A quarter of a million Californians with Blue Cross PPO plans are being hit with double-digit premium hikes.

San Diegans who want to get a refill of their narcotic painkillers from hospital emergency departments will soon have to look elsewhere.

Workplace wellness programs can save money and improve employee health, but not overnight.

With the demand for palliative care growing, Cal State San Marcos is introducing an online class for chaplains to help them deal with severely ill and terminal patients.

Anthem Blue Cross is suspending a program that would have prevented HIV/AIDS patients from getting their medications from local pharmacies.

Palomar Health will introduce a new patient monitoring system that looks like something out of Star Trek.

Low-income Californians without health insurance or who aren’t eligible for Medi-Cal can now see which benefits they can expect under the federal health care overhaul- and how much their coverage will cost.

Should nurse practitioners and physician assistants be allowed to operate independently? Some California lawmakers think so.

A unique type of neurosurgery offers hope to patients with spinal cord injuries.

The nonprofit group Consumer Watchdog says doctors in California should be drug tested.

California has one of the nation's lowest premature birth rates, according to a new report from the March of Dimes.

Starting next year, everyone will be required to have health insurance, or pay a fine.

Kaiser Permanente has 40 percent of California's lucrative health insurance market.

California doctors are asking a federal appeals court to review a decision that allows the state to cut the Medi-Cal payment rate by 10 percent.

The newest generation of implantable heart pumps are keeping many patients alive while they wait for a heart transplant.

What recession? Hospital executives at many of California's non-profit hospitals are making seven figures a year.

The Salk Institute for Biological Studies has received its largest-ever grant, $42 million to establish a research center for decoding common genetic factors among chronic human diseases.

HIV treatment is most beneficial when it's started within four months of the estimated infection date, according to a new study.

San Diego may be known as America's Finest City, but it doesn't rank very high in the latest tobacco control report from the American Lung Association.

Anthem Blue Cross's new policy requiring HIV/AIDS patients to get their drugs by mail order has prompted a lawsuit charging the move is discriminatory.

Babies born with spina bifida, one of the most common birth defects, can face a lifetime of medical issues.

Junior Seau, the former NFL linebacker whose suicide last May at age 43 shocked fans and former teammates, suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative disease associated with repetitive head injuries, according to a study by the National Institutes of Health.

Health officials say so far this season, San Diego hasn't been hit as hard with the flu as many other parts of the country.

California regulators aren't happy about it, but they don't have the power to block the latest Anthem Blue Cross rate hike from taking effect later this month.

Kaiser Permanente may be held responsible for compromising the medical records of nearly 300,000 people.

Drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death in California. A new law aims to reduce the problem.

KPBS takes a look at the top health and education stories with KPBS reporters Kenny Goldberg and Kyla Calvert.

The Christmas holidays can be an especially rough time for the elderly who are in poor health and live alone.

Gays, lesbians and bisexual adults in California are at the highest risk of suicide, according to a new report from UCLA.

California has set a goal of becoming the healthiest state in the country within 10 years.

DUI offenders who are at high risk of making the same mistake are being closely monitored by the San Diego County Probation Department.

California doctors say their Medi-Cal payment rate is already too low. Now an appeals court ruling has given the green light to cut the rate even more.

A growing number of young Californians are getting their nicotine buzz from smokeless tobacco products.

The likelihood of having elective surgery largely depends on where you live. A new report reveals some wide variations on elective surgeries among different parts of the West.

Medication errors are among the most common medical mistakes. Escondido's Palomar Hospital is trying to zero them out.

Forget faxing and mailing. Consumers can now file complaints about their health insurance plans online.

California officials say they're going full speed ahead with plans to close the popular Healthy Families program and move kids to Medi-Cal.

The clock is ticking for California to get ready for the complete rollout of healthcare reform.

Financial pressures have forced San Diego's oldest and largest hospice to cut staff and services.

Another price increase is on the way for Anthem Blue Cross individual policyholders in California.

Antipsychotic drugs are widely prescribed to treat dementia-related mood disorders, but a new study finds they're not effective.

Smoking control advocates say too many California teens light up.

The rules governing insurance exchanges, including what benefits health plans must cover, have just been released by the federal government.

A company with a research arm in San Diego has come up with a high-tech solution to the medical error of leaving a sponge inside a patient after surgery.

Two top executives of San Diego Hospice have stepped down, but officials say the moves are unrelated to a recent government audit.

The largest hospice program in San Diego County may lay off hundreds of employees to cope with financial problems because it may have violated Medicare regulations.

Mechanical engineers at UC San Diego are trying to come up with a better designed heart pump.

Blue Shield of California says it will refund $50 million to consumers before the end of December.

A new report shows jobs with health benefits are shrinking in California.

An innovative tuberculosis control program in Tijuana will run out of money at the end of the year.