California

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Surging Health Care Worker Quarantines Raise Concerns As Coronavirus Spreads

KFF Health News Original

The number of U.S. health care workers who have been ordered to self-quarantine because of potential exposure to the new coronavirus is rising at an exponential pace. Many experts say something has to change.

Corralling Hard-To-Reach Voters With Traveling Voting Machines

KFF Health News Original

In advance of the Super Tuesday primary, California’s Los Angeles County is rotating new touch-screen voting machines among 41 locations, including adult day care centers and jails, to increase voting among populations with historically low turnout.

New California Coronavirus Case Reveals Problems with U.S. Testing Protocols

KFF Health News Original

Disease experts say a new coronavirus case in California underscores the need for more widespread community testing for the illness, as well as problems caused by the delays in getting functional coronavirus test kits to state and local public health agencies. 

Tarea del día: deletrear y ponerse los anteojos

KFF Health News Original

Al menos el 20% de los niños en edad escolar en los Estados Unidos tienen problemas de visión. Pero según los CDC, menos del 15% tiene un examen de la vista antes de empezar el jardín.

The Golden State’s Mixed Record On Lung Cancer

KFF Health News Original

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’s 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.

Congressional Candidates Go Head-To-Head On Health Care — Again

KFF Health News Original

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’s elections, they are coming back to health care — but the issues are different.

Newsom: To Fix Homelessness, California Must Fix Mental Health

KFF Health News Original

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.

School Districts Grapple With Quarantines, Face Masks And Fear

KFF Health News Original

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.

Abortion-Rights Supporters Fear Loss Of Access If Adventist Saves Hospital

KFF Health News Original

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.

Changing Clocks Is Bad For Your Health, But Which Time To Choose?

KFF Health News Original

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.

Newsom Touts California’s ‘Public Option.’ Wait — What Public Option?

KFF Health News Original

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’s a stretch.

Finding Connections And Comfort At The Local Cafe

KFF Health News Original

For Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers, social and emotional isolation is a threat. But hundreds of “Memory Cafes” around the country offer them a chance to be with others who understand, and to receive social and cognitive stimulation in the process.

Patients Caught In Crossfire Between Giant Hospital Chain, Large Insurer

KFF Health News Original

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’s largest Catholic hospital systems.

As VA Tests Keto Diet To Help Diabetic Patients, Skeptics Raise Red Flags

KFF Health News Original

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.