03/25/2013
The California State Rural Health Association laid off staffers and closed its Sacramento office, leaving a void after serving as the statewide voice in rural health policy for almost two decades. by George Lauer, California Healthline Features Editor
03/21/2013
A new, private, four-year college offering post-graduate degrees in pharmacy is taking shape in the Central Valley. California Health Sciences University officials hope the school will help address the shortage of health care professionals in the region. by Alice Daniel, California Healthline Regional Correspondent
03/18/2013
California legislators will "look carefully" into allegations raised in a union report accusing officials at University of California medical centers of understaffing and mismanaging the system's five teaching hospitals. by George Lauer, California Healthline Features Editor
03/14/2013
California is in the thick of moving almost one million children from Healthy Families to Medi-Cal managed care. With a shortened first phase of 178,000 kids successfully completed, attention turns to the next two phases that will shift coverage for about 485,000 children. by David Gorn, California Healthline Sacramento Bureau
03/11/2013
On the heels of opening a new hospital and medical plaza, Loma Linda University Health is planning to build a 150,000 square-foot medical campus in San Bernardino. Experts say the health system is positioning itself for changes in competition and reimbursement from health care reform. by Lauren McSherry, California Healthline Regional Correspondent
03/04/2013
Covered California wants to work with retail stores and pharmacies to help make people aware of and sign up for coverage through the exchange. It also has launched a major campaign to involve community groups in the outreach effort. by David Gorn, California Healthline Sacramento Bureau
02/28/2013
Los Angeles County expects to have 14 wellness centers operating in public schools by 2014. Planned before the Affordable Care Act was enacted, L.A.'s school-based clinics dovetail with reforms in the law and go further by teaming with community providers who work with students and their families. by Stephanie Stephens, California Healthline Regional Correspondent
02/25/2013
Two bills in the California Legislature are reshaping the state's individual insurance market by "fundamentally changing the rules that insurers play by," according to consumer advocates. by George Lauer, California Healthline Features Editor
02/21/2013
Two new studies released last week -- one showing that anti-tobacco efforts saved California money over the past two decades and the other showing growing support for a tax on sugary drinks -- may foreshadow new health care policy on the horizon. by George Lauer, California Healthline Features Editor
02/19/2013
San Diego's new Navy hospital, which will have relatively few inpatient beds but a busy flow of outpatients, is described by one consultant as "a great example of what everybody else should be looking to do in their communities." by Lisa Zamosky, California Healthline Regional Correspondent
02/14/2013
Covered California, the state's new health insurance marketplace, will add millions to the state's insured population, while a Medi-Cal expansion will add millions more. But for all the newly insured, there still will be three to four million Californians -- known as the "residually uninsured" -- who remain without coverage. by David Gorn, California Healthline Sacramento Bureau
02/11/2013
Rural health care providers, often working with thinner operating margins than their urban counterparts, may be hardest hit by a proposed Medicare reimbursement reduction under sequestration, according to a study released last week. by George Lauer, California Healthline Features Editor
02/07/2013
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius compared health care reform to synchronized swimming this week, an analogy that grew legs of its own at the National Health Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. by George Lauer, California Healthline Features Editor
02/04/2013
California has run out of money to reimburse health plans for Healthy Families care and services. Officials say plans eventually will be paid, but in the meantime the $100 million -- and counting -- deficit ramps up pressure to reinstitute some form of the expired tax on managed care organizations. by David Gorn, California Healthline Sacramento Bureau
01/28/2013
As many as half the children in California -- about five million -- may be eligible for Medi-Cal dental coverage by this time next year, according to new estimates. Children's advocates warn that the system may not be ready. by George Lauer, California Healthline Features Editor