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At the beginning of the pandemic, a crucial change to Medi-Cal reimbursement policy made telehealth more accessible than ever for California’s most vulnerable populations. Visits conducted via telephone, online video or in person were to be covered equally. Our experience as clinicians during this time has shown us that putting telephone visits on equal benefit footing has dramatically expanded access to care without compromising quality. Yet the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, along with California’s Department of Health Care Services, recently signaled they would reduce or eliminate reimbursement for audio-only visits. (Sirina Keesara and Anastasia Coutinho, 3/25)

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is worried about how Americans will pay for vaccines in the future. As well she should be. “I worry about the day where the vaccine will no longer be free,” the director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said this month, referring to the fact that the government is providing coronavirus vaccinations to all Americans at no cost. “What about if we need a third booster?” Dr. Walensky asked. “What happens then? Who’s going to pay for that? ”This question should concern every American and every policymaker in Washington. These vaccines, which are critical to ending the scourge of Covid-19, were developed with government funding and purchased for $10 to $19.50 per dose with taxpayer dollars. (David E. Mitchell, 3/24)

The pharmaceutical industry is enjoying a moment. It has gone in mere months from being one of the most despised industries in the United States to a reputational high, a regular recipient of celebratory headlines for the rapid development of vaccines that will end the covid-19 pandemic. But Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) would like you to know the American pharmaceutical industry is still ripping people off — and he plans to do something about that. This week, Sanders introduced a trio of bills designed to help the United States get a grip on the price we pay for prescription drugs. (Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) is the lead sponsor in the House.) These bills would, if enacted, put an end to the gouging of the American public by permitting Medicare to negotiate drug prices, by pegging the price of pharmaceuticals to the median price in five comparable countries — Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Japan — and by allowing Americans to import drugs legally from Canada and other major countries. (Helaine Olen, 3/24)

When Scott Green, a California plastic surgeon standing in an operating room in full scrubs appeared via Zoom at a court hearing to contest a traffic violation last month, the presiding official was having none of it. “I don’t think that’s appropriate,” Sacramento Superior Court Commissioner Gary Link responded, noting the presence of a patient lying unconscious on a nearby table. The court date was moved, and the defendant received national attention for all the wrong reasons, even as Dr. Green insisted his patient was in no jeopardy. The obvious lesson: Juggling a livestream with surgery is a terrible look. Apparently, not everyone saw it that way. (3/24)