- California Healthline Original Stories 2
- Number Of Dialysis Patients In California Surges
- Insurers Can Bend Out-Of-Network Rules For Patients Who Need Specific Doctors
- Covered California & The Health Law 2
- Covered California Seeks To Entice Plans With Pledge For Future Years
- GOP Efforts To Repeal-And-Replace Obamacare Resurface
- Health IT 1
- Apple, Aetna Discuss Deal To Distribute Free Or Discounted Watches To Insurance Beneficiaries
Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Number Of Dialysis Patients In California Surges
The increase — 46 percent over the past eight years — isn’t because the number of new kidney failure cases is rising. It’s because dialysis patients are living longer. (Pauline Bartolone, )
Insurers Can Bend Out-Of-Network Rules For Patients Who Need Specific Doctors
Individuals who require very specialized care for their health are advised to make their case when a plan doesn’t cover their doctor. (Michelle Andrews, )
More News From Across The State
Covered California & The Health Law
Covered California Seeks To Entice Plans With Pledge For Future Years
State officials are proposing that insurers who lose money on the health insurance marketplace in 2018 be allowed to recoup those losses by taking higher profits in the following three years.
KPCC:
Covered California May Let Insurers Recoup 2018 Losses In Future Years
Covered California is proposing that insurers who lose money in 2018 on the exchange would be allowed to make larger profits each of the following three years to recover their losses. The exchange points to ongoing market uncertainty as the reason for the profit proposal. (Faust, 8/14)
KPBS:
Trump's Decision On Cost-Sharing Reduction Payments Could Hurt California Consumers
The Trump administration’s decision to give health insurers until Sept. 5 to file their 2018 rates will not have an effect in California. That’s because California insurers have already announced plans to raise rates an average of 12.5 percent next year. But premiums could go up even more, depending on what President Trump decides to do with cost-sharing reduction payments, or CSRs. (Goldberg, 8/15)
GOP Efforts To Repeal-And-Replace Obamacare Resurface
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) says his sweeping proposal is "about the only game left in town." Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is preparing to introduce his Medicare-for-all plan.
The (Baton Rouge, La.) Advocate:
Sen. Bill Cassidy: My Obamacare Repeal-And-Replace Plan The 'Only Game Left In Town'
U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy says a sweeping proposal to overhaul health care he's co-sponsoring with two Republican colleagues is "about the only game left in town" to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Cassidy, a physician and Louisiana Republican, said he hopes to push forward the plan — which he's working on with South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and Nevada Sen. Dean Heller — by the end of September. (Stole, 8/14)
The Associated Press:
Sanders Plans To Introduce 'Medicare For All' Plan Soon
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders told a group of seniors that the solution to the country's health care crisis is to make Medicare available to all, a proposal he plans to introduce shortly after Congress reconvenes in September. ... He acknowledged that a "Medicare for all" bill likely won't pass in the Republican-controlled Congress and with Trump as president. But he said change takes time, and would involve organizing effectively in every state to make it happen. (Rathke, 8/14)
In other news from U.S. Capitol Hill —
The Hill:
CBO To Release Report Tuesday On Ending ObamaCare Insurer Payments
The Congressional Budget Office is expected to release a report Tuesday afternoon on the impact of halting key payments to insurance companies, which President Trump has threatened to do, CBO announced Monday. The nonpartisan agency will analyze the effects stopping these payments would have on the federal budget, health coverage, marketplace stability and premiums. (Roubein, 8/14)
Dallas Morning News:
Two Texans Join Conservative Push To Force Obamacare Repeal Vote On House Leadership
With President Donald Trump pressuring GOP lawmakers to return to the Affordable Care Act fight, a pair of Texas Republicans are backing a call to force an Obamacare repeal in the House. ... Tyler Rep. Louie Gohmert and Austin Rep. Roger Williams lauded the measure, arguing that House Republicans should heed President Trump’s calls for Congress to stay focused on dismantling the Affordable Care Act. (Kelly, 8/14)
CQ Roll Call:
Health Care Stabilization Bill Will Likely Be Slim
A Senate bill to stabilize the health insurance exchanges will likely be narrowly focused, given the time constraints and political divides Congress will have to confront after the August recess. The measure will almost certainly include funding for the cost-sharing reduction subsidies that President Donald Trump is threatening to cancel. The next payments are due around Aug. 21, and industry observers expect the White House to allow the money to go to insurers in the near term. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., will hold hearings on a potential insurance package starting next month. (Clason, 8/14)
The Hill:
Dems Want GAO To Look At ObamaCare Mandate
Two top House Democrats are asking the government’s watchdog to evaluate the Trump administration’s enforcement of the individual mandate, which is a key facet of ObamaCare. The ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), and the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Richard Neal (Mass.), made the request to the Government Accountability Office in a letter. (Roubein, 8/14)
Politico:
Cecile Richards To Democrats: Stand Firm On Abortion
The latest round of infighting was inadvertently kicked off by Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Rep. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, who said in an interview at the beginning of the month that abortion wouldn’t be a “litmus test” in backing candidates for next year’s existential battle for the House majority. Abortion rights activists erupted, and Cecile Richards, the president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund, couldn’t be clearer on how wrong she thinks Luján is. (Dovere, 8/15)
Supporters Fight Deportation Of Undocumented Oncology Nurse
Bay Area registered nurse Maria Sanchez and her husband have been given 90 days to leave the country. Some of her Highland Hospital colleagues are calling on immigration officials to halt the order. “It’s shameful that ICE is ripping her away from her family, her home, and the patients who need her,” he said in a statement.
Bay Area News Group:
Healthcare Workers Rally To Halt Oakland Nurse's Deportation
Health care workers and other community members are rallying at noon Monday in front of Highland Hospital to demand that U.S. immigration officials halt the imminent deportation of registered nurse Maria Sanchez and her husband on Tuesday. The couple, who moved to the Bay Area in the early 1990s from a small town in Mexico, are undocumented immigrants. (Seipel, 8/14)
In other health care personnel news —
KPBS:
Study Of California’s Medical Interpretation Services Still Mired In Process
Nearly a year after the governor approved studying California’s medical interpretation services, state health workers are still hiring staff to carry out the task. Gov. Jerry Brown in September signed AB 635, which directed the Department of Health Care Services to examine California’s requirements for providing interpretation to patients who speak a foreign language. (Mento, 8/14)
Mercury News:
Santa Clara County Hiring Transgender Services Manager
Santa Clara County is bolstering its services aimed at the South Bay’s diverse and often marginalized transgender community through a new program manager dedicated to that population — the second such post in the nation. The program manager will serve as a “trainer, mediator and facilitator” for the transgender community, who face unique challenges at school, the workplace, in hospitals, correctional facilities and elsewhere. (Kurhi, 8/14)
Modern Healthcare:
C-Suite Pay Raises Target Transformational Healthcare Leaders
Hospital and health system executives' compensation continues to soar and will likely maintain that pace as organizations search for a narrowing set of qualified executives to lead more complex operations across a consolidating healthcare landscape. The most significant annual pay hikes are being doled out to executives who are believed to be best qualified to navigate the path to a system that increasingly favors value over volume. Incentive packages tend to focus on systemwide metrics, including reducing variation in care and unnecessary procedures, patient satisfaction and other measures that follow new reimbursement models. (Kacik, 8/14)
Apple, Aetna Discuss Deal To Distribute Free Or Discounted Watches To Insurance Beneficiaries
The move could cover 23 million insured by Aetna. In health care industry consolidation news, Google will buy Senosis health, and Allscripts will acquire a part of billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong's NantHealth.
The Hill:
Google Buys Health Monitoring Startup
Google on Monday bought Senosis Health, a startup that creates products used to monitor diseases. The startup makes tools focused on tracking lung function, taking hemoglobin counts and helping treat newborn jaundice, according to Geekwire. The acquisition is only the latest move involving a tech company expanding into healthcare. (Breland, 8/14)
The Hill:
Report: Aetna In Talks To Get Apple Watches To Its Customers
Apple and Aetna held previously undisclosed meetings last week to discuss distributing Apple Watches to the millions of people who use the health insurance giant, CNBC reported Monday. The two companies allegedly discussed offering free or discounted watches to the 23 million individuals covered by Aetna. (Breland, 8/14)
Chicago Tribune:
Allscripts Acquires Parts Of Patrick Soon-Shiong's Business
Chicago-based Allscripts has signed an agreement to acquire parts of Los Angeles billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong's NantHealth business. Health care technology firm Allscripts will exchange 15 million of its shares in NantHealth for certain "technology assets" and client relationships now owned by NantHealth. NantHealth said in a news release late last week that the sale will allow it to better focus on using artificial intelligence to help fight cancer. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of this year. (Schencker, 8/14)
Battle Over Pesticides Pits Health Concerns Of Residents, Workers Against Needs Of Farmers
The potential effects of chemicals are at the center of the health care debate. In other health news from around the state, an outbreak of chickenpox impacts football at San Diego State.
Capital Public Radio:
Battle Over Pesticide Pits Demand For Proof Against Precautions For Health
In the year 2000, because of growing health concerns based on evidence from animal studies, the Environmental Protection Agency eliminated the use of chlorpyrifos by homeowners. ... But this spring, before the ban could be finalized and implemented, Trump’s EPA chief, Scott Pruitt, decided to reject the former administration’s decision and halted the ban, calling for a return to “sound science.” (Budner, 8/14)
The San Diego Union-Tribune:
Aztecs Cancel Monday Night's Practice As Chickenpox Count Grows To Five Players
San Diego State postponed Monday night’s football practice amid a rash of chickenpox cases that has increased from three to five Aztecs players. SDSU head coach Rocky Long said the move was made as a precaution in an effort to prevent the disease from spreading even further. ...The SDSU weight room is shared by all the school’s sports teams, including in recent weeks the other fall sports of men’s and women’s soccer, women’s volleyball and women’s cross country. School officials said no chickenpox cases outside of the football team have been reported. (Kenney, 8/14)
With School Near, It's Time To Get Children's Immunizations Done
California's strict vaccination law is still controversial among some parents. In other public health news, music may help some dementia and Parkinson's patients and reports on the impact of drinking and work.
Mercury News:
Check Your Kids' Vaccine Record As School Year Starts
August — ouch — is National Immunization Awareness Month and the start of school for many, timely reminders why local and state public health officials are urging parents to make sure their children are up to speed with their vaccines, preventing diseases like measles and whooping cough that can easily spread in childcare and school settings. Actually, it’s not just a reminder, it’s the law — and one that got even tougher in California starting last summer when parents no longer were allowed to opt out of immunizations for their children, save for legitimate medical exemptions. (Seipel, 8/15)
KQED:
Can Joining A Band Fight Cognitive Decline? Just Ask ‘The 5th Dementia’
When you think of the debilitating, painful trauma of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, you probably don’t think of people climbing onstage to belt out feel-good classics from the Great American Songbook. But then you’re probably not thinking of The 5th Dementia, a Los Angeles group that keeps folks with neurodegenerative disease in the moment by playing music of the past — with help from a few teenage musicians. (Gilstrap, 8/14)
Los Angeles Times:
Drink To Your Health? It Depends On How Much Drinking You Do, Study Shows
This just in, and it’s definitive (for now): People who drink alcohol in moderation — especially older people, women and non-Latino white people — are less likely to die of any cause than are teetotalers or people who consume heavy doses of alcohol either on occasion or in an average week. In follow-up periods that hovered around eight years, moderate drinkers were no less likely than alcohol abstainers to die of cancer. But they were roughly a quarter less likely to die of heart disease or stroke than were people who never consumed alcohol. (Healy, 8/14)
NPR:
Work Can Be Stressful, Dangerous And Sometimes Great
If you think your job is more stressful than it should be, you're not alone. Americans work hard, and it takes a physical and mental toll, not to mention that it frequently cuts into personal time, according to a comprehensive survey on working conditions the nonpartisan RAND Corporation published Monday. But having a good boss and good friends on the job can make work feel less taxing. (Fulton, 8/14)
Trump Blasts Merck CEO After He Quits White House Panel Over Charlottesville Response
In a quick response to the announcement from Merck's chief Kenneth Frazier, the president tweeted that the decision would give Frazier “more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!"
Stat:
7 Things To Know About The Pharma CEO Who Incurred Trump's Wrath
[Kenneth] Frazier, the CEO of drug giant Merck, announced that he was resigning from a council of business leaders advising Trump, citing “a responsibility to take a stand against violence and extremism” after Trump’s failure to denounce the actions of white nationalists in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend. Within an hour, Trump personally rebuked him on Twitter, saying Frazier’s departure would give him “more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!” And at the end of the day, in another tweet, Trump added another accusation: “taking jobs out of the U.S. Bring jobs back & LOWER PRICES!” (Robbins, 8/14)
The Washington Post:
Merck CEO Takes A Stand And Draws Trump’s Ire
It is unclear whether Trump’s tweet could portend negative repercussions for Merck or the pharmaceutical industry generally. Trump has repeatedly promised to bring down drug prices and has used harsh language to describe the industry, but has not taken any strong actions. (Johnson and McGregor, 8/14)
Enough Painkillers Sold In One Town To Medicate Every Man, Woman, Child For 136 Days
A first-time release of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prescribing data shows vast regional disparities. Stateline reports on the numbers and the town -- Martinsville, Va. -- that topped the list. In other news on the national opioid epidemic, experts wait on the impact of White House action.
Stateline:
New Numbers Reveal Huge Disparities In Opioid Prescribing
Using 2015 data from retail pharmacy receipts, the CDC for the first time reported the volume and potency of pain tablets sold in the nation’s drugstores and calculated per capita rates of morphine equivalent doses sold at the county level. Martinsville drugstores came out on top, selling enough Vicodin, Percocet, OxyContin and other opioid painkillers to medicate every man, woman and child in the city for 136 days, nearly seven times the national average. (Vestal, 8/14)
CQ Roll Call:
Trump's Plan For Opioid Emergency Declaration Murky
President Donald Trump's order to his administration last week to use extraordinary authorities to respond to opioid abuse and addiction has left experts puzzling over how an emergency declaration could be applied to a simmering problem, unlike more typical disaster scenarios. If he declares an emergency, Trump would be following the recommendation of a presidential commission on opioid abuse led by Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J. (Siddons, 8/14)