Posts Tagged: Hospitals
Opinion
OPINION – Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) play an indispensable role in California’s health care system, particularly for underserved and rural communities where anesthesia access is critical, yet limited. For decades, California CRNAs have independently provided safe, cost-effective, and patient-centered anesthesia care—a policy reinforced by state statute and upheld by court rulings and regulatory guidance.
Opinion
OPINION – California is at a critical juncture in its mission to enhance health data exchange and transform its health care delivery system. Assembly Bill 1331 (Wood) is a key legislative step to realize the full potential of the Data Exchange Framework (DxF) and address the systemic barriers that hinder effective data sharing across the state, a necessary foundation for better health and well-being for all Californians.
Opinion
OPINION – California’s Office of Healthcare Affordability (OHCA) recently adopted spending targets to slow healthcare spending growth and make it more affordable for Californians. The targets are ambitious and will be difficult to meet.
Opinion
OPINION – The numbers California is experiencing in blood cancers are extremely concerning, and unfortunately, the American Cancer Society (ACS) predicts these numbers will get worse. In fact, the ACS forecasts that California will be the leading state for lymphoma, Leukemia and myeloma-related deaths in 2023.
News
Under AB 716, ambulance providers couldn’t bill patients more than the established payment by Medi-Cal or Medicare fee-for -service amount, which is ever is greater.
Opinion
OPINION:Some California hospitals and pharmacies are exploiting a federal assistance program that was created to help vulnerable communities access low-cost treatments. Instead, these healthcare systems and chain pharmacies continue charging some underserved patients high costs for their medicines while pocketing the discounts to boost their own bottom lines.
Opinion
OPINION: When the COVID-19 pandemic again reinforced that California’s communities of color disproportionately bear the burden of public health threats, some California lawmakers made promises about closing gaps in health equity and access. More than two years later, however, many Californians inhabited by its most diverse populations are still struggling to access and afford their health care.
Opinion
OPINION: If passed, SB 958 would severely limit specialty pharmacies’ ability to deliver lower cost medications to patients, while also making it even easier for hospitals to markup the cost they charge patients for critical medications, and in the end, we would see higher health care premiums for California’s employers and individuals.
Opinion
OPINION: California is committed to the health of its residents. Nearly a quarter of Gov. Newsom’s state budget for 2022-2023 is allocated to health care expenditures. Amid their focus on improving health care access and affordability, however, policymakers should also reexamine existing programs that are failing to properly protect vulnerable California communities.
News
Last year during the winter’s peak, hospitals in the state had an estimated 54,000 patients, with roughly 22,000 of them testing Covid positive. Today, similar numbers reflect the hospitals’ overcrowding. But now, there is an overall 20 percent reduction in health care workers, and the combination of the two has seriously stressed hospitals.
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