The Business Journal: Premium Hike Spells More Cost, Fewer Options For Central Valley
With the projected increase in Covered California premiums, health care and insurance providers alike are weighing in on what this will mean for companies and customers throughout the Central Valley. Covered California announced earlier this month that monthly premiums for plans sold under the Affordable Care Act are expected to rise an average of 12.5 percent in 2018. Approximately 1.5 million people in the state have purchased plans through Covered California, including a sizeable number of Valley buyers. (Promnitz, 8/15)

The Wall Street Journal: Nevada And Centene Reach Agreement On Insurance Markets
Roughly 8,000 consumers in Nevada were at risk of losing access to health plans on the exchange after Anthem Inc. and Prominence Health Plan said in June they would exit markets in 14 counties. Insurers can hold off on final decisions to participate in exchanges until late September, but many have exited markets, citing volatility and prolonged uncertainty about the White House’s support for the markets. (Evans, 8/15)

The New York Times: Obamacare’s Bare County Problem Looks Mostly Solved, For Now
A few months ago, it looked as if large swaths of the country might end up without any insurers willing to sell Obamacare insurance in 2018. But in the last few weeks the “bare county” problem, which President Trump had cited as a sign the markets were failing, has nearly solved itself. On Tuesday, Gov. Brian Sandoval of Nevada announced that Centene would offer insurance in 14 rural counties of Nevada that had been bare. That leaves only two counties in the country without insurers saying they will sell coverage; fewer than 400 Obamacare customers live in those counties. (Sanger-Katz, 8/15)

In other health law-related news from Capitol Hill —

The Hill: GOP Senator Meeting With White House On New ObamaCare Plan 
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said he's meeting with the White House and the Trump administration "two or three times per week" on a plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare. Cassidy has teamed up with Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Dean Heller (R-Nev.) on a new proposal that would essentially block-grant ObamaCare funding to the states while repealing the law's individual and employer mandates. (Hellmann, 8/15)

The Hill: White House To Pressure McConnell On ObamaCare
White House officials are exploring ways to pressure Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to return to the controversial issue of ObamaCare repeal when the Senate returns to work in September. President Trump, who has repeatedly criticized McConnell in public, wants to hold the leader’s feet to the fire on the issue, say White House sources. (Bolton, 8/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Targets McCain Over Health Vote
President Donald Trump continued his attacks against individual Senate Republicans, criticizing Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) and his pivotal health-care vote at a news conference Tuesday at Trump Tower in New York City. A week after Mr. Trump knocked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) over the Senate’s failure to pass any legislation dismantling and replacing the Affordable Care Act, the president took aim at Mr. McCain .... Asked about Mr. McCain’s recent comments defending National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, Mr. Trump responded: “You mean Sen. McCain, who voted against us getting good health care?” (Peterson, 8/15)

The Associated Press: Report: Higher Premiums If Trump Halts 'Obamacare' Subsidies
Premiums for a popular type of individual health care plan would rise sharply, and more people would be left with no insurance options if President Donald Trump makes good on his threat to stop “Obamacare” payments to insurers, the Congressional Budget Office says. The nonpartisan number crunchers also estimated that cutting off payments that now reduce copays and deductibles for people of modest incomes would add $194 billion to federal deficits over a decade. That head-scratching outcome is because a different Affordable Care Act subsidy would automatically increase as premiums jump, more than wiping out any savings. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 8/16)

NPR: CBO Analysis Finds That Ending Reimbursements To Insurers Will Raise The Deficit
The cost is "eye-poppingly large," says Nicholas Bagley, a professor of health law at the University of Michigan. "This single policy could effectively end up costing 20 percent of the entire bill of the ACA." (Kodjak, 8/15)

The New York Times: Trump Threat To Obamacare Would Send Premiums And Deficits Higher
Even before efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act collapsed in the Senate last month, Mr. Trump began threatening to stop paying the subsidies, known as cost-sharing reductions. He said the health care law would “implode” and Democrats would have no choice but to negotiate a replacement plan. Mr. Trump described his strategy as, “Let Obamacare implode, then deal.” Those threats continue, though the Trump administration has paid the subsidies each month. (Pear and Kaplan, 8/15)

KQED: Three Ways Trump Is Helping The Affordable Care Act Explode
After months of trying to repeal and replace Obamacare, Congress has moved on to other issues. But there are still things the administration can do — and is doing — to undermine the health insurance markets. (Dembosky, Fiore and Grossberg, 8/15)

The Wall Street Journal: What Are Insurance Subsidies And What Would Happen If They Were Cut?
As health insurers weigh their commitments to the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges for 2018, they point to a key issue that will affect the rates they would charge and indeed whether they will participate: Federal subsidies known as cost-sharing reductions. Those payments are likely to be a major story going forward, and on Tuesday, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that if President Donald Trump carried out his threat to halt the subsidies, it would boost premiums for middle-priced plans by 20% next year. (Wilde Mathews, 8/15)

Los Angeles Times: Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom Courts Central Valley Voters With Talk Of Water, Single-Payer Healthcare At Fresno Meet-And-Greet
On healthcare, Newsom touted the fact that, as mayor of San Francisco, he helped establish a citywide universal healthcare program that predated President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. “I do believe in Medicare for all. I do believe that it’s inevitable in this country,” Newsom said. “Eventually we’ll have some courage federally and we’ll get there. The question is how can we complement that debate here in California.” (Willon, 8/15)

The Sacramento Bee: Bernie Sanders Supporter Jumps In To Unseat California Democrat
A 30-year-old lawyer who backed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders last year has jumped into the race to challenge Rep. Ami Bera, a three-term Democrat representing suburban Sacramento. Brad Westmoreland, a Democrat and political newcomer, said he wants to shake up “politics-as-usual.” He criticized Bera for his stance on health care, and for accepting campaign contributions from insurance companies. “I believe in Medicare-for-all ... I don’t think we can rely on Congressman Bera to go against his own interests and support universal health care when he takes money from people who are opposed to a Medicare-for-all type system,” Westmoreland said, referencing Sanders’ push for a single-payer health care system. (Hart, 8/15)

Sacramento Bee: First Human Case Of West Nile Virus Found In Northern California 
The first human case this year of West Nile virus in Northern California was reported by Butte County health officials Tuesday. The virus was identified by a blood donation center while it was performing regular screening on blood samples Friday. (Sullivan, 8/15)

KPBS: Study Finds Public Pushing Back On Genetically Modified Mosquitoes
In recent years, scientists have been using new genetic tools to modify mosquitoes in their labs. ... But a new study led by a UC San Diego researcher finds that some Americans are strongly opposed to releasing genetically modified insects in the wild, presenting challenges to plans for testing this approach in the U.S. (Wagner, 8/15)

Los Angeles Times: Vaccination Rates Are Up In California, But Pockets Of Resistance Still Threaten Everyone
As the new school year begins, parents have reason to worry about what their kids may be exposed to in the classroom. Despite an overall increase in kindergarten vaccination rates to 95.6% since 2015, when the Legislature stopped allowing public school students to skip their shots simply because of their “personal beliefs,” a Los Angeles Times analysis found that at nearly 750 California schools, most of them charter or private schools, 90% or fewer of the kindergartners had their full course of vaccinations against diseases such as measles, polio, and whooping cough. The optimal rate for preventing a measles outbreak is 95%. (8/15)

Bloomberg: Obamacare Startup Oscar Posts $57.6 Million First-Half Loss 
Oscar Insurance Corp., the health-insurance startup focused on selling Obamacare plans, posted a smaller first-half loss than a year earlier, according to state regulatory filings. Oscar, whose co-founders include Joshua Kushner and Mario Schlosser, lost $57.6 million in the first half of the year in Texas, New York and California. That’s down from $83 million a year earlier. In Texas and California, the company brought in more in premiums than it spent on care, though in New York its health costs still exceeded premiums. (Tracer, 8/15)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento Country Ordered To Close Illegal Shelter For Foster Children
More than a year after telling Sacramento County Child Protective Services to stop using a clerical office as a makeshift youth shelter, state officials have ordered the agency to end the illegal practice by a September deadline. The California Department of Social Services wrote in a July letter to Sacramento County Child Protective Services that it must stop letting kids sleep at the county office on Auburn Boulevard near Watt Avenue. (Garrison and Chabria, 8/15)

The Bakersfield Californian: Hospital Construction Poses Unique Challenges 
To say HPS Mechanical Inc. is a Kern County success story would be an understatement. Nearly six decades ago, the company was founded in Bakersfield by Harry DenHerder as Harry’s Plumbing Service. With one truck Harry used for service calls, the business became recognized for its top-notch work at a reasonable price. Today, the company, which is known as HPS Mechanical Inc., has offices in Bakersfield and San Diego and a workforce of engineers and technicians that oversee massive new construction and pipeline projects, engineering and plumbing design services in California and Nevada. (Buscher-Dang, 8/14)

The Bakersfield Californian: Bolthouse Properties’ Seven Oaks ‘Medical Hub’ Continues To Grow
Bolthouse Properties’ “medical hub” in Seven Oaks Business Park is growing as the demand for local health care services increases and the city of Bakersfield’s development continues to move into the southwest quadrant. A recent addition to Seven Oaks Business Park is the newly completed Alzheimer’s Disease Association of Kern County facility just to the north of The Village at Seven Oaks Assisted Living and Memory Care complex on Buena Vista Road. ADAKC relocated Kern County’s only adult day care for those with Alzheimer’s to the Business Park, allowing the center to provide services to an additional 60 people. (Wiener, 8/14)

The Mercury News: California Faces Shortage Of Primary Care Clinicians 
California is heading for a serious shortfall of primary care doctors, physicians’ assistants and nurse practitioners over the next few decades — a crisis that could force patients to seek medical help for routine illnesses at hospital emergency rooms instead, a new study released Tuesday warns. That alternative is among the most troubling scenarios if a predicted shortage of 4,700 primary care clinicians occurs in California by 2025, according to authors of the UC San Francisco Healthforce Center report. (Seipel, 8/15)

USA Today: FDA Chief Says Drug Makers Are Gaming The System To Slow Generic Competition; Vows Action
A day after President Trump lashed out at the black CEO of drug maker Merck on Twitter, his new Food and Drug Administration commissioner said brand name drug companies are "gaming the system" to block generic competition and vowed to do something about it. Physician and FDA chief Scott Gottlieb declined to comment on Trump's tweet urging Merck's Kenneth Frazier to lower drug prices after Trump's response to the violent Charlottesville, Va., protests prompted Frazier to resign from the White House manufacturing council. However, in a meeting Tuesday with USA TODAY's Editorial Board, Gottlieb didn't mince words when it came to his plans to stop what he said are anti-competitive actions by brand-name pharmaceutical companies that keep prices high. (O'Donnell, 8/15)

Stat: Who Gets All That Biopharma Lobbying Money?
As the winds shift in Washington, here’s something to depend on: Big pharma and health products companies will be the top spenders on lobbying, and the competition isn’t close. Since 1998, they have doled out $3.7 billion to convince, cajole, entice, or strong-arm Congress and federal agencies — more than $1 billion more than any other industry. That doesn’t count campaign contributions, donations to independent pressure groups, and outlays for politicking at the state level. Since January 2016, the industry has spent about $144 million on federal lobbying, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. It can claim a big victory from last year’s passage of the 21st Century Cures Act, which is expected to speed up Food and Drug Administration drug approvals. (Piller, 8/16)

The Wall Street Journal: The New Innovator’s Dilemma: When Customers Won’t Pay For Better
Danish drug giant Novo Nordisk is living through a corporate nightmare that any CEO might recognize from business school. After the company concentrated on making essentially one product better and better—and charging more and more—customers have suddenly stopped paying for all that improvement. The established versions are, well, good enough. (Roland, 8/15)

Orange County Register: Opioid-Related ER Visits More Than Double Over Past Decade In Orange County
Emergency room visits resulting from opioid use have increased 141 percent over 10 years in Orange County, according to a report released Tuesday, Aug. 15, by the Health Care Agency. Between 2005 and 2015, 7,457 residents went to hospital ERs for reasons such as opioid addiction or heroin poisoning. (Perkes, 8/15)

In other news on the epidemic --

Bloomberg: Big Pharma's Tobacco Moment As Star Lawyers Push Opioid Suits 
Big Pharma is having a Big Tobacco moment as litigation over opioids attract star lawyers and a growing list of states and local governments seeking their own multibillion-dollar payout to deal with costs of a burgeoning drug epidemic. On Tuesday, South Carolina became the sixth state to sue opioid makers alleging they have created a public health crisis. The suit filed by Joe Rice, a plaintiff lawyer who helped negotiate a $246 billion settlement with the tobacco industry in 1998, suggests states are laying the groundwork to force a resolution that provides billions of dollars to cover the costs of an epidemic blamed for 62 deaths per day. (Feeley and Hopkins, 8/15)

NPR: 'Body Brokers' Get Kickbacks To Lure People With Addictions To Bad Rehab
Some sober homes are good places. But others see a person who has an addiction as a payday. Amid the nation's growing opioid crisis, South Florida has become a mecca for drug treatment. And as more people arrive looking for help, there's more opportunity for corruption and insurance fraud. There are millions to be made in billing patients for unnecessary treatment and tests, according to officials investigating the problem. (Haden, 8/15)

The Associated Press: US Teen Drug Overdose Deaths Inch Up After Years Of Decline
After years of decline, teen deaths from drug overdoses have inched up, a new U.S. government report shows. The drop in teen deaths had been a rare bright spot in the opioid epidemic that has seen adult overdose deaths surge year after year — fueled by abuse of prescription painkillers, heroin and newer drugs like fentanyl. (Stobbe, 8/16)

Bloomberg: Heroin-Era Antidotes Can’t Handle Overdoses In Age Of Synthetics 
Addicts in the Colorado town where [Ralph Battels is] an emergency room doctor are downing such incredibly powerful opioids that the overdose-reversal agent may have to be applied two or three times -- or more -- to revive them and calm their sometimes violent highs. The budget at Pagosa Springs Medical Center is taking an unanticipated hit, another victim of a raging national epidemic. ... Hospitals and emergency-services agencies across the U.S. are confronting higher bills for the chemical compound that can block the effects of painkillers and heroin, as super-strong synthetic opioids like fentanyl and carfentanil grow increasingly popular. Not only are more doses of the remedy often required, prices for some brands of naxolone have been ticking up. (Mattingly, 8/16)

The Associated Press: Researchers To Study Chemical Contamination Of US Waters
University of Rhode Island and Harvard University professors are collaborating through a new research center to study chemicals that have contaminated water at sites nationwide. The chemicals, called perfluorinated chemicals, have been linked to cancer and other illnesses but aren’t federally regulated in drinking water. Water has been contaminated near sites of industrial facilities and U.S. military bases. (McDermott, 8/15)

News21: 63 Million Americans Exposed To Unsafe Drinking Water
As many as 63 million people — nearly a fifth of the United States — from rural central California to the boroughs of New York City, were exposed to potentially unsafe water more than once during the past decade, according to a News21 investigation of 680,000 water quality and monitoring violations from the Environmental Protection Agency. The findings highlight how six decades of industrial dumping, farming pollution, and water plant and distribution pipe deterioration have taken a toll on local water systems. (Philip, Sims, Houston and Konieczny, 8/14)