As you surely know, this country’s covid vaccination effort has been plagued by major birth pangs: registration snafus, and a scant supply of vaccine — all exacerbated by inequitable allocation, and for shots.It can beStill, as of Friday, over 118 million shots had gone into arms, and about , had been fully vaccinated. Nearly one-quarter of U.S. residents have had at least one dose.The vaccine rollout is finally ramping up — just as the deadly winter surge has ended, dramatically reducing infection rates, hospitalizations and deaths. President Joe Biden has promised enough vaccine for...…As you surely know, this country’s covid vaccination effort has been plagued by major birth pangs: registration snafus, and a scant supply of vaccine — all exacerbated by inequitable allocation, and for shots.It can beStill, as of Friday, over 118 million shots had gone into arms, and about , had been fully vaccinated. Nearly one-quarter of U.S. residents have had at least one dose.The vaccine rollout is finally ramping up — just as the deadly winter surge has ended, dramatically reducing infection rates, hospitalizations and deaths. President Joe Biden has promised enough vaccine for...WW…

It can beAs managed-care giant Kaiser Permanente assumes a prominent role in California’s new covid-19 vaccination strategy, it is drawing mixed reviews from members across the country for the way it has run its own vaccine program over the past two months.Conversations with 10 Kaiser enrollees in five states — Colorado, Washington, Virginia, Maryland and California — revealed a common frustration: difficulty snagging an appointment. Many also described receiving sporadic and sometimes confusing information from the company, though some said Kaiser has been doing better recently.All of...…It can beAs managed-care giant Kaiser Permanente assumes a prominent role in California’s new covid-19 vaccination strategy, it is drawing mixed reviews from members across the country for the way it has run its own vaccine program over the past two months.Conversations with 10 Kaiser enrollees in five states — Colorado, Washington, Virginia, Maryland and California — revealed a common frustration: difficulty snagging an appointment. Many also described receiving sporadic and sometimes confusing information from the company, though some said Kaiser has been doing better recently.All of...WW…

This story also ran on . It can be[UPDATED at 7:45 p.m. ET]California Gov. Gavin Newsom, struggling to salvage a once-bright political future dimmed by his mishandling of the covid crisis, tapped nonprofit health insurer Blue Shield of California last week to allocate the state’s covid vaccine.The company has thus far said little about how it plans to reorganize a gargantuan and complicated vaccination campaign that has befuddled and frustrated public health officials and vaccine seekers alike.The agreement with Blue Shield was made under an emergency authorization, circumventing the...…This story also ran on . It can be[UPDATED at 7:45 p.m. ET]California Gov. Gavin Newsom, struggling to salvage a once-bright political future dimmed by his mishandling of the covid crisis, tapped nonprofit health insurer Blue Shield of California last week to allocate the state’s covid vaccine.The company has thus far said little about how it plans to reorganize a gargantuan and complicated vaccination campaign that has befuddled and frustrated public health officials and vaccine seekers alike.The agreement with Blue Shield was made under an emergency authorization, circumventing the...WW…

January 25, 2021California Gov. Gavin Newsom, under growing pressure to jump-start a faltering covid-19 vaccine rollout, jetted to Los Angeles on Jan. 15 to unveil a massive new vaccination site at that is expected eventually to inoculate 12,000 people a day.The city-run venue had been the biggest covid testing site in the U.S., administering over 1 million tests in its nearly eight months of operation — and over 10,000 a day during the recent surge. Its redeployment to the cause of vaccination, Newsom declared, provides “an extraordinary world-class site for a world-class logistics...…January 25, 2021California Gov. Gavin Newsom, under growing pressure to jump-start a faltering covid-19 vaccine rollout, jetted to Los Angeles on Jan. 15 to unveil a massive new vaccination site at that is expected eventually to inoculate 12,000 people a day.The city-run venue had been the biggest covid testing site in the U.S., administering over 1 million tests in its nearly eight months of operation — and over 10,000 a day during the recent surge. Its redeployment to the cause of vaccination, Newsom declared, provides “an extraordinary world-class site for a world-class logistics...WW…

It can beA series of columns by Bernard J. Wolfson addressing the challenges consumers face in California’s health care landscape.Send questions to .The recent rollout of two newly authorized COVID-19 vaccines is a bright ray of hope at the pandemic’s darkest hour.We now have a path that can lead us to happier times — even as we watch and suffer from the horrible onslaught of new infections, hospitalizations and deaths that mark the end of this regrettable year.Health care workers and nursing home residents have already begun to get shots in the first phase of the rollout. Vaccinations...…It can beA series of columns by Bernard J. Wolfson addressing the challenges consumers face in California’s health care landscape.Send questions to .The recent rollout of two newly authorized COVID-19 vaccines is a bright ray of hope at the pandemic’s darkest hour.We now have a path that can lead us to happier times — even as we watch and suffer from the horrible onslaught of new infections, hospitalizations and deaths that mark the end of this regrettable year.Health care workers and nursing home residents have already begun to get shots in the first phase of the rollout. Vaccinations...WW…

December 18, 2020She lay behind a glass barrier, heavily sedated, kept alive by a machine that blew oxygen into her lungs through a tube taped to her mouth and lodged at the back of her throat. She had deteriorated rapidly since arriving a short time earlier.“Her respiratory system is failing, and her cardiovascular system is failing,” said Dr. Luis Huerta, a critical care expert in the intensive care unit. The odds of survival for the patient, who could not be identified for privacy reasons, were poor, Huerta said.The woman, in her 60s, was among 50 patients so ill with COVID-19 that they...…December 18, 2020She lay behind a glass barrier, heavily sedated, kept alive by a machine that blew oxygen into her lungs through a tube taped to her mouth and lodged at the back of her throat. She had deteriorated rapidly since arriving a short time earlier.“Her respiratory system is failing, and her cardiovascular system is failing,” said Dr. Luis Huerta, a critical care expert in the intensive care unit. The odds of survival for the patient, who could not be identified for privacy reasons, were poor, Huerta said.The woman, in her 60s, was among 50 patients so ill with COVID-19 that they...WW…

This story also ran on .California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s maskless dinner with and others at a Napa County a minimum of $350 per head was just about the last straw for some beleaguered California small-business owners.With their livelihoods on the line, a growing number of them are openly defying the latest orders to shut down as COVID cases skyrocket in California — and pointing to Newsom’s bad behavior.“We are definitely not complying. We have enough information to make an educated decision: The data do not back another shutdown,” said Miguel Aguilar, founder and owner of Self Made Training...…This story also ran on .California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s maskless dinner with and others at a Napa County a minimum of $350 per head was just about the last straw for some beleaguered California small-business owners.With their livelihoods on the line, a growing number of them are openly defying the latest orders to shut down as COVID cases skyrocket in California — and pointing to Newsom’s bad behavior.“We are definitely not complying. We have enough information to make an educated decision: The data do not back another shutdown,” said Miguel Aguilar, founder and owner of Self Made Training...WW…

A series of columns addressing the challenges consumers face in California’s health care landscape.Send questions to .If you’ve been watching TV lately, you may have seen actor Danny Glover or Joe Namath, the 77-year-old NFL legend, urging you to call an 800 number to get fabulous extra benefits from Medicare.There are plenty of other Medicare ads, too, many set against a red-white-and-blue background meant to suggest officialdom — though if you stand about a foot from the television screen, you might see the fine print saying they are not endorsed by any government agency.Rather, they...…A series of columns addressing the challenges consumers face in California’s health care landscape.Send questions to .If you’ve been watching TV lately, you may have seen actor Danny Glover or Joe Namath, the 77-year-old NFL legend, urging you to call an 800 number to get fabulous extra benefits from Medicare.There are plenty of other Medicare ads, too, many set against a red-white-and-blue background meant to suggest officialdom — though if you stand about a foot from the television screen, you might see the fine print saying they are not endorsed by any government agency.Rather, they...WW…

A series of columns addressing the challenges consumers face in California’s health care landscape.Send questions to .This story also ran on .California’s annual health insurance enrollment season for individuals and families kicks off this week against a dramatic backdrop: the hotly contested presidential election; a pandemic raging out of control in much of the U.S.; and, on Nov. 10, a Supreme Court hearing of a case that could end the Affordable Care Act and strand millions without coverage.The massive unemployment caused by the pandemic has already stripped employer-based health...…A series of columns addressing the challenges consumers face in California’s health care landscape.Send questions to .This story also ran on .California’s annual health insurance enrollment season for individuals and families kicks off this week against a dramatic backdrop: the hotly contested presidential election; a pandemic raging out of control in much of the U.S.; and, on Nov. 10, a Supreme Court hearing of a case that could end the Affordable Care Act and strand millions without coverage.The massive unemployment caused by the pandemic has already stripped employer-based health...WW…

In early 2013, in Orange County, California, joined with St. Joseph Health, a local Catholic hospital chain, amid enthusiastic promises that their affiliation would broaden access to care and improve the health of residents across the community.This story also ran on . It can beEight years later, Hoag says this vision of achieving “population health” is dead, and it wants out. It is embroiled in a legal battle for independence from , a Catholic health system with 51 hospitals across seven states, which absorbed St. Joseph in 2016, bringing Hoag along with it.In a filed in Orange County...…In early 2013, in Orange County, California, joined with St. Joseph Health, a local Catholic hospital chain, amid enthusiastic promises that their affiliation would broaden access to care and improve the health of residents across the community.This story also ran on . It can beEight years later, Hoag says this vision of achieving “population health” is dead, and it wants out. It is embroiled in a legal battle for independence from , a Catholic health system with 51 hospitals across seven states, which absorbed St. Joseph in 2016, bringing Hoag along with it.In a filed in Orange County...WW…