Latest Morning Briefing Stories

California’s Right-To-Die Law Sparks Reaction

KFF Health News Original

Scott Shafer of KQED and The California Report hosted a special radio broadcast on California’s landmark aid-in-dying law, and talked to reporter April Dembosky, advocates and critics of the law, and the husband of the woman whose lobbying — and death — sparked the debate.

Leslie Michelson’s Checklist For Avoiding Diagnostic Errors – The KHN Conversation

KFF Health News Original

Michelson, who runs a Los Angeles-based company that helps patients research their medical options and has written a book about how to avoid bad care, offers advice on how to navigate the health care system.

California Gov. Brown Signs Aid-in-Dying Bill Into Law

KFF Health News Original

Brown said that he weighed the controversial issue carefully, and in the end decided that it would be a comfort to know the option was available if he were facing a painful, prolonged death.

Calif. Lawmakers Approve Bill Requiring Drug Labeling In 5 Foreign Languages

KFF Health News Original

If Gov. Jerry Brown signs the measure, all pharmacies will have to provide medication instructions in Spanish, Tagalog, Chinese, Vietnamese or Korean, the most common languages in California after English.

When Prisons Need To Be More Like Nursing Homes

KFF Health News Original

By 2030, nearly one-third of all inmates will be over 55, the ACLU says, and caring for aged prisoners often costs twice as much as caring for younger ones. Some states – New York, California and Connecticut — are confronting the problem, however, with innovative programs meant to improve care and save money.

Can Health Care Be Cured Of Racial Bias?

KFF Health News Original

Even as the health of Americans has improved, the disparities in treatment and outcomes between white patients and black and Latino patients are almost as big as they were 50 years ago. A growing body of research suggests that doctors’ unconscious behavior plays a role in these statistics.

California: Más Personas Con Seguro Médico… Y Conformes

KFF Health News Original

Un esfuerzo más concertado, incluso a través de los medios de comunicación en español, parece estar funcionando. Una encuesta de la Kaiser Family Foundation realizada en California halló que los blancos no hispanos y los hispanos que fueron elegibles para el Obamacare ganaron cobertura a un ritmo similar. Y la mayoría está conforme con su nuevo seguro.

VIH: Promueven Píldora Preventiva Entre Hispanos

KFF Health News Original

La medicación, que se usa como “Profilaxis de Pre Exposición” (PrEP), conocida comercialmente como Truvada fue aprobada por la Administración de Drogas y Alimentos (FDA, por sus siglas en inglés) en el 2012 para prevenir el VIH, y ha demostrado ser más de un 90 por ciento efectiva, cuando se la usa correctamente. Pero los trabajadores de salud están encontrando barreras culturales y económicas entre muchos latinos.

Oscar Wants To ‘Revolutionize’ Health Care. But Will It Even Survive Covered California?

KFF Health News Original

Covered California made it official last week: After two years in the wilderness, UnitedHealthcare will return to the state’s individual insurance market and begin selling health plans on California’s exchange later this year. Not much can overshadow news about the nation’s largest insurer — except maybe a story about one of the smallest. Hi, Oscar. […]