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.
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.
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.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The Supreme Court vs. the Bureaucracy
The Supreme Court this week heard oral arguments in a case that could radically alter the way federal agencies — including the Department of Health and Human Services — administer laws passed by Congress. A decision in the case is expected this spring or summer. Meanwhile, the Biden administration is struggling over whether to ban menthol cigarettes — a move that could improve public health but also alienate Black voters, the biggest menthol users. Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico Magazine, Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Darius Tahir, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about a lengthy fight over a bill for a quick telehealth visit.
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.
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.
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.
