California Archives

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Expanding the ACA in an Unpredicted Way

Beyond the billions of dollars aimed squarely at the pandemic, the covid relief bill cleared by Congress this week includes significant changes to health policy. Among them are the first major expansions to the Affordable Care Act since its enactment 11 years ago and changes that could expand coverage for the Medicaid program. Tami Luhby of CNN, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.

March 11, 2021

a sign in english and spanish offering to help people schedule vaccines

COVID-19

Vaccine Altruists Find Appointments for Those Who Can’t

An army of volunteers help people who otherwise would have had difficulty securing a covid vaccination because of cumbersome computer or telephone registration systems.

By Anna Almendrala

March 11, 2021

Lost on the Frontline

In a Year of Zoom Memorials, Art Exhibit Makes Space for Grief

After his father died, artist Taiji Terasaki created a ritual to memorialize him. Now, Terasaki honors front-line health care workers who succumbed to covid with an exhibit inspired by “Lost on the Frontline,” the investigation by KHN and The Guardian.

By Anna Almendrala

March 11, 2021

COVID-19

For Covid ‘Long Haulers,’ Battling for Disability Benefits Adds Aggravation to Exhaustion

Early in the pandemic, many patients couldn’t be tested. The lack of a covid diagnosis complicates disability insurance for those whose illness continues.

By David Tuller

March 10, 2021

illustration of male school teacher measuring distance between school desks

One School District’s Struggle Over Public Health, Parents and Politics

California officials have been leery of reopening schools without tight protocols, a position favored by teachers unions that has met growing flak from local officials and parents. In Roseville, a suburb of Sacramento, the struggle has come to a head.

By Mark Kreidler

March 5, 2021

COVID-19

In California, Caregivers of People With Disabilities Are Being Turned Away at COVID Vaccine Sites

Parents and caregivers of people with disabilities in California are supposed to be near the front of the line for the covid-19 vaccine. But some are hitting roadblocks at vaccination sites.

By Jackie Fortiér, LAist

March 3, 2021

A vaccine shot is administered to a man's arm

COVID-19

Black Churches Fill a Unique Role in Combating Vaccine Fears

Churches are the keystone of a major campaign to bring good information about covid vaccines to Black communities. But pastors are finding that scarce supplies and a clumsy rollout are complicating efforts to urge vaccination.

By Anna Almendrala

March 1, 2021

Podcast

‘Into the Covid ICU’: A New Doctor Bears Witness to the Isolation, Inequities of Pandemic

Dr. Paloma Marin-Nevarez graduated from medical school during the pandemic. We follow the rookie doctor for her first months working at a hospital in Fresno, California, as she grapples with isolation, anti-mask rallies and an overwhelming number of deaths.

By Jenny Gold

March 1, 2021

COVID-19

Learning to Live Again: A Lazarus Tale From the Covid Front Lines

The staff at L.A. County’s public rehabilitation hospital is helping mostly Latino, low-income patients recover the basic functions of daily life robbed from them during weeks or months of critical covid illness.

By Bernard J. Wolfson

Feb. 26, 2021

Asking Never Hurts

New California Law Makes It Easier to Get Care for Mental Health and Substance Abuse

The measure, which took effect Jan. 1, removes loopholes that made it easy for insurers to use arcane company guidelines to avoid paying for care. Patients now have an easier way to challenge those denials.

By Bernard J. Wolfson

Feb. 26, 2021

Lessons From California Prison Where Covid ‘Spread Like Wildfire’

One California county is home to the two worst clusters of covid in prisons in the country. Ninety-four percent of Avenal State Prison’s inmates contracted the virus. Physical distancing has proved impossible in a facility housing 50% more people than it should.

By Kerry Klein, Valley Public Radio

Feb. 24, 2021

‘It’s a Minefield’: Biden Health Pick Must Tread Carefully on Abortion and Family Planning

President Biden vowed to reverse reproductive health restrictions enacted by President Trump. His pick to run HHS, Xavier Becerra, fought the Trump efforts but must now navigate a difficult legal and political landscape.

By Noam N. Levey and Rachel Bluth

Feb. 24, 2021

State capital building in Sacramento, California

New Single-Payer Bill Intensifies Newsom’s Political Peril

With the introduction of a single-payer bill Friday, a group of California Democratic lawmakers set the terms of the health care debate in the Capitol this year. The move puts Gov. Gavin Newsom in a delicate political position, threatening to alienate voters as he faces a likely recall election.

By Angela Hart and Rachel Bluth

Feb. 19, 2021

COVID-19

Companies Pan for Marketing Gold in Vaccines

Some assisted living facilities, pharmacy chains and health care providers are luring new customers with covid shots.

By Sarah Kwon

Feb. 19, 2021

Spotlight

California Aims to Address the ‘Urgent’ Needs of Older Residents. But Will Its Plan Work?

State officials recently unveiled a “master plan” to address the needs of California’s rapidly aging population, from housing to long-term care. Kim McCoy Wade, director of the state Department of Aging, vows it will not end up on a shelf gathering dust.

By Samantha Young

Feb. 18, 2021

Postcard From Contra Costa County

Vaccines Go Mobile to Keep Seniors From Slipping Through the Cracks

A strike team of nurses and others is vaccinating Contra Costa County’s hardest-hit populations right where they live.

By Rachel Bluth

Feb. 16, 2021

Postcard From Alpine County

California’s Smallest County Makes Big Vaccination Gains

In rural Alpine County, where snowbound mountain passes isolate small towns, distributing the covid vaccine is a community effort. Unlike in many urban areas where residents jockey for limited appointments, the pace of vaccinations here is strong and steady.

By Hannah Norman

Feb. 8, 2021

COVID-19

Schools Walk the Tightrope Between Ideal Safety and the Reality of Covid

Across the country, politics have muddied the question of when and how to reopen schools. Even though teachers continue to fear for their safety, lawmakers and parents are demanding that schools take advantage of declining infection rates to open safely and quickly.

By Laura Ungar and Samantha Young

Feb. 8, 2021

KHN On Air

Journalists Explore Inefficiency and Inequities of Vaccine Rollout

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.

Feb. 5, 2021

Picture of Health

California’s Rural Counties Endure a Deadly Covid Winter

In the past two months, covid-related infection and death rates have jumped exponentially in California’s least populated counties. The winter surge has scarred corners of the state that went largely unscathed for much of 2020.

By Phillip Reese

Feb. 5, 2021

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