THIS WEEK'S FEATURE

Big Companies Position Themselves for Payday From $50B Federal Rural Health Fund

(Open Door Community Health Centers)

By Sarah Jane Tribble

Tory Starr is worried about the people who get medical care at Open Door Community Health Centers along California’s North Coast.

“They’re the folks that work at restaurants. They’re the teacher’s aides,” said Starr, a registered nurse who became Open Door’s chief executive more than six years ago. Those patients, he said, are “really the heart and soul of rural America.”

He said if his remote health centers don’t get a share of the billions of dollars Congress earmarked to transform health care in rural America, patients may soon lose services. About 50% of Open Door’s 60,000 patients are on Medicaid, the joint state and federal insurance program that, together with the related Children’s Health Insurance Program, covers about 76 million people with low incomes or disabilities.

When Congress approved the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last summer, it cut nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid over the next decade. Now, Starr hopes the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program, which was part of the same bill, will help keep his patients covered.

Yet, small community health care providers, such as Open Door, may find they are sharing the billions with an army of corporate giants before it reaches their patients.

Read the full story.

California Lawmakers Seek Protections for Patients in ICE Custody

(iStock/Getty Images)

By Claudia Boyd-Barrett

Moving through the California Senate are two bills, informed by KFF Health News reporting, that would strengthen protections for patients brought to health facilities by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Read the full story.

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Top Health Headlines From Around California

LGBTQ+ Health

The San Diego Union-Tribune: Judge Extends Order Requiring Rady Children’s To Continue Gender-Affirming Care

State wants preliminary injunction requiring the hospitals to continue providing medications, and perhaps even surgeries, to patients younger than age 19. (Sisson, 4/27)

Bay Area Reporter: CA Gov Candidates Pledge To Back Gender-Affirming Care

Ending transgender, nonbinary, and intersex youth’s access to the healthcare they require to live as their authentic selves has been a main goal of the Trump administration. (Bajko, 4/27)

Healthcare Industry

San Francisco Chronicle: Kaiser Permanente Proposes Major New Hospital In San Francisco

Kaiser Permanente is proposing a larger, all-electric hospital across from its current Geary campus, with 300 beds and expanded services. (Ho, 4/21)

The Fresno Bee: Valley Children’s Spends $107M On New Land. Investment Will Pay For Care, Hospital Says

In its latest expansion move, Valley Children’s Hospital says it spent $107 million from its reserves to add another 277 acres of land already approved for residential and commercial development. (Galicia, 4/28)

The Bakersfield Californian: Dignity Set To Take Over Most Care At CBCC After Purchasing Assets

Dignity Health is preparing to take over operation of Comprehensive Blood & Cancer Center’s oncology services, excluding dermatology, in a move the hospital network said will enhance the region’s health-care. (Cox, 4/27)

The Desert Sun: 83 California Hospitals Face Higher Risk From Medicaid Cuts, Report

Public Citizen says 83 California hospitals with heavy Medicaid reliance and losses face higher risk of service cuts, layoffs or closure. (Ward, 4/21)

Los Angeles Times: Pasadena Clinic Received $34 Million In Medicare Skin Graft Scam, Feds Say

Federal authorities have seized millions of dollars from a Pasadena clinic suspected of bilking Medicare in a skin graft overbilling scam, according to officials. (Winton, 4/28)

Healthcare Dive: Blue Shield Of California Taps Chief Pharmacy Officer

Hayley Park will oversee BSCA’s prescription drug programs. The insurer has worked to overhaul its pharmacy management model in a bid to lower drug costs. (Olsen, 4/21)

North Bay Business Journal: How This Local Health Plan CEO Navigates Challenges Of Providing Care

Sonja Bjork remains upbeat even though overseeing a health plan that administers Medi-Cal benefits to nearly 900,000 people in Northern California is getting increasingly difficult. (Reed, 4/26)

Marin Independent Journal: BioMarin Pauses Expansion Of San Rafael Complex

The pharmaceutical company says it could be years before it resumes efforts to redevelop 999 Third St. with buildings for offices and labs. (Rodriguez, 4/26)

San Francisco Chronicle: Her Cancer ‘Nightmare’ At 29 Reflects Trend Driving New UCSF Clinic

A surge in early-onset colorectal cancer is prompting UCSF to tailor care for young adult patients navigating work, parenting and treatment. (Ho, 4/28)

Aging

CalMatters: California Hospice Fraud Is Putting Seniors At Risk

Rampant hospice fraud in California is endangering vulnerable seniors. Learn how the state is cracking down and what families need to know. (Ibarra, 4/29)

CalMatters: Is 50 Old Enough For Elderly Parole? California Lawmakers Rush To Change Rules For Sex Offenders

The potential release of two men who were convicted of molesting children in the Sacramento region has California lawmakers racing to revise elderly parole rules. (Garcia, 4/22)

Housing Crisis

CalMatters: California Blocks Trump From Withholding Homelessness Funds

California for now has prevented the Trump administration from changing priorities in homelessness funding to favor temporary shelters rather than long-term housing. (Kendall, 4/21)

The Sacramento Bee: Sacramento Approves Framework For Regional Homelessness JPA

The Sacramento City Council approved a joint powers authority framework to bring county and nearby cities together to address homelessness. (Desai, 4/29)

Los Angeles Times: Los Angeles Wants Greater Control Over Homeless Services Agency

The city of Los Angeles is debating ways to gain greater control over the millions of dollars it sends to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority to get people off the streets. (Khouri, 4/29)

Los Angeles Daily News: Window Closing Soon For $19,000 In Rent Assistance For L.A. City’s Low-Income Seniors And Disabled

Rent-burdened residents have a few more days to apply for a maximum of $19,000 with a Measure ULA-funded emergency income program. (Biraben, 4/27)

Environmental Health

Bay Area News Group: Measure To Change Landmark California Environmental Quality Act Has Enough Signatures To Qualify For Ballot, Backers Say

The California Chamber of Commerce has collected more than 945,000 signatures — nearly twice the 546,651 required — to qualify a measure on the November statewide ballot to overhaul the California Environmental Quality Act, commonly known as CEQA. On Monday it will begin turning them in to elections officials. (Rogers, 4/27)

Voice of OC: OC Residents Wrestle With Failed Promises To Restrict Chemical Herbicides

When Carolyn McCuan moved to San Juan Capistrano in the fall of 2024, she did it on a promise from the city’s then public works director – no chemical herbicides in town. At her previous home in Aliso Viejo, McCuan said she faced years of health problems from heavy spraying of glyphosate-based herbicides like RoundUp near her home, a special subset of pesticides designed to kill plants. (Biesiada, 4/28)

Los Angeles Times: 44% Of Americans Breathe Dangerously Polluted Air. In California, It's 82%

The American Lung Assn.'s 2026 State of the Air report again graded L.A. as having some of the worst air quality in the country. California as a state performed poorly. (Tanaka, 4/22)

Mental Health

CalMatters: Plans To Fix Gaps In Newsom's Mental Health Court Reopen Divisions Over Involuntary Care

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s CARE Court struggles to serve Californians in acute mental health crises. Two bills are moving forward to change that. (Kendall, 4/27)

Los Angeles Times: Alleged Bullying Left 12-Year-Old Dead. Could LAUSD Have Prevented It?

The death of Khimberly Zavaleta Chuquipa, 12, has led some, including her family, to question whether L.A. Unified could have — or should have — done more to protect her from campus bullies. (Harter, 4/21)

The Sacramento Bee: She Says ChatGPT Is Responsible For Her Son's Death. CA Lawmakers Are Listening

Maria Raine told lawmakers Monday that ChatGPT mentioned suicide almost 1,300 times to her son Adam before he died by suicide in April 2025. (Wolffe, 4/21)

Other California News

CalMatters: ICE Quietly Opens Its 8th California Detention Center

California now has eight ICE detention centers. Two opened since President Trump took office in 2025, with both operating in former state prisons. (Fry, 4/23)

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Originally established to help victims of domestic violence, California’s Safe at Home program helps participants keep their residential addresses confidential and out of public records by providing a substitute mailing address through the California secretary of state. People who live in the same residence are also eligible. (La, 4/24)

Politico: California Tests Limits Of School Phone Ban Movement

Smartphone ban tensions boiling over in California reflect a broader, national debate that crosses party lines. (Katzenberger, 4/23)

VC Star: County Food Bank Braces For Cuts Amid Increasing Demand. Here's Why

As food banks across California brace for increased demand, officials say funding cuts also could be on the way. Here's why. (Carlson, 4/23)

San Francisco Chronicle: San Mateo County Bans Kratom Sales — A First For The Bay Area

Officials say kratom, often sold in drinks and gummies and marketed for energy and pain relief, poses growing risks of addiction and overdose. (Ho, 4/22)

Los Angeles Times: One Man Has Filed 1,800 Disability Lawsuits Against SoCal Shops. Store Owners Are Fed Up

A handful of people are responsible for suing thousands of local businesses under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Proponents argue the lawsuits help protect the rights of the disabled. Store owners say they are being squeezed for cash over what they claim are minor violations. (Ellis, 4/27)

CapRadio: Why E-Bike Advocates Say California’s Crackdown May Not Solve The Biggest Safety Risks

Lawmakers are considering new restrictions on e-bikes, but riders and researchers say illegal e-motos and unsafe streets may be the bigger danger. (Zavala, 4/27)

Los Angeles Times: Woman Bitten Three Times By Snake Is Third Californian To Die From Snakebite This Year

A woman died this month after being bitten by a snake three times as she was taking a walk on rural property in the unincorporated Mendocino County community of Redwood Valley, officials say. The 78-year-old Northern California woman is the third person to die in California during an erratic snake season. On average, five people die nationwide from venomous snakebites annually, according to federal health officials. (Garcia, 4/21)

This Week's 'KFF Health News Minute'

The Trump administration wants to kick off a new baby boom with big changes to Title X. Plus, tips to make sure a life change doesn’t leave you without health insurance.

Listen to Arielle Zionts▶️

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.

California Weekly Roundup: Community Healthcare Providers Fret Over Rural Health Fund

California Weekly Roundup