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What We're Reading: Medi-Cal May Be Expanded to Illegal Immigrants
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What we're reading, November 10, 2015: half of California's illegal immigrants would be eligible for Medi-Cal if it was expanded; women are less likely to receive optimal care after a heart attack, which accounts for survival gap; and Hawaii's residents face long wait times to sign up for health coverage on HealthCare.gov.
California Legislators Consider Expanding Medi-Cal to Illegal Immigrants
Half of California’s illegal immigrants would be eligible for the state’s Medi-Cal program if legislators expanded it. Currently, illegal immigrants are not allowed to sign up for insurance under the Affordable Care Act, and but more than half of the 2.6 million unauthorized immigrants in California make so little money they would quality for Medi-Cal if the program were expanded under a proposal by legislators, reported the Los Angeles Times.
Heart Attack Survival Gender Gap Result of Women Receiving Suboptimal Care
Women are 8% less likely to be on “optimal care” when they are discharged after a heart attack when compared with men, according to a new study. The difference between women receiving recommended treatments and men could explain the gender gap in long-term survival. When women received optimal care they were just as likely as men to be alive 3 years later, reported HealthDay.
For more coverage from the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions, visit our conference page.
Hawaii Residents Face Up to 4 Hours When Applying for Health Coverage
While the average wait to apply for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act on HealthCare.gov is an hour for Hawaii residents, non-English speaking people could wait as long as 4 hours, reported Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Hawaii recently switched to the federal marketplace from the state-based exchange, which is shutting down completely in 2016. It is taking so long to enroll people for coverage that the state is at risk of being unable to process all re-enrollments.
