Grab Your Mask and Notepad, We’re Headed Back to California’s State Capitol
After being mostly closed to the public and the press for more than a year, California’s state Capitol is open again — masks, temperature checks, covid outbreaks and all.
California Bureau
Visit californiahealthline.org for an archive of reporting prior to October 2025.
941-960 of 1,984 results
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Hospital ‘Trauma Centers’ Charge Enormous Fees to Treat Minor Injuries and Send People Home
Only severely injured patients are supposed to be billed for “trauma team alert” fees that can exceed $50,000.
By Jay Hancock -
Can Biden’s Plan to Remove Urban Highways Improve the Health of American Cities?
Pollution and noise from urban highways intersect with illness for neighbors. But “green” developments that replace them can displace the very families harmed in the first place.
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As Congress Wrestles With Plans to Expand Medicare, Becerra Says Any One Will Do
In an interview for KHN’s “What the Health?” podcast, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra says the administration is eager for Congress to make changes to Medicare that will provide more benefits and make more older adults eligible for the program. He also said a priority will be making permanent the enhanced premium subsidies for Affordable Care Act marketplace plans.
By Julie Rovner -
California Takes a Nibble at Offering Food Stamps to Undocumented Immigrants
Food insecurity soared during the pandemic, including among unauthorized immigrants, who are not eligible for federally funded food stamps. California’s Democratic lawmakers want to expand the benefit to that population, but opponents cite the massive ongoing cost to the state.
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Journalists Tackle Delta Variant, Hospital Prices and Public Health Spending
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.
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Effort to Decipher Hospital Prices Yields Key Finding: Don’t Try It at Home
Your dutiful columnist tried to make use of a federal “transparency” rule to compare the prices of common medical procedures in two California health care systems. It was a futile exercise.
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A Family Wellness Check: California Invests in Treating Parents and Children Together
The state will be the first to offer comprehensive counseling services to parents during pediatric visits as part of Medicaid.
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Picture of Health
California’s Highest Covid Infection Rates Shift to Rural Counties
As vaccination rates rise across the state, the overall numbers of covid cases and deaths have plunged. But health officials are still reporting nearly 1,000 new cases and more than two dozen deaths a day. So, where does covid continue to simmer in California? And why?
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Unprecedented Lobbying Effort Scores Big Win for California Public Health
After years of unstable funding, California’s 2022-23 budget will include a dramatic new investment in public health. Insiders say a powerhouse lobbying campaign made all the difference.
By Angela Hart -
California Lawmakers Push Feds to Allow a Therapy That Pays Meth Users to Abstain
The approach, known as contingency management, has helped thousands of veterans kick the methedrine habit, but a federal government ruling has limited its use. California hopes to challenge that and make the treatment a Medi-Cal benefit.
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Without Enough Boots on the Ground, California’s Vaccination Efforts Falter
California’s vaccination rates have stagnated, particularly in Black and Latino inner-city neighborhoods and in rural towns. County health officials, who say trust is their most important commodity, need more money for one-on-one interactions with holdouts, but the state has instead largely funneled money to advertising firms and tech companies.
By Angela Hart -
Doctors’ Lobby Scores ‘Major Victory’ on Bill to Hold Physicians Accountable
Patients and some lawmakers have long blasted the Medical Board of California for failing to discipline negligent or abusive physicians. But the politically powerful California Medical Association, which represents doctors, has mobilized against the latest attempt to give the board more money and power to investigate complaints.
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In a Murky Sea of Mental Health Apps, Consumers Left Adrift
Venture capitalists have poured billions into the digital mental health space, sensing an area of unmet demand that is ripe for disruption. The problem for consumers is separating the apps that might help from those that offer little more than distraction — or could actually do harm.
By Jenny Gold -
Postcard From Tijuana
‘It’s a Mission’: Volunteers Treat Refugees Massing at the Border
A growing number of Mexican and Central American migrants are trying to cross into the U.S. at the southern border. Volunteers at one free clinic in Tijuana tend to the health needs of migrants waiting for their immigration cases to come up — and simply trying to survive in packed and dangerous encampments.
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Nurses and Docs at Long Beach Center ‘Consider It an Honor’ to Care for Migrant Children
Health care workers find it easy to empathize with Central American children after their painful journeys to the U.S.
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Collecting FEMA Funeral Money Takes Some Tenacity — And Help
A federal program to help with the funeral expenses for people who died of covid is a challenge for grieving family members who aren’t fluent in English or the ways of a bureaucracy.
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Being Vaccinated Doesn’t Mean You Must Go Maskless. Here’s Why.
It won’t hurt to remain cautious, even as California reopens for business in response to mass vaccinations and diminishing cases of covid.
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Doctor on Call? Lawmakers Debate How Much to Pay for Phone Appointments
Phone visits became an option for many Medicare and Medicaid patients during the pandemic. Now policymakers are deciding whether they’re worth the money.
By Rachel Bluth -
Lawmakers Pressure Newsom to ‘Step Up’ on Racism as a Public Health Issue
California Democratic lawmakers are asking Gov. Gavin Newsom to approve $100 million per year to fund programs that address health inequality and structural racism.
By Angela Hart