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The nation’s most populous state is shrinking. California’s population declined again in 2021 for the second consecutive year, state officials said Monday, the result of a slowdown in births and immigration coupled with an increase in deaths and people leaving the state. With an estimated 39,185,605 residents, California is still the U.S.’s most populous state, putting it far ahead of second-place Texas and its 29.5 million residents. But after years of strong growth brought California tantalizingly close to the 40 million milestone, the state’s population is now roughly back to where it was in 2016 after declining by 117,552 people this year. (Beam, 5/3)

When Eli Niemi was 6 months old, he’d only rolled from his stomach to his back one time. Most babies that age are able to do that, but Eli’s mom, Allie, said he wasn’t doing it regularly until he was closer to 10 months old. Eli held his head up well, but Allie said he didn’t otherwise have much desire to move around. Later, he wasn’t stacking blocks or climbing on furniture like expected. The Niemis are grateful they were connected with local child development resources at the hospital soon after Eli was born, helping them chart his progress and catch him up on gross motor skills, which strengthen muscle groups that allow children to move with balance and confidence as they age. (Hilton and Heim, 5/2)

The Kansas Legislature and Gov. Laura Kelly took a step toward alleviating this suffering with passage into law of Senate Bill 267 extending the state’s Medicaid postpartum coverage from the current 60 days following birth to 12 months. More than 30% of Kansas births are covered by Medicaid, or KanCare. Provisions of the law are expected to improve postpartum services of an estimated 9,000 Kansas mothers. The reform was an option for states created by Congress under the federal American Rescue Plan Act. Illinois, New Jersey, Virginia and Louisiana are among states also adopting the extension that became available April 1 and would be on the books for five years. In Kansas, several legislative committees recommended adoption of the postpartum policy. The shift also was endorsed by 29 organizations in the state. (Carpenter, 5/2)

In 2016, Cindy McMillan was shocked to learn that babies born to women of color in her home community in Buncombe County were three times more likely to die in their first year than white babies. Now, she works to improve health outcomes for women of color and their babies, as the executive director of Sistas Caring 4 Sistas, a community-based doula service in Asheville. The White House recognized Black Maternal Health week in April as a reminder of racial disparities in maternal health care, but disparities in Black maternal health remain a problem in North Carolina and the United States. Black women and childbearing people are three to four times as likely to die of pregnancy-related complications than white people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Thompson, 5/3)

A South Dakota child awaiting a liver transplant in Minneapolis appears to be among those affected by a mysterious pediatric hepatitis outbreak. Tests at the M Health Fairview Masonic Children's Hospital showed Monday morning that the toddler had adenovirus in her blood. A common strain of the virus has been linked with hundreds of cases worldwide of unexplained hepatitis in children — including at least five of nine cases in Alabama that were reported last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Minnesota Department of Health said in a statement that it is reviewing "several" reports from hospitals while the Wisconsin Department of Health Services was reviewing four cases, including that of one child who died. (Olson, 5/2)

Not many people had heard of an Anchorage company called WEKA before it set up shop at a makeshift clinic in a former hotel owned by the city last fall, administering a coronavirus treatment called monoclonal antibodies at the height of a crushing pandemic surge. Until then, the private security and transport company, owned by Todd and Crystal Herring, had operated largely behind the scenes, escorting mental health patients around Alaska and providing security to hospitals and other facilities. That changed last October, when Anchorage mayor Dave Bronson made WEKA an offer: A rent-free space to give monoclonal antibody infusions to the public. (Theriault Boots, Goodykoontz, 5/2)

People who test positive for COVID-19 with a rapid test at the State Center in Baltimore can now be evaluated immediately for the anti-viral medication Paxlovid that has proven effective in stemming severe cases. State Center is already a regional state-run hub for testing and vaccinations, and officials with the Maryland Department of Health decided to add the federally designated “Test to Treat” program to make the prescription more accessible. It’s already available at 50 drug stores and urgent care centers around the state, including CVS MinuteClinics and ExpressCare locations. An online locator is hosted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (Cohn, 5/2)

Hundreds of thousands of Minnesota's frontline pandemic workers will get payments of about $750 and businesses will be spared a sizable tax increase as part of an agreement celebrated Monday at a State Capitol ceremony marking the biggest accomplishment so far this legislative session. It was a moment workers and business owners had waited months to see, as lawmakers struggled to broker a deal until the final weeks of a session tinged with election-year politics. (Van Berkel, 5/2)

Lying in her hospital bed at Utah Valley Hospital in 2010, a woman panicked when she saw the doctor who would be delivering her baby. “Don’t let him touch me,” the woman said she begged her husband and the nurse. Three weeks earlier, while working as a nurse at Timpanogos Regional Hospital, that same woman said she had witnessed Dr. David H. Broadbent ignore the cries and pain of another woman getting ready to give birth. The situation disturbed her so much, she said, she warned Broadbent she would report him to the chief of the obstetrics department if it happened again. (Jacobs, 5/2)

The posted deadline for every tent and shanty to be gone arrived on a Monday. Yet by noon, life continued at its desultory pace as people began to stir in the dozen structures pressed against the guardrail over the 101 Freeway in downtown L.A. “Tomorrow,” said Harvey Hernandez, 58, a longtime denizen of downtown streets who displayed his awareness of the city’s anti-camping law with a button pinned to his shirt citing the ordinance by its number: “41.18 = Death.” (Smith, Oreskes, Zahniser and Vives, 5/2)

KHN: States Watching As Massachusetts Takes Aim At Hospital Building Boom And Costs

A Massachusetts health cost watchdog agency and a broad coalition including consumers, health systems, and insurers helped block the state’s largest — and most expensive — hospital system in April from expanding into the Boston suburbs. Advocates for more affordable care hope the decision by regulators to hold Mass General Brigham accountable for its high costs will usher in a new era of aggressive action to rein in hospital expansions that drive up spending. Their next target is a proposed $435 million expansion by Boston Children’s Hospital. (Meyer, 5/3)