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California is the first state to ban the controversial diagnosis known as âexcited delirium,â which has been used increasingly to justify excessive force by law enforcement. A human rights advocate described the law, signed this week by Gov. Gavin Newsom, as a âwatershed momentâ in criminal justice.
Federal officials are trying to clamp down on private arrangements among some hospitals to pay themselves back for the Medicaid taxes theyâve paid. State health officials and the influential hospital industry argue that regulators have no jurisdiction over the agreements.
State officials have promised to boost funding for Californiaâs Medicaid program by $11.1 billion starting next year, with most of that money earmarked for higher payments to doctors, hospitals, and other providers. But the details have yet to be worked out, and powerful health industry groups are jockeying for position.
California Healthline has learned that a coalition of doctors, hospitals, insurers, and community clinics want to lock in a tax on health insurance companies to draw in extra Medicaid funding. It also wants to make the tax permanent.
As hospitals squeeze Democratic leaders in Sacramento for more money, health care finance experts and former state officials warn against falling for the industryâs fear tactics. They point to healthy profits and a recession-era financing scheme that allows rich hospitals to take tax money from poorer ones.
Carolina Reyes, a physician who specializes in high-risk pregnancies, says providers and health systems have a role in tackling systemic racism. Sheâs also married to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.
A Medi-Cal patient illustrates how early schizophrenia treatments can yield big benefits. Advocates want California to expand such services to more people living with severe mental illness, which they argue will not only improve lives but also save money over time.
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared that California would cut ties with Walgreens after the company said it would not distribute abortion pills in some states. But federal rules make it difficult for the state to unwind its Medicaid prescription drug agreement, which paid Walgreens $1.5 billion last year.
Eli Lilly's news that it plans to cut insulin costs for patients will help, not hinder, the recent efforts in California and by entrepreneurs such as Mark Cuban to offer lower-cost alternatives, drug pricing experts said.
Rather than simply reward top-performing facilities, the stateâs Medicaid program will hand bonuses to nursing homes â even low-rated ones â for hiring more workers and reducing staff turnover.
State Sen. MarĂa Elena Durazo and Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West want to give health facility support staffers a raise. Hospitals, nursing homes, and dialysis clinics are expected to resist.
The nationâs largest Medicaid insurer denies wrongdoing after the California attorney generalâs office investigated it for inflating prescription drug costs.
After the Department of Health Care Services canceled Medi-Cal contract awards under pressure from major insurers, some consumer advocates question the administrationâs willpower to improve care in the safety-net program.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta is taking three major drugmakers and three distributors to court, alleging the companies illegally raised prices at the expense of diabetes patients.
Across the country, there are no consistent requirements for the officials who investigate suspicious and unexpected deaths. Some have no medical training, others are doctors trained in forensic pathology. Washington, California, Illinois, and Georgia are among the states that have recently attempted to make changes â with mixed success.
Centene, the largest Medicaid managed-care company in the U.S., has thrown more than $26.9 million at political campaigns across the country since 2015, especially focused on states where it is wooing Medicaid contracts and settling accusations that it overbilled taxpayers. Among its tactics: Centene is skirting contribution limits by giving to candidates through its many subsidiaries.
Massachusetts is the latest state to settle with St. Louis-based Centene Corp. over allegations that it overcharged Medicaid prescription drug programs.
Texas is at least the 12th state to settle with St. Louis-based Centene Corp. over allegations that it overcharged Medicaid prescription drug programs.
The Sacramento County coroner concluded that Lori McClintock, the wife of U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock, died of dehydration after ingesting white mulberry leaf. But some scientists, doctors, and pathologists are questioning that ruling, and are urging the coronerâs office, which hasnât explained its reasoning, to reopen the case.
Lori McClintock, the wife of U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock of California, died after ingesting white mulberry leaf, according to the Sacramento County coroner. The plant is generally considered safe and is used in herbal remedies that claim to lower blood sugar, boost weight loss, and combat high cholesterol. Her death highlights the potential dangers of dietary supplements.
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