California
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California's Open Access Bill Encounters A Hurdle, But Gathers Support
California's landmark open access bill, the California Taxpayer Access to Publicly Funded Research Act (AB 609), has stalled in the State Senate. But take heart—it is far from dead. Read More »
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Oregon Struggles To Clear Health Insurance Exchange's High-Tech Hurdle
Oregon's state-based health law online insurance exchange is still struggling in its quest to sign people up, and officials there are using paper applications to get the job done -- a time-consuming task. Exchanges also make news in Kentucky, California, Mississippi and Washington state. Read More »
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3 Reasons Why the US is Vulnerable to Big Disasters
During the 2017 disaster season, three severe hurricanes devastated large parts of the U.S. The quick succession of major disasters made it obvious that such large-scale emergencies can be a strain, even in one of the world’s richest countries. As a complex emergency researcher, I investigate why some countries can better withstand and respond to disasters. The factors are many and diverse, but three major ones stand out because they are within the grasp of the federal and local governments: where and how cities grow; how easily households can access critical services during disaster; and the reliability of the supply chains for critical goods. For all three of these factors, the U.S. is heading in the wrong direction. In many ways, Americans are becoming more vulnerable by the day.
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A Deadly Superbug Appears to Be Invading America's Hospitals
A dangerous type of superbug has more tricks up its sleeves than we may be giving it credit for, a recent study suggests. The researchers found that this class of bacteria, CREs — that's short for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae — has more ways to evade antibiotics than have been currently identified, and that these bugs share their tricks readily across the families of bacteria that make up this grouping...
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A Health Hack Wake-Up Call
Hospitals went digital almost overnight, but they neglected to prioritize patient data protection. U.S. hospitals appear to be under a new type of IT hacking attack: crypto-ransomware. Hackers have changed their approach and instead of stealing patient data, they are now locking down the computer systems of hospitals and asking for a ransom, in bitcoin, in order to allow hospitals to have access to their own computers...
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A Small Paper Problem: The Health Exchanges Face An Avalanche Of Paper Applications
When HealthCare.gov and some state-run insurance marketplaces ran into trouble with their websites in October and November, they urged consumers to submit paper applications for coverage. Read More »
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AB 609: California Leads On Open Access To Publicly Funded Research
California has become the first state to mandate open access for the products of some taxpayer-funded research. On September 29 Governor Jerry Brown signed into law the California Taxpayer Access to Publicly Funded Research Act, coauthored by Assemblyman Brian Nestande (R–Palm Desert) and Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D–Los Angeles)...
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As Fracking Booms, Growing Concerns About Wastewater
With hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas continuing to proliferate across the U.S., scientists and environmental activists are raising questions about whether millions of gallons of contaminated drilling fluids could be threatening water supplies and human health. Read More »
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As Hospital Chains Grow, So Do Their Prices For Care
As health care consolidation accelerates nationwide, a new study shows that hospital prices in two of California’s largest health systems were 25 percent higher than at other hospitals around the state. Researchers said this gap of nearly $4,000 per patient admission was not due to regional wage differences or hospitals treating sicker patients. Rather, they said California’s two biggest hospital chains, Dignity Health and Sutter Health, had used their market power to win higher rates...
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Baby Birth Costs Vary 10-Fold In Hospitals, Study Finds
The cost of giving birth at a hospital can vary by tens of thousands of dollars, a price range that is “largely random” and unexplainable by market factors, a California study found. Read More »
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California Could Be Hit by an 8.2 Mega-Earthquake, and It Would Be Catastrophic
The magnitude 8.2 earthquake that ravaged southern Mexico on Sept. 7 was the largest to shake the country in nearly a century. Like California, Mexico is a seismically active region that has seen smaller quakes that have caused death and destruction. But the Sept. 7 temblor is a reminder that even larger quakes — while rare — do occur. Scientists say it’s possible for Southern California to be hit by a magnitude 8.2 earthquake. Such a quake would be far more destructive to the Los Angeles area because the San Andreas fault runs very close to and underneath densely populated areas...
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California Lawmakers Put Open-Government Measure On Ballot
California voters will get a chance next year to change the state constitution to make sure local government agencies provide open access to public records and meetings. Read More »
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California Open Access Legislation Clears Latest Hurdle
The House Assembly today passed the California Taxpayer Access to Publicly Funded Research Act (AB 609). Read More »
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California State Senate Bill Seeks to Create Open Source Textbook Library
College students may find relief from high textbook prices in a California State Senate bill that would create a free open source textbook library. State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, introduced a bill Feb. 8 that would fund a library containing open source textbooks for the 50 most popular lower division courses at the state’s colleges and universities. Read More »
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California's Move Toward MOOCs Sends Shock Waves, But Key Questions Remain Unanswered
Supporters of newly proposed legislation in California hope to reduce the number of students shut out of key courses by forging an unprecedented partnership between traditional public colleges and online-education upstarts. But on Wednesday specific details of how the deal would work were hard to pin down. Read More »
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