SACRAMENTO -- The state's largest health insurers, including Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield and Kaiser Permanente, will be among 13 plans competing for policies from millions of Californians who are expected to purchase coverage through the state's new health exchange, officials announced Thursday.
Covered California, the state agency running the health insurance marketplace, announced the plans and prices that will be offered by private insurers when the exchange begins enrolling customers in October. Coverage begins Jan. 1, the same time virtually everyone in the country will be required to have health insurance or pay a penalty.
Kern County residents who buy insurance via the exchange will be able to pick from four plans offered by...
With the snip of a giant red ribbon, San Joaquin Community Hospital celebrated the long-awaited opening of its new cancer and outpatient surgery center Tuesday morning. The AIS Cancer Center at San Joaquin Community Hospital has been open...
Q: I had colon cancer and have had trouble buying health insurance ever since. Under Obamacare, will insurance companies still be allowed to refuse me because of my medical history? A: Finally, an Obamacare question with a simple answer,...
Q: What percentage of student fees goes to athletics scholarships, coaches' salaries, staff salaries and other sport-related costs? -- Craig Holland A: Working with Cal State Bakersfield, we got as close an answer as we could by...
A new Medicare program that punishes hospitals with high patient readmission rates is forcing administrators to reach out and improve how patients are cared for even after they're wheeled out the hospital doors. Working to reduce runaway...
Two local doctors' case study of pregnancy and the synthetic drug spice got attention last week at an annual meeting of obstetricians and gynecologists. Dr. Cindy S. Lee and Dr. Sally Nalesnik detailed the case in a poster called "Spice...
When one of Janie Olvera's nine sisters had preventative double mastectomy to reduce her risk of developing breast cancer, Olvera thought she was crazy. But several years later, Olvera's 28-year-old niece was diagnosed with breast cancer...
"Sexual psychopath." That was the diagnosis a court-ordered psychiatrist gave Donald Robert Hoffman after he was convicted of molesting a 13-year-old boy in 1965. Hoffman, the psychiatrist determined, was a danger to others. But that...
Bakersfield has long boasted of having one of the world's largest Relay for Life events, but this year, the fundraiser's net income shrank for the first time in nearly two decades. The massive fundraiser took a hit as several big donors...
When donors pull out their wallets to give to a charity, Daniel Borochoff, president of Chicago-based CharityWatch, warned that they should not assume that the biggest, most famous charity they know of will be the one to address their...
As Dr. Michelle Quiogue puts it, a lot of people had to tell a lot of lies to keep her from learning that she was up for the 2013 Family Physician of the Year award. Quiogue sits on the committee that reviews the nominees for the honor...
California prison officials say a receiver's policy for protecting inmates housed at two Central Valley prisons from Valley Fever is "premature" and urged a federal court to oppose its quick implementation. "The [receiver's] policy is...
The Grossman Burn Center at San Joaquin Community Hospital gained a new resource for patients this week courtesy of the Bakersfield Firefighters Burn Foundation: iPads. The four iPads, one for each room in the unit, will be loaned to...
Sheriff defends deputies' conduct, says Silva's death accidental (31)
A forceful Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood announced at a tense press conference Thursday that David Sal Silva, whose death earlier this month raised questions about use of force by deputies, died as a result of hypertensive heart disease and was not only intoxicated but had methamphetamine...
Kern's image may be taking a hit (18)
The death of a man in custody following a prolonged struggle with Kern County Sheriff's deputies and CHP officers and the subsequent fracas over confiscated witness cellphones have gained international attention and raised concerns here that the incidents could tarnish the county's emerging...
ROBERT PRICE: Has good-ol'-boy corruption seized the Kern County Sheriff's Office? (12)
The Kern County Sheriff's Office is out of control. That's one conclusion many people will draw based on the events of the past two weeks and in the context of recent years.
Council committee waters down anti-abortion ordinance (7)
A draft city ordinance that would have restricted abortion in Bakersfield was placed on hold Monday when the Bakersfield City Council's Legislative and Litigation Committee voted 3-0 to table its discussion indefinitely, and instead, ordered the drafting of a resolution that could be less...
Dad who died during arrest 'begged for his life'; witness videos seized
Blood stains are still visible on the sidewalk at the corner of Flower Street and Palm Drive, where a Bakersfield man struggled with as many as nine officers and later died this week.
Sheriff defends deputies' conduct, says Silva's death accidental
A forceful Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood announced at a tense press conference Thursday that David Sal Silva, whose death earlier this month raised questions about use of force by deputies, died as a result of hypertensive heart disease and was not only intoxicated but had methamphetamine and other drugs in his system at the time of his death.
School canceled at Bakersfield High after small explosions
Classes were canceled at Bakersfield High School Monday after three small bottle bomb explosions struck campus, authorities said.
Silva's screams mark video that lacks baton strikes
David Sal Silva’s screams seem like they will never stop.