California’s Much-Touted IVF Law May Be Delayed Until 2026, Leaving Many in the Lurch
By Sarah Kwon
California lawmakers are poised to approve a six-month delay in implementing the state’s in vitro fertilization law, pushing its start to January 2026. The plan to postpone, which has drawn little attention, is part of the state budget package and has left patients, insurers, and employers in limbo.
What ‘Fertilization President’ Trump Can Learn From State Efforts To Expand IVF Access
By Sarah Kwon
State-level efforts to regulate fertility coverage reveal the gauntlet of budgetary and political hurdles such initiatives face — obstacles that have led to millions of people being left out even when mandates become law.
She Co-Founded the Office That Became DOGE. Now, She Sees ‘Irresponsible Transformation.’
By Sarah Kwon
As a deputy chief technology officer in the Obama administration, Jennifer Pahlka brought Silicon Valley talent to Washington to streamline public access to government services. She believes better government technology could both ensure taxpayer dollars aren’t wasted and that people who need health care and food assistance receive it.
Asian Health Center Tries Unconventional Approach to Counseling
By Sarah Kwon
Facing a dire shortage of bilingual and culturally attuned therapists, an Oakland community clinic serving Asian immigrants has trained staffers in a victim support unit to provide lay counseling.
Mothers of Color Can’t See if Providers Have a History of Mistreatment. Why Not?
By Sarah Kwon
Many women, especially Black women, have reported discrimination in maternity care, but expectant mothers lack tools to see where this happens. Funding and regulations to measure disparities have been slow in arriving, but some innovators are trying to fill the void.
Amid Lack of Accountability for Bias in Maternity Care, a California Family Seeks Justice
By Sarah Kwon
April Valentine’s family wants to know whether racism could have played a role in her death. A California Healthline analysis shows state regulators are ill-equipped to find discrimination in its many forms.
Listen: Valley Fever, Health Worker Pay, and Ambulance Rides
By Heidi de Marco and Stephanie O'Neill Patison
California Healthline journalists report on the intersection between drought and valley fever, a union’s campaign to boost the minimum wage for some health care workers, and an ambulance company’s decision to stop providing some nonemergency services.
Ambulance Company to Halt Some Rides in Southern Calif., Citing Low Medicaid Rates
By Sarah Kwon
American Medical Response, the largest U.S. ambulance company, is ending nonemergency transportation for 12 hospitals in Los Angeles and Orange counties, saying the state doesn’t pay enough to transport low-income patients. The state is pushing back.
Burned Out by Covid and 80-Hour Workweeks, Resident Physicians Unionize
By Sarah Kwon
In California and beyond, physician trainees working long hours for what in some states amounts to little more than minimum wage are organizing to seek better pay, benefits, and working conditions. More than 1,300 of them at three L.A. County public hospitals will vote May 30 on whether to strike.
Agotados por covid y por trabajar 80 horas a la semana, médicos residentes deciden sindicalizarse
By Sarah Kwon
Los residentes son médicos recién recibidos, que han terminado la carrera de medicina, y deben pasar de tres a siete años de formación en hospitales universitarios antes de poder ejercer de forma independiente. Ganan poco y trabajan mucho.
