San Francisco Chronicle: New Enrollment In Covered California Drops 3 Percent 
The number of Californians newly signed up for health insurance through Covered California, the state’s insurance marketplace created under the Affordable Care Act, dropped 3 percent compared with last year, according to enrollment figures released by Covered California on Monday. About 412,000 people signed up for health plans through the exchange during the open enrollment period for 2017, compared with 425,000 who signed up during open enrollment last year. The falloff comes amid a national decline in enrollment in health plans through Healthcare.gov, the federal insurance marketplace used in several dozen states but not California, which fell for the first time, according to figures released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Friday. (Ho, 2/6)

Sacramento Bee: Despite Obamacare Uncertainty, Covered California Signs Up 412,000 New Enrollees
About 50,000 signed up in the last two days of open enrollment, which ended Jan. 31, according to Covered California. Young adults – ages 18 to 34 – accounted for more than a third of enrollments, which officials say will help keep overall premium costs down. This year, young adults accounted for about 37 percent of new Covered California enrollments, compared with 29 percent in 2014. (Buck, 2/6)

In other pharmaceutical news —

KPBS: La Mesa Opens Doors To Medical Marijuana 
La Mesa began accepting applications to open medical marijuana dispensaries on Monday, three months after voters approved a measure to allow them within city limits. City officials were expecting a flood of interest in the "conditional use permits" that marijuana business owners will need to start operations. By Monday evening, however, they had received only 14 applications for marijuana dispensaries, one for marijuana cultivation and one for manufacturing marijuana by-products. (Bowen, 2/6)

The Mercury News: Heroin Use Fuels Surge Of ER Visits Among California Millennials
California’s millennials continue to flood hospital emergency departments because of heroin, a trend that has increased steadily statewide over the past five years, according to the latest figures. The state data released last week show that in the first three months of 2016, 412 adults age 20 to 29 went to emergency departments due to heroin. That’s double the number for the same time period in 2012. Overall, emergency department visits among heroin users of all ages increased, but the sharpest was among the state’s young adults. About 1,500 emergency department visits by California’s millennials poisoned by heroin were logged in 2015 compared with fewer than 1,000 in 2012. (Abram, 2/6)

Sacramento Bee: Crash Test Dummies Get Bigger To Reflect American Body Types
In an effort to more accurately reflect the U.S. car-driving population, at least one manufacturer is making crash-test dummies – the pretend people used to test automobile safety features – bigger and older. “The typical patient today is overweight or obese – they’re the rule rather than the exception,” said Dr. Stewart Wang, director of the University of Michigan International Center for Automotive Medicine, in a statement. “You can’t talk about injuries without talking about the person.” The new crash-test models include a 273-pound dummy, more than 100 pounds heavier than normal, as well as a prototype based on an overweight 70-year-old woman. (Buck, 2/6)

The New York Times: From ‘Repeal’ To ‘Repair’: Campaign Talk On Health Law Meets Reality
Asked at a confirmation hearing two weeks ago if he was working with President Trump on a secret plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, Representative Tom Price, Mr. Trump’s nominee for secretary of health and human services, smiled broadly and answered: “It’s true that he said that, yes.” The committee room, filled with health care lobbyists, consumer advocates and others with a vital stake in the future of the health care law, erupted with knowing laughter at Mr. Price’s careful formulation. (Shear and Pear, 2/6)

KPBS: Trump, GOP Reverse Course On Speedy Obamacare Repeal 
President Trump and some Republicans in Congress are backing off on their pledge to immediately repeal the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, soon. During the presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to get rid of Obamacare as soon as he took office. The president still calls the act a disaster, but now says Congress might not repeal it until next year. (Bowen, 2/7)

In other national health care news —

Politico: Trump Administration Weighs Obamacare Changes Sought By Insurers
The Trump administration is considering major changes to Obamacare that may help convince insurers to remain in the law's marketplaces while Congress drafts a replacement plan — but the proposals may also limit enrollment and increase costs for older Americans, according to documents obtained by POLITICO. The administration is looking to alter rules around insurers charging older customers more, how much cost they can shift onto customers, and who's allowed to sign up outside the standard enrollment window. They represent changes that the industry had previously asked the Obama administration to make. (Diamond, Haberkorn and Demko, 2/6)

McClatchy: Obamacare Repeal Would Kill Millions Of Jobs Nationwide 
It may not crash the economy, but repealing key provisions of the Affordable Care Act would certainly create job losses in every state. That’s the consensus of a growing body of studies that suggest the economic fallout from the health law’s partial demise would ripple through the entire economy, not just the health care sector. Josh Bivens, Director of Research at the Economic Policy Institute, estimates the proposed repeal would eliminate nearly 1.2 million jobs in 2019. (Pugh, 2/7)

The Hill: Study: Medicaid Block Grants Would Save Feds $150 Billion
A Republican proposal to fund Medicaid through block grants could save the federal government more than $100 billion over five years, according to a new analysis released Monday. The analysis from healthcare firm Avalere Health shows that if Medicaid were funded through block grants instead of through the open-ended commitment the program receives now, the federal government would save $150 billion by 2022. Similarly, shifting to per capita caps, in which states would receive a set amount of money per beneficiary, would save $110 billion over five years. (Hellmann, 2/6)

The New York Times: Trump’s Travel Ban, Aimed At Terrorists, Has Blocked Doctors
The Trump administration has mounted a vigorous defense of its ban on travel from seven majority-Muslim nations, saying it is necessary to prevent terrorists from entering the United States. But the ban, now blocked by a federal judge, also ensnared travelers important to the well-being of many Americans: doctors. (McNeil, 2/6)

Stat: 'I Was Needed': How An Iraqi Doctor Won Trust In Trump Country
Many foreign-born doctors work in rural communities because that lets them stay in the US after their medical residency instead of returning home for two years. [Dr. Chalak] Berzingi, though, had already earned his US citizenship when he chose to work here. He gave up the chance at a more lucrative private practice, accepted a grueling commute that takes him from his family — and has stuck with it for the past five years, logging more than 100,000 miles to get to the Elkins clinic three days a week. (Blau, 2/7)

Stateline: ACA Repeal Seen Thwarting State Addiction Efforts
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) offered states the ability for the first time to provide Medicaid coverage to adults without children, with the federal government paying most of the bill. That change, and the law’s mandate that all insurers cover addiction treatment at the same level as medical and surgical procedures, has allowed states to ensure that low-income people can get the care they need, said Linda Rosenberg, CEO of the National Council for Behavioral Health, which represents nonprofit addiction treatment organizations. Since 2014, an estimated 1.6 million uninsured people with addictions have gained Medicaid coverage in the 31 states plus the District of Columbia that opted to expand the federal-state health care program under the ACA. Not all of the newly insured have sought help for their addictions, but treatment providers are reporting a surge in new patients since the law took effect. (Vestal, 2/6)