The Brief

Navigating family leave is not easy. When we’ve talked to pregnant people, family leave is one of the top topics they ask us about. It’s no wonder why — there are so many things to keep track of.

So why is this impossibly complicated? Why do you need four degrees and a spreadsheet to figure it out? This is our attempt to answer your questions about pregnancy and work in California.

We talked with several experts across the field; most of the answers around how California law intersects with work come from Katherine Wutchiett, staff attorney at Legal Aid at Work, which runs a work and family helpline that provides free, confidential advice to parents and caregivers.

How the US compares with the world

Because the laws vary so widely by region and by each person’s health conditions, figuring out your benefits takes a little bit of calculation.

And worldwide, this is not the norm. The United States is one of just seven countries in the world without a comprehensive program for national paid maternity leave. The average length for those that do have leave is 29 weeks. Estonians get up to 86 weeks of paid family leave, over a year and a half — for any parent, foster, adoptive, or guardian.

Research shows that paid family leave has multiple benefits for families that are able to take advantage of it, including breastfeeding for longer periods of time, better health outcomes for children as they grow, increases in men taking family leave, and the ability for birthing parents to return to their jobs.

But in the U.S., nearly one in four employed mothers return to work just two weeks after giving birth. If you are wondering what that might be like (hint: not recommended), check out LAist’s guide to the postpartum phase.

California is one of the few states in the country that does offer a constellation of laws to provide for work accommodations and leave around pregnancy.

Wutchiett says that just knowing these rights can lead to more stability at work in the long-term. “A lot of the issues that we see that come up, are people quit their job or are fired because they don't get the changes that they need in their pregnancy, when they are entitled to pregnancy accommodations,” she adds.

Do I need to tell my employer I’m pregnant?

First off, it’s important to know you’ve got rights!

Wutchiett says the first step is to start doing research to understand your basic rights in California.

“Employers don't always have it 100% right,” she says, adding that it’s important to know a bit about the basics before having a conversation with your employer.

Wutchiett says people often ask if they are required to tell their employer that they are pregnant. The answer is no, you are not — but certain legal protections and benefits are connected to being pregnant, like work accommodations and time off. So, she says, “Once you want to make use of those protections you need to tell your employer so that you can trigger their obligation to provide those to you.”

If you’re worried about your employer’s reaction, know that it’s illegal for your employer to discriminate against you or harass you due to pregnancy.

If you work at a place with five or more employees, your sick leave will protect your job if you need to take time off for prenatal medical care, morning sickness, or other pregnancy-related conditions. In the state of California, as of Jan. 1, 2024, you have five guaranteed paid sick days to cover this time off (in addition to any benefits your employer provides). Other cities may have more time off — like Los Angeles (48 hours, or six days) and Santa Monica (depends on your employer). Look up what type of sick leave is available in the specific city or state where you live.

Information from Legal Aid at Work

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LAist Design Staff

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What are reasonable work accommodations?

Now that you’re pregnant, some aspects of the way you work may need to change.

Under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, your employer is required to provide accommodations to pregnant employees — as long as they are reasonable and advised by a health employer.

As Wutchiett explains, there’s no specific list of what these accommodations could be. “It completely depends on that person's job and what their healthcare provider recommends,” she says.

For example, if you work in a restaurant, it could be that a different server takes out the larger trays of food. Work accommodations can also include teleworking, switching from a position at the register to a position in the back of the stockroom, or if you have a job that usually requires standing, you can ask for a seat.

Accommodations are available to all employees, including part-time workers and those who are new to their job.

If you are looking for how to structure your email request to your employer or need a note from your doctor, you can download some sample letters.

How do I take time off to care for my baby?

First, the TL;DR version.

• Usually, depending on your medical condition, you can receive benefits up to four weeks before your expected delivery date and then up to six weeks after your delivery (without complications) and up to eight weeks after your delivery (cesarean birth). 
• Then, under California’s Paid Family Leave program, usually you can receive benefits for another eight weeks. After that, you may be entitled to another four weeks off unpaid. 
• All this may vary depending on where you work, your work status, and your health conditions. 

OK. How does this all work?

Here’s what’s key to understanding leave from work: There are laws that give you the right to go on leave and protect your job while you’re out. And then, separately, there’s how you’ll get paid — in California there are programs that give you partial pay during this time.

Your leave depends on the size of your employer, your health conditions, and how you deliver (vaginal or cesarean), and what programs you qualify for.

• A typical leave for a vaginal birth in California includes a total of 22 weeks off, with up to four weeks before the due date and 18 weeks afterwards, with 17 of those weeks paid at 70-90%.
• A typical leave for a cesarean birth is a total of 22 weeks off, with up to four weeks before the due date and 18 weeks afterwards, with 19 of those weeks paid at 70-90%.

Information from Legal Aid at Work

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LAist design staff

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Now let's talk about other protections.

If your employer has five or more employees, there are two laws that protect your job while you are out on leave — Pregnancy Disability Leave and the California Family Rights Act. Pregnancy Disability Leave is designed to provide leave before and after birth, depending on your particular health conditions. The California Family Rights Act provides time off for bonding with a new child if you’ve worked with your employer for a year or more. Both of these laws require you to give your employer at least 30 days' advance notice.

It’s important to note that as of 2021, the California Family Rights Act is available to workplaces with five or more employees. It previously only covered larger workplaces, so if you work for a smaller employer, they may not be aware of this change. Also, the federal Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) overlaps with state laws — it does not provide you with additional leave.

To get paid while you are out, California has two programs that can provide pay. First, there’s State Disability Insurance, which provides a portion of your pay before and after your due date. Usually, depending on your medical condition, you can receive benefits up to four weeks before your expected delivery date and then up to six weeks after your delivery (without complications) and up to eight weeks after your delivery (cesarean birth).

California’s Paid Family Leave program then provides a portion of your pay for eight weeks to bond with a new child. People who don’t give birth can also use this program — that includes spouses and adoptive or foster parents.

Workers earning 70% or less of the state's average wage are eligible for 90% of their regular wages under the State Disability Insurance and Paid Family Leave programs. For 2025, that's about $63,000. If you make more than that, you'll get 70% of your regular wages.

Both of these programs are available regardless of citizenship and immigration status. They are 100% worker funded. You can look at your pay stub and if it says CASDI, this is the amount of your money that is going into this fund. If you are undocumented, you can see this guide on how to apply.

Jenya Cassidy, director of the California Work and Family Coalition, says educating yourself on the basics of California laws is a helpful start. “You'd be surprised how many HR departments get this wrong and will tell a pregnant worker in California you have 12 weeks all together, which is not true,” she says.

Keep in mind all these things are a minimum. They are the floor and your employer may have extra benefits to add to this mix.

For example:

• Some employers supplement the 70-90% of your pay that California disability and paid family leave offer, to take your pay up to 100%.
• Your employer can allow you more time off than what is guaranteed by law. 
• Some employers allow flexible work arrangements upon return.
• And maybe you’re one of the lucky ones who work for Netflix and you can take as long as you need (averaging four to eight months, the company says)

Wutchiett recommends that if you make a special arrangement with your employer about benefits or time off, you confirm your conversation in writing, though email or a text. There’s no state agency that would step in for things above and beyond California law, but having documentation can help you make your case through other avenues.

If you live in San Francisco, the Paid Parental Leave Ordinance requires employers to supplement Paid Family Leave so that during your leave you receive 100% of your pay (up to a cap). San Francisco also has other special benefits around pregnancy and parenting.

P.S. Be prepared to be in contact with state agencies and/or insurance companies at the beginning of your leave. I remember one guy from the insurance company whose job was just to call people and ask if they had a vaginal or cesarean birth. In the crucial first days of birth, I was so exhausted I almost missed his call.

How does paid family leave for adoption or fostering work?

If you are an adoptive and foster parent, you also have the right to take leave to bond with and care for your new child.

Eligible employees have the right to take up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave from work, with potentially 8 of those weeks partially paid under California’s Paid Family Leave program. You’ll need to give 30 days’ advance notice to your employer if possible (or tell them as soon as you can). If your employer requests documentation like a letter from a foster care or adoption agency, you should provide that. Learn more about how this works.

California workers can also take sick time and leave to care for chosen family. As of 2023, employees can take time off to care for a “designated person,” someone who is a blood relative or someone else they consider like family. If you are an LGBTQ+ parent or have a nontraditional family structure, you might find this useful. Family caregivers can use California’s Paid Family Leave program to care for relatives.

What rights do I have to pump breastmilk at work?

A 2020 law requires employers to give employees the break time they need to pump at work. You can decide the amount of time you need, since it varies for each person. Your employer doesn’t need to pay for this time, except if you pump during your normal break times.

Your work must also provide an adequate space to express milk. It must:

• Be shielded from view, and free from intrusion
• Be safe, clean, and free from hazardous materials
• Contain a surface to place a breast pump and personal items 
• Contain a place to sit and have access to electricity or alternative devices including, but not limited to, extension cords or charging stations 
• Have access to a sink with running water and a refrigerator suitable for storing milk
• Not be a bathroom!

These are basic things, but Wutchiett says she has heard from people whose bosses told them to pump in, like, a chilled wine room or hallway or a supply closet. Not cool!

And also, as it turns out, not legal.

Your employer is also required to have a lactation policy and affirmatively distribute it to employees when they hire them.

How do I talk to my boss about pregnancy?

Like we previously wrote for LAist in a guide to sick leave, for starters, these things are key:

• Get it in writing. It's fine to request leave over the phone or in person, but follow up in writing. That way you have a record of your conversation.
• Include the details. Make sure you include the dates you anticipate needing leave, when you expect to be able to return to work, and the reason you are not able to work. 
• Name drop the law. It can be helpful to include the name of the law or laws that provide the leave you’re requesting. That way, says Wutchiett, if the employer is unfamiliar with the law, they can look it up.

And to finesse the conversation …

• Give as much notice as you can. For pregnancy leave, the laws require a 30-day notice if possible.
• Rehearse. Run your email or text by a friend to double check it. It can make you feel more prepared.
• Take a buddy. Cassidy has seen it work with people who are talking to their employer about lactation accommodations. Also, approach your supervisor in a friendly way to educate them. You know your boss, so you probably have a good idea about what approach would work best.

Most importantly, says Wutchiett, remember: “It’s against the law for people to treat people worse because they try to assert any of these rights.”

If your employer is telling you something that is incorrect or doing something against the law, see some tips.

What time off can I use for pregnancy loss or miscarriage?

Experiencing a pregnancy loss is rough. In addition to potential physical recovery, there’s also the need to process grief and make meaning out of your experience. The time and space you need can be difficult to come by in a world that continues to move fast.

Time off from your job is protected under these laws:

• Reproductive Loss Leave, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2024, covers five days of unpaid leave for a failed adoption, failed surrogacy, miscarriage, stillbirth, or an unsuccessful assisted reproduction. 
• The Pregnancy Disability Leave Act also covers up to four months of job-protected, unpaid leave for health conditions related to pregnancy. This can include physical recovery as well as mental health issues. 
• If you need more time because you are disabled, the Americans with Disabilities Act or the Fair Employment and Housing Act may allow you to take more time as a reasonable accommodation.

To receive pay during this time, you can use five days of sick leave available in California — or more, depending on the city where you live. You may also be eligible to receive 70% or 90% of your income while you are disabled and recovering through California’s State Disability Insurance (SDI) program. You’ll have to consult with your doctor about how much time is necessary in your case. A typical recovery from a live birth is six to eight weeks.

All of these protections and benefits are available regardless of immigration status.

As with the other leave laws I mention here, these laws are the minimum required under state law. Your employer may have additional bereavement time and you can talk with them about other special arrangements — just make sure to document any agreements that you make!

Legal Aid at Work breaks down all of your rights after reproductive loss in this helpful fact sheet.

New laws and making change

California’s laws around pregnancy and work don’t cover everyone — if you work at a workplace with four or fewer employees or are an independent contractor, many of these laws may not apply to you. Many public sector workers, like teachers and city employees, also aren't eligible for the state's paid leave program because they don't pay into the state's disability insurance fund. You may find that you have challenges submitting your application when many of the forms are available only in English. You may experience delays as EDD processes your claim.

And, of course, just because you have rights does not mean your employer will make it easy for you to enjoy them.

Cassidy suggests that if you are running into problems accessing paid leave and you don’t have a union, you should call your state representative. Yes, really! She says that representatives have successfully helped elevate cases that they have flagged for them, and it also lets elected representatives know the policies as they stand aren’t working. And don’t be intimidated. It’s literally their job to listen to you.

Also, as Cassidy said previously to LAist, “It can be very satisfying, when you're frustrated about something, to at least know that you're doing what you can.”

LAist senior reporters Mariana Dale and Elly Yu contributed to this guide. It was also informed by the Hey bb review committee: Maternal and Child Health Access parent coach and psychotherapist Denise Cervantes, California Black Women’s Health Project senior manager of maternal and reproductive health Raena Granberry, licensed clinical psychologist and birth doula Sayida Peprah, and Legal Aid at Work staff attorney Sela Steiger.

This article was updated on Aug. 1 to include new California laws and updated resource links.

The question Proposition 2 poses to California voters is simple: Should the state be able to save more money when its economy is booming?

The ballot measure, dubbed the Save for California’s Future Act, seeks to shore up California’s rainy day fund by allowing state lawmakers to sock away up to 20% of the state’s general fund tax revenue — double the current ceiling of 10%.

It would also require the state to save a bigger share of the gains when revenue is growing faster.

Proponents, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic lawmakers, say the state needs a bigger savings account to weather its volatile economy.

Because California’s tax revenue depends so much on wealthy residents’ stock earnings, the state budget is often caught in a boom-or-bust cycle at the mercy of the market. In recent years, the state has seen robust tax revenue from an AI-fueled economy, which has helped state leaders avoid or delay painful cuts to social services even when they projected significant deficits. But economists have consistently warned the boom may not last, and the federal budget cuts to healthcare and welfare programs this year deepened that uncertainty.

Supporters pitched Prop. 2 as a common sense solution, noting the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, which advises state lawmakers, has long recommended the state set aside funding for downturns. The measure is endorsed by a bipartisan coalition of groups, including labor unions, hospital associations and chambers of commerce.

“It doubles the size of the state’s rainy day fund and requires California to save more during strong budget years, so we’re not caught flat-footed when the next downturn hits,” wrote Assembly Budget Chair Jesse Gabriel, an Encino Democrat, and Assembly Appropriations Vice Chair Josh Hoover, a Folsom Republican and the only GOP lawmaker to vote for the measure.

Most Republican lawmakers opposed Prop. 2, stating that the state should use its excess revenue to give taxpayers refunds instead of saving it. They argue that state government already spends too much and that a bigger reserve would merely give state leaders more to spend.

“When they say we're here for fiscal responsibility, it's like the devil offering a Bible study. Don't buy it,” said Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, a San Diego Republican.

How long have we had a rainy day fund?

Before 2014, California leaders and voters established reserve funds several times to weather financial storms, but ended up quickly withdrawing most of those funds, leaving the state with very little savings on hand, according to the legislative analyst.

In 2004, following the dot-com bust, voters overwhelmingly supported Prop. 58, a bipartisan ballot measure that required the state to establish a budget stabilization account and make annual deposits into the fund.

But lawmakers swiftly depleted the fund during the early months of the Great Recession and were forced to make steep spending cuts, borrow money at expensive rates and use accounting gimmicks to weather the rest of the crisis. Under then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, the state Legislature slashed health and welfare funding, scrapped tax credits, furloughed state employees and delayed payments to schools and local governments.

In 2014, as the state’s economy rebounded, then-Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, urged that the state save more. He and the Legislature championed Prop. 2, a bipartisan ballot measure that required the state to save more aggressively and limited when lawmakers could withdraw from the reserves. Nearly 70% of voters approved it.

“When the pendulum swings again, we won’t be forced to raise taxes or make the kinds of harsh cuts that were all too common in recent years,” Brown said in a 2014 op-ed stumping for the reform.

The law requires the state to set aside 1.5% of its general fund revenue and any spikes in capital gains tax revenue each year, with half deposited into the reserves and the other half to pay down state debts. It also made it harder for the state to spend the reserves and carved out portions of the savings for schools.

Under the law, state lawmakers can withdraw from the reserves only when the governor declares a budget emergency and decides that the state is not expected to collect enough revenue in the upcoming fiscal year to match the spending in the three previous budget years.

A majority of state lawmakers must vote to ratify the budget emergency. If approved, they are allowed to withdraw up to half of the rainy day fund balance at once, unless they already withdrew half the balance in the previous budget year and still need to take out more. There are no limits on what lawmakers can use the funds for.

Bigger reserve = more to spend?

Prop. 2 would maintain those withdrawal rules, which critics say would give future governors broad authority to spend down the reserves instead of reining in spending.

“The rainy day fund can be invaded even when it’s not raining, simply because spending isn’t as high as it was within the prior three years,” wrote David Crane, a former economic adviser to Schwarzenegger and founder of Govern for California, a nonprofit fundraising powerhouse that aims to “counter special interest influence.”

“Unless the withdrawal rules change, a larger reserve just lets governors bake in spending based on optimistic forecasts, knowing they can always dip into reserves if revenue falls short.”

In an interview with CalMatters, Gabriel stressed that voters approved those rules in 2014 and emphasized that the measure has bipartisan support. He also dismissed the criticism that the state should just spend less during downturns, likening it to telling families to eat less or downsize instead of dipping into their savings when they fall on hard times.

“I think (the concern) is very misplaced,” he said. “(Prop. 2) is recommended by the experts, because it matches the common-sense wisdom of California families.”

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

Inglewood city leaders broke ground on a new shuttle bus network, planting ceremonial brass shovels in the dirt outside a Market Street shopping center on Wednesday morning.

They took turns at a microphone praising the $287.5 million Inglewood Transit Connector, which will ferry visitors between the Downtown Inglewood Metro K Line Station and the city’s stadium district. Officials hope the project will jump-start the struggling Market Street shopping corridor. 

“We always said that we were going to make Inglewood the city to drive to and not through, and we’re doing that today,” Councilmember Alex Padilla said. 

Inglewood has transformed into a global entertainment magnet over the last decade, pulling in Super Bowls, World Cup matches and megastar musicians. Locals, though, have protested the costs of the rapid development — traffic jams, rising living costs, old haunts demolished — and asked for more ways to tap into the economic benefits.

City officials say the shuttle bus network will help with some of those issues by alleviating traffic jams and driving visitors to spend their dollars at local businesses. Not everyone is convinced. 

Just a few hundred yards from the ceremony, Amelia Hernandez and her team were packing boxes at Selwyn Jewelers, one of the two dozen businesses at the corner of Market Street and Florence Avenue the city took over through eminent domain earlier this year. The city plans to demolish the shopping center to make way for a 1,000-space parking garage, a bus plaza and a pedestrian bridge crossing Florence to the Downtown Inglewood K Line station. 

The jeweler said she’s skeptical the new shuttle system will actually mean more business for local shops, especially those like hers that are more targeted to residents than visitors. 

“Everybody comes, parks and leaves,” she said. “What do they expect? [Stadium visitors] are going to the notary public? They’re going to a hair salon?”

Construction is expected to begin in November, planners say

Wednesday’s ceremony capped nearly a decade of planning for the Inglewood Transit Connector. City officials first pitched it as a $2 billion automated rail line, but pared down their plans to a shuttle bus system after federal funding hit a wall.  

Actual construction is set to start in the first week of November, planners say, and the first buses are scheduled to roll out down dedicated lanes just ahead of the 2028 Olympics. City officials say they hope to bring back automated rail line plans in the future. 

Mayor James Butts said the shuttles are only planned to run on event days — Inglewood’s three major venues have hundreds of events between them — and that the city hasn’t yet picked a vendor to run the actual shuttles. The mayor said the city expects to move 10,000 people through the hub on event days.

Eli Lipmen, executive director of the nonprofit Move LA, is one of the transportation activists pushing for the region to tighten up its transportation network ahead of the Olympics. He said that while the city still has a lot of work to do, he is excited to see the shuttle system roll out to provide an alternative to vehicle traffic.

“This station, this area, has needed a transit hub for a very long time,” he said.

City officials say they’re working to relocate displaced businesses

A few shops were still open in the shopping center on Wednesday, but most of the windows were dark or papered over. 

Project planners said the city has found new spots for half of the two dozen businesses displaced from the bulldozed shopping center and that it is also working with the hair stylists that rent chairs at salons in the center. 

Businesses like Red’s Flavor Table and Randy’s Donuts & Chinese Food will be relocating to new digs on Market Street, according to project planners. CVS Pharmacy opened a new store across the street. Selwyn Jewelers is moving to a space a few blocks away.

Hernandez, the owner of Selwyn Jewelers, said the relocation process has been horrific and was poorly planned. 

“I’m just left with a whole bunch of ill feelings,” she said. 

Other business owners praised the city’s work in a series of short videos.

“Although we are sad to be leaving our current location, we’re happy to continue to stay in Inglewood,” said Sylvia Hollins, manager of Red’s Flavor Table. “We’re going to be on Market Street at a bigger and better location.”

The post Inglewood breaks ground on a new $287.5M stadium shuttle network appeared first on LA Local.

A federal judge in California is putting limits on pre-election field operations conducted by the Department of Homeland Security that the agency says is aimed at trying to find noncitizens who have illegally voted in nine states.

In recent weeks, armed Homeland Security Investigations officers have carried out field operations and visited homes to interview people suspected of illegally voting as noncitizens. The targets can include people who became citizens but voted before they naturalized.

In a 19-page order late Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, an appointee of President Joe Biden, wrote that the federal government was using "flawed" data in the initiative and that its efforts likely violated the Voting Rights Act, which bars voter intimidation.

Martínez-Olguín referenced a disclosure last month from a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services whistleblower that alleged rushed efforts to match data to create a target list of potential noncitizens on voter rolls, and that the list includes U.S. citizens. She also pointed to HSI's social media posts, including one that showed agents handcuffing a California man accused of unlawfully registering to vote.

The judge wrote that the government's use of unreliable and incomplete data along with highly publicized arrests "lead to an objectively reasonable fear of law enforcement entanglements that intimidates citizens from urging or aiding others in exercising their right to vote."

HSI field operations were planned in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin, according to documents produced in the case and CNN reporting.

Martínez-Olguín barred DHS officers in those states from conducting field operations targeting people they "know, suspect, or should reasonably know or suspect are U.S. citizens," or that are based "wholly" on USCIS matching data without further investigation.

In a declaration, USCIS official Nicolas Bartell had told the judge his team manually reviews records before referring them to HSI, but acknowledged the "low possibility" citizens could be "erroneously identified as potential aliens" in federal records. He wrote the risks were mitigated by safeguards his office takes "and any remaining risks were outweighed by the need to support the agency's law-enforcement and election-integrity mission."

It's unclear how much of an effect the judge's order will have on the federal government's highly publicized campaign to find noncitizen voters.

States reviews and audits have consistently found voting by noncitizens to be extremely rare.

"DHS is laser focused on identifying, prosecuting, and removing aliens who vote and dilute the votes of U.S. citizens. ONLY Americans should elect American leaders," the agency wrote in a statement. "We have no plans to question or investigate people we believe to be U.S. citizens."

The order is set to take effect on Friday and would be in effect through election night, though the federal government could appeal.

The judge's ruling came in a lawsuit filed last month by a coalition that includes San Francisco and Santa Clara counties, the city of San Francisco, nursing unions and Voto Latino Foundation. Protect Democracy and the National Immigration Law Center are litigating the case against the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice.

"Today, the courts affirmed a vital principle of our democracy: Voting is a fundamental right that citizens — whether born here or naturalized — should be able to exercise without armed government agents harassing them," Beau Tremitiere, a lawyer with Protect Democracy, said in a statement.

"It was clear from the start that DHS built its lists on bad data, never checked how often it was wrong, and recklessly sent agents to people's homes weeks before an election," he added.

A court filing by the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United described naturalized citizen members who no longer wanted to attend political rallies, sign up to be election poll workers, or vote in person because of the federal operations.

The order comes as the Department of Justice is suing California and demanding the state segregate 20,000 ballots from people federal officials say they believe are "likely" noncitizens.

A preliminary review of a sample of that list by Los Angeles County election officials found many of the registrations were canceled, inactive or had no voting history, and some pertained to people who indicated they were born in the U.S.

The DOJ announced charges against 28 green card holders across the state on Monday who are accused of illegally voting or registering to vote.
Copyright 2026 NPR

Joseph Babbitt of Springfield, Mo. has a pretty good deal when it comes to health insurance. He works as a senior financial controller for West Plains Veterinary Supply, which employs about 50 people and distributes pet food, toys and vet supplies across the region.

Like about 157 million Americans, Babbitt gets insurance through his job. Unlike most Americans, his job has exceptionally generous benefits. "Our owners are very nice — they give all of our employees healthcare and they pay for it," he says. The company offers several different plan options and covers most or all of the monthly premium cost.

So why, even with free premiums, does it still feel like health costs are way too expensive? "Everybody talks about healthcare and how much it's costing them," says Babbitt. He explains that even without monthly premiums, a high deductible can be brutal — that's the amount the patient has to spend out-of-pocket before the insurance company starts paying for doctors visits and procedures, etc.

Now age 60, he remembers a time when it wasn't so bad. "Back in the '90s, our deductibles were $250 [or] $500 — now they're $5,000," he says. "That seems like a lot."

"We are the only country on our planet that forces people into bankruptcy because they get sick," he adds.

The cost of a new car, every year

Healthcare costs are rising fast in the U.S., and even workers with solid healthcare benefits through work are feeling it, according to an annual survey of nearly 2,000 employers about their health benefits. The report was published Thursday by KFF, a nonpartisan health research organization.

"The average health insurance premium for a family of four is now $28,000, which is just a ton of money," says Matthew Rae, associate director for the Health Care Marketplace Program at KFF. "It's basically the cost of a new car every year just to keep a family of four insured." Of that total for family premiums, workers pay about $7,000 per year on average and employers pay the rest.

A glimmer of positivity is that the costs for plans isn't growing as fast as it has in years past, he explains. "We're seeing a 5% increase in family health insurance premiums, which continues a period of modest growth," he says. That increase is roughly on par with worker wages and inflation.

However, "a 5% increase on a big number is still a lot of money," Rae points out. Plus, the growth for the portion of the premium costs that workers pay was 9%. "If this is the beginning of a shift of costs onto workers, that would be a big deal in terms of affordability," he says.

"We are asking people to chip in a lot of money," Rae adds. "Many people are committing a big chunk of their income to health insurance."

The uninsured rate is rising 

Another report published Thursday demonstrates the way these high costs affect people's health. The survey, conducted every two years by the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit foundation that supports independent research, is entitled "The State of Health Insurance Coverage in 2026."

Even for workers fortunate enough to have health benefits, "about 43% of them said that they didn't get healthcare because of cost over the past year, and about 31% reported that they had medical debt," says Sara Collins, lead author of the report.

Another key finding was that the overall uninsured rate rose in the last two years. Collins says that's significant but not surprising, because of federal policy decisions like letting extra federal subsidies for people enrolled in Affordable Care Act plans expire, and people losing Medicaid after the pandemic emergency ended.

Federal data shows millions of people have lost health coverage already from either Medicaid or the ACA marketplaces. When work requirements take effect next year, millions more people are projected to lose Medicaid.

"There is a, I think, a strong feeling across the country that something probably does need to be done to the situation that people are facing in their health and health insurance — both on the cost side and then also on these coverage losses," Collins says.

"We asked people whether the federal government has a responsibility to ensure that all Americans have coverage and nearly three quarters said yes to that — that included about 45% of Republicans, 93% of Democrats and 76% of independents."

Copyright 2026 NPR