Bay Area News Group: COVID: Major Study Says Florida's Death Rate Is Lower Than California's
California officials boast that the state’s extended pandemic lockdowns and health mandates saved tens of thousands of lives from COVID-19, compared to states like Florida that reopened early. (Woolfolk, 4/2)

Oaklandside: Ex-Oakland Employees File Lawsuit Over COVID Vaccine Mandate
A group of former Oakland employees filed a lawsuit in January against the city, accusing it of religious discrimination by mandating that city workers be vaccinated against COVID-19. There have been thousands of lawsuits brought by employees against state and local government vaccine mandates across the nation since the start of the pandemic, according to Jackson Lewis, a law firm tracking this kind of litigation.  (BondGraham, 3/29)

Fortune: ‘Everyone Is Kind Of Tired And Has Given Up’ On COVID. But This New Variant Is ‘One To Watch,’ The WHO Says
The World Health Organization has its eye on a new COVID variant thought to be driving a new surge of cases in India—at a time when reported cases are down in much of the rest of the world. XBB.1.16, dubbed “Arcturus” by variant trackers, is very similar to U.S. dominant “Kraken” XBB.1.5—the most transmissible COVID variant yet, Maria Van Kerkhove, COVID-19 technical lead for the WHO, said earlier this week at a news conference. But additional mutations in the virus’s spike protein, which attaches to and infects human cells, has the potential to make the variant more infectious and even cause more severe disease. For this reason, and due to rising cases in the East, XBB.1.16 is considered “one to watch,” Van Kerkhove says. (Prater, 3/31)

CIDRAP: WHO Tracking Omicron XBB.1.16 Subvariant, Rising Cases In Some Countries
At a Mar 29 press briefing, Maria Van Kerkhove, PhD, the WHO's technical lead for COVID-19, said XBB.1.16 has a similar profile to XBB.1.5 but has an additional changes in the spike protein. She said XBB.1.16 has replaced other circulating subvariants in India. So far, there are about 800 sequences from 22 countries, mostly from India. Van Kerkhove said in lab studies, XBB.1.16 has shown signs of increased infectivity as well as potentially increased pathogenicity. "So this is one to watch. It's been in circulation for a few months," she said. "We haven't seen a change in severity in individuals or in populations, but that's why we have these systems in place." (Schnirring, 3/31)

NBC News: For Long Covid Patients Who Lost Their Taste Or Smell, A New Treatment Offers Hope
A numbing procedure usually used to treat pain and post-traumatic stress disorder is being tested as a way to restore smell and taste in people with long Covid. (Edwards and Dahlgren, 3/31)

Stat: White House Covid Adviser Calls On Docs To Combat Misinformation
The coordinator of the Biden administration’s Covid-19 response team called on doctors to take a leadership role with patients to battle medical misinformation and disinformation, linking the continuing death toll in part to such erroneous messaging. Speaking to an audience of physicians at a conference near Boston Friday, Ashish Jha reminded them they are skilled at dealing with uncertainty, just as when they explain to a patient they don’t know whether what a medical scan shows will be terrible or not, but that they will guide them through it. The uncertainty of the pandemic is no different, he said, but since people have so many different sources of information to consult now, doctors need to step up. (Cooney, 4/2)

Reuters: U.S. Social Security Fund Seen Depleted In 2033, Year Earlier Than Previous Estimate
The U.S. Social Security system's main trust fund's reserves will be depleted in 2033, one year earlier than estimated last year, while Medicare's finances have improved slightly, reports from the programs' trustees showed on Friday. The Medicare Hospital Trust Fund reserves are now expected to be depleted in 2031 compared to an estimate of 2028 made last year, due in part to new estimates showing higher revenue data. (3/31)

AP: Medicare, Social Security Could Fall Short Over Next Decade
On its current track, Medicare would be able to cover only 89% of costs for patients’ hospital visits, nursing home stays and home health care starting in 2031. The date was pushed back, in part, because health care spending has not rebounded in the way trustees expected as the COVID-19 pandemic has faded. Trustees said part of that could be that the country’s most vulnerable and sickest were among the roughly 1.1 million Americans who died from the virus. Also, knee and hip replacements have largely shifted from inpatient procedures to less costly outpatient visits. (Seitz and Hussein, 3/31)

The New York Times: Medicare Delays A Full Crackdown On Private Health Plans
The Biden administration on Friday finalized new rules meant to cut down on widespread overbilling by private Medicare Advantage insurance plans, but softened the approach after intense lobbying by the industry. Regulators are still moving forward with rules that will lower payments to insurers by billions of dollars a year. But they will phase in the changes over three years, rather than all at once, and that will lessen the immediate effects. (Sanger-Katz and Abelson, 3/31)

CNBC: Biden Administration Appeals Texas Court Decision Striking Down Free Obamacare Coverage Of Preventive Care
The Biden administration on Friday appealed a Texas federal judge’s decision to strike down free Obamacare coverage of preventive health-care services ranging from screenings for certain cancers and diabetes to HIV prevention drugs. ... “Preventive care is an essential part of health care: it saves lives, saves families money, and improves our nation’s health,” said Kamara Jones, a Health and Human Services spokesperson, on Thursday evening after the judge’s ruling. “Actions that strip away this decade-old protection are backwards and wrong.” The case will now go to U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. A majority of the judges on that court were appointed by Republican presidents. (Kimball, 3/31)

The New York Times: How Federal Judge’s Ruling On Obamacare Could Change Health Insurance 
Health policy experts describe free preventive care as one of Obamacare’s most transformative policies because it took away a financial barrier to needed care for tens of millions of Americans. It is also one of the law’s more popular provisions, with 62 percent of the public recently saying it is “very important” that it stay in place. The new court ruling has already brought the Affordable Care Act back into the political fray, as Democrats quickly vowed to protect the law. (Kliff, 3/31)

NBC News: ACA Ruling: What It Could Mean For Cancer Screenings
A federal judge’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act this week means that patients would have to pay for some cancer screenings that are currently free — a ruling that, if it holds, could make the potentially life-saving tests unaffordable for many, experts say. On Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor struck down provisions of the ACA that requires insurers to provide certain preventive health care services free of charge. (Edwards and Lovelace Jr., 3/31)

California Healthline: Judge’s Decision Would Make Some No-Cost Cancer Screenings A Thing Of The Past
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor builds on a September judgment in which he also said the ACA requirement that employers cover preexposure prophylaxis treatment to prevent HIV violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. His ruling is the latest shot in the legal battle over the ACA. “Previous cases threatened the very existence of the law and fundamental protections. (Appleby and Andrews, 3/30)

Los Angeles Times: LAPD's Abortion Squad Went After Women, Doctors Before Roe Vs. Wade
Housed within the Los Angeles Police Department’s homicide division, the detail investigated what were often known then as “illegal operations.” Officers on the squad questioned young women who had gone to the hospital for antibiotics after an abortion and were reported to law enforcement. They interviewed loved ones of women who died from botched operations. They went on stakeouts and kept dossiers on hundreds of providers of illegal abortions. They posed as boyfriends or brothers to trap people into confessing. The team operated for decades, before the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe vs. Wade decision in 1973 gave women nationwide the legal right to terminate a pregnancy. (Mejia, 3/31)

Los Angeles Times: Dutch Doctor Fights To Provide Abortion Pills To The U.S. 
It was nearly three decades ago, as a young medical trainee in West Africa, that Rebecca Gomperts witnessed scenes that would set in motion her life’s work. Gruesome hemorrhages, perforated wombs, bloodied young women gasping out their lives: all the aftermath of botched illegal abortions. “The methods — oh, how invasive they were,” the 57-year-old Dutch activist-physician said, shaking her head at the memory of stricken women staggering or being carried into the hospital. “Sticks. Bleach.” (King, 4/3)

Los Angeles Times: Fight Over Health Exec Pay Could Hinge On US President Salary
Should Los Angeles clamp down on how much hospital executives are paid? That decision could be put to Los Angeles city voters, under a ballot measure supported by a union representing healthcare workers. But whether that happens may hinge on another question: How much does the president of the United States make? (Alpert Reyes, 4/2)

The Press-Enterprise: Southern California Has A Paramedic Shortage. What’s Being Done About It? 
An ambulance’s flashing lights are a welcome sight in a medical emergency. But a different light — a warning one — has been flashing in Southern California, which like the rest of the nation is struggling with a shortage of paramedics and emergency medical technicians that’s had a ripple effect on public safety and patient care. (Horseman, 4/2)

Sacramento Business Journal: Mark Sevco Named Sutter Health Chief Operating Officer
Sutter Health is getting a new chief operating officer. (Hamann, 3/31)

Fresno Bee: Fresno Awards $9 Million For Operation Of Homeless Shelters 
Two nonprofit organizations have been awarded a combined $8.9 million by the city of Fresno for a one-year contract to continue operating a quintet of converted Parkway Drive motels as emergency shelters for the homeless. (Sheehan, 4/1)

AP: Pandemic Pounds Push 10,000 U.S. Army Soldiers Into Obesity 
After gaining 30 pounds during the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Daniel Murillo is finally getting back into fighting shape. Early pandemic lockdowns, endless hours on his laptop and heightened stress led Murillo, 27, to reach for cookies and chips in the barracks at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Gyms were closed, organized exercise was out and Murillo’s motivation to work out on his own was low. “I could notice it,” said Murillo, who is 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weighed as much as 192 pounds. “The uniform was tighter.” (Aleccia, 4/2)

The Hill: Put Down The Cookie Dough, CDC Warns Amid Salmonella Outbreak Affecting Multiple States
A salmonella outbreak that has sickened people in 11 states is renewing a call from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: stop eating raw cookie dough. The agency confirmed last week it has launched an investigation into the outbreak, noting 12 illnesses have been reported. Three individuals have required hospitalization. (Bink, 4/2)

Sacramento Bee: How CA Wet Weather Contributes To Mosquitoes, West Nile Virus
The copious amount of rain and snow that accelerated California’s drought recovery has triggered the state’s next public health concern — and this one sucks your blood. Mosquitoes require water to complete their life cycle and California suddenly has a lot of it. More water means an increase in the transmission rate of the vector-borne disease West Nile Virus, that killed 13 residents last year, according to state data, last updated March 23. (Taylor, 4/3)