Stories That Caught Our Attention This Week: For years, the California Legislature has tried to ensure that all Californians have health coverage, and Governor Gavin Newsom has embraced that goal. Where do things stand in Sacramento?

The average physician receives 10 to 25 prescription refill requests per day, contributing to a growing administrative burden — especially in under-resourced safety-net institutions. A tech solution helped two California health centers.

Stories That Caught Our Attention This Week: Surprise medical bills for consumers have prompted Congress to explore new legislative remedies. California lawmakers are debating next steps to protect patients in a battle that has raged for years.

Stories That Caught Our Attention This Week: Electronic health records are supposed to take the US health care system into the 21st century while improving quality of care. Is that dream within reach?

Video: Mitch Katz, MD, the former Los Angeles County health director who left last year to take the helm of New York City Health + Hospitals, returned to California to give the California Improvement Network his provocative views on managing financial risk and total cost of care.

As president of the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles, David Carlisle, MD, PhD, is making what may be his greatest impact in a stellar career in academia, clinical care, and state health policymaking. In 2018, Carlisle joined the CHCF Board of Directors.

Stories That Caught Our Attention This Week: Journalists describe the uneven local programs providing care for California’s undocumented adults.

The California legislature is considering dozens of bills related to behavioral health and the mental health care system. CHCF's associate director for High-Value Care gave lawmakers an overview of mental health in the state.

Medi-Cal’s best-kept secret is that even with the program’s rising enrollment and costs in recent years, its financial impact on California’s General Fund has been relatively small. That could change amid uncertainty over new financing issues.

Stories That Caught Our Attention This Week: Mark Ghaly, MD, MPH, a physician with expertise in health care delivery and community outcomes, will soon take the helm of the California Health and Human Services Agency.

Video visits are not always adequate substitutes for in-person, human-to-human connection. Our expert on end-of-life care reflects on how to strike the right balance.

Stories That Caught Our Attention This Week: In California and around the nation, expectant women of color prefer that doulas help them before, during, and after childbirth — and public agencies are launching programs to make it happen.

Compiling a patient’s complete health record still requires a herculean effort involving multiple web portals, reams of data files, and, yes, fax machines. As new means of data-sharing begin to change that, the safety net should not be left behind.

Telehealth can help solve California's rural health workforce shortage by more quickly and conveniently connecting patients to distant providers, cutting long travel times and wait lists.

Stories That Caught Our Attention This Week: Health policymakers in Sacramento and Washington, DC, are taking renewed interest in restraining one of the most stubborn challenges facing the nation — surging consumer health costs.