Rachel Bluth, KFF Health News

Rachel Bluth

KFF Health News

Washington, DC, United States

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Recent:
  • Unknown
Past:
  • KFF Health News
  • NPR
  • CaliforniaHealthline
  • Truthout
  • STAT
  • BillMoyers.com
  • Enquirer

Past articles by Rachel:

California Explores Private Insurance for Immigrants Lacking Legal Status. But Is It Affordable?

Nearly half a million Californians without legal residency make too much to qualify for Medicaid yet they can’t afford to buy coverage. A state lawmaker is proposing to open up the state’s health i… → Read More

California Senate’s New Health Chair to Prioritize Mental Health and Homelessness

California state Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman of Stockton has been appointed chair of the Senate’s influential health committee. A licensed social worker, Eggman said she will make mental health ca… → Read More

Lost Sleep and Jangled Nerves: The Rising Onslaught of Noise Harms Mind and Body

Noise pollution is a growing problem that isn’t confined to the ears: It can cause harm throughout the body. California is taking baby steps to address the increasing din from traffic and illegally… → Read More

Fight Over Health Care Minimum Wage Yields a Split Decision in Southern California

Voters in Inglewood were poised to approve a union-backed $25 minimum wage for workers at private hospitals and facilities, while Duarte voters rejected it. → Read More

California Patients Fear Fallout From Third Dialysis Ballot Measure

Californians are facing the third statewide dialysis initiative in five years. The dialysis industry is spending tens of millions of dollars to defeat Proposition 29 and is running ads saying the m… → Read More

Labor Tries City-by-City Push in California for $25 Minimum Wage at Private Medical Facilities

Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West is testing the waters on a $25 minimum wage for support staff at health care facilities in Southern California. Opposition from … → Read More

Opponents of California’s Abortion Rights Measure Mislead on Expense to Taxpayers

California Together, which opposes Proposition 1, warns that taxpayers will pay millions more if the abortion rights constitutional amendment passes because it would attract women from out of state… → Read More

California Wants to Snip Costs for Vasectomies and Condoms

Most women can already get free birth control. California lawmakers are debating whether to extend that perk to millions of men. → Read More

In California, Abortion Could Become a Constitutional Right. So Could Birth Control.

Proposition 1, the constitutional amendment that would enshrine abortion in California’s constitution, would also lock in a right that has gotten less attention: the right to “choose or refuse” con… → Read More

‘My Body, My Choice’: How Vaccine Foes Co-Opted the Abortion Rallying Cry

Anti-vaccine advocates discovered a catchy, succinct, and potent slogan. Its unlikely source: the abortion rights movement. → Read More

NPR

'My body, my choice': How vaccine foes co-opted the abortion rallying cry

Anti-vaccine advocates have repurposed a catchy, succinct, and potent slogan. Its unlikely source: the reproductive rights movement, which has been linked to the phrase for more than 50 years. → Read More

Medi-Cal Will Cover Doulas at More Than Twice California’s Initial Proposed Rate

Under a budget passed by California lawmakers, the state will pay nonmedical workers who assist in pregnancy and labor up to $1,154 per birth through Medi-Cal, which is up significantly from Gov. G… → Read More

Politics and Pandemic Fatigue Doom California’s Covid Vaccine Mandates

Even in deep-blue California, Democratic lawmakers pulled their proposed covid vaccine requirements before they had a vote. The lawmakers blamed the ebbs and flows of the coronavirus, the public’s … → Read More

Despite Losing Federal Money, California Is Still Testing Uninsured Residents for Covid — For Now

Federal funding that paid for covid testing, treatment, and vaccines for uninsured people has run out. While some states struggle to make up the difference, California is relying on other state and… → Read More

Doctors Trying to Prescribe Abortion Pills Across State Lines Stymied by Legislation

Some doctors are getting licensed in multiple states so they can use telemedicine and mail-order pharmacies to provide medication abortions to more women. At the same time, states are cracking down… → Read More

Want Vulnerable Californians to Have Healthier Pregnancies? Doulas Say the State Must Pay Up.

California was supposed to start paying doulas this year to help Medicaid enrollees have healthy pregnancies. But the benefit has been delayed because doulas feel lowballed by the state’s proposed … → Read More

California Governor’s Big Promises on Drug Prices Are Slow to Materialize

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 h… → Read More

Buffy Wicks Turns Her Health History Into Legislation

Assembly member who represents Oakland, is digging into abortion, vaccines and homelessness and drawing on her own health care experiences as she drafts bills. → Read More

With Sexually Transmitted Infections Off the Charts, California Pushes At-Home Tests

A new law makes California the first state to require that health insurance plans, including Medicaid, cover home STI tests. But some details still need to be worked out. → Read More

California Plans for a Post-Roe World as Abortion Access Shrinks Elsewhere

While other states dramatically restrict abortion and the conservative-leaning U.S. Supreme Court weighs Roe v. Wade, California is preparing to absorb the country’s abortion patients. → Read More