The Mercury News: Trump Move To Kill Obamacare Ads Backfires In California 
A last-minute tactic by the Trump Administration to cancel $5 million in advertising the federal government had already paid for to remind Americans of Tuesday’s 2017 open enrollment deadline for Obamacare will have little impact in the Golden State. That’s because Covered California, the state’s health insurance exchange established under the Affordable Care Act, is not federally directed or funded. So a plethora of radio, television and web ads, as well as email reminders, are locked in and running statewide through midnight Tuesday. (Seipel, 1/27)

Los Angeles Times: Trump's Actions On Obamacare Threaten To Undermine Insurance Markets
The Trump administration’s decision to pull television ads urging Americans to sign up for coverage under the Affordable Care Act is stoking fears that the White House is trying to sabotage the nation’s insurance markets in an effort to hobble the program, jeopardizing coverage for millions. The move, which comes just days ahead of a critical enrollment deadline for Obamacare health plans, follows Trump’s executive order last weekend in which he suggested his administration wouldn’t implement rules crucial to sustaining viable markets. (Levey, 1/27)

The administration did walk back parts of the order, though —

The Washington Post: Trump Administration Backtracks Part Way On ACA Enrollment Outreach
The Trump administration on Friday partly retracted a directive it had issued less than 24 hours earlier to halt all advertising and other outreach activities aimed at encouraging consumers to buy health plans for 2017 during the final days of enrollment under the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces. According to two sources familiar with the reversal, administration officials were startled by a backlash that built swiftly on social media among proponents of the health-care law, which President Trump is seeking to dismantle. The officials conferred overnight, the sources said, and by Friday morning had modified the directive. (Goldstein, 1/27)

The Bakersfield Californian: Healthcare Advocates Keep Up The Heat On McCarthy
Hundreds of people from across California gathered in Bakersfield Friday — many arriving on buses — to express concerns to Congressman Kevin McCarthy about their future access to healthcare under a new presidential administration. People from Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento, Kingsburg, Riverside, San Francisco, Los Angeles and more first met up at Yokuts Park then marched to the House majority leader’s office hoping to relay one message: It’s time to “protect, improve and expand” programs like Medicare and Medicaid, not cut them. (Sanchez, 1/28)

In other news —

Capital Public Radio/KXJZ: Proposed Medicaid Funding Changes Could Lead To Medi-Cal Cuts 
President Donald Trump and his administration want to turn Medicaid into a block grant program, which means the federal government would give California a fixed amount of funding for Medi-Cal, the state’s version of Medicaid. Currently, the federal government covers 50 percent of the state’s Medi-Cal cost and 95 percent for Medi-Cal expansion. Edwin Park, vice president for Health Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, says block grants reduce federal Medicaid spending and shift costs to states. (Johnson, 1/27)

The Desert Sun: Desert Regional Boosts Federal Hospital Grade
After landing among the worst scoring hospitals in the country last year, Desert Regional Medical Center has received a better grade from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The Palm Springs hospital now holds a two-star rating on the federal agency's five-star scale, up from just one star it received last summer when CMS released its first-ever hospital grades. Hospitals nationwide have criticized the scoring system for undercutting hospitals that provide a broader range of services and treat more low-income patients. Out of 3,662, hospitals nationwide assigned a rating in July, Desert Regional was one of just 133 to receive one star. As a regional trauma center, patients in need of more critical care are routinely sent to Desert Regional instead of other local hospitals. (Newkirk, 1/27)

In other news —

Sacramento Business Journal: Adventist Health Gets Green Light For New Roseville Headquarters 
Adventist Health’s proposed $100 million headquarters received a unanimous green light from the Roseville Planning Commission on Thursday, opening the gate for the 275,000-square-foot building to move forward. The commission voted 6-0 in favor of the five-story 1400 Stone Point Drive project, which is off North Sunrise Avenue near Roseville Parkway. Roseville Planning Manager Greg Bitter said construction could begin in spring. A largely transparent edifice, the new headquarters will consolidate the faith-based nonprofit’s nearly 1,000 employees, who are current scattered into several buildings, into one location. “They are looking to have a first-class building for their employees here,” said Bitter, remarking on the building’s numerous amenities. (Patton, 1/27)

San Francisco Chronicle: SF Archdiocese Ordered To Pay $3 Million In Health Care Costs 
City officials have ordered the San Francisco Roman Catholic Archdiocese to pay nearly $3 million in health care costs for more than 1,000 employees after finding that it failed to make years of payments required by a pioneering local health care law. San Francisco has also assessed the archdiocese $113,000 in penalties. (Egelko, 1/29)

In other news from across the state —

KPBS Public Media: Roundtable Special Edition: San Diego's Homeless Crisis 
The annual point-in-time homeless count takes place Friday, and the results may be quite uncomfortable to hear. The count, taken by the Regional Task Force on the Homeless, aims to tally adults and youth who live on the streets as well as those in shelters, which include transitional housing, emergency shelters and safe havens. In January, 2016, 8,692 persons were counted as homeless countywide, down slightly from 2015, according to the Regional Task Force. (Finn and Sauer, 1/27)

The Associated Press: California Gets Closer To Requiring Cancer Warning Label On Roundup Weed Killer
California can require Monsanto to label its popular weed killer Roundup as a possible cancer threat even though the chemical giant insists it poses no risk to people, a judge tentatively ruled Friday. California would be the first state to order such labeling if it carries out the proposal. Monsanto had sued the nation's leading agricultural state, saying California officials illegally based their decision for carrying the warnings on findings by an international health organization based in France. (1/27)

The New York Times: In Private, Republican Lawmakers Agonize Over Health Law Repeal
Congressional Republicans, meeting behind closed doors this week in Philadelphia, expressed grave concerns about dismantling the Affordable Care Act on the urgent timetable demanded by President Trump, fretting that, among other things, they could wreck insurance markets and be saddled with a politically disastrous “Trumpcare.” An audio recording of a session at their annual retreat, obtained by The New York Times, shows Republicans in disarray, far from agreement on health policy, and still searching for something to replace former President Barack Obama’s health care law. (Pear and Kaplan, 1/27)

The Washington Post: Behind Closed Doors, Republican Lawmakers Fret About How To Repeal Obamacare
The recording reveals a GOP that appears to be filled with doubts about how to make good on a long-standing promise to get rid of Obamacare without explicit guidance from President Trump or his administration. The thorny issues with which lawmakers grapple on the tape — including who may end up either losing coverage or paying more under a revamped system — highlight the financial and political challenges that flow from upending the current law. (DeBonis, 1/27)

Politico Pro: Divided GOP Starts Assembling Slivers Of An Obamacare Replacement 
Congressional Republicans still deeply divided on how to replace Obamacare will try to buy themselves some time this week by debating a set of narrow bills addressing specific parts of the health system and holding public sessions to rail against what they view as the law’s failings. Republicans will start with one of the most controversial issues in the debate over Obamacare: how to cover people with pre-existing conditions. They'll also address tightening Medicaid eligibility rules — including to restrict lottery winners from participating in the entitlement — and changing some Obamacare rules before the law is repealed. At best, these elements would constitute important slivers of a complete repeal and replace plan. (Haberkorn, 1/30)

The Associated Press: AP-NORC Poll: Broad Worries About Potential Health Care Loss
Though "Obamacare" still divides Americans, a majority worry that many will lose coverage if the 2010 law is repealed in the nation's long-running political standoff over health care. A new poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that 56 percent of U.S. adults are "extremely" or "very" concerned that many will lose health insurance if the health overhaul is repealed. That includes more than 8 in 10 Democrats, nearly half of independents, and more than 1 in 5 Republicans. Another 45 percent of Republicans say they're "somewhat" concerned. (Alonso-Zaldivar and Swanson, 1/27)

And in other national health care news —

The Associated Press: Senate Panel To Vote On Trump's Pick For Health Secretary
Republicans have scheduled a Tuesday vote by the Senate Finance Committee on President Donald Trump's nominee for health secretary. Trump's pick is GOP Rep. Tom Price of Georgia, and the Republican-run committee is expected to back Price along party lines. In his new post, Price will help lead the GOP drive to scrap President Barack Obama's health care law and enact still-uncertain Republican plans to replace it. (1/29)

Stat: Top Academics Lash Out At Trump's 'Un-American' Immigration Ban
Over 4,000 academics, including 25 Nobel laureates, have signed a petition denouncing an executive order signed by President Donald Trump that bars people from seven Muslim-majority nations from entering the US. Under the order, signed Friday, nationals of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen are prohibited from entering the US for at least 90 days, regardless of whether they have green cards or visas. (Garde, 1/28)

The New York Times: Trump’s First Week: Misfires, Crossed Wires, And A Satisfied Smile
If other new occupants of the White House wanted to be judged by their first 100 days in office, President Trump seems intent to be judged by his first 100 hours. No president in modern times, if ever, has started with such a flurry of initiatives on so many fronts in such short order. The action-oriented approach reflected a businessman’s idea of how government should work: Issue orders and get it done. But while the rapid-fire succession of directives on health care, trade, abortion, the environment, immigration, national security, housing and other areas cheered Americans who want Mr. Trump to shake up Washington, it also revealed a sometimes unruly process that may or may not achieve the goals he has outlined. (Savage, Baker and Haberman, 1/27)

The New York Times: Anti-Abortion Marchers Draw Inspiration From An Unlikely Source
Droves of men, women and children opposing abortion swarmed the National Mall on Friday in a demonstration that served not only as a rallying cry for their movement, but as a peaceful act of support for the new president they have embraced as their improbable champion. The crowd gathered just a few blocks from where hundreds of thousands of women marched last weekend to protest President Trump — a striking and symbolic juxtaposition for a country cleaved by its most recent election. (Peters and Alcindor, 1/27)

Modern Healthcare: Aetna's Antitrust Defeat May Signal The End Of Health Insurance Mega-Mergers 
The consolidation among the biggest health insurance players that seemed so inevitable not long ago may fizzle into a series of smaller deals aimed at growing market share in Medicare and Medicaid plans. Aetna's $37 billion play for Humana, announced 19 months ago, appeared to be on its deathbed last week. A federal judge issued an order blocking the transaction, agreeing with the U.S. Justice Department's arguments that allowing it to happen would harm consumers in the Medicare Advantage and individual insurance markets. (Livingston, 1/28)

The New York Times: After Mastectomies, An Unexpected Blow: Numb New Breasts
After learning she had a high genetic risk for breast cancer, Dane’e McCree, like a growing number of women, decided to have her breasts removed. Her doctor assured her that reconstructive surgery would spare her nipples and leave her with natural-looking breasts. It did. But while Ms. McCree’s rebuilt chest may resemble natural breasts, it is now completely numb. Her nipples lack any feeling. She cannot sense the slightest touch of her breasts, perceive warmth or cold, feel an itch if she has a rash or pain if she bangs into a door. And no one warned her. (Rabin, 1/29)