Posts Tagged: California Healthline

News

Medi-Cal shift could roil coverage for low-income Californians

A man receives a one-shot vaccination against COVID-19 in Covina. (Photo: Ringo Chiu, via Shutterstock)

Almost 2 million of California’s poorest and most medically fragile residents may have to switch health insurers as a result of a new strategy by the state to improve care in its Medicaid program. A first-ever statewide contracting competition to participate in the program, known as Medi-Cal, required commercial managed-care plans to rebid for their contracts and compete against others hoping to take those contracts away.

News

A cell phone tale: How COVID changed our movement

The impact of the pandemic is seen in San Diego's Mission Valley, normally crowded with traffic. ((Photo: Travelling Thilo, via Shutterstock)

For all of our grousing about COVID-19 fatigue, a few novel trends are clear one year into the pandemic. In the early weeks of 2021, Californians are staying home way more than we did in our pre-pandemic life. Even so, we’re heading out to shop, dine and work far more now than in March 2020, when state officials issued the first sweeping stay-at-home order, or the dark period that followed the winter holidays, when we hunkered down as coronavirus caseloads exploded.

News

Vaccines appear safe, effective but key questions remain

A display of vaccines that are, or will be, available to fight COVID-19. (Photo: iTechGuru, via Shutterstock)

The recent rollout of two newly authorized COVID-19 vaccines is a bright ray of hope at the pandemic’s darkest hour. We now have a path that can lead us to happier times — even as we watch and suffer from the horrible onslaught of new infections, hospitalizations and deaths that mark the end of this regrettable year.

News

LA hospital seeks vaccine trial subjects among its high-risk patients

A doctor examines a syringe, the type used in vaccinations. (Photo: Buzas Botond, via Shutterstock)

The patients at Dr. Eric Daar’s hospital are at high risk for serious illness from COVID-19, and he’s determined to make sure they’re part of the effort to fight the disease. He also hopes they can protect themselves in the process.

News

The young health care workers killed by COVID-19

Siblings Jasmine and Josh Obra both tested positive for COVID-19 on the same day. Only one of them survived. (The Obra family)

Jasmine Obra believed that if it wasn’t for her brother Joshua, she wouldn’t exist. When 7-year-old Josh realized that his parents weren’t going to live forever, he asked for a sibling so he would never be alone. By spring 2020, at ages 29 and 21, Josh and Jasmine shared a condo in Anaheim, California, not far from Disneyland, which they both loved.

Analysis

Exiting shutdown? Hire an army of public health workers

The Third Street Promenade, an open-air mall in Santa Monica, is completely deserted during the shutdown. (Photo: MSPhotographic, via Shutterstock)

Last month, facing the prospect of overwhelmed hospitals and unchecked spread of the novel coronavirus, seven Bay Area county and city health departments joined forces to become the first region in the nation to pass sweeping regulations ordering millions of people indoors and shuttering the local economy.

News

California slaps surcharges on some health care policies

Illustration: Logo of Covered California

California’s health exchange said Wednesday it has ordered insurers to add a surcharge to certain policies next year because the Trump administration has yet to commit to paying a key set of consumer subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. The decision to impose a 12.4 percent surcharge on silver-level health plans in 2018 means the total premium increase for them will average nearly 25 percent, according to Covered California.

News

Feds give CA poor reviews on tracking foster care

A photo illustration of an abused child. (Photo: Suzanne Tucker, via Shutterstock)

The federal government has given California bad marks on monitoring the well-being of children in foster care. State officials were slow to investigate complaints of abuse or neglect, failed to notify investigators of serious sexual abuse allegations and didn’t follow up to ensure cases were resolved, according to an audit released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General.

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