What the Federal ‘No Surprises Act’ Means in California
Jan 26, 2022 · The No Surprises Act covers all privately insured people in employer-sponsored and individual/family health plans. Medicare and Medicaid already protect their enrollees against nasty billing surprises. The new federal law, which is largely in sync with California’s, bans balance billing for nonemergency care by out-of-network providers at in ...
California Healthline
California Healthline (CHL) is a free daily news service of the California Health Care Foundation, providing the latest California health care news, original reporting, and opinion, designed to meet the information needs of busy health care professionals, decision makers, media organizations and consumers. Learn more about CHL.
Dads Drive Growth in California’s Paid Family Leave Program
Oct 27, 2023 · California generally provides up to eight weeks of paid family leave. New parents can receive 60% to 70% of their pay, depending on income. The average benefit in fiscal year 2022 was $806 a week. People giving birth can also receive up to 12 weeks of paid disability leave. The application form for paid leave asks new parents to select their ...
A Guide to Long-Term Care Insurance - California Healthline
Nov 22, 2023 · In 2023, a 60-year-old man buying a $165,000 policy would typically pay about $2,585 annually for a policy that grew at 3% a year to take inflation into account, according to a survey by the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, a nonprofit that tracks insurance rates. A woman of the same age would pay $4,450 for the same policy ...
Telemedicine or In-Person Visit? Pros and Cons
Oct 26, 2020 · In general, telemedicine is effective in cases that would typically send you to an urgent care clinic, such as minor injuries or flu-like symptoms, including fever, cough and sore throat. It is also increasingly used for post-surgical follow-ups. Telemedicine can be a godsend for geriatric or disabled patients with reduced mobility.
California Lawmakers Approve Nation-Leading $25 Minimum …
Sep 15, 2023 · Subsequently, at all sites, the $25 minimum wage would be increased annually to keep up with inflation. However, the bill allows health care facilities to apply for a temporary pause or slower phase-in if they can show state officials that providing the required minimum wage “would raise doubts about the covered health care facility’s ability to continue as a going concern.”
Four Years After Shelter-in-Place, Covid-19 Misinformation Persists
Apr 1, 2024 · Four years later, people’s lives are largely free of the extreme public health measures that restricted them early in the pandemic. But covid misinformation persists, although it’s now centered mostly on vaccines and vaccine-related conspiracy theories. PolitiFact has published more than 2,000 fact checks related to covid vaccines alone.
What Older Americans Need to Know About Taking Paxlovid
Jan 18, 2023 · In patients 65 and older, most of whom had been vaccinated or previously had covid, hospitalizations were reduced by 73% and deaths by 79%. Still, several factors have obstructed Paxlovid’s use among older adults, including doctors’ concerns about drug interactions and patients’ concerns about possible “rebound” infections and side ...
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.
New California Law Offers Fresh Protection From Steep Ambulance …
Nov 6, 2023 · Under California’s new law, patients can expect to save an average of nearly $1,100 per emergency ambulance ride and over $800 per nonemergency ride in the first year, according to a legislative analysis conducted earlier this year. Health plans will be required to pay ambulance operators the rates set by county authorities, which the study ...