Author: Scott Welch

Inability to pay for health care has been a major driver for many to avoid the health care system, but simply not being sure if a service is affordable is enough of a deterrent for many Americans. According to new research by HealthSparq, a health data company, as much as 44% of people may be deterred from obtaining ...

Dive Brief: * Healthcare spending could drop by more than $11.4 billion next year if enhanced premium tax credits enacted in the American Rescue Plan expire, new research finds. * Hospital spending would decline by $3.8 billion, while spending on physician practice services would drop by $1.3 billion, according to a report from the Robert Wood Johnson ...

Medicare recipients will get a premium reduction — but not until next year — reflecting what Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said Friday was an overestimate in costs of covering an expensive and controversial new Alzheimer’s drug. Becerra’s statement said the 2022 premium should be adjusted downward but legal and operational hurdles prevented ...

Coronavirus cases in the Bay Area’s spring surge have surpassed the peaks of the devastating winter wave of early 2021, but high levels of vaccination and immunity in the community are keeping hospitalizations at more manageable levels so far, and deaths remain notably low throughout the region. Statewide, coronavirus cases continue to rise sharply, with ...

Los Angeles County has purchased $750,000 worth of baby formula that it will soon start handing out at food distribution sites and through outreach programs for new mothers, officials said. The county purchased the formula to help feed babies as the nation grapples with a severe infant formula shortage, Supervisor Hilda L. Solis said in ...

Pharmacists and drug wholesalers can import prescription medicines from Canada for up to two years as part of state programs aimed at bringing down drug costs, according to final FDA guidance released Thursday. Why it matters: With President Biden’s drug pricing agenda still stalled, the FDA is further clarifying how states could take advantage of lower drug costs ...

A fourth-grade camping trip led to one outbreak, a high school prom to another. But even with covid cases rising as schools head into the final stretch of the academic year, most California districts have not moved toward reinstating mask mandates. That stance has left many parents confused and concerned as they witness or hear about covid ...

For a second consecutive week, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials are in Southern Nevada to investigate cases of a drug-resistant “superbug” at local hospitals and skilled-nursing facilities.

COVID-19 emergency declarations for Nevada ended Friday as the public health agency for metro Las Vegas noted that the pandemic isn't over and said it will continue to monitor spread of the virus and provide assistance with vaccinating and testing.

A survey by AHIP and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association shows The No Surprises Act, which was passed with the intent of preventing surprise medical bills, has lived up to that goal by preventing more than 2 million surprise medical bills across all commercially insured patients.