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There are legal safeguards to protect patients from big bills like out-of-network air-ambulance rides. But insurers may not pay if they decide the ride wasnât medically necessary.
A state policy to extend Medi-Cal to qualified Californians without legal residency is running up against a federal requirement to resume eligibility checks. The redetermination process is causing many Latinos, who make up a majority of Medi-Cal beneficiaries, to be disenrolled.
A years-long process that would have created heat standards for California workers in warehouses, steamy kitchens, and other indoor job sites catapulted into chaos Thursday when Gov. Gavin Newsomâs administration pulled its support. Regulators, saying they felt âblindsided,â approved the regulation anyway. Itâs unclear what happens next.
The pain and trauma from repeated needle sticks leads some kids to hold on to needle phobia into adulthood. Research shows the biggest source of pain for children in the health care system is needles. But one doctor thinks he has a solution and is putting it into practice at two childrenâs hospitals in Northern California.
As money flows to abortion rights initiatives in states, some donors focus on where anger over the "Dobbs" ruling could propel voter turnout and spur Democratic victories up and down the ballot, including in key Senate races and the White House.
After California passed the first law in the nation to limit the disavowed term âexcited delirium,â bills in other states are being introduced to help end use of the diagnosis. But momentum is being met with resistance from law enforcement and first responder groups, who cite free speech.
California has commissioned an exhaustive study of whether its prisons provide a constitutional level of mental health care, which it could use to try to end one of the lawsuits that have federal courts overseeing the stateâs prisons. But corrections officials wonât disclose even basic details of the consultantsâ contract, including its cost to taxpayers.
California Gov. Gavin Newsomâs signature ballot measure to address mental illness, addiction, and homelessness with a $6.4 billion bond and other reforms, is barely ahead in the ongoing ballot count. The slim margin reflects a growing unease among Californians over the governorâs homelessness initiatives.
A pill form of an effective drug for postpartum depression hit the market in December, but most insurers do not yet have a policy on when or whether they will pay for it. The hurdles to obtain its predecessor medication have advocates worried.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has thrown his weight behind state Sen. Monique LimĂłnâs legislation to bar unpaid medical bills from showing up on consumer credit reports. If passed, California would join just a few other states with such protections.
The cyberattack on a unit of UnitedHealth Groupâs Optum division is the worst on the health care industry in U.S. history, hospitals say. Providers struggling to get paid for care say the response by the insurer and the Biden administration has been inadequate.
A court expert reported that California prisons continue to lag on 14 of 15 suicide prevention measures, and even regressed in some areas. The state could face more than $40 million in fines after a federal judge warned more than a year ago that she would impose penalties for each violation.
Despite growing awareness that the party drug is dangerous, the social media company is open to promotion of the drug in treating mental health.
After the 1996 Dickey Amendment halted federal spending on research into firearms risks, a small group of academics pressed on, with little money or political support, to document the nationâs growing gun violence problem and start to understand what can be done to curb the public health crisis.
A new California law allows trained physician assistants, also called physician associates, to perform first-trimester abortions without the presence of a supervising doctor. The legislation is part of a broader effort by the state to expand access to abortion care, especially in rural areas. Some doctor groups are wary.
High school students in Colorado are pushing for a change they say is necessary to combat fentanyl poisoning: ensuring students can't get in trouble for carrying the overdose reversal drug naloxone wherever they go, including at school.
California has supported expanded use of medications in the fight against opioid use disorder and overdose deaths. But hospitals and addiction treatment advocates say the state needs to secure ongoing funding if it wants more behavioral health workers to guide patients into long-term treatment.
State lawmakers are weighing legislation that would require gun owners to keep their firearms locked up most of the time, a move advocated by the Biden administration.
Š 2026 KFF