Legislation
181-200 of 780 results
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California Health Workers May Face Rude Awakening With $25 Minimum Wage Law
A medical industry challenge to a $25 minimum wage ordinance in one Southern California city suggests health workers statewide could face layoffs and reductions in hours and benefits under a state law set to begin phasing in in June. Some experts are skeptical, however, that it will have such effects.
By Don Thompson -
Conservative Justices Stir Trouble for Republican Politicians on Abortion
Republicans are learning the admonition ābe careful what you wish for,ā as conservative judges cause them political problems over abortion in a crucial election year.
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As Bans Spread, Fluoride in Drinking Water Divides Communities Across the US
The broad availability of over-the-counter dental products containing fluoride has some community leaders arguing that its addition to public drinking water is no longer necessary. But public health experts worry that, much like vaccines, fluoridation may be a victim of its own success.
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Feds Join Ranks of Employers with Generous Fertility Benefits
Starting this year, federal employees can choose plans that cover a broad menu of fertility services, including up to $25,000 annually for in vitro fertilization procedures. At the same time, politics around IVF and reproductive health have become a central issue in the current election-year debate.
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California Universities Are Required to Offer Abortion Pills. Many Just Don’t Mention It.
One year after California became the first state to require public universities to provide abortion pills to students, LAist found that basic information for students to obtain the medication is often nonexistent.
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California Is Expanding Insurance Access for Teenagers Seeking Therapy on Their Own
A California law that takes effect this summer will grant minors on public insurance the ability to get mental health treatment without their parentsā consent, a privilege that their peers with private insurance have had for years. But the law has become a flashpoint in the stateās culture wars.
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Move to Protect Californiaās Indoor Workers From Heat Upended by Cost Questions
A years-long process that would have created heat standards for California workers in warehouses, steamy kitchens, and other indoor job sites catapulted into chaos Thursday when Gov. Gavin Newsomās administration pulled its support. Regulators, saying they felt āblindsided,ā approved the regulation anyway. Itās unclear what happens next.
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How National Political Ambition Could Fuel, or Fail, Initiatives to Protect Abortion Rights in States
As money flows to abortion rights initiatives in states, some donors focus on where anger over the "Dobbs" ruling could propel voter turnout and spur Democratic victories up and down the ballot, including in key Senate races and the White House.
By Bram Sable-Smith and Rachana Pradhan -
As More States Target Disavowed āExcited Deliriumā Diagnosis, Police Groups Push Back
After California passed the first law in the nation to limit the disavowed term āexcited delirium,ā bills in other states are being introduced to help end use of the diagnosis. But momentum is being met with resistance from law enforcement and first responder groups, who cite free speech.
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A New Orleans Neighborhood Confronts the Racist Legacy of a Toxic Stretch of Highway
New federal funds aim to address an array of problems created by highway construction in minority neighborhoods. These are economic, social, and, perhaps above all, public health problems. In New Orleansā Treme neighborhood, competing plans for how to deal with harm done by the Claiborne Expressway reveal the challenge of how to mitigate them meaningfully.
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Exclusive: Social Security Chief Vows to Fix āCruel-Heartedā Overpayment Clawbacks
New Social Security Commissioner Martin OāMalley is promising to change how the agency reclaims billions of dollars it wrongly pays to beneficiaries, saying the existing process is ācruel-hearted and mindless.ā
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Secret Contract Aims to Upend Landmark California Prison Litigation
California has commissioned an exhaustive study of whether its prisons provide a constitutional level of mental health care, which it could use to try to end one of the lawsuits that have federal courts overseeing the stateās prisons. But corrections officials wonāt disclose even basic details of the consultantsā contract, including its cost to taxpayers.
By Don Thompson -
California Attorney General Boosts Bill Banning Medical Debt From Credit Reports
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has thrown his weight behind state Sen. Monique LimĆ³nās legislation to bar unpaid medical bills from showing up on consumer credit reports. If passed, California would join just a few other states with such protections.
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Biden Said State of the Union Is Strong and Made Clear His Campaign Is Off and Running
President Joe Biden used his roughly 68-minute address to Congress to counter lackluster public approval ratings and draw clear contrasts between his administrationās policies and those of Donald Trump and some congressional Republicans. Abortion and health care were in the spotlight.
The State of the Union Is … Busy
Episode 337At last, Congress is getting half of its annual spending bills across the finish line, albeit five months after the start of the fiscal year. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden delivers his annual State of the Union address, an over-the-counter birth control pill is (finally) available, and controversy erupts over new public health guidelines for covid-19 isolation. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join Ńī¹óåś“«Ć½Ņīl Health Newsā Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Neera Tanden, the White House domestic policy adviser, about Bidenās health agenda. Plus, for āextra credit,ā the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too.
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When It Comes to Ketamine, Metaās Posting Policy Is No Party to Decipher
Despite growing awareness that the party drug is dangerous, the social media company is open to promotion of the drug in treating mental health.
By Darius Tahir -
Why Even Public Health Experts Have Limited Insight Into Stopping Gun Violence in America
After the 1996 Dickey Amendment halted federal spending on research into firearms risks, a small group of academics pressed on, with little money or political support, to document the nationās growing gun violence problem and start to understand what can be done to curb the public health crisis.