Category: California

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

‘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.

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.

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.