Latest California Healthline Stories
Medicaid ‘Unwinding’ Decried as Biased Against Disabled People
People with disabilities say they are abruptly losing their Medicaid home health benefits and are being advised incorrectly when they call state offices for more information. “Every day the anxiety builds,” one beneficiary told KFF Health News.
Medical Residents Are Increasingly Avoiding States With Abortion Restrictions
A new analysis shows that students graduating from U.S. medical schools were less likely to apply this year for residency positions in states with abortion bans and other significant abortion restrictions.
Mandatory Reporting Laws Meant To Protect Children Get Another Look
The state is looking at ways to weed out false reporting of child abuse and neglect as the number of reports reaches a record high.
Unsheltered People Are Losing Medicaid in Redetermination Mix-Ups
Some of the nearly 130,000 Montanans who have lost Medicaid coverage as the state reevaluates eligibility are homeless. That’s in part because Montana kicked more than 80,000 people off the program for technical reasons rather than because of income ineligibility. For unhoused people who were disenrolled, getting back on Medicaid can be extraordinarily difficult.
Rural Jails Turn to Community Health Workers To Help the Newly Released Succeed
To reduce recidivism, some rural counties are hiring community health workers or peer support specialists to connect people leaving custody to mental health resources, substance use treatment, medical services, and jobs.
Conservative Justices Stir Trouble for Republican Politicians on Abortion
Republicans are learning the admonition “be careful what you wish for,” as conservative judges cause them political problems over abortion in a crucial election year.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Arizona Turns Back the Clock on Abortion Access
A week after the Florida Supreme Court said the state could enforce an abortion ban passed in 2023, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that state could enforce a near-total ban passed in 1864 — over a half-century before Arizona became a state. The move further scrambled the abortion issue for Republicans and posed an immediate quandary for former President Donald Trump, who has been seeking an elusive middle ground in the polarized debate. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Molly Castle Work, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature, about an air-ambulance ride for an infant with RSV that his insurer deemed not medically necessary.
Doctors Take On Dental Duties to Reach Low-Income and Uninsured Patients
More doctors are integrating oral health care into their practices, filling a need in America’s dental deserts.
As More States Target Disavowed ‘Excited Delirium’ Diagnosis, Police Groups Push Back
After California passed the first law in the nation to limit the disavowed term “excited delirium,” bills in other states are being introduced to help end use of the diagnosis. But momentum is being met with resistance from law enforcement and first responder groups, who cite free speech.
How a Friend’s Death Turned Colorado Teens Into Anti-Overdose Activists
High school students in Colorado are pushing for a change they say is necessary to combat fentanyl poisoning: ensuring students can’t get in trouble for carrying the overdose reversal drug naloxone wherever they go, including at school.