HEAL California

HEAL California Join the movement for healthcare equality! We are an online community fighting for Medicare for All.

HEAL California, an independent news and information hub, works to amplify the voices of those committed to winning Medicare for All in California and the nation. We feature non-partisan, timely news, views, media and resources that pertain to the Medicare for All movement.

Insulin has been around for more than a century. Access to it still shouldn’t depend on how much money you have.For peop...
10/05/2026

Insulin has been around for more than a century. Access to it still shouldn’t depend on how much money you have.

For people who need insulin to live, this isn’t a luxury purchase, a lifestyle upgrade, or something they can simply skip when money is tight.

Life-saving medication should be affordable because people need it, not because they’re good at navigating coupons, formularies, and insurance rules.

If you agree, share this.

A facility calls itself “memory care.” But what does that actually promise a family?In the newest CodeWACK!, Tony Chicot...
10/04/2026

A facility calls itself “memory care.” But what does that actually promise a family?

In the newest CodeWACK!, Tony Chicotel, senior staff attorney with California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, takes us inside a troubling gap between how some assisted living facilities market dementia care and what can happen when a resident’s needs become difficult to manage.

Families may be told a facility specializes in dementia care, only to later face demands for expensive one-on-one caregivers, eviction notices, or medications intended to make residents easier to manage.

Tony also shares some surprisingly specific questions families should ask before choosing a facility, including how many residents it has evicted and how often it has called 911.

Listen to The Troubling Truth About Memory Care: What Families Need to Know on CodeWACK!

If your family has navigated memory care or assisted living, what do you wish you had known before choosing a facility?

https://loom.ly/FoSJ1IM

Insurance delays aren’t abstract when you’re waiting on treatment.They mean phone calls. Appeals. More paperwork. More u...
10/04/2026

Insurance delays aren’t abstract when you’re waiting on treatment.

They mean phone calls. Appeals. More paperwork. More uncertainty. And sometimes, families trying to figure out how they could possibly pay for care themselves.

This week’s Code WACK! looks at one family’s experience and asks what needs to change.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

https://loom.ly/maqbAxQ

Who should be allowed to overrule a treating doctor’s recommendation?Eunice Stallman, MD, says insurance denials should ...
10/04/2026

Who should be allowed to overrule a treating doctor’s recommendation?

Eunice Stallman, MD, says insurance denials should be reviewed by people with the right medical credentials and relevant specialty experience.

Because when the decision is about a child with a rare brain tumor, getting the details right isn’t paperwork. It’s care.
Listen to the full discussion on Code WACK!

https://loom.ly/maqbAxQ

You can see the price of a concert ticket before you buy it.You can compare hotel rooms, flights, groceries, cars, basic...
10/03/2026

You can see the price of a concert ticket before you buy it.

You can compare hotel rooms, flights, groceries, cars, basically everything.

But when you need a medical procedure, the final price can feel like a surprise you discover only after the care is already done.

That is not a normal marketplace. And patients should not be expected to “shop around” for life-saving care the way they shop for a vacation.

No one should have to wonder whether getting treatment today means getting crushed by a bill tomorrow.

If you’ve ever opened a medical bill and thought, “How is this even possible?” share this.

You shouldn’t have to pay to stay alive.A hospital bill can follow someone for years, long after the emergency itself is...
10/02/2026

You shouldn’t have to pay to stay alive.

A hospital bill can follow someone for years, long after the emergency itself is over. Payment plans may make the bill smaller each month, but they don’t make the underlying problem disappear.

Health care should not come with a debt sentence.

If this hits home, share it. More people need to talk about what medical costs actually do to families.

That’s approximately what Eunice Stallman, MD, said her daughter’s medication could have cost out of pocket at her then-...
10/01/2026

That’s approximately what Eunice Stallman, MD, said her daughter’s medication could have cost out of pocket at her then-current weight.

Her family started a GoFundMe while fighting for coverage because they didn’t know how long an approval would take.
No family should have to choose between waiting and somehow finding tens of thousands of dollars for treatment.

🎧 Hear the full story on CodeWACK!

https://loom.ly/maqbAxQ

“They weren't even looking at the right ones for how you treat brain tumors in kids.”According to Eunice Stallman, MD, t...
09/30/2026

“They weren't even looking at the right ones for how you treat brain tumors in kids.”

According to Eunice Stallman, MD, the denials for her daughter’s treatment cited adult brain-tumor guidelines rather than the pediatric guidance relevant to her care.

That raises a pretty basic question: Who is reviewing these decisions, and do they actually have the expertise to make them?

Hear the full conversation on this week's episode of Code WACK!

https://loom.ly/maqbAxQ

When doctors recommend treatment, how many hurdles should an insurance company be allowed to put between the patient and...
09/29/2026

When doctors recommend treatment, how many hurdles should an insurance company be allowed to put between the patient and that care?

This week on Code WACK!, Eunice Stallman, MD, shares what happened when coverage for her daughter’s brain-tumor medication was repeatedly denied.

The full story is even more frustrating than the headline.

🎧 Listen to the new episode of CodeWACK!

https://loom.ly/maqbAxQ

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