BEIJING — Hong Kong hospitals cut services as thousands of medical workers went on strike for a second day Tuesday to demand the border with mainland China be shut completely. The new virus caused its first death in the semi-autonomous territory, adding to growing fears it is spreading locally. All...
Californians Aren’t Getting the Mental Health Care They’re Legally Guaranteed. Why Not?
State Sen. Jim Beall is angry. Four times now, he has introduced legislation to better enforce state and federal “parity” laws, which require equal treatment of mental and physical health problems. Four times, that legislation has failed. As he enters his final year in the Legislature, the San Jose Democrat...
Democrats' Internal Battle Over Health Care Goes Back Decades
WASHINGTON — Seventy years ago, before Medicare existed to inspire "Medicare for All," a Democratic president wrestled with a challenge strikingly similar to what the party's White House hopefuls face today on the issue of health care. Harry Truman, then in his fourth year of pressing for a national health...
Watchdog: Abuse and Neglect in Nursing Facilities Unreported
WASHINGTON — Nursing facilities have failed to report thousands of serious cases of potential neglect and abuse of seniors on Medicare even though it's a federal requirement for them to do so, according to a watchdog report released Wednesday that calls for a new focus on protecting frail patients. Auditors...
Broad Legalization Means Medical Marijuana Takes a Hit
PORTLAND, Ore. — When states legalize pot for all adults, long-standing medical marijuana programs take a big hit, in some cases losing more than half their registered patients in just a few years, according to a data analysis by The Associated Press. Much of the decline comes from consumers who,...
Sticker Shock: Trump Takes Aim at ‘Surprise Medical Bills’
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will begin a push Thursday to fight health care sticker shock by limiting "surprise medical bills," the unexpected charges faced by insured patients when a member of a health care team that treated them is not in their insurer's network. Senior administration officials told The...
California Raised Taxes to Pay Doctors for the Poor. It’s Still Waiting for Them.
It’s been two years since Californians voted to raise tobacco taxes so the state could pay doctors and dentists more when they treat low-income patients. But it’s unclear if the money is achieving a related purpose: getting more medical providers to accept the government’s health plan for the poor. The Department of...
What Would Happen if Hospitals Openly Shared Their Prices?
Imagine there was a store where there were no prices on items, and you never knew what you’d pay until you’d picked out your purchases and were leaving the shop. You might be skeptical that the store would have any incentive to offer reasonable prices. This exact situation has become...
Physicians Criticize State Lawsuits Over Pelvic Mesh
SEATTLE — Doctors who specialize in female pelvic medicine say lawsuits by four states, including Washington and California, over products used to treat pelvic floor disorders and incontinence might scare patients away from the best treatment options — or maybe even push the products off the market. Sixty-three Washington surgeons signed...