The Wall Street Journal: Meta Imposes Mandatory Restrictions On Teen Instagram And Facebook Accounts 
Parents have long been frustrated by internet platforms that treat teen accounts much the same as adult accounts. Data-collection laws protecting children under 13 don’t extend to older minors. Social media’s biggest operator is addressing this with a shift in content filtering. Meta Platforms plans to automatically restrict teen Instagram and Facebook accounts from harmful content including videos and posts about self-harm, graphic violence and eating disorders. The changes are expected to roll out in the coming weeks. (Jargon, 1/9)

NPR: Meta Restricts Content For Teens On Facebook, Instagram
Meta is making changes to what teens can see when using Instagram and Facebook. The company announced on Tuesday it will start hiding certain types of content on both apps and restrict specific search terms on Instagram. These changes are for all teens under 18. "Now, when people search for terms related to suicide, self-harm and eating disorders, we'll start hiding these related results and will direct them to expert resources for help," Meta stated in a blog post. (Kerr, 1/9)

Bloomberg: Online Mental Health: Students Use Technology Rather Than School Counselors
An overwhelming majority of teens and tweens — 87% — have sought mental health information online, and 64% have used mobile health apps, according to a report by the Jed Foundation, a nonprofit focused on emotional health and suicide prevention among US teens and young adults. But it’s not just a desire for relatability and privacy that is pushing high school and college students to seek mental health services virtually. Schools are straining to meet demand. (Li, 1/9)

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Loses Out On Mental Health Beds Outside The City. Here's Why
Mayor London Breed on Tuesday will unveil a plan to cut through the city’s bureaucratic red tape to reduce wait times and bring new mental health and substance abuse treatment beds online faster. “People are in crisis, and we can’t allow delays and bureaucracy to get in the way of getting people help,” Breed said in a statement. “Our goal is to be able to deliver services as quickly as possible, and by removing these barriers, we can be ready when there are opportunities available to add beds to our system.” (Angst, 1/9)

Central Valley Journalism Collaborative: California’s San Joaquin Valley Has A Therapist Shortage. Here’s How A University Hopes To Change That
Stockton’s University of the Pacific has launched a new master’s program to help address the region’s ongoing shortage of mental health professionals. In fall 2024 the private university’s Benerd College, which specializes in education programs and degrees, will accept students into its new Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology major focused on marriage and family counseling. About 15 to 20 students are expected to make up the inaugural class. (Rowland, 1/8)

CBS News: East Bay City Managers Call For Faster Ambulance Response Times
The city managers of Livermore and Pleasanton recently sent a letter to the Alameda County's contracted ambulance provider, Falck, saying that medical help is taking too long to reach patients in the far eastern parts of the county. ... Falck is required to be on scene of a priority call in 10-14 minutes at least 90% of the time, but the city manager's letter says that's only happening on 82-85% of priority calls. (Nielson, 1/9)

The Bakersfield Californian: Union, County Clash Over Caregiver Wages 
Private contract negotiations almost went public Tuesday after several dozen United Domestic Workers demonstrating in favor of a substantial pay raise were met with a presentation by a Kern County's senior staff member on why they still haven't gotten one. (Cox, 1/9)

Sacramento Business Journal: Norwood Pines Skilled Nursing Facility Sold, Renamed North Pointe 
A 53-year-old skilled nursing facility in North Sacramento has sold to one of the largest operators for such sites in the U.S. (van der Meer, 1/8)

Sacramento Bee: ‘A Huge Blessing’: Covered California Is Removing Residents’ Barriers To Health Care
Two-thirds of Covered California enrollees — nearly 1.1 million people — qualify for comprehensive health plans with premiums of $10 or less each month. Cost should never be a barrier to accessing health care, particularly primary care, Covered California Executive Director Jessica Altman said. That’s why state leaders have opted to focus on reducing deductibles, co-pays and other out-of-pocket expenses. (Anderson, 1/9)

Medriva: Sutter Health Appoints Raju Iyer As Senior Vice President And CFO
California-based health system, Sutter Health, has announced the appointment of Raju Iyer as its new Senior Vice President and CFO, effective February 26. Iyer, who brings with him over two decades of financial experience in the health sector, is stepping into his role at a pivotal time for Sutter Health. The health organization is poised to make significant strides in its expansion plan, including the addition of at least 25 new ambulatory care centers, substantial investment in digital technologies, and a partnership with Sansum Clinic to broaden its reach. (Raphael, 1/9)

Sacramento Business Journal: Sacramento Contact Lenses & Optometry Shuts Its Doors
A Sacramento optometry practice has closed, after more than 40 years in business. (Hamann, 1/8)

Axios: Congress Faces Pressure To Reverse Doctors' Payment Cuts — Again
Congress is once again being urged to reverse a cut to physicians' Medicare payments, prompting calls for a broader overhaul of how the program reimburses doctors. Congress is still stuck in an annual dance of being pressured to increase physician payments, even after Washington nearly a decade ago put an end to the despised "doc fix" that forced lawmakers to regularly forestall deep cuts. (Sullivan, 1/10)

The Washington Post: Congress May Need Short-Term Government Funding Law Despite Bipartisan Deal
Congress may need to pass a temporary government funding bill before a looming deadline to prevent a partial shutdown — even though leaders announced a spending deal over the weekend meant to keep the government open. Funding for roughly 20 percent of the federal government — including for essential programs such as some veterans assistance, and food and drug safety services — expires on Jan. 19, and money for the rest of the government runs out shortly after that, on Feb. 2. (Bogage, 1/9)

Los Angeles Times: COVID Tests May Be Taking Longer To Show Positive. Here's Why
Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, regional chief of infectious diseases at Kaiser Permanente Southern California, said she has noticed it’s sometimes taking longer after the onset of symptoms for rapid tests to return a positive result. It used to be that someone might test positive for the coronavirus one or two days after the onset of symptoms using a rapid test, Hudson said. Now, positive results might not show up until the fourth day after symptoms start. (Lin II, 1/9)

San Francisco Chronicle: Has JN.1 Made Home COVID Tests Less Effective? Here Is What We Know
The widespread availability of rapid antigen tests has made at-home COVID-19 screening quick and convenient. But federal health officials caution that these tests, while invaluable in detecting infections and curbing spread of the coronavirus, may have become less reliable due to the emergence of newer omicron variants such as JN.1. ... Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at UCSF, notes that some people now test positive only three days after exposure, down from five days earlier in the pandemic. (Vaziri, 1/9)

The New York Times: We Are In A Big Covid Wave. But Just How Big?
The surge might reach its peak this week or soon after, modelers predict, with high levels of transmission expected for at least another month beyond that. ... Many of the metrics used early in the pandemic have become much less useful indicators of how widely the virus is spreading, especially since federal officials stopped more comprehensive data tracking efforts when they declared an end to the public health emergency last spring. Higher population-wide immunity has meant fewer hospitalizations even with high virus spread, and the sharp decline of Covid test results reported to authorities has made case counts far less relevant. (Paris, 1/10)

Newsweek: Vegetarians And Vegans At Significantly Lower Risk Of COVID, Study Claims
If you live by a plant-based diet, your risk of developing COVID-19 could be significantly lower than the general population, researchers from the University of Sao Paulo have claimed. ... The authors suggest that this difference in infection risk could be due to the abundance of plant-derived chemicals. "Plant-based dietary patterns are rich in antioxidants, phytosterols and polyphenols, which positively affect several cell types implicated in the immune function and exhibit direct antiviral properties," they write. (Dewan, 1/9)

The Hill: Democrats Accuse GOP Of Distorting Fauci’s Testimony From Hours-Long Meeting
Democrats who took part in the two-day interview with former White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci said Republicans had distorted what the former government official told lawmakers on his first day. Fauci sat through roughly seven hours of interviewing with lawmakers Monday and returned to the Capitol on Tuesday for another round. These discussions marked his first time speaking with lawmakers since stepping down from government at the end of 2022. (Choi, 1/9)

San Francisco Chronicle: NorCal Lawmaker Steps Away From Work After Suffering Stroke
California Assembly Member Megan Dahle suffered a stroke over the holidays, forcing her to temporarily step away from work. Dahle, a Republican representing Redding, released a statement Tuesday night announcing that she was hospitalized before Christmas for heart complications. While in the hospital, Dahle developed a blood clot which caused a stroke, she wrote. (Munce, 1/9)

San Bernardino Sun: California Sues LA Developer For Bungling Homeless Housing Projects 
California’s attorney general has filed a lawsuit against a Los Angeles developer that defaulted on millions of dollars of loans under a state-run program to house the homeless in converted motels from San Bernardino to the Bay Area. In the 321-page lawsuit filed Monday, Jan. 8, in Los Angeles Superior Court, Attorney General Rob Bonta alleges Shangri-La Industries and other named defendants — including San Bernardino County and the cities of Redlands and Thousand Oaks — “breached their obligations” under terms of their agreements with California’s Homekey program. (Nelson, 1/9)

CalMatters: US Supreme Court Case About Impact Fees Could Have Huge Consequences For California Housing
A dispute between a 72-year-old retiree in Placerville and El Dorado County over a $23,420 building fee got its day before the country’s highest court yesterday morning in a case with potentially seismic consequences for local government budgets and housing markets across California and the country. (Christopher, 1/10)

The Washington Post: Austin Treated For Prostate Cancer Before Emergency, Pentagon Reveals
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had surgery last month after a prostate cancer diagnosis, officials disclosed Tuesday, detailing for the first time what condition led to serious medical complications and a lengthy hospitalization that he kept secret for days from the White House, Congress and the American public. Austin’s condition was announced by the Pentagon in a statement attributed to John Maddox and Gregory Chesnut, doctors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland. They said the retired Army general, 70, was diagnosed with cancer in December after routine screening and underwent a “minimally invasive surgical procedure” known as a prostatectomy, in which all or part of the organ is removed, while under general anesthesia. He was admitted Jan. 1 after developing complications from the surgery and remains a patient there. (Lamothe, Viser, Nirappil and Ryan, 1/9)

The New York Times: Surprised By New Details About Austin’s Health, White House Orders Review 
While aides to the president said he would not fire Mr. Austin, they acknowledged the breakdown in communications and moved to assert new discipline over the administration. Jeffrey D. Zients, the White House chief of staff, ordered a review of procedures and sent a directive to cabinet secretaries making clear that they are to inform the White House when they are unable to perform their duties. ... John F. Kirby, a White House spokesman, said that Mr. Biden’s “first and foremost concern is the secretary’s health” and that the president still had “full faith and confidence” in Mr. Austin and would keep him until the end of his term. (Baker, 1/9)

Politico: When ‘Elective’ Doesn’t Mean Optional: Lloyd Austin’s Cancer Surgery
The Pentagon described Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s prostate cancer surgery as an “elective medical procedure,” which many people might take to mean it was minor. But that’s not the case, cancer experts say. “Elective means it’s not done on an urgent basis — it’s scheduled,” said Dr. Nitin Yerram, urologist and director of urologic research at Hackensack University Medical Center. “Most cancer operations are done on an elective basis.” A prostatectomy, the surgery Austin underwent last month, can be serious and is required for some patients, even if not urgently, said Dr. Quoc-Dien Trinh, co-director of the Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Prostate Cancer Center. The procedure removes some or all of the prostate to remove the cancer. (Payne, 1/9)

The Washington Post: Why A Urinary Tract Infections Can Become A Serious Health Problem 
News that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was hospitalized with a urinary tract infection has cast light on a common condition that can quickly turn life-threatening, especially among older patients. (Sima, Soong, Bever and Cimons, 1/9)

Military.com: VA To Fund Research On Using MDMA, Psilocybin To Address Mental Health Disorders In Veterans
The Department of Veterans Affairs has announced new funding for research into the potential use of psychedelic substances to treat post-traumatic stress disorder and depression in former military personnel. According to the VA, it is the first time in nearly six decades the department will fund such research and comes amid a growing but cautious optimism among the veteran community and Congress that the drugs, widely associated with illicit party culture, could offer breakthrough treatments for the unseen wounds of war and military service. (Kime, 1/8)

Modern Healthcare: Biden Administration Overturns Trump-Era Provider Conscience Rule
The Health and Human Services Department has once again revisited conscience protections for providers who object to delivering medical services such as abortions on religious or moral grounds. HHS issued a final rule Tuesday that takes effect immediately and mostly rescinds a 2019 regulation that aimed to broaden the conscience policy but was struck down by federal courts before HHS implemented it. HHS published a draft version of the new rule in 2022. (Hartnett, 1/9)

Politico: In The Fight Over Abortion Rights, The Government Bans Its First Company From Tracking Medical Visits 
The Biden administration stopped a company from selling data on people’s medical visits on Tuesday, its first settlement on a privacy issue that has many Americans concerned about who can see their most sensitive personal data — particularly visits to abortion providers. After an investigation, the Federal Trade Commission said it had reached a settlement with Outlogic, a location data broker formerly known as X-Mode Social, which had been collecting information on people’s visits to medical centers. (Ng, 1/9)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Sonoma County Tax Measure Supporting Early Child Care, Health Care Qualifies For November Ballot
A tax measure to bolster children’s health and care programs in Sonoma County is headed to the ballot in November after a long, fraught journey to qualify by voter signature. (Murphy, 1/9)

Bay Area News Group: Mary Lou Retton Tries To Explain Why She Couldn’t Afford Health Insurance
When Mary Lou Retton’s family announced in October she was hospitalized and gravely ill with a rare form of pneumonia, many fans were dismayed to learn that the 1984 Olympics champion, who supposedly earned millions from endorsement deals over the years, had no health insurance. (Ross, 1/9)