Insight

Latest California Healthline Stories

Why Do Politicians Weaponize Medicare? Because It Works

Politicians are again pointing fingers over who wants to cut Medicare. As past Washington brawls show, the party accused of threatening popular entitlements tends to lose elections — although it’s the beneficiaries relying on lawmakers to fund it who stand to lose the most.

Cleanup Workers Got Sick After Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. They Want BP to Pay.

After the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2020, Rodney Boblitt’s job was to patrol a 14-mile stretch of coastline in the Florida Panhandle looking for signs of oil washing ashore. Today, the 54-year-old is among thousands of other cleanup workers who are experiencing health issues and suing BP. But proving their health conditions were caused by the oil has been challenging.

California Requires Hospitals to Turn to a Patient’s Next of Kin, Closing a Longtime Loophole

A state law establishes a list of representatives who can make medical decisions for patients unable to convey their wishes. California is late to making the change; 45 other states and the District of Columbia already have next-of-kin laws.

In California, Democrats Propose $25 Minimum Wage for Health Workers

State Sen. María Elena Durazo and Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West want to give health facility support staffers a raise. Hospitals, nursing homes, and dialysis clinics are expected to resist.