California Weekly Roundup: Cities Fail To Curb Traffic Deaths

Plus: Covid vaccine hesitancy; health care affordability and the race for California's next governor; a new hospital is coming to Santa Clara; UC service workers go on strike; TB confirmed at a San Francisco high school; and more

View in browser Not a subscriber? Sign Up Visit KFF Health News for the latest California headlines California Weekly Roundup THIS WEEK'S FEATURE 'They Don't Return Home': Cities Across US Fail To Curb Traffic Deaths  (KRIS EDWARDS BY CHASEEDAW GILES / KFF HEALTH NEWS) By Chaseedaw Giles   LOS ANGELES — Kris Edwards waited at home with friends for his wife, Erika "Tilly" Edwards, to go out to dinner, but she never made it back to the house they had purchased only four days earlier. Around 9 p.m. on June 29, a hit-and-run driver killed Tilly as she walked to her car after a fundraiser performance in Hollywood.   "I've just got to figure out how to keep living. And the hard part with that is not knowing why," Edwards said of his wife's death.   Despite local, state, and federal safety campaigns, such as the global Vision Zero initiative to eliminate traffic fatalities, such deaths are up 20% in the U.S. from a decade ago, from 32,744 in 2014 to an estimated 39,345 in 2024, according to data from the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Although traffic deaths have declined since peaking at 43,230 in 2021, the number of deaths remains higher than a decade ago.   Since the covid-19 pandemic, the Pew Research Center found, Americans' driving habits have worsened across multiple measures, from reckless driving to drunken driving, which road safety advocates call a public health failure. They say technology could dramatically reduce traffic deaths, but proposals often run up against industry resistance, and the Trump administration is focusing on driverless cars to both innovate and improve public safety.   "Every day, 20 people go out for a walk, and they don't return home," said Adam Snider, a spokesperson for the Governors Highway Safety Association, which represents state road safety offices. Read the full story.        Hear From One Victim's Family and Other Experts  KFF Health News' Chaseedaw Giles spoke with a crash victim's surviving spouse, psychologist Kira Mauseth, and safety expert Adam Snider about what's driving the trend.   Watch on YouTube.    Follow KFF Health News online as we break down the health care headlines: More From KFF Health News Conflicting Advice on Covid Shots Likely To Ding Already Low Vaccine Rates, Experts Warn  By Phillip Reese About 1 in 4 American adults got a covid vaccine shot during the 2024-25 virus season, a fraction health care experts warn could be smaller this year. "A lot of misinformation is going around regarding covid," said Alein Haro-Ramos, an assistant professor of health, society, and behavior at the University of California-Irvine. "Vaccine hesitancy is going to increase." Top Health Headlines From Around California Gubernatorial Race CalMatters: They Want To Be California's Next Governor. Here's What They'd Do About Health Care Health care affordability tops the issues for candidates in California's governors race next year; Democrats also vow to take on President Donald Trump. (Ibarra, 11/14) Housing Crisis Bay Area News Group: Trump Administration Moves To Divert Billions Of Dollars From Homeless Housing Programs The Trump administration is moving forward with plans to divert billions of dollars in homelessness funding earmarked for permanent housing, a decision state and local officials warn could push thousands of formerly homeless Californians back to the street. (Varian, 11/18)   The San Diego Union-Tribune: Shelter Requests Surged After San Diego Began Clearing Freeway Camps. Almost All Failed. A lack of spots means only 7% of pleas for a bed recently succeeded. (Nelson, 11/6)   The Union: Habitat For Humanity One Step Closer To Glenbrook Development The Grass Valley Development Review Committee has recommended the city council move forward with a project that would grant Habitat for Humanity a multi-tiered entitlement that would re-zone property near Nevada City Highway and Gates Place. (Nobles, 11/14) Health Care Industry San Francisco Chronicle: Sutter Health Plans Major New South Bay Hospital One of Northern California's largest hospital systems announced a new, 850,000-square-foot facility for Santa Clara. (Ho, 11/17)   The Bakersfield Californian: Care For Kids: Kern Medical Celebrates Imminent Opening Of New Pediatric ER More than 100 doctors, nurses and other staff gathered near the front entrance to Kern Medical on Wednesday morning to celebrate the imminent opening of the hospital's new Pediatric Emergency Department. (Mayer, 11/12)   The Coast News Group: Neighborhood Healthcare To Purchase Escondido Downtown Office The Escondido City Council unanimously adopted a resolution approving the issuance of no more than $32 million to Neighborhood Healthcare, a California nonprofit public benefit corporation and Federally Qualified Health Center. (Nelson, 11/12)   The New York Times: When The G.O.P. Medicaid Cuts Arrive, These Hospitals Will Be Hit Hardest  In a typical year, more than 100,000 Medicaid patients depend on the emergency department at Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in South Los Angeles. (Badger, Parlapiano and Sanger-Katz, 11/18)   North Bay Business Journal: 8 Hospitals In Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Solano And Sonoma Counties Scored Straight A's In Patient Safety In Fall 2025 Here's how these 18 hospitals in Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties were graded in Leapfrog Group's fall assessment. (Quackenbush, 11/18)   Times Of San Diego: Health Orgs Grateful, But Work Still To Be Done After Prebys Foundation Grants Funding has become uncertain at best, and with it access to crucial health care. (Binkowski, 11/17)   Sacramento Business Journal: California Medical Association Joins Suit Against Major Insurers The nation's largest health insurance companies, including Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente, stand accused of conspiring to suppress reimbursement rates for hundreds of millions of medical procedures. Insurers say it's competition. Plaintiffs say it's a price-fixing cartel. (Hooke and Douglas, 11/13)   Gilroy Dispatch: CVS Settles With State Over Medi-Cal Fraud Claims CVS Pharmacy will pay the state of California more than $18 million in a settlement of a lawsuit that accused the national chain of submitting fraudulent claims to the Medi-Cal public health insurance system, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced this week. (11/17) Health Care Workers Los Angeles Times: UC Nurses Cancel Strike Plans, But UC Service Workers Walk Off The Job  UC nurses called off a planned walkout, but a strike by 40,000 service and patient-care workers — the lowest-paid workers in the system — started Monday. (Rector and Harter, 11/16)   KQED: Santa Clara County Sues Home Care Business Over Wage Theft, Exploiting Immigrant Workers  Santa Clara County alleged immigrant caregivers were paid as little as $4 an hour for 24-hour shifts, while owners pocketed over half of client fees and stole one worker's passport. (Ali-Ahmad, 11/13)   CapRadio: "State Of Lung Cancer" Report Helps Guide Policymakers And Healthcare Workers Last week, the ALA released its annual "State of Lung Cancer" report. The report is meant to serve as both a guidepost and rallying call, providing guidance to policymakers and healthcare practitioners. (Finch, 11/13) Children and Teens San Francisco Chronicle: Tuberculosis Case Confirmed At San Francisco High School Health officials say an individual linked to Archbishop Riordan High School has tested positive for active tuberculosis and is now in isolation. (Vaziri, 11/17)   CapRadio: How California's New Ultra-Processed Foods Law Will Transform School Lunches The new law requires schools to phase out certain ultraprocessed foods by July 2029. It's also the first in the country to give these foods a statutory definition. (Secaira, 11/17)   San Francisco Chronicle: New S.F. Violence Prevention Program Targets Tenderloin Youths San Francisco is launching a new violence prevention program intended to help young people in the Tenderloin. (Morris, 11/12)   KQED: Government Reopens, But Santa Cruz Head Start Families Still Face Child Care Crisis Santa Cruz's Encompass Head Start program is struggling to reopen after the federal shutdown. (Nguyen, 11/14) Opioids, Tobacco, and Hemp San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Overdose Deaths Drop, But Officials 'Not At All Satisfied' As Fentanyl Crisis Continues At least 36 people died of drug overdoses in October. (Angst, 11/17)   CalMatters: L.A. Jails Restrict Opioid Treatment As Fatal Overdoses Continue Hundreds of people are waiting for an opioid treatment in Los Angeles County jails as the state presses the system to reduce overdoses and in-custody deaths. (Mihalovich, 11/14)   Marin Independent Journal: Ross Expands Tobacco Regulations To Full Sales Ban Ross has become the second municipality in Marin County to ban the sale of any tobacco product. (Rosenfeld, 11/16)   The Appeal-Democrat: Sutter County May Give Up On Troubled Industrial Hemp  The Sutter County Planning commission will consider Wednesday night whether to recommend that the county's board of supervisors ban industrial hemp production and processing throughout the unincorporated area of the county. (11/14) Science and Research CalMatters: 'Unlawful Coercion': Trump Can't Withhold Funds Or Demand Payment From UC, Federal Judge Rules The judge has previously sided with UC scholars several times since June in halting Trump's termination of science and health research funding. The latest ruling is arguably the most sweeping yet. (Zinshteyn, 11/14)   Press Telegram: Stanford Researchers Link Lupus To Common Virus In 'Breakthrough' Study  More than a million Americans suffer with lupus. Researchers think they've finally found the cause. (Stringer, 11/18) Other California News CalMatters: Detainees Sue Over Conditions In California's Largest ICE Site CoreCivic turned a former state prison into an ICE detention center. Several detainees now are suing over conditions in the California City site. (Duara and Mihalovich, 11/13)   The Oaklandside: Did BART Address Disability Access In Rolling Out Its New Gates?  Card readers on only one side, gates that are slow to open — an accessibility task force raised multiple concerns, but BART didn't always listen. (Fermoso, 11/17)   The Modesto Bee: How A Modesto Nonprofit Helps Blind And Low-Vision Residents Secure Independence Isaiah Siordia, executive director of Visually Impaired Persons Support, said its programs help clients navigate their lives as independently as possible. (Quinn, 11/17)   KQED: From Mental Health To Compensation Funds, Where Can Gun Violence Survivors Find Support In The Bay Area? Surviving gun violence takes many forms. Here's where people who've been impacted by gun violence can find support locally. (Khan, 11/14)   Los Angeles Times: She Died In The Eaton Fire. Her Family Blames Emergency Alert Software  The complaint blames a company's predesigned evacuation zones for keeping residents east of Lake Avenue from getting timely evacuation orders. (Jarvie and Castleman, 11/17)   The Willits News: Relying On Landlines For Emergencies; AT&T's Moves In CA May Take It Away   Upon hearing her husband's call for help, Cynthia Halliday came flying upstairs. He was rushing toward the outdoor deck, gasping for air. He was having a heart attack. Halliday's husband did not survive. But that day in 2018, Halliday became convinced copper landlines were her best shot at getting help during emergencies, where she lives in Hacienda, rural Northern California. (Yu and Carollo, 11/15) This Week's 'KFF Health News Minute' You have until Jan. 15 to pick an ACA health plan for next year, and the Trump administration is taking aim at state laws that protect consumers' credit scores from medical debt.  Listen to Jackie Fortiér ▶️ Have questions or feedback? Contact editor Lauren Zamarron at LaurenZ@kff.org. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.   (c) 2025 KFF. All rights reserved.   KFF, 185 Berry Street, Suite 2000, San Francisco, CA 94107, United States Unsubscribe Manage preferences