Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for ventilators and accessories has soared. As a result, families caring for medically fragile kids are being forced to ration and even reuse parts.
At least 3,000 children in California rely on ventilators, according to the California Association of Medical Product Suppliers, and many of them are facing a shortage of the supplies that help keep them alive.
The complicated system creates a disparity where children from families without the means to pay for medical equipment out of pocket often must go without it for months or years, limiting their interactions with their community or setting them up for poorer health outcomes compared to their wealthier peers.
The equipment families seek includes lifts, wheelchairs, walkers, ventilators and hospital beds.
Under a state law that took effect in January 2018, counties are no longer supposed to charge fees to youth involved in the juvenile legal system, or their families.
However, a recent study found that some counties continue to illegally collect some prohibited fees. Others are chasing young people and their families for debts they incurred before the law took effect.
California health officials are gearing up for the launch of a statewide screening effort that aims to help doctors measure children’s exposure to trauma and their risk of related health problems.
Starting Jan. 1, California will become the first state in the nation to reimburse health care providers who screen patients enrolled in the Medi-Cal program for “adverse childhood experiences” or ACEs.
Across California and the country, families with children with complex medical needs struggle to find qualified nurses to care for them. Historically low pay rates for home health nurses, a lack of pediatric training for in-home situations, and a disjointed system for finding caregivers has left many families without the nursing care their children desperately need and are entitled to, experts said.
More than 72,000 children in California could suffer long-lasting health consequences if a federal program that shields their parents from deportation is repealed, experts warn.
Alejandro Campos Robledo, a DACA recipient, and his 11-year-old daughter Giselle, are two Californians who would be affected if the program is rescinded.
Newly released data reveals that more than a quarter of California children in foster care don’t receive timely medical or dental exams, increasing their risk of having health problems that go unaddressed.
Starting in January, a new California law will require all ID badges for students in seventh through 12th grades and in higher education institutions to carry the National Domestic Violence Hotline number, or that of a local domestic violence hotline. One in three teens in the United States is a victim of physical, sexual, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner, statistics show.
Nearly 1.2 million California children live in low-income neighborhoods, a number that has decreased in the decade since the Great Recession, but remains troubling, researchers said in a new report.
Should health plans do more to support parents in raising stable families?
That’s the recommendation from a coalition of child health researchers who are calling for an overhaul of part of the state’s Medi-Cal program.