This column explores how health reform is changing the ways in which we pay for and deliver health care in the U.S. It also highlights the ways in which our current system is falling short on measures of coverage, access and affordability. On any given week, that could mean a look at how Republican plans to repeal Obamacare could reshape the individual insurance market, how the safety net system is adapting to new financial pressures, or how the trend of doctors and hospitals merging into ever-larger entities is driving up costs. We also explore health care costs and whether the Affordable Care Act or its successor plans can live up to the promise to rein them in. Throughout, we keep watch on how the goals of health reform intersect with the shaping power of markets and human behavior. Contributors include veteran health journalist Trudy Lieberman and independent health journalist Kellie Schmitt, with occasional contributions from independent journalists such as Susan Abram and Sara Stewart.
In LA's Boyle Heights neighborhood, a safety net clinic says patients have come to distrust health care in the wake of President Trump's aggressive moves on illegal immigration.
As the country faces a deluge of older patients, emergency departments nationwide are seeking ways to improve senior care.
The election breakthroughs in states such as Nebraska, Utah and Idaho suggest the national conversation on universal coverage is changing.
We asked two leading policy experts from both sides of the aisle for their take on what the midterm results mean for the country’s health care policies. Here's what they said.
Protecting sick people is a hot issue on the midterm campaign trail, a barometer of how attitudes about health insurance have shifted over the past decade.
While California has readily embraced the Affordable Care Act, thousands of uninsured or underinsured still turn out for a mega free clinic in Los Angeles every year. Here are a few of their stories.
Starting treatment for opioid addiction in the hospital may seem obvious, yet it often doesn't happen. A growing program is trying to change that.
“How are we as consumers supposed to negotiate with this giant entity over a bill?” asks one critic of recent media coverage.
Will California keep pursuing incremental health reforms or make a push for single-payer?
The Miami Herald's Daniel Chang and Politico's Victoria Colliver share their routines, sourcing strategies and other tips for covering the fast-moving health policy beat.
