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A bankruptcy judge will soon decide whether a Central Valley hospital needs to liquidate to repay its creditors. Its largest creditor, St. Agnes Medical Center, is the very entity that backed out of purchasing the Madera Community Hospital last December.
When Medi-Cal beneficiary Lloyd Tennison moved last year from Contra Costa County to San Joaquin County, he was bumped off his managed care plan without notice before his new coverage took effect. His case highlights a chronic issue in California’s fragmented Medicaid program.
Drug use has become a major public health crisis, but effective treatment remains hard to find. It does exist though. Columnist Bernard J. Wolfson offers advice on finding help and says not to expect a quick solution.
The lawyer for an emergency physicians group says its lawsuit against Envision Healthcare should be allowed to proceed even though the company has filed for Chapter 11 protection.
California’s safety-net health program has resumed annual eligibility checks after three years, which means beneficiaries will need to provide updated personal information to maintain coverage. Here’s what to watch for.
A state law says giving false information to patients about covid-19 constitutes unprofessional conduct for which regulators can discipline doctors. Vaccine skeptics, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., join civil liberties groups and others in arguing that it violates free speech.
Medi-Cal serves more than one-third of the state’s population — offering a dizzying range of care to a diverse population. In the new “Faces of Medi-Cal” series, California Healthline will assess the program’s strengths and weaknesses through the lives and experiences of its enrollees.
After the Department of Health Care Services canceled Medi-Cal contract awards under pressure from major insurers, some consumer advocates question the administration’s willpower to improve care in the safety-net program.
If family coverage on an employer-sponsored plan is too expensive, a worker’s spouse and dependents may be eligible for Affordable Care Act subsidies under a new federal rule.
Doctors, consumer advocates, and some lawmakers are looking forward to a California lawsuit against private equity-backed Envision Healthcare. The case is part of a multistate effort to enforce rules banning corporate ownership of physician practices.
One of the nation’s largest community clinic chains is running a get-out-the-vote campaign in Los Angeles and Orange counties this election, targeting primarily Latino communities, where turnout tends to be low.
The idea of human composting — to help restore a forest or grow flowers — may be a little off-putting to some, but it has many advantages over traditional-but-toxic methods of burial and cremation.
Four managed-care insurance plans may lose contracts with California’s Medicaid program, which would force nearly 2 million low-income residents to switch their health plans — and possibly their doctors. The plans are fighting back.
Terminally ill children, unlike adults, can get hospice services while continuing to receive life-extending or curative care. More than a decade after the inception of the federal policy, it is widely credited with improving the quality of life for ailing children and their families, even as some parents find themselves in a painful stasis.
A new California law requires timely follow-up appointments for mental health and addiction patients. But striking workers at Kaiser Permanente in Northern California say patients continue to wait up to two months.
Yes, lots of us suffer from pandemic fatigue and have been getting sloppy about precautions in recent months. But with covid an ongoing menace — and governments reluctant to return to sweeping mandates — it’s time for all of us to step up our game.
State and federal laws require health plans to offer accurate lists of participating doctors and facilities, but consumers still struggle to get timely appointments with providers.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill last month that authorizes a statewide Medicaid contract for HMO giant Kaiser Permanente. But details still need to be worked out in a memorandum of understanding.
Covered California and Medi-Cal share a computer system for eligibility and enrollment. Nearly a decade since the Affordable Care Act expanded coverage options in the state, enrollees can be diverted to the wrong program — or dropped altogether — if erroneous information gets into the system.
Jessica Altman took over in March as executive director of California’s health insurance marketplace, which serves 1.8 million people. She warns that if Congress does not renew the tax credit enhancements that have made health plans more affordable, consumers will face significantly higher premiums, which could cause many to forgo coverage.
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