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A Hospital’s Overflowing Emergency Room, Our Sick Health System By Mark Kreidler February 15, 2024   Last summer, officials at Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in South Los Angeles made a decision: If they didn’t start yelling for help, their facility was headed for a total shutdown.   In the abstract, the problem seemed […]

The Ethos of Emergency Medicine Hangs in the Balance by Monica Saxena, MD, JD, Dara Kass, MD, Esther Choo, MD, MPH, and Jennifer A. Newberry, MD, JD, MSc March 8, 2024   The ethos of emergency medicine — any patient, any time, any problem — could be radically changed, considering pending legal challenges that may

Letters to the Editor: If Canada can have single-payer healthcare, so can California Including Editorial from HC4US.org’s own James Sarantinos February 28, 2024   To the editor: Rivas is disingenuous in his claim that the state can’t afford a single-payer healthcare system in the face of spiraling budget deficits.   Such a system will generate

Americans Paid $11 Billion To Make Drugs You Can’t Afford By Helen Santoro February 22, 2024   As the government begins its first-ever price negotiations for a handful of medicines under Medicare, the pharmaceutical industry has launched an all-out legal and PR assault on this meager attempt to control out-of-control drug prices for the country’s

California Achieves Near-Universal Coverage, But Budget Deficits And Single-Payer Proposals Remain By Paul Roberts, REBC, Sr. Director of Education & Market Development February 12, 2024   On January 1, 2024, California took a significant step toward achieving universal health coverage for its residents. By expanding its Medi-Cal program, the state now ensures that every resident,

Single-payer healthcare is a ‘tough, tough sell’ as California faces massive budget shortfall By Anabel Sosa February 21, 2024   SACRAMENTO — California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas cast doubt on the latest proposal to create a state-run single-payer healthcare system, saying he likes the idea but isn’t convinced the state can afford it in the

Opinion: Why that ambulance racing through L.A. traffic may not be going to a life-or-death emergency By Jon Nevin February 14, 2024   The lights and sirens of emergency medical services are pervasive in the United States. Not only are our screens saturated with them, but it’s hard to go far in any large city

Majority of debtors to US hospitals now people with health insurance By Jessica Glenza January 11, 2024   People with health insurance may now represent the majority of debtors American hospitals struggle to collect from, according to medical billing analysts.   This marks a sea change from just a few years ago, when people with

Assemblymember Ash Kalra, California Nurses Association Introduce CalCare Legislation February 7, 2024   SACRAMENTO – Today, California Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San José), with the crucial support of California Nurses Association (CNA), introduced Assembly Bill (AB) 2200, the California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act. AB 2200 would enact a comprehensive framework of governance, benefits, program

Hawaiʻi Health Workers Call for End to Genocide By Selena-Seiji Yamada February 12, 2024   Dr Hammam Alloh, a 36-year-old nephrologist, was killed in an airstrike on his family home on November 13. Prior to his death, when asked why he was not leaving his patients at the Al Shifa Hospital, he replied: “If I