As Americans warm to the idea of a greater role for the government in health care, there's a difference between saying that everyone is entitled to health insurance and a plan to make that possible.
Healthcare Systems & Policy
Even if the county ever gets a medical school, it is a long-term goal years away and many low-income patients need solutions now.
For years Merced County has struggled to convince doctors to come live and work in the rural, impoverished Central Valley community, resulting in a ratio of about 45 doctors for every 100,000 residents.
Horisons Unlimited Health Care filed for bankruptcy and closed all eight of its clinics, including five in Merced County. About 80 percent of Horisons patients were on Medi-Cal.
A new California law has allowed pharmacists to play a more integral role in managing patients alongside other providers — which could be good news for patients struggling to access doctors. But one major obstacle still stands in the way.
September 30 is the deadline for renewing coverage for about 9 million children nationwide, and there's been a flurry of media pieces pointing to this month's expiration date. But, is this federally-funded program really in jeopardy?
This reporting was undertaken as part of a project with the USC Center for Health Journalism’s California Fellowship. ...
Suggestions of health insurance policies with skimpy benefits and higher out-of-pocket costs might reduce part of the health insurance cost equation, but is that the kind of insurance system Americans really want?
Knowing this one simple truth can help areas experiencing physician shortages: Where doctors grew up can predict where they practice, but where they are trained is one of the biggest drivers.
Instead of strictly asking about medical providers, Dr. David Carlisle, an expert on health disparities, urges reporters to examine the availability and diversity of dentists, psychologists, pharmacists and optometrists in their community.