An illustration of an array of prescription medications. (Photo: Adul10, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Due to cost-cutting policies, health insurers often become a barrier to access for medicines that providers prescribe to patients. One such practice is referred to as step therapy. Step therapy forces patients to try several medications before approving the medication originally prescribed by the doctor.
Residential water sprinklers in action. (Photo: Fahroni, via Shutterstock)OPINION: For over a decade, Californians have been dealing with unpredictable and confusing water surcharges. That could change if the state’s Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) votes to adopt a program recommended by the Public Advocates Office (Cal Advocates) as soon as Aug. 27.
A hospital hallway and emergency room. (VILevi, via Shutterstock)OPINION: AB 1250 would jeopardize access to care for millions of Californians by scrambling the current system, burying hospitals with new bureaucratic mandates, blizzards of paperwork and unnecessary red tape. Hospitals would be forced to divert limited financial and human resources from their mission of caring for patients.