The LA Times is reporting that Blue Shield, the state’s third-largest health insurer, has been stripped of its state non-profit status. State officials have not commented on the reasons for the decision, but the Times suggests it may have to do with the company’s billions in reserves, high executive compensation, and political spending.
Ben Caldwell
The rising tide of student debt
How much should it cost to become a psychologist, family therapist, social worker, or counselor? Student debt is piling up for thousands of current students in the mental health professions, many of whom will struggle to pay it off after graduation.
Kaiser mental health workers to strike
The National Union of Healthcare Workers announced Saturday that its 2,600 Kaiser mental health care clinicians in California would begin a weeklong strike today. The strike is being described as the largest of its kind in the nation.
Kill the teaching evaluation
It’s time to put an end to them.
Therapy by text? Yes, and that’s good
![By Tomasz G. Sienicki [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACell_phone_Sagem_my202X_ubt_vectorized.svg "By Tomasz G. Sienicki [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons")
Earlier this year, Talkspace raised eyebrows when it raised $2.5 million in venture-capital funding for its platform linking therapists with clients by video or simple text messaging. The site offers video therapy for $29 for 30 minutes, or unlimited text-messaging contact with a therapist (that is, therapy by text) for $25 a week.
This is good. Here’s why.