Ana B. Ibarra
Reporter | CalMattersAna B. Ibarra covers health care for CalMatters, 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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The Trump administration is demanding records from Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties as it looks for instances of noncitizens voting. -
Becerra says he wants everyone to be insured, but hasn’t spelled out how he’d pay for it. Hilton wants greater price transparency and to redesign the marketplace, but it’s unclear how much his plans would actually help consumers. -
The use of chatbots has exploded over the last two years, and people are increasingly turning to them for mental health advice. SB 903 would ban advertising chatbots as therapy and add rules for AI use in formal health spaces. -
One new California law promotes heat illness education in schools. Another law, rolling out this month, requires rules for outdoor activity during extreme heat. -
State regulations meant to help keep scammers out of the hospice industry are still pending. -
As extreme heat becomes a year-round reality, California is often still responding like it’s an emergency. -
Covered California enrollment fell 2.7% following the end of enhanced federal premium assistance. That’s better than expected, but many people are making concessions to afford staying insured. -
Congress restores critical access status for Glenn Medical Center, but the shuttered California hospital still needs $40-50 million to reopen. -
Starting in 2025, California tortillas will contain folic acid to help prevent birth defects—a change aimed at closing a gap for Latina mothers. -
Senior Californians in rural communities are dying by suicide at troubling rates—struggling with pain, cut off from doctors and mental health care, with guns at hand. Access to care and safety planning would help, experts say. -
More than five million low-income Californians are expected to lose their CalFresh food assistance benefits starting Saturday. States are suing the Trump administration to reinstate aid. -
Lawmakers have focused on the high cost of diabetes drugs. The announcement will make state-branded insulin available two years later than the governor originally promised.
