Ana B. Ibarra
Reporter | CalMattersAna B. Ibarra covers health care for , a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics, and a JPR news partner.. Her reporting largely focuses on issues around access to care and affordability. Before joining CalMatters, Ana worked as a reporter at KFF Health News, where she covered the Legislature and California health agencies.
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Folic acid reduces the risk of birth defects and the FDA requires that bakers include it in enriched bread. California could extend the mandate to tortillas and foods made with corn masa flour. -
California is one of four states that levies a tax penalty on uninsured households. Many people paying the fines are eligible for heavily subsidized health insurance through Covered California. -
About 500,000 California health care workers were expected to see pay increases under a law that set a new minimum wage for their industry. Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to delay the pay bumps until the state budget has a stronger outlook. -
The federal government suspended an annual Medicaid renewal requirement during COVID-19. Now that it has resumed, many Californians are losing coverage for 鈥減rocedural reasons.鈥� -
All but two California counties are delaying their implementation of a new law that makes it easier for a court to place someone in involuntary confinement if they can鈥檛 care for their own medical needs or personal safety. -
More than 400,000 Californians are expected to get a pay increase under the new law, which gradually raises the minimum wage to $25 an hour for health care employees. -
Psychedelics like mushrooms and mescaline could be decriminalized in California as advocates tout their therapeutic potential. -
Two of the three troubled California hospitals are especially vital to their communities because they鈥檙e the only emergency providers in their rural counties. Health care chains could keep them afloat. -
The iconic California burger joint known for its crossed palm trees and cups printed with Bible verses banned its employees in five states from wearing masks at work. But California and Oregon allow workers to decide for themselves. -
Many of the people who lost Medi-Cal are likely still eligible for health care coverage if they can get their paperwork to county offices in the next 90 days. -
A new ban on flavored tobacco products is accelerating a decline in nicotine tax revenue that funds California鈥檚 early childhood services. Some programs are already making cuts. -
Two proposals that would usher in single-payer health care have divided former allies in the fight for reform.
