CaliforniaHealthline

Daily news service on health care policy, politics, business and how California's health care system does and doesn’t work, by @KFFHealthNews for @CHCFnews.

[CaliforniaHealthline @CalHealthline]

California Healthline is now KFF Health News' California Bureau https://t.co/b7mXOygj0C. This account is no longer active. For the latest health policy news and information from California, follow KFF Health News here!

[CaliforniaHealthline @CalHealthline]

Despite a poisonous political climate, hundreds of volunteer advocates put partisan differences aside and pressed Congress to help people with cancer. https://t.co/xzsGCo08vp

[CaliforniaHealthline @CalHealthline]

Companies running private Medicare and Medicaid insurance plans inaccurately list many mental health professionals as being available to treat the plans’ members, a new federal watchdog report says.

@tonyleys reports ⤵️ https://t.co/iW7v8UIkqJ

[CaliforniaHealthline @CalHealthline]

In Mississippi, a state with one of the highest obesity rates in the nation, Medicaid covers weight loss drugs, but few enrollees have signed up for the benefit.

@philgalewitz reports ⤵️ https://t.co/sbW6J5T8ak

[CaliforniaHealthline @CalHealthline]

The Rural Health Transformation Program “was really talked about in the context of saving rural hospitals that would be facing these significant Medicaid cuts,” an expert says. But that’s not actually what the new fund aims to do.

@Ajzionts reports ⤵️https://t.co/GDCY1Kzr5m

[CaliforniaHealthline @CalHealthline]

Should expanded health insurance subsidies expire, people are “going to have to make super hard choices of, ‘Do I cut back on my groceries, or my rent, or do I go uninsured?’” says @healthaccess’ Rachel Linn Gish. https://t.co/2priPChqF2

[CaliforniaHealthline @CalHealthline]

President Donald Trump called the Digital Equity Act unconstitutional, racist, and illegal. Then the $2.75 billion program for rural and underserved communities to gain internet access disappeared.

@sjtribble reports ⤵️ https://t.co/z3WG9NTVYl

[CaliforniaHealthline @CalHealthline]

On the “Today, Explained” podcast, KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner recaps the TrumpRx announcement and why the direct-to-consumer initiative may not save you money on prescription drugs if you have insurance through your employer or the government. https://t.co/fg6QRFrHsK

[CaliforniaHealthline @CalHealthline]

“I’m not used to my science being politicized.” @UCLA lung cancer researcher David Shackelford on the government freezing funds for his work.

@cmaiduc reports ⤵️ https://t.co/PImvAKmdIX

[CaliforniaHealthline @CalHealthline]

California’s nursing shortage is projected to worsen, and hospitals say funding cuts will only add strain. But front-line nurses blame heavy workloads, not a shortage, for driving workers away. @ahartreports https://t.co/UWz71VChum

[CaliforniaHealthline @CalHealthline]

Sam Whitehead reads the week’s news: Hospital charity care programs can still leave patients who qualify with big bills, and the Trump administration is rolling out a pilot program to use AI to deny care for Medicare patients in six states. https://t.co/9wQBkkh6fd

[CaliforniaHealthline @CalHealthline]

“Republican leaders would do right by their constituents to keep coverage affordable, and they will remember that heading into the midterms,” the Fla. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce CEO said in a shutdown warning to GOP.

@AmandaSeitz reports ⤵️ https://t.co/S4d0K3BhGx

[CaliforniaHealthline @CalHealthline]

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has floated a seismic idea: adding autism to the list of conditions covered by the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. @celinegounder https://t.co/5U8hYeVZtH

[CaliforniaHealthline @CalHealthline]

People who maintained the nation’s land-based nuclear missile arsenal are coming down with similar cancers. The Air Force is wrapping up a large study of the health risks they may have faced.

@patriciakime reports: https://t.co/MTjwYgxhxi

[CaliforniaHealthline @CalHealthline]

Community health centers are key to delivering care in underserved communities around the country, but their services could be disrupted or scaled back after governments did not renew their funding.

@paula_andalo reports: https://t.co/bINUKk1AGX

[CaliforniaHealthline @CalHealthline]

People can have their wages garnished to pay back medical bills. But in Colorado, no data existed on how often that happens. So, we built our own database to find out.

@raelnb reports: https://t.co/FA4Cm1KP7X

[CaliforniaHealthline @CalHealthline]

Barbara Kingsolver won a Pulitzer Prize for her bestselling novel about Appalachia’s drug crisis. She invested some of the proceeds into a home for women trying to beat substance use disorders.

https://t.co/7JB6oz3cE7

[CaliforniaHealthline @CalHealthline]

The senior producer of “An Arm and a Leg” starts planning for health insurance in 2026, and — like millions of others signing up during this year’s open enrollment — faces a steep price increase. https://t.co/5ODq2oiGaC

[CaliforniaHealthline @CalHealthline]

Congressional Democrats and Republicans are at an impasse in negotiations. Which side will blink first? https://t.co/hPjXrZbHbX

[CaliforniaHealthline @CalHealthline]

As a warming climate intensifies storms, KFF Health News has identified more than 170 U.S. hospitals at risk of significant and potentially dangerous flooding. Climate experts warn that the Trump administration’s cuts leave the nation less prepared. https://t.co/tKNAwOra04