Los Angeles Times: Patients Trying To Hang On To Medi-Cal Face Long Waits For Help
Canned music droned from the telephone as Jessica Sanchez waited, fidgeting and shifting her pregnant belly in her chair at the Santa Monica community health center. It had been an hour since Sanchez and a Venice Family Clinic worker had dialed up a Los Angeles County agency for help. At a prenatal appointment, Sanchez, 33, had abruptly discovered that her health coverage had been cut off months earlier. The news rattled Sanchez, who was already in her third trimester. (Reyes, 4/25)

The Bakersfield Californian: Your Next Ambulance Ride Will Likely Cost More 
Ambulance rides are going to get more expensive, officials with Kern Public Health Services said Tuesday. (Donegan, 4/25)

Orange County Register: Irvine Will Be Home To Country’s First All-Electric Hospital
The country’s first all-electric medical campus should be fully open in Irvine by 2025. Spanning more than 800,000 square feet, and under the UCI Health umbrella, the medical campus will be powered by a central utility plant, an epicenter that will house all the equipment producing the electricity needed to power the facilities. (Farzan, 4/25)

CalMatters: California’s Lowest Paid Health Workers Want A Pay Boost. Why Industry Leaders Are Pushing Back
Supporters of a proposal to raise the minimum wage for California health workers point to Inglewood, where last fall voters approved a wage hike that primarily applied to staff at dialysis clinics and at the city’s only hospital. But the implementation of that local measure has been bumpy, signaling potential problems for the larger effort. Inglewood’s ordinance went into effect Jan.1, raising the minimum wage for those workers to $25 an hour. Then in March, Centinela Hospital Medical Center, a 362-bed acute care facility owned by Prime Health Care, laid off 48 workers and reduced hours for others, according to a complaint filed earlier this month by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West. The local union led Inglewood’s measure and its parent organization, SEIU California, is sponsoring the statewide bill. (Ibarra, 4/25)

Becker's Hospital Review: RN Average Wage For All 50 States 
Registered nurses receive $42.80 on average, according to data published by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational employment statistics survey. RNs in California had the highest average annual wage, followed by Hawaii and Oregon. The data was gathered in May 2022. (Robertson, 4/25)

Los Angeles Daily News: CSUN Professor Leads A Groundbreaking Effort To Test Blood For Cancer 
In the coming months, California State University Northridge associate professor of biology Cristian Ruiz Rueda, and researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, hope to finalize groundbreaking efforts to develop a cancer detection method that can recognize cancer mutations in the earliest stages — with a mere blood test. (Pratt, 4/24)

KQED: What Happened To The 1,300 RVs Gov. Newsom Sent To Address Homelessness Back In 2020?
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Gavin Newsom made a splashy announcement: The state had procured around 1,300 trailers to house people experiencing homelessness who were especially vulnerable to the virus. But in the more than three years since the trailers were delivered throughout the state, the results have been mixed. In some areas, the trailers continue to fill a crucial need, like in Napa County, where they are used to quarantine sick farmworkers, and in San Francisco, where they’ve become part of the city’s network of non-congregate homeless shelters. But in some other counties that requested them, like Monterey, the trailers are now gathering dust. (Johnson, 4/25)

Voice of OC: Buena Park May Soon Roll Out A New Rental Home Inspection Program
Buena Park officials are considering sending out code enforcement officers to routinely inspect apartments in an effort to ensure residents are living in habitable conditions – despite pushback and concern from landlords and property managers. (Elattar, 4/26)

Los Angeles Times: To Live And Die In Downtown L.A.: Drug Addicts, Homelessness And Hawks
One never knows what one might encounter in downtown Los Angeles. “I’m going to cut your head off,” threatened a man with a tangled beard and untied boots who swept past one day in a sudden gust. I walked on, turning back, watching him cross into the shadow of the Bradbury Building, his big coat blowing like a tattered flag. But then came a moment of unexpected tenderness. “I want to sing for you,” said a woman as I headed toward her on the sidewalk. (Fleishman, 4/25)

Orange County Register: Why Bills To Crack Down On Fentanyl Dealers Have Been Doomed In The State Legislature 
The message from Sacramento has been clear: powerful state lawmakers have no appetite for a return to the War on Drugs, even as a way to combat the deadly fentanyl epidemic. For years now, law enforcement, prosecutors and families of fentanyl victims have pleaded for harsher penalties for dealers of the synthetic opioid, which is 100 times stronger than morphine and 50 times stronger than heroin. In 2021, fentanyl killed 5,722 people in California, many of whom thought they were taking prescription medications or other drugs. (Saavedra, 4/25)

AP: More Sanctions For Deadly Fentanyl If Bill Becomes Law 
Over the past year, the U.S. Treasury Department has used its sanctions powers to impose wide-ranging financial penalties on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine — turning Russia into the most sanctioned country in the world. Now, the federal agency is facing increasing pressure, including from legislation introduced Tuesday in the Senate, to use those tools with similar vigor against the people, financial institutions and companies that have participated in the explosion of fentanyl use and distribution in the U.S. (Hussein, 4/25)

CIDRAP: Study On Mpox In Homeless Notes That 60% Also Had HIV 
Today in Emerging Infectious Diseases, researchers describe the epidemiologic characteristics of 118 mpox patients in Los Angeles who were homeless at the time of their diagnosis and note that 60% also had HIV. All patients were identified from July to September 2022. (Soucheray, 4/25)

Argus-Courier Editor: Petaluma Health Care District Rebrands As ‘Healthy Petaluma’
The rebranded Healthy Petaluma District & Foundation was announced Monday along with a retooled website, healthypetaluma.org. The entity behind the new name is still the same public health care district, dedicated to improving access to medical care in Petaluma Valley, its leaders said. (Frances, 4/25)

Voice of OC: Orange County Moves To Help Connect Refugees And Immigrants To Critical Services
Refugees and immigrants living in Orange County could soon get help from county officials to reach a host of social safety nets and programs. It comes after the arrival of 500 Afghans fleeing Taliban rule in 2021 forced Orange County officials to scramble to help local nonprofits support and assist refugees in getting healthcare, benefits and jobs. (Elattar and Pho, 4/26)

Oaklandside: Families Oppose OUSD Plan To Close Special Education Programs
Oakland Unified School District’s special education programs, which serve more than 6,000 students, are being revamped this year and next year, with classes at several schools where students receive individualized support set to close at the end of this school year. (McBride, 4/25)

Los Angeles Times: Mattel Launches First Barbie With Down Syndrome To ‘Counter Social Stigma’
This Barbie has Down syndrome: Toymaker Mattel Inc., has teamed with the National Down Syndrome Society to introduce its first Barbie with the genetic condition on Tuesday — the latest doll in its inclusive lineup. The El Segundo, Calif.-based company said that the new fashion doll is “created to allow even more children to see themselves in Barbie, as well as have Barbie reflect the world around them.” (Saad, 4/25)

Military Times: New Skills And Qualification Identifiers Ahead For Army Health Program
Soldiers may soon have the option of gaining an additional skill identifier and special qualification identifier in the Army’s newest, all-encompassing health and fitness program. Also, U.S. Army Physical Fitness School at Fort Jackson, South Carolina will be renamed the Holistic Health and Fitness Academy and the service expects to see instruction in the program included in training at leader schools such as the U.S. Army War College, School for Command Preparation and Drill Sergeant Academy, officials said. (South, 4/25)

Politico: McCarthy Struggles To Lock Down Votes For Debt Plan
Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his team are vowing to move ahead with their sprawling debt measure as soon as Wednesday, but the path to locking down votes turned murky after a day of internal deliberations. The Californian Republican spent the day holding back-to-back meetings with leadership allies and key holdouts to shore up support before a tentative vote Wednesday. By Tuesday evening, though, the GOP’s whip count remained short of the votes needed for passage, with a cohort of Midwestern Republicans demanding changes to a major tax rollback in the bill. A smaller group of conservatives is also raising concerns of their own over work requirements for certain assistance programs. (Ferris, Carney, Hill and Beavers, 4/25)

Vox: GOP’s Debt-Limit Bill Could Lead To 21 Million People Losing Medicaid, Biden White House Says
As many as 21 million Americans could be at risk of losing their Medicaid coverage under the House GOP’s work requirement proposal, according to a new Biden administration analysis shared exclusively with Vox. The projections are both a warning about the potential consequences of the strict reporting requirements Republicans are contemplating and ammunition for Democrats in the upcoming negotiations over raising the federal debt limit. (Scott, 4/25)

Axios: CBO: 600,000 More Uninsured From House GOP Bill
About 600,000 people would become uninsured under the House Republican debt bill's plan to impose Medicaid work requirements, the Congressional Budget Office estimated Tuesday. The estimate from Congress' nonpartisan scorekeeper gives a sense of the coverage loss from the proposal, while also highlighting the federal savings. (Sullivan, 4/26)

Roll Call: Scope Of COVID-19 Funding Cuts Emerges As Debt Limit Flashpoint
​Democrats are jumping on the House GOP plan to recoup unspent pandemic aid in their debt limit bill, charging that the move will harm agencies counting on that funding, including the Department of Veterans Affairs. The bill, which Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is hoping to get on the floor this week, would rescind $72 billion in unobligated pandemic relief aid. (Quigley, 4/25)

Stat: Sens. Bernie Sanders, Bill Cassidy Reach Deal On PBM, Generic Reform
Senate health committee leaders Bernie Sanders and Bill Cassidy on Tuesday announced an agreement on a bipartisan package to increase access to generic drugs and increase the transparency required of pharmacy middlemen. (Cohrs, 4/25)

Stat: Medicare Official Insists Drug Price Negotiation Will Consider Value
When Medicare starts negotiating drug prices, it will take into account how important a drug is for patients, Meena Seshamani, the director of the Center for Medicare, said Tuesday. (Wilkerson, 4/25)

USA Today: Sen. Tommy Tuberville Blocks 184 Military Promotions In Abortion Fight
Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama blocked 184 military promotions Tuesday in the latest chapter of his protest against the Pentagon's new abortion policy. The drama unfolded in the Senate as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, moved a request to allow the promotions and Tuberville blocked the action. (Woodall, 4/25)

Axios: Biden's 2024 Re-Election Bid Puts Abortion Front And Center
The Biden administration wasted little time making it clear that abortion access will be a cornerstone of President Biden's 2024 re-election bid as red states continue to enact bans and restrictions. Last year's midterm elections showed voter sentiment breaking for new protections for abortion rights following the fall of Roe v. Wade. Biden is hoping he can replicate that. (Gonzalez, 4/26)

USA Today: Kamala Harris Warns Republicans Not To "Get In Our Way" On Abortion Rights
Vice President Kamala Harris opened the 2024 presidential campaign with a warning to Republican leaders who want to scale back access to abortion: Don't get in our way. Appearing before Democratic activists and young voters, Harris launched into a fiery attack on Republican-led states and anti-abortion groups that have been making use of legislatures and friendly courts to limit access to the procedure. (Chambers, 4/25)

The 19th: Nikki Haley Calls For ‘Consensus’ On Abortion Restrictions In Policy Speech
In remarks described by her campaign as a “major policy speech on abortion,” Haley emphasized her support for abortion restrictions and her long history supporting policies that restrict access to the procedure. At the same time, she made a bid for support from moderate women voters by talking about her struggles with infertility, her husband’s adoption and a friend’s rape — and urged empathy for people facing unplanned pregnancies. (Barclay, 4/25)

Roll Call: Pence Nods To Role Of Judges In Conservative Push On Abortion 
Former Vice President Mike Pence told a legal group Tuesday in Washington that the next Republican administration should work to curtail the power of executive agencies and pointed to recent legal fights over abortion access. “Restraining and reclaiming the legislative prerogatives of the legislative branch from the administrative state should be one of the most important objectives of the next Republican administration,” Pence said at an event put on by the Federalist Society. (Tarinelli, 4/25)

PBS NewsHour: Support For Abortion Rights Has Grown In Spite Of Bans And Restrictions, Poll Shows
Support for abortion rights overall has increased as state legislatures and courtrooms have instituted a growing number of restrictions and bans, according to the latest PBS NewHour/NPR/Marist poll. Sixty-one percent of U.S. adults say they support abortion rights, marking a 6-percentage point increase since last June. (Santhanam, 4/26)

The Conversation: People With Long COVID Continue To Experience Medical Gaslighting More Than 3 Years Into The Pandemic
Medical gaslighting occurs when health-care practitioners dismiss or falsely blame patients for their symptoms. While new information about long COVID has become more readily available, some patients continue to face gaslighting and feel that their symptoms are treated less seriously by some health-care professionals. (Purewal, Byers, Jamieson and Zolfaghari, 4/23)

Axios: The Ongoing Search For Long COVID Treatments
As the federal government continues to wrestle with a response to long COVID, Food and Drug Administration officials are turning to patients who've experimented with unproven treatments for clues about how to manage the condition and design clinical trials. (Moreno, 4/26)

CNET: Long COVID: What We Know Now 
For many people, what started out as a relatively mild case of COVID-19 persisted into a lingering condition that took weeks or months before their suffering subsided -- some have yet to fully recover. They live with long COVID, a condition health care providers have struggled to understand and accurately diagnose since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in March 2020. Though it's hard to put a number on what percentage of people will develop long COVID, since home tests and mild cases contribute to inaccurate case counts, somewhere between 10% of people who tested positive for COVID-19 but didn't need to be hospitalized, and 50% to 70% of people who were hospitalized, developed some degree of long COVID, according to a major review of long COVID research published earlier this year in Nature Reviews Microbiology. (Rendall and Avery, 4/25)

Medscape: Extent Of Long COVID Symptoms Tied To Disease Severity
The severity of neurologic and non-neurologic symptoms associated with long COVID appear to be linked to the severity of the initial infection, new research suggests. (Yasgur, 4/24)

CIDRAP: Molnupiravir Tied To Lower Risk Of Long COVID In High-Risk Patients 
Among COVID-19 patients at risk for severe illness, the use of the antiviral molnupiravir (Lagevrio) within 5 days of infection was linked to reduced odds of persistent symptoms and related hospitalization and death, regardless of vaccination status or previous infections, finds a US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) study. (Van Beusekom, 4/25)