Photo Essay
Your School Assignment For The Day: Spelling And Specs
In California鈥檚 rural Central Valley, low-income children have limited access to vision care. School districts are teaming up with nonprofits to fill the gaps.
California Bureau
Visit for an archive of reporting prior to October 2025.
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Picture Of Health
The Golden State鈥檚 Mixed Record On Lung Cancer
California has one of the lowest rates of new lung cancer cases in the country, attributed largely to its aggressive anti-tobacco policies. But gaps in the state鈥檚 health care system mean that people who are diagnosed with the disease, or at a high risk of getting it, often fall through the cracks.
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Congressional Candidates Go Head-To-Head On Health Care 鈥 Again
The California Democratic members of Congress who flipped seven Republican seats two years ago made health care a major campaign issue, criticizing their opponents for voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act. As the Democrats defend their seats in this year鈥檚 elections, they are coming back to health care 鈥 but the issues are different.
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Newsom: To Fix Homelessness, California Must Fix Mental Health
California Gov. Gavin Newsom dedicated nearly all of his State of the State address Wednesday to homelessness. To fix that problem, he said, the state must address another one: mental health care.
By Rachel Bluth -
School Districts Grapple With Quarantines, Face Masks And Fear
In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, school districts, especially those with large Chinese student populations, are in uncharted territory as they apply new federal travel rules to their students. Some also are weighing requests from parents that are more about fear than science, such as whether to allow students with no travel history to stay home from school.
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Abortion-Rights Supporters Fear Loss Of Access If Adventist Saves Hospital
As community hospitals struggle, they often turn to large religious-based hospital groups to bail them out. But that can limit the types of services they offer, especially reproductive health treatment such as abortion.
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Changing Clocks Is Bad For Your Health, But Which Time To Choose?
State legislatures are considering new bills proposing a permanent time standard instead of the spring-forward and fall-back clock changes. Most people want to stop adjusting clocks, but scientists and politicians are at odds over which time is better for society and our health.
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Newsom Touts California鈥檚 鈥楶ublic Option.鈥 Wait 鈥 What Public Option?
Gov. Gavin Newsom says the state already has a public option: Covered California, the state health insurance exchange. While there is no single definition of a public option, some health care experts say that鈥檚 a stretch.
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Photo Essay
Finding Connections And Comfort At The Local Cafe
For Alzheimer鈥檚 patients and their caregivers, social and emotional isolation is a threat. But hundreds of 鈥淢emory Cafes鈥 around the country offer them a chance to be with others who understand, and to receive social and cognitive stimulation in the process.
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Patients Caught In Crossfire Between Giant Hospital Chain, Large Insurer
Insurance giant Cigna and San Francisco-based Dignity Health have failed to ink a 2020 contract, leaving nearly 17,000 patients in California and Nevada scrambling to find new health care providers. Meanwhile, Dignity faces financial and legal challenges while it strives to implement its merger with Catholic Health Initiatives, which created one of the nation鈥檚 largest Catholic hospital systems.
By Brian Krans -
As VA Tests Keto Diet To Help Diabetic Patients, Skeptics Raise Red Flags
The Department of Veterans Affairs is partnering with Virta Health, a California startup that offers remote coaching and monitoring for people with Type 2 diabetes to help them follow the ultra-low carbohydrate diet.
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Public Health Officials Offer Scant Details On U.S. Coronavirus Patients
To date, the U.S. has multiple confirmed cases of the viral infection that originated in Wuhan, China. That includes cases in which the virus passed from person to person within this country. So why don鈥檛 health officials share more information with the public?
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KHN鈥檚 鈥榃hat The Health?鈥: Remaking Medicaid 鈥 Maybe
The Trump administration is proposing to let states have more control of their Medicaid programs in exchange for potentially less money from the federal government. Meanwhile, the dangerous respiratory virus spreading from China is starting to affect trade and transportation along with public health. Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner, Erin Mershon of Stat and Joanne Kenen of Politico join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss this and more.
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Picture Of Health
Bike Fatalities Are On The Rise
More than 450 cyclists died in traffic accidents in California from 2016 through 2018, marking the highest three-year death rate in 25 years. Among the factors at play: more cars on roads, distracted driving and a pronounced consumer shift toward SUVs.
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California Reopens The Single-Payer Debate
A high-profile commission created by Gov. Gavin Newsom will convene for the first time Monday to discuss how to get every Californian covered. But don't expect the state to adopt a single-payer system anytime soon.
By Rachel Bluth -
Despite New Doubts, ‘Hotspotting’ Help For Heavy Health Care Users Marches On
A high-profile effort in Camden, New Jersey, to reduce health spending by identifying high-cost patients and giving them more coordinated and preventive medical care has been copied around the country. Many of those groups are pushing forward with the efforts, despite a recent critical study of the Camden initiative.
By Anna Almendrala and Phil Galewitz -
In-Home Teeth-Straightening Business Is Booming 鈥 But Better Brace Yourself
SmileDirectClub and similar startup companies say they provide these services at what can be thousands of dollars less than office-visit teeth straightening, but proof is lacking and patients can be left with no recourse if problems arise.
By Julie Appleby and Victoria Knight -
How Fast Can A New Internet Standard For Sharing Patient Data Catch Fire?
The web-based standard FHIR 鈥 pronounced 鈥渇ire鈥 鈥 could hasten the day when we can view our full medical histories on a smartphone screen. Tech giants are hungry for a piece of the pie, but obstacles remain.
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For 2020, California Goes Big On Health Care
California lawmakers are proposing ambitious health care ideas, from creating a state generic drug label to banning the sale of flavored e-cigarette products. Even though Democrats control state government, they鈥檙e likely to face pushback from powerful health care industry groups like hospitals.聽
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Picture Of Health
Medi-Cal鈥檚 Very Big Decade
California鈥檚 health insurance program for low-income people grew 78% between 2010 and 2019 to 12.8 million enrollees. The federal Affordable Care Act spurred the increase, aided by state policies broadening eligibility.