Assembly Bill 650 by Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Rolling Hills Estates) would have required hospitals, clinics and skilled nursing facilities to pay medical professionals $10,000 bonuses. The bill died Thursday when lawmakers declined to vote on the measure.
Health & Wellness
Posted inHealth & Wellness
Newsom wants to spend millions on the health of low-income mothers and their babies
Democratic legislators back measures that would end the “pink tax” on diapers and menstrual products, provide mental health support, and pilot a guaranteed-income program.
Posted inHousing & Development
Important shovels in the ground: Sights of groundbreaking at Live Oak health care, affordable housing campus
Health care and affordable housing organizations came together with Santa Cruz County politicians, donors and community members Saturday to celebrate the groundbreaking at the campus at 1500 Capitola Road in Live Oak.
Posted inCOVID 2022
‘I was absolutely shocked’: Dr. Gail Newel on Newsom’s refusal to fund public health departments
Santa Cruz County’s top health official said it was “disheartening” that even with a projected $76 billion surplus, Gov. Gavin Newsom nixed a $200 million request to boost local agencies that have been on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Posted inCOVID 2022
As pandemic eases, many seniors have lost strength, could need rehabilitative services
A little-discussed, long-term toll of the COVID-19 pandemic is that large numbers of older adults have become physically and cognitively debilitated and less able to care for themselves after sheltering in place.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Supreme Court agrees to hear major abortion case challenging Roe vs. Wade
A more conservative Supreme Court will weigh a woman’s right to choose abortion.
Posted inHousing & Development
Will June hearing be the end of injunction vs. city in Benchlands homeless lawsuit?
A federal judge could dissolve an injunction keeping the city of Santa Cruz from clearing a homeless encampment in the San Lorenzo Benchlands at a June 29 hearing set Thursday.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
California could become first state to let adults add parents to healthcare plans
A bill in the California legislature would require state-regulated health plans to cover policyholders’ dependent parents. Advocates say the measure would reduce the number of uninsured people, while business groups warn of premium increases.
Posted inCOVID Today
Doctors fear COVID-19 vaccines are messing with mammograms
Radiologists have discovered a new side effect of COVID-19 vaccines: They make it more difficult to interpret mammogram results.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
Mental health services wane as insurers appear to skirt parity rules during pandemic
A report from the Government Accountability Office paints a picture of an already strained behavioral health system struggling after the pandemic struck to meet the treatment needs of millions of Americans with conditions like alcohol use disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.