From Racial Justice to Dirty Air, California’s New AG Plots a Progressive Health Care Agenda
By Angela Hart
June 2, 2021
KFF Health News Original
In a candid interview, California’s newly appointed attorney general, Rob Bonta, reflects on his progressive roots and says he will pursue a health care agenda centered on the principle that quality medical care is a right, not a privilege.
Voters in Tight Recall Race Sound Off on California Gov. Newsom’s Covid Leadership
By Rachel Bluth and Samantha Young and Heidi de Marco and Angela Hart
September 2, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pandemic policies are effectively on California’s Sept. 14 recall ballot — and the electorate views them with a mix of resentment, gratitude and disillusionment.
Despite Pandemic, Newsom Declines to Boost Local Public Health Budgets — Again
By Angela Hart
May 20, 2021
KFF Health News Original
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has, for the third consecutive year, rejected new state funding for local public health departments. Frustrated legislative leaders and public health officials are trying to change his mind.
Salesforce, Google, Facebook. How Big Tech Undermines California’s Public Health System.
By Angela Hart
May 6, 2021
KFF Health News Original
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has outsourced his way through the covid-19 pandemic, tasking his private-sector allies in Silicon Valley and the health care industry with fundamental public health duties such as testing, tracing and vaccination. Among the losers: the state’s weakened public health system.
His-and-Hers Cataract Surgeries, But His Bill Was 20 Times as Much
By Angela Hart
Photos by Heidi de Marco
June 27, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Whether a simple operation is performed under the auspices of a hospital or at an independent surgery center can make a huge difference in cost.
KHN on the Air This Week
October 16, 2020
KFF Health News Original
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
‘Go Ahead and Vote Me Out’: What Other Places Can Learn From Santa Rosa’s Tent City
By Angela Hart
April 8, 2021
KFF Health News Original
As cities across California wrestle with a crisis of homelessness that has drawn international condemnation, Santa Rosa’s bold experiment with a city-sanctioned encampment suggests a way forward.
KHN on the Air This Week
October 30, 2020
KFF Health News Original
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Newsom Wants to Spend Millions on the Health of Low-Income Mothers and Their Babies
By Anna Almendrala
June 3, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Democratic legislators back measures that would end the “pink tax” on diapers and menstrual products, provide mental health support, and pilot a guaranteed-income program.
Health Industry Wields Power in California’s High-Stakes Battle to Lower Health Care Costs
By Angela Hart and Samantha Young
October 13, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to regulate out-of-control health care spending in California. The effort is being shaped by the very health industry players that would be regulated.
California Governor’s Big Promises on Drug Prices Are Slow to Materialize
By Angela Hart and Rachel Bluth and Samantha Young
March 4, 2022
KFF Health News Original
Gov. Gavin Newsom has launched several initiatives to cut rising drug prices, but the savings haven’t been as monumental as he promised. And his plan to have California make its own generic drugs hasn’t gotten off the ground.
Vaccination Chaos in California Fuels Push to Recall Gov. Newsom
By Angela Hart
January 29, 2021
KFF Health News Original
The growing public backlash over California’s messy vaccine rollout is putting immense pressure on Gov. Gavin Newsom, a first-term Democrat facing a Republican-driven recall effort.
California Budget Reflects ‘Pandemic-Induced Reality,’ Governor Says
By Angela Hart
January 12, 2021
KFF Health News Original
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2021-22 budget blueprint would direct billions in state covid assistance to schools, businesses and the state’s vaccination effort. But he didn’t propose more funding for the state’s 61 local health agencies, which have taken on increased responsibility for testing, contact tracing and enforcement of health orders.
California’s COVID Enforcement Strategy: Education Over Citations
By Angela Hart
December 22, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Gov. Gavin Newsom said in July that California would target businesses that flagrantly violate public health orders. But the state’s strategy of education over enforcement means that businesses that don’t comply face few — if any — consequences.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': A Judicial Body Blow to the ACA
March 30, 2023
Podcast
A federal judge in Texas has dealt a big setback to the Affordable Care Act. The same judge who tried in 2018 to declare the entire ACA unconstitutional has now ruled that the law’s main provisions for preventive care are unconstitutional and, therefore, unenforceable nationwide. Also this week, North Carolina became the 40th state to expand Medicaid under the ACA. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KHN chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
California’s Reboot of Troubled Medi-Cal Puts Pressure on Health Plans
By Bernard J. Wolfson
Photos by Heidi de Marco
September 21, 2021
KFF Health News Original
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.
Leader of California’s Muscular Obamacare Exchange to Step Down
By Bernard J. Wolfson and Angela Hart
September 16, 2021
KFF Health News Original
Peter Lee helped create Covered California, which has been lauded as a national example among the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplaces, and he fiercely opposed Republican efforts to repeal the federal health reform law.
California Lawmakers to Newsom: Give All Immigrants Health Coverage
By Angela Hart
December 7, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Given the pandemic’s disproportionate hit on minority communities, two Democratic lawmakers are pushing Newsom to agree to offer health care to all unauthorized immigrants. They planned to unveil legislation Monday — and a new strategy to make it happen.
KFF Health News Awards and Honors
By Kathleen Hayden
January 28, 2021
Page
KFF Health News has been recognized repeatedly by our peers in journalism with an increasing number of awards honoring our reports on the American health care system. 2024 AHCJ Award for Excellence in Health Care Journalism Health Policy, large division: David Hilzenrath of KFF Health News and Jodie Fleischer of Cox Media Group for “Overpayment […]
California Inks Sweetheart Deal With Kaiser Permanente, Jeopardizing Medicaid Reforms
By Bernard J. Wolfson and Angela Hart and Samantha Young
February 3, 2022
KFF Health News Original
The backroom deal with politically connected Kaiser Permanente, which infuriated other Medi-Cal health plans, allows the health care giant to continue selecting the enrollees it wants.