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Latest California Healthline Stories

Rift Over When to Use N95s Puts Health Workers at Risk Again

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering fuzzy guidelines on infection control in hospitals, critics say, leaving employers free to cut corners on N95 masks and other protective measures.

As Foundation for ‘Excited Delirium’ Diagnosis Cracks, Fallout Spreads

Major policy changes and disavowals have made this a watershed year for curbing the use of the discredited “excited delirium” diagnosis to explain deaths in police custody. Now the ripple effects are spreading across the country into court cases, state legislation, and police training classes.

Gun Violence Is a Plague. Could Medicaid Help?

To tackle America’s gun problem, a growing number of states are allowing Medicaid dollars to fund community-based violence programs intended to stop shootings. The idea is to boost resources for violence prevention programs, which have been overwhelmed in some cities by a spike in violent crime since the covid-19 pandemic.  An infusion of reliable funding, […]

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Democrats See Opportunity in GOP Threats to Repeal Health Law 

Sensing that Republicans are walking into a political minefield by threatening once again to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the Biden administration is looking to capitalize by rolling out a series of initiatives aimed at high drug prices and other consequences of “corporate greed in health care.” Meanwhile, the Supreme Court hears a case that could determine when and how much victims of the opioid crisis can collect from Purdue Pharma, the drug company that lied about how addictive its drug, OxyContin, really was. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, and Rachana Pradhan of KFF Health News join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Dan Weissmann of KFF Health News’ sister podcast, “An Arm and a Leg,” about his investigation into hospitals suing their patients over unpaid bills.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Trump Puts Obamacare Repeal Back on Agenda

Although Republicans have never united behind a replacement for the Affordable Care Act, 2024 GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump said this week he wants to put the issue back on the national agenda. That delights Democrats, who have won at least two elections partly by defending the now-popular health law. Meanwhile, the Texas Supreme Court takes up a case brought by women who say their pregnancy complications further endangered their health due to the vagueness of Texas’ near-total ban on abortions. Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico Magazine, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Victoria Knight of Axios News join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Rachana Pradhan, who reported and wrote the latest “Bill of the Month” feature.

The Unusual Way a Catholic Health System Is Wielding an Abortion Protest Law

Dignity Health is suing several patients and their advocates for “commercial blockade” for refusing discharge during the covid-19 pandemic. The lawsuits could set precedents for use of the California commercial blockade statute, conceived to constrain abortion protesters, and how hospitals handle discharges.