
California Drug Price Measure Fiercely Opposed By Pharmaceutical Industry
Proposed legislation would require drugmakers to disclose and justify price hikes. The industry has taken to Facebook and Twitter, warning that the proposal could lead to medication shortages in some regions of the state.
A pioneering program in southern California provides ongoing care and housing to homeless people who are “super-utilizers” of hospital emergency rooms. The effort is reducing ER visits and saving a lot of money.
California Regulator Signs Off On $37 Billion Aetna-Humana Insurance Merger
Aetna to spend nearly $50 million on health initiatives, agrees to more rate review.
California Insurance Commissioner Urges Feds To Block $54 Billion Anthem-Cigna Deal
Commissioner Dave Jones says the deal would further reduce competition in the state’s health insurance market and harm consumers.
Report From Key Calif. Agency Raises Concerns About Proposal To Cut Drug Prices
Staff researchers at California’s largest public buyer of health benefits say the goal of reducing drug costs for the state is appealing but might not work in the real world.
As Hospital Chains Grow, So Do Their Prices For Care
The average patient stay costs $4,000 more at Sutter and Dignity hospitals than at other California medical centers, study shows.
Calif. Senate Nixes Bill Requiring Disclosures From Disciplined Doctors
The proposal would have required physicians and other medical clinicians to tell their patients if they were on probation for serious offenses.
Regulators Probing Whether Health Net Is Stiffing Drug Treatment Providers
Insurance officials in California have received widespread complaints that the insurer has not paid rehab centers for months, as the company sifts claims for fraud.
How And Where To Dump Your Leftover Drugs — Responsibly
With the nation’s opioid crisis worsening, officials want you to dispose of unwanted or expired prescription drugs. But finding a convenient take-back site requires time and patience.
Blue Shield ‘Lifts The Veil’ On Executive Pay
Consumer advocates say the nonprofit’s disclosures come too late for policy holders and the public.
Study Of Birth Defects, Folic Acid In Foods Finds More Questions Than Answers
But the authors caution against concluding that folic acid is ineffective.
Inspectors Find Calif. Hospital’s Pharmacy Posed Infection Risk
Thousands of patients at the San Diego-area hospital may have been exposed to infection last year because of unsanitary conditions in the compounding lab where IVs were mixed, officials found.
Obamacare Premiums In California May Rise 8 Percent Next Year, State Predicts
The projected increase in premiums is expected to draw national attention in an election year — especially from foes of the Affordable Care Act.
In June, California will become the fifth state to allow terminally ill patients to end their lives with prescriptions from their doctors, but getting those prescriptions will require serious effort.
Pregnant Women Dumped By Covered California Into Medi-Cal, Without Notice Or Consent
The problem won’t be fixed until September, though the state’s congressional delegation calls for quick action.
Counterfeit Opioid Poisonings Spread To Bay Area
Vomiting, breathing problems, lethargy, unconsciousness result from pirate pills laced with fentanyl.
Will Covered California Sell Health Coverage To The Undocumented?
California is inching closer to a first-in-the-nation request for a federal ruling that would allow the state’s Obamacare exchange to sell health plans to immigrants who are living in the country illegally.
Tainted Scope Infections Far Exceed Earlier Estimates
House panel concludes inquiry on superbug outbreaks; one member prepares legislation “to make sure these situations don’t happen again.”
