California Watch
News stories in this section spotlight activities in California, including actions by the state Assembly and state Senate; proposed legislation; regulators like the Department of Managed Health Care and Department of Insurance; and the state ACA exchange, Covered California.
For over a year, the nation’s most populous county has worked on a comprehensive plan to track patient debt and hospital collection practices; boost bill forgiveness for low-income patients; and buy up and forgive billions in medical debt — an effort helmed by its Department of Public Health.
The latest attempt to bring a single-payer healthcare system to California failed in the state Legislature on Thursday, undercut by its steep price tag as lawmakers struggle with a mounting budget shortfall.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom had agreed to allocate $300 million each year for the state’s chronically underfunded public health system. Two years later and facing a $45 billion deficit, Newsom proposes to slash the funding entirely.
One of Newsom’s proposals is to sweep up an extra $7 billion from the state’s renewed tax on some health plans, called managed care organizations. These funds were initially promised to go toward pay raises for some health care workers and other health care investments.
Public health leaders raised alarm at proposed cuts to California’s state and local health departments Monday, calling the proposal from Gov. Gavin Newsom “devastating” and “a step backwards.”
Some of the most influential and wealthy groups in California politics are squaring off over legislation that would give California’s attorney general oversight of private equity firms and hedge funds acquiring major health care institutions.
For much of his young life, Jorge Sanchez regularly gasped for air, at times coughing so violently that he’d almost throw up. His mother whisked him to the emergency room late at night and slept with him to make sure he didn’t stop breathing. “He’s had these problems since he was born, and I couldn’t ...
The same health advocates who fought for the Medi-Cal expansion say the next step in achieving health equity is expanding Covered California, the state’s ACA marketplace, to all immigrant adults by passing AB 4.
California announced a tentative settlement agreement Friday with a pharmaceutical company over its alleged role in perpetuating the opioid addiction crisis battering the state — the same company Gov. Gavin Newsom is partnering with to produce lower-cost opioid overdose reversal drugs. That means the state could hand any funds it receives from the settlement right ...
Families of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities say Gov. Gavin Newsom is reneging on a scheduled raise for the workers who care for their loved ones, and advocates warn of potential lawsuits if disability services become harder to get. Citing California’s budget deficit, the Democratic governor wants to save around $613 million in state funds by ...