California Exchange Targets ‘Hot Spots’ With High Rates Of Uninsured

KFF Health News Original

Tuesday is the deadline to sign up for health coverage that begins in January, so Covered California is boosting enrollment efforts in certain underserved communities.

California To Revamp Addiction Treatment For Medicaid Recipients

KFF Health News Original

Through what’s known as a drug waiver, state officials will have new spending flexibility as they try to improve outcomes and reduce social and financial costs of people with substance abuse disorders.

Aid-In-Dying Laws Only Accentuate Need For Palliative Care, Providers Say

KFF Health News Original

Doctors who minister to seriously ill patients say the flurry of aid-in-dying laws show just how afraid people are of a painful death, and how important it is to ease their suffering.

Small Coastal California Town Fights To Keep Hospital Afloat

KFF Health News Original

Tourists love the Mendocino coast for its redwoods, surf and charm. But the battle to keep one town’s only hospital afloat is pitting hospital administrators and doctors against each other.

Deficiencies In End-Of-Life Care Extend Across Ethnicities

KFF Health News Original

A small study in the San Francisco Bay area suggests that various ethnicities share some of the same goals when it comes to end-of-life care. Often, though, they don’t get what they want.

New Brain Institute Plans To Refocus Third World’s Attention On Dementia As ‘Societal Issue’

KFF Health News Original

The institute, which is being launched by the University of California, San Francisco and the University of Dublin, aims to help developing countries deal with rising numbers of cases.

Survey: Low-Income Elderly Reject Calif. Managed Care Experiment For Fear Of Change

KFF Health News Original

About 47 percent opt out of California’s “dual eligibles” program serving Medicare and Medicaid patients, in part because they fear losing their doctors, a survey finds. But once enrolled in the pilot program, most stay.

In L.A., Community Health Workers Are Part Of The Medical Team

KFF Health News Original

An experimental program in Los Angeles County pairs community health workers with chronically ill patients, aiming to improve patients’ health and access to care.