Month: February 2022
Republicans in Congress have asked President Biden to end the designation of COVID-19 as a public health emergency (PHE), citing the accessibility of vaccines and effective treatments as well as the harms of long-term isolation on public health.
The classroom was always going to be the last stand for the mask wars in California. Schools stayed closed longer here than anywhere else in the country as teachers unions made access to vaccines a condition of their return. More recently, teachers have demanded better masks and more testing to guard against the Omicron variant.
Unable to tame inflation that has worsened sharply under his watch, President Joe Biden stressed Thursday that his administration’s policies would cut prescription drug prices and make life more affordable for families. His pitch, which he delivered at a community college in Culpeper, Virginia, came on the heels of a dire inflation report released earlier ...
The Biden administration and state officials are bracing for a great unwinding: millions of people losing their Medicaid benefits when the pandemic health emergency ends. Some might sign up for different insurance. Many others are bound to get lost in the transition. State Medicaid agencies for months have been preparing for the end of a ...
California legislators are trying to succeed where the federal government couldn’t by mandating that all businesses require their employees to get vaccinated for COVID-19. Assembly Member Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, introduced a bill Friday that would mandate vaccines for workplaces and require employers to verify that their workers are immunized. New hires would need to have ...
Amazon.com Inc. says its medical consultation service is expanding around the U.S., underscoring the company’s determination to become a major player in the health care industry. Amazon Care offers virtual health services nationwide and this year will expand in-person care to 20 more cities, including New York, San Francisco, Miami and Chicago, Amazon said Tuesday in ...
The California Department of Insurance has issued a Cease and Desist Order against First Continental Life & Accident Insurance Company for illegally acting as an insurance company in the state and providing health coverage without the proper certification. The Department also served 13 additional Cease and Desist Orders on multiple entities and licensees that aided ...
House Republicans are demanding the Biden administration starts winding down the COVID-19 public health emergency, while hospital lobbying groups are pressing it to do the opposite.
A month into its debut, California’s new Medicaid prescription drug program is riddled with problems, leaving thousands of patients without medications — often after languishing on hold for up to eight hours on call center phone lines. On Jan. 1, the state handed control of its Medicaid drug program, known as Medi-Cal Rx, to Magellan Health, ...
California lawmakers passed legislation on Monday to provide most workers with up to two weeks of COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave, a move policymakers hope will slow the spread of the coronavirus across the state.