Mental Health

California requires insurers to cover medically necessary mental health treatment. But to patients, the separation between what that law requires and what health plans provide often feels like a gaping chasm.

Government agencies can overrule an insurance company's denial of coverage for a medically necessary mental health treatment, but figuring out how to appeal can be complicated.

The strike is the second one in a little more than two years by California mental health workers at Kaiser Permanente. The last one lasted 10 weeks. Photo by Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters

Prop. 36 pledges to send more people convicted of drug possession to treatment instead of prison. Behavioral health directors say that's easier said than done with workforce shortages across the state.

The strike would be the second one in a little more than two years by California mental health workers at Kaiser Permanente. The clock is ticking to avoid a walkout.

Mark Ghaly has been a steady voice in Gov. Gavin Newsom's cabinet, shaping the administration's COVID policies and its efforts to bring down the cost of health care.

A trio of California Democratic lawmakers say they’re frustrated by high cost estimates that helped kill their health care legislation. Did the Newsom administration inflate the numbers to quietly kill the bills?

For California laws, the buck does really stop at Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk. While the Legislature approved hundreds of bills before ending its regular session on Aug. 31, Newsom decides whether they become law.  He finished on Sept. 30 — and vetoed about 18% of nearly 1,000 bills passed in the final days (and nearly […]

Patients looking for doctors who will take their insurance often find the list of doctors provided by their insurance companies are inaccurate or out of date. Insurers and doctors are fighting a bill that would fine insurers for having “ghost networks” that aren’t accurate.

California State Hospitals can bill patients for the care they receive during confinement. The charges often run in the tens of thousands of dollars, putting vulnerable people in debt for years.