Medi-Cal

UC regents consider tax hike. Legislators consider cutting cannabis tax. State braces for another challenge to Obamacare and Medi-Cal

State Auditor Elaine Howle found some 1.4 million toddlers enrolled in Medi-Cal had gone untested for lead exposure over the past decade, and another 740,000 missed one of two required screenings — a failure encompassing nearly three-quarters of the babies covered by the state’s publicly-funded health insurance program. 

State legislators go back to work this week with a focus on homelessness, wildfire, how to spend yet another fat budget surplus, and a Capitol baby boom.

Assemblyman pushes for more aid for undocumented immigrants. Legislation to curb dental credit cards is watered down. UC looks at alternatives to SAT, ACT.

Walters: The mother of all medical-care battles will erupt if Gov. Gavin Newsom tries to make good on his campaign promise to install a single-payer system.

Kenda Williams, 51, went to West Coast Dental in Torrance to treat the shooting pain in her molar. She spent the day in a drug-induced haze. Williams later found out she had signed up for two credit cards that day to cover her dentist’s $9,055 bill. Unemployed and on Medi-Cal, the Los Angeles resident had […]

A California pilot program aims to provide housing for vulnerable homeless people and saves taxpayer money. A RAND analysis found that for every dollar Los Angeles County invested in the program, it saved $1.20 in reduced health care and social service costs.

Politicians pile on PG&E over power shutdown. Race is on to implement privacy rules. Homeless courts proposal may be headed to ballot.

Is the governor's plan to streamline prescription drug buying a smart way to save the state millions? Maybe, but it will come at the expense of nonprofits that say they're using that money to boost services for poorer patients. 

Homeless people who live outdoors die, on average, three decades earlier. In California locales, "street medicine" teams are trying to improve those odds.