Posts Tagged: afford

Opinion

All dialysis patients should have access to care

A nurse in a hospital renal unit starts dialysis treatment on a patient. (Photo: Tyler Olson)

OPINION: I first started having problems with my kidneys when I was 11-years-old.  By the time I was 20, I was on dialysis. I was able to keep my kidneys for a while, but as often happens with kidney disease, the illness eventually took over. Almost 40 years and three kidney transplants later, I have beaten the odds by staying alive, but only because of the dialysis treatment I receive every day.

Opinion

Prop. 46: Boosts legal costs, hurts health care

OPINION: That’s why our organizations, the California Medical Association and the Central Valley Health Network, strongly oppose Proposition 46 on the November 2014 ballot. We have joined a broad coalition that includes doctors, community health centers, hospitals, local governments, the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, business and labor groups and many others to fight this misleading ballot measure.

Opinion

Insurers’ ‘specialty tiers’ imperil health care

OPINION: Rather than paying a fixed copayment, Californians whose medications are placed on specialty tiers are often forced to pay coinsurance – or a percentage of the total cost of the drugs – which can mean hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month in out-of-pocket costs for a single medication.

News

CalSTRS: Stratospheric price tags for full funding

The total spending increase needed to get CalSTRS, brought low by mismanagement, back to full funding may be the biggest-dollar scenarios ever presented to a California legislative committee. Legislators were told last week an additional $181.7 billion would be needed for full funding in 20 years. If payments are spread out to ease the budget bite, the additional amount needed to reach full funding in 60 years is a staggering $618 billion.

Support for Capitol Weekly is Provided by: