“The United States is knee-deep in what some experts call the opioid epidemic’s ‘fourth wave,’ which is not only placing drug users at greater risk but is also complicating efforts to address the nation’s drug problem.”     ‘Fourth Wave’ of Opioid Epidemic Crashes […]

  “For weeks, more than half a million Anthem Blue Cross enrollees who receive health care from the University of California were held in suspense. It wasn’t clear whether they would have to find new doctors or switch plans as the health system and one […]

  “In the battle to control health care costs, hospitals are deploying their political power to protect their bottom lines.”     In Fight Over Medicare Payments, the Hospital Lobby Shows Its Strength   The point of contention: For decades, Medicare has paid hospitals — […]

  “…Republican state Rep. Melanie Stinnett … said she regularly was frustrated by prior authorization hurdles in her work as a speech pathologist before joining the legislature in 2023…. “‘The stories all kind of look similar: It’s a big fight to get something done on […]

  “If you don’t change society’s attitudes about aging, you will be condemned to lead the last third of your life in social, economic, and cultural irrelevance.”     Do We Simply Not Care About Old People?   The covid-19 pandemic would be a wake-up […]

  “States are plowing billions of dollars into a high-stakes health care experiment that’s exploding around the country: using scarce public health insurance money to provide housing for the poorest and sickest Americans.”     Is Housing Health Care? State Medicaid Programs Increasingly Say ‘Yes’ […]