Want Vulnerable Californians to Have Healthier Pregnancies? Doulas Say the State Must Pay Up.
By Rachel Bluth
California was supposed to start paying doulas this year to help Medicaid enrollees have healthy pregnancies. But the benefit has been delayed because doulas feel lowballed by the state’s proposed reimbursement rate, which is below what most other states pay.
Buffy Wicks Turns Her Health History Into Legislation
By Rachel Bluth
Assembly member who represents Oakland, is digging into abortion, vaccines and homelessness and drawing on her own health care experiences as she drafts bills.
With Sexually Transmitted Infections Off the Charts, California Pushes At-Home Tests
By Rachel Bluth
A new law makes California the first state to require that health insurance plans, including Medicaid, cover home STI tests. But some details still need to be worked out.
Con récord de infecciones de transmisión sexual, California impulsa las pruebas caseras
By Rachel Bluth
California se ha convertido en el primer estado en exigir que los seguros médicos cubran las pruebas caseras para infecciones de transmisión sexual (ITS) como el VIH, la clamidia y la sífilis.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Finally, a Fix for the ‘Family Glitch’
President Joe Biden welcomed former President Barack Obama back to the White House this week to announce a new policy for the Affordable Care Act that would make subsidies available to more families with unaffordable employer coverage. Meanwhile, Congress struggled to find a compromise for continued federal funding of covid-19 vaccines, testing, and treatments. Tami Luhby of CNN, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
California Plans for a Post-Roe World as Abortion Access Shrinks Elsewhere
By Rachel Bluth
While other states dramatically restrict abortion and the conservative-leaning U.S. Supreme Court weighs Roe v. Wade, California is preparing to absorb the country’s abortion patients.
New Law Bans Harassment at Vaccination Sites, but Free Speech Concerns Persist
By Rachel Bluth
Effective immediately, it will be a misdemeanor in California to harass people on their way to get a covid, or any other, vaccine. But First Amendment experts say the new law violates free speech protections and could face a constitutional battle.
Needle Exchanges Are Targets of Eco-Rooted Lawsuits. A New Law Will Stop That.
By Rachel Bluth
Opponents of free needle programs in California are using environmental regulations to shut them down. On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that will end that strategy.
As Many States Plan to Ban Abortion if ‘Roe’ Falls, California Moves to Protect It
By Sarah Varney and Rachel Bluth
If the Supreme Court affirms the leaked draft decision and overturns abortion rights, the effects would be sweeping in states where Republican-led legislatures have been eagerly awaiting the repudiation of a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy. In deep-blue California, Democratic lawmakers propose codifying the right to abortion in the state constitution.
Battle Lines Are Drawn Over California Deal With Kaiser Permanente
By Bernard J. Wolfson
A controversial proposal to grant HMO giant Kaiser Permanente a no-bid statewide Medi-Cal contract is headed for its first legislative hearing amid vocal opposition from a coalition of counties, competing health plans, community clinics, and a national health care labor union.