East Bay Times: New Alameda County Website Launched To Fight Obamacare Repeal
Alameda County launched a new website Tuesday to educate residents about how their health care benefits would be hurt by Trump administration proposals to repeal the Affordable Care Act. On the website — FightForMediCal.org — people can gather information and take action by sharing their story about how they’ve been helped by Obamacare. Alameda County Board of Supervisors President Wilma Chan appeared at Asian Health Services in Oakland to announce the campaign to preserve Obamacare. She was joined by health care advocates, representatives from health care organizations, elected representatives and union workers. (Drummond, 2/28)

Ventura County Star: Hospital Wing's Opening Date Delayed By Rain
Rain that has hammered the area for nearly three months has pushed back the opening of a new wing at the Ventura County Medical Center until July 14, an official said Tuesday. The weather slowed the pouring of concrete on outdoor walkways and an entry drive into the $305 million replacement wing in Ventura, creating a domino chain of delays, according to Joan Araujo, chief deputy director of the Ventura County Health Care Agency. "We need the rain," Araujo said, "but the reality is that it has cost some time." The project's move-in date was pushed back from a goal of May 7, Araujo said. The rain also slowed exterior work related to the building of a new six-story Community Memorial Hospital, just down the street from the county hospital. Spokesman Mike Ellingson said work on pouring new entry roads and sidewalks has been delayed, with the latter hopefully happening in the next two weeks. (Kisken, 2/28)

Los Angeles Times: Colorectal Cancer Rates Are Rising Among Younger Americans Even As They'Re Falling For Others
Colorectal cancer, long considered a scourge of the aged, has been steadily rising among young and middle-aged adults in the United States, new research shows. A study released Tuesday by the American Cancer Society found that a typical American millennial born in 1990 is, in any given year of her life, twice as likely to be diagnosed with colon cancer as a person born in 1950. And compared to that older baby boomer, the average twenty-something is four times as likely — again, at every age — to be diagnosed with cancer of the rectum. (Healy, 2/28)

Orange County Register: Fifth Mumps Case Diagnosed In Chapman Law Outbreak 
A fifth case of mumps has been diagnosed in a Chapman University law student, public health officials said Tuesday. Chapman issued a health advisory Friday after four students who attended a back-to-school event Jan. 27 at Rudy’s Pub & Grill in Newport Beach became ill. On Tuesday, Health Care Agency spokeswoman Jessica Good said there are now five cases; two confirmed by lab testing and three probable. (Perkes, 2/28)

In other public health news —

The Mercury News: Why Flu Season Might Last A Lot Longer In 2017
The percentage of hospital visits for influenza symptoms reported by the U.S. Outpatient Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Network is on the rise, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is encouraging everyone 6 months and older to get vaccinations if they have not done so in the past six months. It takes two weeks after vaccination for your body to build up antibodies to protect you from the viruses. (Snibbe, 2/28)

Modesto Bee: $550,000 In Grants Awarded To Promote Health In Stanislaus, Merced Counties 
The Legacy Health Endowment is providing $550,000 in grant funding to promote health and wellness in Stanislaus and Merced counties. These are the first grants awarded by the foundation, which was created in 2014 by Tenet Healthcare’s acquisition of Emanuel Medical Center of Turlock, which was then a nonprofit hospital. The foundation will distribute its funding in Emanuel’s former service area including west Modesto, the Turlock area, western Stanislaus County and part of Merced County. (Carlson, 2/28)

KQED: Five Months After Incident, Agencies Still Haven’t Pinpointed Source Of Vallejo Fumes
Five months after dozens of Vallejo residents sought medical treatment after being overpowered by an unbearable odor that spread over their community, a collection of federal, state and local agencies have failed to follow up on the cause or declined to release results of their investigations. The fumes prompted about 800 phone calls to authorities, who imposed a shelter-in-place order covering much of the city of 118,000. The onset of the sickening odor appears to have coincided with a petroleum spill at the Phillips 66 refinery the same evening. (Goldberg, 2/28)

The Associated Press: Trump Gives GOP Leaders Rallying Cry, Roadmap For Change
President Donald Trump gave Republican congressional leaders a rallying cry and even a roadmap as they try to push through a sweeping and divisive agenda on health care, taxes and more. In his first address to a joint session of Congress, Trump said largely what GOP leaders were hoping to hear Tuesday night, staying on-message and talking in optimistic tones, even weighing in at one point to settle a brewing dispute over how to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. (Werner, 3/1)

Los Angeles Times: Trump Lays Out Five Principles For Replacing Obamacare In His First Speech To Congress
President Trump didn’t repeat his promise to deliver a “terrific” replacement for Obamacare within days Tuesday evening. But the president did outline a series of “principles” that he said Congress should follow as it repeals the Affordable Care Act and develops an alternative. (Levey, 2/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Donald Trump Asks Congress To Unite Behind Health Care, Tax Overhauls
Mr. Trump repeated his promise to overturn the 2010 health law, at a time when the party’s factions are threatening to withhold support for the effort if their demands aren’t met. He said a new health-care plan should ensure coverage for pre-existing conditions and minimize disruptions for people with coverage under Obamacare. (Bender and Radnofsky, 3/1)

Los Angeles Times: Trump Lays Out Ambitious Plans For Healthcare And Immigration In A Disciplined Speech To Congress
His vow to rewrite health policy epitomized the challenges ahead in turning rhetoric into reality. Trump promised to replace Obamacare “with reforms that expand choice, increase access, lower costs, and at the same time, provide better healthcare.” The issue has vexed lawmakers from both parties who have struggled to provide both quality and access without driving up costs. (Bierman, Memoli and Bennett, 2/28)

The New York Times: Health Care Is Front And Center In Democrats’ Response To Trump Address
In responding to President Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday, Democrats had to navigate between the expectations of their angry base in America’s cities and the need to appeal to a broader array of voters in parts of the country where the president is far more popular. The party handed that task to former Gov. Steven L. Beshear of Kentucky. ... Mr. Beshear noted that the Americans who had gained health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, a law he championed in his state, were the sort of “friends and neighbors” he surrounded himself with in the diner. (Martin, 3/1)

The New York Times: Desperate For Presidential Leadership, Republicans Find Little
Congressional Republicans, racked by divisions over health care, taxes and spending, are increasingly desperate for leadership from the White House to unite the party and point the way toward consensus. But presidential leadership does not appear to be forthcoming, leaving the party largely paralyzed at a moment it had thought would be full of legislative activity. (Steinhauer and Huetteman, 2/28)

Politico: Republicans Fight Over What Trump Meant On Obamacare
House Republican leaders were ebullient after President Donald Trump’s first address to Congress Tuesday night, convinced that their proposal to repeal and replace Obamacare had just gotten the presidential seal of approval. Conservatives who abhor the GOP leadership plan saw just the opposite. (Kim and Bade, 3/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bernie Sanders Laughs At President Saying That 'Nobody Knew Healthcare Could Be So Complicated' 
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., burst into laughter during an interview when asked about President Donald Trump's recent claim that "nobody knew that health care could be so complicated." Trump made the comment in a White House meeting with dozens of governors Monday. While discussing his promise to completely overhaul the Affordable Care Act, the president told the governors, "It's an unbelievably complex subject. Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated." (Martichoux, 2/28)

The Desert Sun: Desert AIDS Project CEO Joins Congressman Raul Ruiz For Trump Speech
U.S. Rep. Raul Ruiz joined fellow Democrats in Washington, D.C. as they madea statement about health care during President Trump’s speech Tuesday before a joint session of Congress.Joining Ruiz for the speech was David Brinkman, the CEO of Desert AIDS Project in Palm Springs. Ruiz, an emergency room doctor whose district includes the Coachella Valley, and Brinkman have been strong advocates for the Affordable Care Act, which Trump and Republicans have vowed to repeal. Trump, on Tuesday, again called for an end to the law commonly known as Obamacare. Trump said Congress should work to ensure that any transition is smooth for people enrolled in health insurance through government exchanges and guarantee access to care for people with pre-existing conditions. Stopping insurance companies from declining to cover people with existing health issues is one of the ACA’s more popular mandates. (Newkirk and Marx, 2/28)