Health Advocate Blog

Analysis and Commentary

April 30, 2020
Leave No Californian Behind: California’s Efforts to Ease Access to Medi-Cal During the Pandemic
Alicia Emanuel
As the number of COVID-19 cases across the country continue to steadily rise, many of us here in California…
October 31, 2019
New Changes to California’s Exchange in 2020 Will Improve Health Coverage
Alicia Emanuel
Covered California, the state exchange, is now open again for enrollment, and there are lots of changes on the…
July 30, 2020
Defending Access to Care for LGBTQ+ Californians in the Wake of Hospital Consolidations with Restrictive Religious Refusal Directives
Skyler Rosellini
In August 2016, Evan Minton’s hysterectomy was abruptly cancelled by Mercy San Juan Medical Center (Mercy) the day before…
July 28, 2021
State 2021-22 Budget Benefits Health of Low-Income Californians
T. Nancy Hsu
On Thursday, July 15, 2021, the California Legislature passed its new budget that expands and improves health coverage for…
February 4, 2020
Trump Administration Threatens Abortion Coverage in California
Fabiola Carrión
On January 24th, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights Division (OCR) issued a…
March 16, 2018
As We Celebrate International Women’s Month, California Remains a National Leader on Women’s Health Care
Fabiola Carrión
March marks International Women’s Month, and we celebrate this by recounting how California has, through implementation of the Affordable…
October 5, 2020
California Should Continue to Prioritize Funding for Community-Based Behavioral Health Services, Not Expanding Incarceration
Héctor Hernández-Delgado and Abigail Coursolle
Co-authored by: Carolina Valle, California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, Daisy Chavez, Transforming Justice Orange County, National Health Law ProgramIn the…
May 27, 2022
California’s Historic Medi-Cal Exclusion Removal for Older Adults Regardless of Immigration Status
Alicia Emanuel and Iván Barragan*
*Co-authored with Iván Barragan, CA Immigrant Policy CenterAs of May 1, 2022, California removed the exclusion to full-scope Medi-Cal…
March 24, 2020
An Uphill Battle: California’s Efforts to Combat the COVID-19 Pandemic
Alicia Emanuel
These are unprecedented times. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) a pandemic.…