Stories That Caught Our Attention This Week: Because of severe wildfire damage, the sole hospital and biggest employer in Paradise, California, is unlikely to reopen before 2020 — if ever. 

Regardless of the outcome of the Kaiser Permanente mental health workers strike, the need for state health policy leaders to reduce California's worsening shortage of behavioral health providers is urgent.

A groundbreaking Medi-Cal program is enabling substance use disorder treatment facilities to say yes to more patients seeking care, yes to more flexibility regarding treatment plans, and yes to hiring more workers to treat people in need.

Stories That Caught Our Attention This Week: A new class of state lawmakers, including another supermajority of Democrats, has been sworn in. Several health-related bills were introduced immediately and will await Gavin Newsom when he succeeds Governor Jerry Brown in January.

Marco Angulo, MD, chose to practice family medicine in a community clinic close to where he grew up. His educational path is an important model that could help ease the primary care physician shortage in California.

Stories That Caught Our Attention This Week: Sharply rising drug prices are the result of a "shadowy and byzantine system" and perverse incentives for providers, experts say, as Congress sees glimmers of a bipartisan response.

Federal officials recently proposed changes to the public charge rule for immigrants. The California Health Care Foundation's CEO shares key points from the public comment she filed with the federal government to explain how the rule would take the health care system backward — especially in California.

Stories that caught our attention this week: We want to take a moment to express our gratitude for those who provide care on the front lines, as well as those who work behind the scenes to make policy that ensures that all Californians have access to health care.

New research from the Institute for Community Health estimates that the Trump administration’s proposed changes to the public charge rule could prompt up to 455,000 California children in need of medical attention to leave Medi-Cal.

Stories That Caught Our Attention This Week: Voters nationwide showed support for health care on November 6. Polls showed voters thought health care was an important issue, and in Idaho, Nebraska, and Utah, they passed ballot measures to expand Medicaid.

Many California safety-net organizations are eager to find solutions to challenging problems but are overwhelmed by the market. This learning laboratory helps them test solutions and share user experiences.

Stories That Caught Our Attention This Week: After all the threats and changes to the Affordable Care Act in the past year, consumer confusion may be a key component of the ongoing 2019 open enrollment period.

In October, Congress overwhelmingly passed bipartisan opioid legislation including more than $3.3 billion in authorized spending over 10 years. Washington, DC policy experts explain key parts of the new law.

Stories That Caught Our Attention This Week: Patients’ health outcomes can suffer when providers don’t dedicate time to making a personal connection with them.

Denise Love of the National Association of Health Data Organizations and Jo Porter of the University of New Hampshire’s Institute for Health Policy and Practice discuss the potential for an all-payer claims database in California.