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Food stamps for February are being distributed about two weeks early because officials say the federal money to pay for them won鈥檛 be available later due to the government shutdown. State and local officials are scratching their heads about what might happen in March if the impasse continues.
Hospitals and medical practices are battling outdated stereotypes and sometimes their own doctors to hire certified nurse midwives. Research shows that women cared for by certified nurse midwives have fewer cesarean sections, which can produce significant cost savings for hospitals.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra scores a win for California and other states in his effort to block Trump administration birth control rules. It is one of many suits he has filed to defend the Affordable Care Act from efforts to erode it.
Some doctors and clinics are proactively informing patients about a proposed policy that could jeopardize the legal status of immigrants who use public benefit programs such as Medicaid. Others argue that because this 鈥減ublic charge鈥 proposal isn鈥檛 final 鈥 and may never be adopted 鈥 disseminating too much information could create unnecessary alarm and cause some patients to drop benefits.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom made health care a priority in his proposed state budget, asking lawmakers to authorize state-funded financial aid for health insurance, impose a penalty on uninsured Californians and expand Medicaid coverage to unauthorized immigrants.
Democratic governors and mayors are unveiling new ideas to control costs and expand coverage. The federal government shutdown has spared most health agencies, but not all. And learn the latest on that lawsuit out of Texas, which is threatening the Affordable Care Act once again. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and, for 鈥渆xtra credit,鈥 provide their favorite health policy stories of the week. Rovner also interviews KHN鈥檚 Jordan Rau about the latest 鈥淏ill of the Month.鈥
Dr. Gabor Mat茅 of British Columbia recently visited Sacramento and laid out his theories in an interview with California Healthline.
Just hours into his tenure as California鈥檚 new governor, Democrat Gavin Newsom proposed major plans to insure more Californians, including state-funded financial aid for health insurance and a requirement for Californians to have coverage.
A new report shows that Hispanics, young people, the healthy and the poor 鈥 all groups with high rates of uninsurance before the Affordable Care Act 鈥 are the most likely to forgo insurance now that the tax penalty for not having it has been eliminated.
On New Year鈥檚 Day, California joined the majority of U.S. states that require people convicted of drunken driving to install ignition-linked breathalyzers in their vehicles. If the devices detect alcohol above a predetermined level, the cars don鈥檛 start.
California鈥檚 incoming congressional delegation will be the largest in the U.S. House of Representatives to support progressive health care policies such as 鈥淢edicare-for-all.鈥 But the political reality of a Republican Senate and president means that they will need to pursue ideas that 鈥渁ren鈥檛 pie in the sky.鈥
The leaders of California鈥檚 legislative health committees who wield power over state health policy have been showered with money from the health care sector, with drug companies, health plans, hospitals and doctors providing nearly 40 percent of their 2017-18 campaign funds.
The potentially improper payments occurred in 2014 and 2015, when the state says it was under pressure from a massive influx of new applicants due to the Affordable Care Act鈥檚 Medicaid expansion.
The whistleblower complaint says that Sutter, one of the largest health systems in the U.S., exaggerated how sick certain Medicare patients were in order to collect higher payments from the government-funded program.
The state medical board grants probation in more than a third of cases, a KHN analysis found. Even as other institutions adapt to lessons of the #MeToo movement, the board plans no significant changes, saying it has always prioritized discipline for sexual misconduct.
To keep costs down, Blue Shield of California next year will scale back on a program allowing members to receive a wide range of care beyond the state鈥檚 borders. Customers with individual plans mostly won鈥檛 be able to get coverage out of state except for emergencies or other exceptional circumstances. 聽
Patient advocates say the state鈥檚 new staffing regulations are a good start toward better protecting the frail, but the nursing home industry contends they鈥檙e too burdensome.
It鈥檚 not clear why Asian-American college students have higher rates of compulsive gambling than their peers, but a nonprofit in the San Francisco Bay Area arms them with strategies to avoid getting hooked.
Having fled quickly 鈥 often without medications, wheelchairs or pets to comfort them 鈥 refugees from the Camp Fire manage as best they can in makeshift shelters miles from home. A virus is spreading, and medical attention is spotty.
More than half of mass shooters have serious mental health disorders, experts say, but the vast majority of mentally ill people are not violent. Some clinicians suggest strategic interventions, including closing loopholes in background checks to buy firearms and allowing family members to confiscate guns under temporary court orders for relatives at risk of doing harm.
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