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Dr. Paula Braveman, director of UCSF鈥檚 Center on Social Disparities in Health, shares her insights on a provocative new study that identifies racism as a decisive factor in the gap in preterm birth rates between Black and white women.
As the pandemic has raged so has the country鈥檚 drug epidemic. California is looking to a controversial solution for certain drug users, but despite its effectiveness, critics have scoffed at the idea calling it unethical or a bribe.
Officials are enthusiastic about the Allcove initiative, modeled on an Australian program. But it will need to show effectiveness and find funding.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here鈥檚 a collection of their appearances.
Mimi Hall and Dr. Gail Newel, health director and health officer for Santa Cruz County, California, will receive PEN America鈥檚 2021 PEN/Benenson Courage Award for soldiering forward in their work amid death threats and personal attacks.
There are many ways to cleanse indoor air of dangerous smoke particles, which are particularly harmful to people with chronic respiratory and cardiac conditions. Some are expensive, but cheap alternatives exist.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here鈥檚 a collection of their appearances.
Drought, wildfires, extreme heat: California lawmakers cast climate change as the culprit in an emerging series of public health threats, setting aside billions to help communities respond. But they stopped short of more aggressively reducing the state鈥檚 share of the greenhouse emissions warming the planet.
Over the past decade, California has seen a sustained rise in the proportion of people who opt to give birth at home or in midwife-run birthing centers rather than in a hospital. Covid has further fueled that trend.
The nine commercial insurers in Medi-Cal must reapply by submitting bids for new contracts. The state hopes the process will improve care for low-income residents and tighten accountability, something critics say has been missing.
Peter Lee helped create Covered California, which has been lauded as a national example among the Affordable Care Act鈥檚 insurance marketplaces, and he fiercely opposed Republican efforts to repeal the federal health reform law.
A class action lawsuit seeks better care for immigrants with physical disabilities or mental illness who were detained after trying to enter the country. Other disabled immigrants without legal status are also finding it difficult to get care.
Those seeking to replace California Gov. Gavin Newsom in Tuesday鈥檚 recall election disagree with him on more than mask and vaccine mandates. The conservative candidates tend to favor free-market solutions over Newsom鈥檚 expansion of publicly funded health coverage.
No major religion鈥檚 teachings denounce vaccination, but that hasn鈥檛 kept individual churches and others from providing religious 鈥渃over鈥 for people to avoid submitting to vaccination as a workplace requirement.
California is embarking on a five-year experiment to infuse its health insurance program for low-income people with billions of dollars in nonmedical services spanning housing, food delivery and addiction care. Gov. Gavin Newsom said the goal is to improve care for the program鈥檚 sickest and costliest members and save money, but will it work?
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom鈥檚 pandemic policies are effectively on California鈥檚 Sept. 14 recall ballot 鈥 and the electorate views them with a mix of resentment, gratitude and disillusionment.
How a sexual assault survivor is questioned by police can greatly influence the ability to access memories of the traumatic incident. Better interview techniques might help solve more cases.
Zoom in on states with overall good vaccination rates and you see a checkerboard effect, with rural areas far lagging urban zones. That鈥檚 allowed the pandemic to rage in places like Jackson County, Oregon, overwhelming hospitals.
Efforts by states and the private health plans that many states pay to cover low-income Americans has been scattershot and hampered by a lack of data.
Reproductive rights groups and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom argue that Californians鈥 access to abortion would be threatened if he is recalled. But a replacement governor鈥檚 power to restrict access to the procedure would be limited.
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