Posts Tagged: hospital

News

Newsom takes another swing at getting mentally ill homeless off the streets

Via Shutterstock

In California, the state that led all others in the failed social experiment of emptying psychiatric hospitals, the pendulum clearly is swinging. Not that Gov. Gavin Newsom aims to return to the days when forgotten souls were locked away in large asylums. But in a proposal to be detailed on Sunday, Newsom will call on legislators to place a $3 billion bond measure before voters in 2024 to pay to house thousands of people with severe mental illness.

News

State offers scant funding to rape crisis centers

California’s 84 rape crisis centers are in a funding crisis. While California has experienced a steady rise in the number of reported rapes (over 5% per year since 2015), the state’s annual General Fund contribution to rape crisis centers over the past decade has been a miniscule $45,000.

Opinion

Health care and the pain of losing Medi-Cal coverage

A doctor examines a young patient at a hospital. (Photo: wavebreakmedia, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: A few months ago, I turned 19 years old. Approaching the last year of my teenage years should have been exciting, but instead it was bittersweet. On my birthday, I lost access to my Medi-Cal coverage and all of the preventative health care services that it provided. I spent the days leading up to my birthday rushing to complete all of the final health check-ups I could fit in, before I lost coverage – possibly forever.

News

Veterinary law emerges from the shadows

A family pet receives care in a veterinary hospital. (Photo: Didesign021, via Shutterstock)

A California statute governing blood-banking programs and transfusions for dogs has flown under the radar for the past 7 years, causing private veterinarians to break a law that they did not know existed. The issue would still be cloaked in obscurity had it not been for comments that emerged during a recent veterinary seminar at UC Davis.

Opinion

Limiting drug firms’ gifts to doctors impedes education

A senior medical practitioner on the phone with hospital records. (Photo: sirtravelalot, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: The California Assembly is currently considering a bill, Senate Bill 790, which would put in place severe restrictions around gifts or other financial benefits that pharmaceutical companies can give to medical professionals as part of marketing activities. Not only will the bill limit physician access to important information about new treatments, but it also insults the integrity of every physician practicing in California and is a threat to the patient-physician relationship.

Opinion

How much will my Medicare cost in 2017?

A health care professional tallies the cost of a patient's care. (Photo: Monika Wisniewska)

Not long ago, I had dinner with a group of friends from college. One of the big topics of conversation was Medicare, for which we’ll all be eligible in the next several years. (Farewell, callow youth!) And one of the biggest questions about Medicare was, “How much is it going to cost me?” Like private health insurance, Medicare has premiums, deductibles, and co-pays. These costs can – and often do – change from year to year. What you actually pay depends on your work history, income, and inflation.

Opinion

Helping ER physicians help the mentally ill

Photo illustration: Stephen Finn

OPINION: California is long overdue to take steps, large and small, to address its homeless crisis. No other state has a problem of this magnitude; a problem that disproportionately affects the mentally ill. According to the office of Senate President pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, California accounts for 22 percent of the nation’s homeless total.

Recent News

Advocates push to ban ‘surprise’ hospital bills

A nurse pushes a gurney along a hospital corridor. (Photo: Spotmatik Ltd., via Shutterstock)

Major surgery or a stay in the hospital can be stressful enough, even when you have insurance. But Californians with health care coverage who seek treatment at a clinic or hospital that is in their insurance plan’s network must often also deal with the anguish caused by huge unexpected costs.

News

California inconsistently enforces hospital privacy laws

An elderly patient in a wheelchair receiving care at a California hospital. (Photo: bikeriderlondon, via shutterstock)

In 2008, outraged by a string of snooping incidents involving celebrities’ medical records, California legislators passed a groundbreaking law that compelled hospitals to quickly report patient privacy breaches and gave the state power to levy fines for such violations. But a ProPublica analysis of state data shows enforcement has been inconsistent.

News

Prescription for health care system — money, flexibility

State Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, discusses health care issues. (Photo: Scott Duncan/Capitol Weekly)

Experts in California health care agree: The present system is unsustainable. It needs more money and flexibility. But that’s where agreement ends. There are conflicting ideas about where the money should come from and where it should go.

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