United Indian Health Services (UIHS) announced today that it has become the first Indian Health Care Provider (IHCP) in California to successfully receive Medi-Cal reimbursement for Traditional Health Care Practices. This milestone follows the October 2024 federal approval of California’s Section 1115 CalAIM waiver, which authorized Medicaid coverage for cultural healing services as part of […]
Medi-Cal
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Higher Premiums and Lost Coverage: How Trump’s Budget will Change Health Care in California
The new federal budget signed into law by President Donald Trump is expected to raise some health care insurance premiums and force millions off coverage, reverberating the most in lower-income families and communities that are already struggling. Trump’s new budget reduces spending for Medicaid — called Medi-Cal in California — by $1 trillion over the […]
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After a Pandemic Pause, State to Restart Checking Medi-Cal Eligibility
California will soon restart its annual eligibility review for people enrolled in Medi-Cal, a process that has been suspended since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This means that starting in mid-April, residents enrolled in Medi-Cal, the state’s insurance program for low-income people, will start to receive renewal notices in the mail. The process will […]
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As California Expands Medi-Cal, Hundreds of Thousands of Immigrants Will Still Be Left Behind
Lucia Marroquin knows what it’s like to wait out pain in hopes that it will go away on its own. She is suffering from kidney stones and may need surgery. But because she lacks health coverage, her first question when she falls ill is always “how much will that cost me?” So when California officials […]
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Newsom Stops Short of Single-Payer Healthcare
Don’t ask Gov. Gavin Newsom about Democratic lawmakers’ proposal to create a state-funded single-payer health care system — he hasn’t read it. “I have not had the opportunity to review that plan, and no one has presented it to me,” Newsom said Monday while unveiling his record-high $286.4 billion budget proposal — which includes an […]
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Bridging the Gap: A Nonprofit’s Efforts to Get HumCo’s Latinx Residents Health Insurance, Services
You might see a group of Visión y Compromiso “promotores” tabling at local mercados throughout Humboldt County — they’re on a mission to help as many Latinx residents as possible obtain health insurance and access healthcare services. Visión y Compromiso Humboldt is a new chapter of the nonprofit Southern California based organizational coalition of “promotores,” […]
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Covered California Opens Special Enrollment Period Through May 15
Covered California is offering a special enrollment period for those who have anyone uninsured and eligible to enroll in health care coverage through the agency from Feb. 1 through May 15. According to a release, the special enrollment period would allow uninsured people to sign up for coverage without needing to meet the normal qualifying life events, […]
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Audit Reveals Failure to Test Millions of Babies for Lead
Millions of California toddlers who should have been tested for lead exposure have not received state and federally mandated blood tests, in part because the health hazard — a particular threat to poor children — has not been prioritized by public health agencies, a recent state audit shows. In a searing review of a problem […]
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The Faces of Obamacare
In many ways, Jude Ehrlich is the face of Obamacare on the North Coast. The good face, anyway. The 44-year-old McKinleyville man never used to have much trouble getting health insurance. He had employee-offered plans until 2000, when he started his own small business and purchased his own policy, which helped cover his treatments for […]