"This argues for the need to sustain such policies and shows that it is possible to right the wrongs retroactively, which is a powerful idea," said Kenneth Michelson, MD, MPH, associate professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Emergency Medicine and a co-author of the study.
"There are people who have come here after escaping violence and persecution and torture. These are communities that we have historically said, 'You are welcome here. We have the support for you. We're going to help you get established in our country.' And now, the federal government is abandoning them."
Eight individuals were arrested and 15 charged in a scheme to defraud Medicare of over $50 million by running sham hospice facilities across Southern California. Federal officials described the actions as brazen efforts to commit fraud, with many billed patients not being terminally ill.
Sheryl Davis is accused of steering millions of dollars to Collective Impact, a San Francisco-based nonprofit she previously ran as executive director, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday by the San Francisco District Attorney's Office.
"We knew right away that any shift in policy that was being reported was a grave exaggeration," Sheldon said, pointing to GLMA's role within the AMA's House of Delegates, where it has a voting seat and direct visibility into policymaking.
Because of budget cuts, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has ended clinical services at seven of its public health clinic sites. As of Feb. 27, the county is no longer providing services such as vaccinations, sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment, or tuberculosis diagnosis and specialty TB care at the affected locations, according to county officials and a department fact sheet.
The most significant immediate change arrived Jan. 1 with the expiration of enhanced premium tax credits, which help defray the cost of monthly premiums for Americans enrolled in plans sold by health insurance exchanges such as Covered California. RELATED: Bay Area Affordable Care Act policyholders brace for price hikes With Congress not renewing these subsidies, which arrived in 2021 and are in addition to the initial income-based credits made available under the Affordable Care Act, enrollees will see their payments increase significantly this year.
If you're smoking three packs of cigarettes a day, should you expect society to pay when you get sick?" He added that while Americans would always have the right to "eat donuts all day," nevertheless, "should you then expect society to care for you when you predictably get very sick at the same level as somebody who was born with a congenital illness?
Those extra subsidies were enacted in 2021 as part of temporary, pandemic-era relief, boosting financial help for people buying coverage on state-run insurance marketplaces such as Covered California. The law also expanded eligibility to people earning more than 400% of the federal poverty level, about $62,600 for a single person and $128,600 for a family of four. With the expiration of the enhanced subsidies, people above that income threshold no longer receive federal assistance,
On Tuesday, California State Assemblymember Liz Ortega (D-San Leandro) introduced AB 1799, a bill that would require nonprofit health plans that receive significant state subsidies like Kaiser Permanente to disclose direct and indirect investments, including holdings tied to for-profit prisons and immigrant detention corporations. Nonprofit health care plans benefit from public subsidies and taxpayer support because of their obligation to put patients and community health first, a statement by United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals said.
In 2026, the US healthcare system is changing. Enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies have expired, causing premiums for marketplace plans to spike - and pricing some families out of health insurance entirely. President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act will reduce coverage for some patients with Medicaid and funding for hospitals, especially those in rural areas. Costs for Medicare and private insurance are also rising: Employer-based healthcare premiums have increased by 9%, the largest rise in more than a decade.