California Healthline
Drug Overdose Deaths Plummet In 2024: After surging during the covid pandemic into a crushing public health emergency, San Francisco recorded 586 fatal overdoses in the first 11 months of 2024. That represents a nearly 23% decrease, or 174 fewer deaths, compared with the first 11 months of 2023. In total, 810 people died from drug overdoses in …
California Governor Signs Law Banning Medical Debt From Credit …
California lawmakers noted that medical debt — unlike other kinds of debt — isn’t an accurate reflection of credit risk, and its inclusion can depress credit scores and make it hard for people to get a job, rent an apartment, or secure a car loan. But California lawmakers have left a glaring loophole. Patients who pay hospital bills using medical credit cards or medical specialty loans ...
Medi-Cal Enrollees: Here’s How to Verify Your Eligibility
May 5, 2023 · Medi-Cal, the state’s version of the Medicaid health insurance program for low-income residents, has embarked on a 14-month effort to reexamine the eligibility of its nearly 15.8 million members.It is part of the massive “unwinding” being undertaken by all state Medicaid programs after three pandemic years during which their rolls swelled.
California’s Homelessness Crisis Is Homegrown, Study Finds
Jun 20, 2023 · The new findings by leading researchers at the University of California show that at least 90% of adults who are experiencing homelessness in the state became homeless while living in California due primarily to the dire lack of affordable housing. “This idea that homeless people are rushing into California is just not true,” said Margot Kushel, a physician who treats homeless people and ...
California Expanded Medi-Cal to Unauthorized Residents. The …
Nov 4, 2024 · Democratic state Assembly member Joaquin Arambula in 2022 proposed legislation to allow the approximately 520,000 uninsured unauthorized residents who earn more than 138% of the federal poverty level to apply for state-subsidized health coverage through Covered California, the state’s health exchange. The bill, however, died in committee this year.
A California Official Helped Save a Mental Health Company’s …
Oct 23, 2024 · Kooth last year signed a four-year $271 million contract to create Soluna, a free mental health app for California users ages 13 to 25.The app, along with another, by the company Brightline, for younger users, launched in January to fill a need for young Californians and their families to access professional telehealth free of charge.It’s one component of Newsom’s $4.7 billion youth mental ...
New California Law Offers Fresh Protection From Steep Ambulance …
Nov 6, 2023 · In California, nearly three-quarters of emergency ground ambulance rides result in out-of-network bills. The average surprise bill for a ground ambulance ride in California is $1,209, the highest in the nation, according to a December study.. The new law, which applies to about 14 million Californians enrolled in state-regulated commercial health plans, limits how much a non-network ambulance ...
What the Federal ‘No Surprises Act’ Means in California
Jan 26, 2022 · When patients are seen by out-of-network providers they didn’t choose, it is often a double whammy: They pay more out-of-pocket — even if their health plan covers some out-of-network care — and they may later receive balance bills …
Medi-Cal Covers Gender-Transition Treatment, but Getting It Isn’t …
Aug 3, 2023 · Pasha Wrangell has faced delays getting gender-affirming care because of red tape and limited providers. Over more than two years, Wrangell has received only about half the total electrolysis sessions recommended. Wrangell’s insurer through Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program, acknowledges the shortage of practitioners.
California Falling Short of Enrollment Goal as Mental Health Courts ...
Nov 27, 2024 · California’s goal was to help 2,000 seriously mentally ill people by the end of this year, but data shows fewer than 600 petitions have been filed. As the CARE program expands to every county, officials say it sometimes takes months to locate eligible adults and get them in treatment plans.