KPCC: Doctors And Dentists Say Brown's Budget Misuses Tobacco Tax Funds 
Groups representing California's doctors and dentists joined with Planned Parenthood Wednesday to call on Gov. Brown to use most of the revenue from the new statewide tobacco tax to increase reimbursement rates for Medi-Cal providers. The California Medical Association, the California Dental Association and Planned Parenthood of California say that's the intention of Prop. 56, the measure approved by voters last November. (Faust, 5/10)

In other news from Sacramento —

KQED: Soda Industry Targeted Legislature’s Latino Caucus
As California lawmakers continue to kill soda tax proposals, a new analysis found that the industry has disproportionately directed campaign contributions to members of the Latino Caucus in Sacramento. Maplight.org, a nonprofit that tracks campaign spending, found that the soda industry gave, on average, twice as much campaign cash to members of the Latino Caucus as to the average member of the state Legislature in recent years. (Lagos, 5/11)

KPBS: San Diego Nurses Rally In Washington For Lower Patient-To-Staff Ratio Nationwide 
San Diego nurses were among a sea of nurses dressed in red who lobbied senators Wednesday to lower patient-to-staff ratios and to push back against the Republican health care plan. As part of International Nurses Week, dozens of nurses from 19 states urged senators to reject the American Health Care Act. (Whittler, 5/10)

In more news on health care personnel —

Los Angeles Times: L.A. City Attorney Accuses Home Healthcare Firm Of Stealing Workers' Wages
The Los Angeles city attorney filed suit Wednesday against a home healthcare business operator, accusing her companies of bilking hundreds of mostly immigrant workers out of their pay while violating minimum wage and overtime laws. "Stealing wages from hardworking men and women is reprehensible,” Mike Feuer said. “No worker should be forced into poverty because an employer denies them their basic rights to a minimum wage and overtime. My office will aggressively combat wage theft and fight to ensure all workers are paid what the law demands.” (Winton, 5/10)

East Bay Times: Doctor Suspected Of Sexual Assault On Patient Arrested At Walnut Creek Outpatient Center
A physician at a John Muir outpatient center was arrested Monday on suspicion of sexual assault on a female patient, according to the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office. Rajesh Kumar Singla, 36, of Milpitas, was arrested by sheriff’s Special Victims Unit detectives on multiple counts of sexual assault. Singla is a family medicine doctor who works for the John Muir Health outpatient office at 1450 Treat Blvd. in unincorporated Contra Costa County. (Kirkwood, 5/9)

Orange County Register: Chinese Caregivers Sue Alleged California Birth Tourism Center, Citing Low Wages And Unpaid Overtime
Workers hired to care for pregnant Chinese women who traveled to give birth on American soil are suing an alleged birth tourism center, citing unfair wages and working conditions. In a lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court, six Chinese immigrant caregivers, including two from Orange County, say the Xin Xi Du Month Center forced them to work more than 70 hours a week while paying less than minimum wage and withholding overtime. (Puente, 5/9)

Modern Healthcare: Kaiser Raises Record $4.4 Billion In White-Hot Hospital Bond Market
Kaiser Permanente raised $4.4 billion through a series of three bond offerings this month. That's a record for the Oakland, Calif.-based health plan and hospital giant, which plans to use the proceeds to fuel expansion, said Chief Financial Officer Kathy Lancaster. The aggregate interest rate on the A+-rated bonds was a stellar 3.8%. (Barkholz, 5/10)

The Bakersfield Californian: Kaiser Permanente To KHSD: Please, Let Us Teach Your Kids About STDs 
Kaiser Permanente spent months working to bring to Kern County a special production of “What Goes Around,” a play that teaches kids about the risks of sexually transmitted diseases that 10,000 students at schools across Southern California see each year. It’s a curriculum that health practitioners say communicates the dangers of STDs in a hip, casual way that gets to the point with teens – and Kaiser offers it to school districts for free. Although about 50 invited VIPs attended the special showing of the educational play at Cal State Bakersfield’s Dore Theatre Wednesday, just a handful of those people were truly Kaiser's targeted audience: Kern High School District board trustees and administrators, the people who could actually bring the program to the KHSD's 37,000 students. (Pierce, 5/11)

In other public health news —

Capital Public Radio: Law Enforcement Groups Test New Tool For Identifying Stoned Drivers 
As California prepares for the roll out of recreational marijuana, some law enforcement groups and lawmakers say they have found an effective new tool for identifying stoned drivers. California Highway Patrol and Sacramento Police officers used a new mouth swab during a DUI demonstration at the Capitol today Wednesday. (Schilling, 5/10)

San Jose Mercury News: Allergies Stuffing Up Bay Area, As Rainy Winter Fuels Revenge Of The Pollen
This year’s bountiful rain is responsible for beautiful blooms and teeming plants and pollen counts that are three to four times higher than normal, experts say — which explains the long lines at the pharmacy and long waits to see an allergist... Just how bad is it? The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology National Allergy Bureau pollen counting station in Pleasanton — one of three in the Bay Area — counted 1,000 pollen grains per cubic meter of oak pollen in April, according to Jacobs, around three to four times higher than normal this time of year. (Saplakoglu, 5/10)

Politico: 52 Ways To Repeal Obamacare
Senate Republicans want to do their own Obamacare repeal plan — but nearly all 52 Republicans have their own ideas about how it should look. With his razor-thin majority, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can afford to lose only two GOP votes. That turns each senator into a de facto powerbroker with the ability to shape — or kill — legislation simply by aligning with two other members. (Haberkorn, 5/11)

The Washington Post: CBO To Issue Cost Estimate Of House Health-Care Bill Within Two Weeks
The Congressional Budget Office is planning to release the week of May 22 an assessment of how the health-care legislation that the House just passed will impact federal spending. In a blog post on Wednesday, the CBO said that its staff and Congress’s nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation expect to issue the cost estimates early that week. The notice did not say whether the analysis of the Republicans’ Affordable Health Care Act will include a forecast of how the bill would affect the number of Americans with health insurance, and a spokeswoman for the office said she did not have that information. (Goldstein, 5/10)

The Hill: GOP On Tightrope With Planned Parenthood 
Senate Republicans are treading a narrow path as they seek to defund Planned Parenthood through passage of a healthcare bill. Cutting off federal funds because of the abortion services provided by the organization is a goal of most congressional Republicans and the Trump administration. And with majorities in the House and Senate and control of the White House, the goal seems within reach after years of the party being thwarted by Senate Democrats and former President Barack Obama. (Carney, 5/10)

Politico: Republicans Flub Defense Of Health Care Vote
House Republicans celebrated passing legislation to repeal Obamacare last week — but apparently forgot to figure out how to talk about the feat back home. The result has been a messaging mess, as lawmakers returned to their districts for a weeklong recess to face furious Obamacare defenders. (Cheney, 5/11)

The Wall Street Journal: Health-Care Bill’s Tax Cuts Aren’t A Done Deal
Don’t count on a retroactive tax cut just yet. Republican senators aren’t sold on a piece of the House-passed health-care bill that makes this past Jan. 1 the effective date for tax cuts on capital gains, health-insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies. (Rubin, 5/10)

McClatchy: Comey Firing Trouble For Trump's Health Care, Tax Plans
Already in a struggle to find enough votes to back President Donald Trump’s agenda, Republicans are about to find the going even tougher after the firing of James Comey as FBI director... In the coming months, the Senate faces already-contentious Trump initiatives on overhauling the nation’s health care system, revamping the tax code and, more immediately, crafting a budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. (Tate and Wise, 5/10)

The Washington Post: Aetna Exiting All ACA Insurance Marketplaces In 2018
Aetna will complete its withdrawal from Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges for 2018, announcing on Wednesday that lingering financial losses and uncertainty about the marketplaces’ future was prompting it to exit two final states. According to an Aetna spokesman, the insurer will not sell individual health plans next year in Delaware or Nebraska. Its announcement came a week after the company said it would stop offering ACA health plans in Virginia in 2018 and a month after it said it would leave Iowa. (Goldstein, 5/10)

Stat: Trump's Pick To Run Mental Health Agency Is Poised To Shake Things Up
President Trump’s pick to run federal mental health services has called for a bold reordering of priorities — shifting money away from education and support services and toward a more aggressive treatment of patients with severe psychiatric disorders. The proposal has some psychiatrists — a generally liberal bunch — cheering despite their distrust of the Trump administration. But it’s also sparked concern among other health professionals, who worry that the administration will put too much emphasis on medicating and hospitalizing patients, and remove supports that might help them integrate successfully into society. (Keshavan, 5/11)

Los Angeles Times: Four Things Americans Should Know About Dr. Scott Gottlieb, The New Head Of The FDA
America, you have a new commissioner at the Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a 44-year-old physician, was confirmed by the Senate this week in a 57-42 vote. Many Democrats expressed concern about Gottlieb’s financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who chaired the panel that forwarded the nomination to the Senate floor, countered that Gottlieb’s extensive experience in the drug industry would be an asset in his regulatory role. Here are four things you’ll want to know about Gottlieb. (Healy, 5/10)