The CHCF Blog

Welcome to The CHCF Blog, which features health policy insights from experts inside and outside CHCF. Get a round-up of the latest blog posts delivered right into your inbox every week.

The Health Care System Has the Black Community in a Choke Hold

A system that is literally supposed to help those who can’t breathe is figuratively applying a choke hold to Black people by sending them home to die when they say, "I can’t breathe."

COVID-19’s Harvest of Danger

Xenia Shih Bion

Stories That Caught Our Attention: Latino workers are bearing the brunt of COVID-19's rapid spread through California's agricultural fields.

Data Show 2019 California Health Insurance Enrollment Struck a Balance

Katherine Wilson

Coverage Trends, Medi-Cal

Medi-Cal and individual market enrollment continued to decline but were offset by growth in employer-sponsored and Medicare plans.

San Francisco Puts Community Paramedics on Front Lines of the Pandemic

Claudia Boyd-Barrett

Homelessness & Health Care, Workforce

It's no easy task to find people who lack shelter, have substance use disorders, and mistrust authorities — and then persuade them to move into a quarantine site.

Multiple Testing Issues Hamper COVID-19 Response Nationwide

Xenia Shih Bion

Stories That Caught Our Attention: Test shortages and long waits for results are harming the nation's efforts to bring the pandemic under control.

Remembering John Lewis

Sandra R. Hernández

We remember civil rights leader John Lewis with both sadness and inspiration to fight for racial justice in the health care system.

Public Health Officials Unfairly Targeted for Protecting American Lives

Xenia Shih Bion

White House efforts to sideline Anthony Fauci, MD, emboldened similar attacks on state and local public health officers.

COVID-19 Tracking Poll: Most Frontline Staff at California Nursing Homes See Infections at Work

Kristof Stremikis

Rates are higher in facilities located in Los Angeles County and in those where most residents are Black or Latino.

CHCF’s Response to the COVID-19 Behavioral Health Crisis in California

Catherine Teare, Katherine Haynes

Behavioral Health, Medi-Cal, Telehealth

CHCF remains dedicated to partnering with mental health and substance use disorder providers and leaders to advance behavioral health care in the face of the pandemic.

In Pandemic, Health Care Leaders Find Strength Through Vulnerability and Connection

In video and survey interviews, CHCF takes a deeper look into the successes and challenges facing clinicians during the COVID-19 crisis.

Podcast Project Captures Voices of Black Health Care Workers

Steven Birenbaum

More than 200 health care workers have signed up to participate.

Why Nursing Homes Become COVID-19 Hot Spots

Xenia Shih Bion

Stories That Caught Our Attention: Before the deaths began to mount, geriatricians knew what was about to happen.

I Faced a Challenge One Out of Every Three Americans Has: Depression and Anxiety

Behavioral Health, Health Equity

As the nation wrestles with serious issues, it has never been more important for business and economic leaders to move beyond platitudes on mental health.

COVID-19 Tracking Poll: More Than Three in Four Californians Are Worried About Contracting COVID-19

Kristof Stremikis

Nearly 8 in 10 Californians are concerned they or a family member will contract COVID-19 as statewide cases climb.

Engaging California Hospitals to Address the Opioid Crisis

Alex Stack, Bruce Spurlock

Behavioral Health

The drive to help hospitals provide the most effective treatments for opioid use disorder represents a significant opportunity for statewide improvement.