A complaint filed with HHS’ Office of Civil Rights alleges that Medi-Cal’s 13 million beneficiaries do not have adequate health care. Seven million of them are Latinos.
The number of uninsured Latino Californians has dropped dramatically in the last three years. But Latinos still make up more than half of the remaining uninsured.
Out-of-network "surprise bills" are a growing problem. Patients think they're staying in their coverage network only to receive a bill for thousands of dollars after a procedure from, say, an anesthesiologist who wasn't included in their plan. So far, proposed solutions have proven controversial.
Soumya Karlamangla covers health for the local politics and government section of the Los Angeles Times. Karlamangla reported on the remaining uninsured as a California Health Journalism Fellow at USC's Annenberg School of Journalism.
As Gov. Jerry Brown struck a budget deal Tuesday that would offer healthcare to children in the country illegally, Sacramento County supervisors — sitting less than a mile away — also agreed to provide medical care for county residents who lack papers.
Some non-profit hospitals in the San Francisco Bay Area receive millions of dollars in tax breaks each year to care for the poor and uninsured, yet they provide only a fraction of local charity care. Sandy Kleffman reports.
Beth Capell is a lobbyist and policy advocate for Health Access California, a statewide health care consumer advocacy organization based in Oakland that is comprised of a coalition of over 200 constituency groups working for quality, affordable health care for all. Capell works out of the Sacramento office to provide policy analysis, legislative advocacy and other strategic input to Health Access and to other consumer, labor and public interest organizations on health care issues. Capell, who runs the legislative advocacy firm Capell & Associates, has represented Health Access since 1996.
