Kristen Hwang CalMatters

3 weeks ago | ivpressonline.com | Alexei Koseff |Kristen Hwang CalMatters

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that he will seek to regulate prescription drug managers that he blames for driving up costs for patients, less than a year after he vetoed similar oversight of these companies. The plan — part of a revised state budget proposal that Newsom will unveil in full on Wednesday — calls for licensing pharmacy benefit managers through California’s Department of Managed Health Care and requiring them to report their operational and financial details.

3 weeks ago | smdailyjournal.com | Alexei Koseff |Kristen Hwang CalMatters

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday that he will seek to regulate prescription drug managers he blames for driving up costs for patients — less than a year after he vetoed similar oversight of these companies. The plan — part of a revised state budget proposal that Newsom will unveil in full on Wednesday — calls for licensing pharmacy benefit managers through California’s Department of Managed Health Care and requiring them to report their operational and financial details.

2 months ago | ivpressonline.com | Kristen Hwang |Kristen Hwang CalMatters

California may lose more than $1 billion in public health and mental health funding as a result of new federal budget cuts that target COVID-19 pandemic response grants, according to the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency website. The federal Department of Health and Human Services terminated $12 billion in grants intended for infectious disease response, mental health services and other public health issues, according to national reports.

2 months ago | smdailyjournal.com | Kristen Hwang |Kristen Hwang CalMatters

A spate of recent policy decisions by the Trump administration targeting transgender youth has led to an escalating mental health crisis among an already vulnerable population, experts and advocates say. Even in California, where top state leaders have championed policies to protect transgender people, nonprofit leaders and case workers say they are seeing sharp increases in depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicidal thoughts among the young people they serve.