California’s ‘Care Courts’ Are Falling Short
California’s controversial experiment to order mental illness and drug treatment for some of its sickest residents is rolling out statewide, but the latest data shows the new initiative is falling far short of early objectives. The Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Act — known as Care — recently expanded from 11 pilot counties to all…
With Trump on the Way, Advocates Look to States To Pick Up Medical Debt Fight
Worried that President-elect Donald Trump will curtail federal efforts to take on the nation’s medical debt problem, patient and consumer advocates are looking to states to help people who can’t afford their medical bills or pay down their debts. “The election simply shifts our focus,” said Eva Stahl, who oversees public policy at Undue Medical…
California Expanded Medi-Cal to Unauthorized Residents. The Results Are Mixed.
California this year took the final step in opening Medi-Cal, its Medicaid program, to every eligible resident regardless of immigration status. It’s a significant expansion for an already massive safety net program. Medi-Cal’s annual spending now stands at $157 billion, serving about 15 million low-income residents, more than a third of Californians. Of those, about…
Toddler’s Backyard Snakebite Bills Totaled More Than a Quarter Million Dollars
This spring, a few days after his 2nd birthday, Brigland Pfeffer was playing with his siblings in their San Diego backyard. His mother, Lindsay Pfeffer, was a few feet away when Brigland made a noise and came running from the stone firepit, holding his right hand. She noticed a pinprick of blood between his thumb…
How a Proposed Federal Heat Rule Might Have Saved These Workers’ Lives
On a sweltering afternoon in July 2020, Belinda Ramones got a call that her brother was in the hospital. The call was from a woman at the Florida landscaping business that he had joined that week, the Davey Tree Expert Co., Ramones said. By the time she arrived, she said, “My brother was swollen up…
Exclusive: Emails Reveal How Health Departments Struggle To Track Human Cases of Bird Flu
Bird flu cases have more than doubled in the country within a few weeks, but researchers can’t determine why the spike is happening because surveillance for human infections has been patchy for seven months. Just this week, California reported its 15th infection in dairy workers and Washington state reported seven probable cases in poultry workers.…
California Mental Health Agency Director To Resign Following Conflict of Interest Allegations
California’s mental health commission on Thursday announced its executive director would resign amid revelations that he traveled to the U.K. courtesy of a state vendor while he sought to prevent a budget cut that would have defunded the company’s contract. Toby Ewing, executive director of the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission, will step…