Long-Term Care Insurance: Less Bang, More Buck
Seniors slammed with big premium increases face tough choices.
Cutting Edge DNA Technology Could Boost Cystic Fibrosis Screening For Newborns
Researchers say tests could be faster, cheaper, more accurate.
Hospitals Employ Email ‘Empathy’ To Help Doctors And Patients Keep In Touch
A better way to communicate with patients and track their progress?
A Last-Minute Reprieve For Some Consumers On California Exchange
Faced with the possibility of a tax penalty, many people scrambled to enroll, and the exchange extended the deadline for those who officially started the process as of Jan. 31.
Last-Minute Deal May Resolve Dispute Over Managed Care Tax In California
The proposed compromise would avert $1 billion in budget cuts but still must be approved by a two-thirds majority in the legislature.
Worlds Apart: Vast Disparities In Treatment Separate Americans With HIV
Poverty and mental illness are among problems keeping about two-thirds of those infected — mainly minorities — from receiving treatment.
California Exchange Targets ‘Hot Spots’ With High Rates Of Uninsured
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.
Major Insurer Says It Will Offer Individual Life Insurance Coverage To People With HIV
The move signals growing recognition of HIV/AIDS’ transformation from a death sentence to a serious but manageable disease.
Fight Over Medicaid Managed Care Tax Punches Hole in California Budget
Federal policy requires that California broaden taxes on insurers to fund Medicaid, but state insurers and many Republican legislators are opposed.
Deficiencies In End-Of-Life Care Extend Across Ethnicities
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.
California Exchange Offers Dental Coverage To Adults For First Time
About 33,000 adults have signed up for dental insurance as an unsubsidized, optional benefit through Covered California.
Calif. Medicaid Patients With Cancer Fare Worse Than Those With Other Coverage
Researchers found Medi-Cal patients were diagnosed later, were less likely to receive recommended treatment and had lower survival rates.
California Targets African Americans And Latinos In New Round Of Obamacare
Only about half of blacks considered eligible for subsidies have enrolled.
In Tracking Outbreaks Of Food Poisoning, Can Yelp Help?
During a recent, widespread food poisoning outbreak in San Jose, some of the most detailed accounts surfaced on the popular consumer review site.
Pecked By A Chicken? Sucked Into A Jet Engine? There’s a Code For That
Voluminous and sometimes wacky new medical diagnostic codes in “ICD-10” have staffers at hospitals and doctors’ offices reaching for bromides.
Attention Shoppers: New Calif. Website Details Costs, Quality of Medical Procedures
Seeking to create smarter consumers, the California insurance department unveils a website showing wide variation in costs and quality of medical services across the state.
Calif. Lawmakers Approve Bill Requiring Drug Labeling In 5 Foreign Languages
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.
California Passes Bill Delaying Transfer Of Fragile Kids Into Managed Care
Opponents of a state plan to move tens of thousands of seriously ill or disabled children into Medicaid managed care plans applaud the move to postpone the transfer.
For California, Last Year’s West Nile Season Was Most Severe Ever
The state reported a record number of serious West Nile illnesses in 2014, including cases of meningitis and encephalitis, according to federal data. Thirty-one people died.
Heart-Attack Patients More Likely To Die After Ambulances Are Diverted
A study finds patients who suffered heart attacks in California were more likely to die within a year if their ambulances were diverted from the closest emergency room.
