California Expands Paid Sick Days and Boosts Health Worker Wages
California Healthline
News on health care policy, politics and business in California, by KFF Health News for CHCF.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation expanding paid sick leave to five days, extending bereavement leave to miscarriages and failed adoptions, and approving an eventual $25-an-hour health care minimum wage. Still, in a possible sign of national ambitions, the Democrat vetoed free condoms in schools and refused to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms.
Entries in our fifth annual Halloween haiku contest left us terrified. Based on a review by our panel of judges, here’s the winner and the original artwork it inspired.
See the other winning haikus and illustrations here.
The legislation bans the use of four additives that are already prohibited in many other countries but remain in popular U.S. foods. Advocates say states need to act because the FDA has done little.
Last month, the federal government started paying for treatments delivered outside hospitals and clinics, expanding funding for “street medicine” teams that treat homeless patients. California led the way on the change, which could help sick and vulnerable patients get healthy, sober, and, in some cases, into housing.
The number of men in the state taking paid family leave to bond with a new child has risen nearly 20% since the start of the pandemic.
School nurses treat children daily for a wide range of illnesses and injuries, and sometimes serve as a young patient’s only health provider. They also function as a point person for critical public health interventions. Yet many states don’t require them, and school districts struggle to hire them.
California is the first state to ban the controversial diagnosis known as “excited delirium,” which has been used increasingly to justify excessive force by law enforcement. A human rights advocate described the law, signed last month by Gov. Gavin Newsom, as a “watershed moment” in criminal justice.
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Teresa Johnson has been in extreme pain for more than a year after what she believes was a severe allergic reaction to iodine. Her Medi-Cal plan approved her referral to a specialist, but it took her numerous phone calls, multiple complaints, and several months to book an appointment.
Narcan is available without a prescription. Addiction treatment experts hope this move will increase access to the medication, which can reverse opioid overdoses. But hurdles remain: cost and stigma.
Many women, especially Black women, have reported discrimination in maternity care, but expectant mothers lack tools to see where this happens. Funding and regulations to measure disparities have been slow in arriving, but some innovators are trying to fill the void.
A sweeping agreement approved by state lawmakers will gradually raise the minimum wage for hundreds of thousands of health workers to a nation-leading $25 an hour. The pact also ends labor’s years-long battle with dialysis clinics.
The California Legislature greenlighted Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest plan to build more housing and increase addiction treatment as part of his response to the state’s homelessness and drug crises.
Céline Gounder, physician-epidemiologist and host of “Eradicating Smallpox,” Season 2 of the “Epidemic” podcast, leads a conversation about how the lessons from the victory over smallpox can be applied to public health challenges today.
In Orange County, California, officials are threading a delicate needle. They want to persuade people with psychosis to accept treatment without coercion as the state’s new CARE Courts rolled out in October.
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?? Fall brings not only a change in season but in perspectives too. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness." Let's embrace the positive shifts, like California's steps towards fair wages for health workers. ?????? Your coverage shines a light on important changes, and we're here for it! #HealthcareProgress #EmbraceChange