Even though Americans got more hospital care and prescription drugs in 2019, elimination of a tax on insurers kept the healthcare spending growth rate effectively flat year-over-year.

The California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) today directed health plans regulated by the Department to remove administrative burdens on hospitals during the COVID-19 surge. This includes directing plans to take immediate steps to reduce or remove unnecessary barriers to the efficient admission, transfer, and/or discharge of health plan enrollees. “Hospitals and providers are ...

Nearly six months since Gov. Gavin Newsom promised to target businesses that are flagrantly violating public health orders to control the spread of COVID-19, California regulators have issued just 424 citations and suspended two business licenses as of Monday, according to data from 10 state regulatory and law enforcement agencies. Instead of strictly penalizing businesses ...

A Los Angeles restaurateur is suing Gov. Gavin Newsom in federal court, seeking to overturn a ban on outdoor dining implemented across vast swaths of California in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Pineapple Hill Saloon & Grill in Sherman Oaks. The owner, Angela ...

With intensive care capacity buckling under an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases, California has opened four field hospitals where dozens of patients are being treated and the state is bringing in hundreds of additional health care providers. The majority of the state — all of Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley — continued to ...

Since the coronavirus pandemic took hold in the U.S., Sara Houze has been on the road — going from one hospital to another to care for COVID-19 patients on the brink of death. A cardiac intensive care nurse from Washington, D.C., with expertise in heart rhythm, airway and pain management, her skills are in great ...