NBC News: U.S. Ranks Last In Health Care Compared With Nine Other High-Income Countries, Report Finds
The health system in the U.S. is failing, a startling new report finds. The U.S. ranks as the worst performer among 10 developed nations in critical areas of health care, including preventing deaths, access (mainly because of high cost) and guaranteeing quality treatment for everyone, regardless of gender, income or geographic location, according to the report, published Thursday by The Commonwealth Fund, an independent research group. (Lovelace Jr., 9/19)

CalMatters: California Capped Health Care Cost Increases. Will Anyone Notice?
Vickie Villegas had to pay $3,000 out-of-pocket every time she was treated for multiple sclerosis, a disease that attacks the central nervous system. Her doctor recommended she get treatments twice a year to keep the disease from worsening, but she couldn’t afford it, the Pasadena-area resident said. “I just couldn’t keep up,” Villegas said. Her disease progressed, and she lost use of her left hand. (Hwang, 9/18)

Modern Healthcare: Insurers Face Uphill Battle To Comply With Mental Health Rules
Health insurance companies and employers will soon be directing more time, money and resources to comply with mental health parity mandates. But questions remain about what regulators expect of health plans and whether new federal rules effectively tackle the issue. About one in five U.S. adults has at least one behavioral health condition and many struggle to find and afford treatment, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (Berryman, 9/18)

Sacramento Bee: Sutter Health Plans Multi-Year Expansion, New Clinics
Sutter Health is in a growth cycle, plotting expansions into hundreds of thousands of square feet of new spaces and recruiting doctors to fill them. Officials this week said population growth in the greater Sacramento region and a post-pandemic increase in illness are pushing the hospital system to build. Health system leaders plan to add a 42-bed unit to its midtown campus and build out sites in Roseville and Folsom. They will add dozens of standalone urgent care sites over the next few years, and have recruited around 670 doctors and advanced practice clinicians this year alone, said Rachael McKinney, president of Sutter Health’s greater Sacramento division. (Merrilees, 9/19)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Palomar Health, University Of San Diego To Partner 
The University of San Diego and Palomar Health announced a partnership Wednesday that will have the North County health system collaborating with the private Catholic college in Linda Vista on wellness initiatives and on internship opportunities for medical and business students. (Sisson, 9/18)

Becker's Hospital Review: UC Davis Opens Blood Draw Clinic For Neurodevelopment Patients
UC Davis Health opened a special blood draw clinic for children with autism, Down syndrome and neurodevelopmental conditions. The PATH Glassrock Blood Draw Clinic is open one day a week by appointment. Phlebotomists and specialists from the Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy Department provide personalized support to patients. The facility is open to children under 17 years old with neurodevelopmental conditions or those who would need support for medical anxiety. (Taylor, 9/18)

Becker's Hospital Review: 5 Nurses Honored For Health Equity Research: AARP
The American Association of Retired Persons recognized five nurses [including two from California] for their work to end health disparities and improve healthcare. The AARP Center for Health Equity Through Nursing and the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action initiative helped sponsor the Equity-Minded Nurse Awards. The awards honor nurses who promoted health equity through nursing practice, research, education or leadership. (Taylor, 9/18)

Becker's Hospital Review: Less Than 1% Of Physicians Specialize In Older Adult Care
The older adult population is expected to reach 82.1 million by 2050, yet less than 1% of physicians specialize in their care, according to a recent study of Americans over the age of 65. Philanthropic organization The John A. Hartford Foundation partnered with Age Wave, to research how older adults are experiencing and navigating the healthcare industry. The findings were published Sept. 17 in the "Meeting the Growing Demand for Age-Friendly Care: Health Care at the Crossroads" survey. (Gregerson, 9/18)

Becker's Hospital Review: Health Systems Ease Up On IT Layoffs
Hospital and health system executives are navigating a complex financial landscape, with operating costs under constant pressure. As part of their cost-reduction strategies, several hospitals have turned to outsourcing or eliminating IT roles. Despite initial waves of layoffs in recent years, reporting by Becker's suggests that while cuts continue, their pace may be slowing, potentially signaling a shift in strategy. Since July 18, health systems have announced plans to reduce IT positions, with a mix of permanent layoffs and outsourcing initiatives. (Diaz, 9/18)

Reuters: Musk's Neuralink Gets FDA's Breakthrough Device Tag For 'Blindsight' Implant 
Elon Musk's brain-chip startup Neuralink said on Tuesday its experimental implant aimed at restoring vision received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's "breakthrough device" designation. The experimental device, known as Blindsight, "will enable even those who have lost both eyes and their optic nerve to see," Musk said, opens new tab in a post on X. (9/18)

USA Today: What Is Myopia? Experts Now Calling Nearsightedness A Disease
More than 40% of Americans are estimated to have myopia, also known as nearsightedness. While many may consider it a minor inconvenience easily remedied with glasses, authors of a report published Tuesday are calling on health agencies to classify it as a disease. Committee members at the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine say nearsightedness has become an “evolving epidemic” that requires more research, standardization of care and early prevention, recommending at least one hour of outdoor time daily for kids. (Rodriguez, 9/19)

Reuters: GSK Settles Two California Lawsuits Related To Heartburn Drug Zantac 
British drugmaker GSK said on Wednesday it had agreed to settle two lawsuits in California that claimed its discontinued heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer. GSK does not admit to any liability in either settlement, it said in a statement. (9/18)

Reuters: Hims & Hers Offers Compounded Wegovy For $99 A Month To Select Professions
U.S. telehealth company Hims & Hers Health on Wednesday said it will sell compounded versions of Novo Nordisk's popular weight-loss drug Wegovy to patients in certain professions for $99 a month. The company said the pricing would be available to eligible U.S. military members, teachers, nurses and first responders, including police and firefighters, as well as veterans. ... Novo and rival Eli Lilly, which makes the weight-loss drug Zepbound, have filed a flurry of lawsuits against medical spas, wellness clinics and compounding pharmacies for allegedly selling products claiming to contain the active ingredients in their drugs. Compounded GLP-1 injections are fulfilled and shipped from Hims & Hers' affiliated pharmacies and are FDA-regulated, the company said. (Niasse, 9/18)

Becker's Hospital Review: GLP-1s Could Prevent 34K Strokes, Heart Attacks Annually: Report
Wegovy and similar medicines have the potential to significantly reduce the risk of strokes and heart attacks in "clinically silent patients," according to research from Dandelion Health. Dandelion Health used real-world data and clinical AI tools to examine how GLP-1s might act as a primary prevention for obese patients with mild or moderate cardiovascular disease — which is the case for 44 million Americans. (Twenter, 9/18)

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Mayor London Breed Wants To Double Goal For Homeless Shelter
Mayor London Breed has directed city officials to double San Francisco’s shelter expansion goal, the latest big pronouncement about how she’s tackling the homeless crisis as she faces a tough reelection campaign. Breed’s main challengers have all said they would push for significant expansion of shelter to move the unhoused off the streets. (Angst, 9/19)

Capital & Main: Gyasi Mitchell Was Unhoused And Depressed, But Didn’t Trust Therapists. That Began To Change With A Basketball Game.
Gyasi Mitchell’s acceptance of therapy and support for his depression began with an invitation to a park. Mitchell, 22, was lying in bed in a youth shelter in South Los Angeles. He heard Moises Rodriguez, a counselor, in the hallway outside his room announcing that a therapeutic exercise session was going to start across the street, at the South Park Recreation Center. Mitchell went to the park and joined a pickup basketball game with others from the shelter. The other ballers were like him — unhoused, young men; mostly Black and Latino. Conversation ran shallow, Mitchell said — “What’s Up? What’s good?” — but there was a deeper sense of nonjudgement to being there. Mitchell called it “showing up for one another.” (Sánchez-Tello, 9/18)

Politico: Poll: Voters Overwhelmingly Back Prop 36 
California voters overwhelmingly back the tough-on-crime ballot initiative that has dominated political discussion ahead of November’s election, according to a new statewide poll released Wednesday. Seventy-one percent of likely voters said they support Proposition 36, which would strengthen criminal penalties for repeat offenders of drug and theft crimes. The poll, conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California, found that just 26 percent would vote against it. (Schultheis, 9/19)

AP: Los Angeles Area Sees More Dengue Fever In People Bitten By Local Mosquitoes 
Health officials warned Wednesday that the Los Angeles area is seeing more dengue fever cases in people who have not traveled outside the U.S. mainland, a year after the first such case was reported in California. (Ding, 9/18)

San Francisco Chronicle: AT&T Will Remove 100,000 Pounds Of Lead From Lake Tahoe
AT&T will remove about 107,000 pounds of lead from Lake Tahoe that some locals worry has been leaching toxins into the water for decades, according to a settlement agreement announced Wednesday. Roughly 6 miles of antiquated underwater telecommunications cables sheathed in lead belong to the company and extend along the lake’s West Shore between Rubicon Bay and Emerald Bay. Under the settlement agreement, AT&T is expected to remove them before June 2025, according to Chris Shutes, Executive Director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, which had sued AT&T over the issue. (Thomas, 9/18)

Stat: House Panel Passes Pediatric Rare Disease Bill
A House committee on Wednesday passed a bill to renew a program aimed at aiding development of drugs for rare diseases in children, putting it in a better position to be added to government funding legislation. The pediatric rare disease priority review voucher program is set to end on Sept. 30. The legislation would extend the program until Sept. 30, 2029. (Wilkerson and Mast, 9/18)

Roll Call: House, Senate Democrats Renew Health Care Subsidies Push
House and Senate Democrats are pushing leadership to quickly pass legislation to permanently expand subsidies on the health care exchanges — ideally by the end of the year. Forty-one Senate Democrats, led by New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, and 154 House Democrats, led by Lauren Underwood of Illinois, sent a letter to leadership Wednesday morning urging their respective chambers to move “as soon as possible.” (Cohen, 9/18)

Modern Healthcare: Telehealth, Hospital-At-Home Extensions Pass House Committee 
Bills that would extend expiring telehealth and hospital-at-home authorities and reverse a regulation establishing staffing mandates for nursing homes are ready for final votes in the House after committee consideration Wednesday. The Energy and Commerce Committee met to vote on a number of healthcare bills at the session. Among them was the Telehealth Modernization Act of 2024, which passed unanimously. (McAuliff, 9/18)

The Hill: House GOP Torpedoes Speaker Johnson’s Funding Bill
A diverse group of House Republicans torpedoed Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) proposal to fund the government on Wednesday, dealing an embarrassing blow to the GOP leader and derailing his strategy to avoid a shutdown at the end of the month. Fourteen Republicans joined virtually every Democrat in voting against the spending plan — which paired a six-month stopgap bill with a measure that would require proof of citizenship to vote — bringing the final tally to 202-220, with two voting present. Three Democrats crossed the aisle to back the measure. (Schnell, 9/18)

Military.com: Veterans' Disability, Education Benefits Could Be Held Up If Senate Doesn't Vote To Fill $3B Shortfall By Friday 
A $3 billion hole in veterans benefits funding is closer to being filled, but the Friday deadline to fix the issue without potentially disrupting payments to veterans is fast approaching, with lingering questions about whether the Senate can act quickly enough. The House on Tuesday easily approved a bill to provide the Department of Veterans Affairs with $3 billion the agency says it needs in order to ensure benefits checks due Oct. 1 can go out on time. But the Senate still needs to approve the bill, and doing so before Friday will require the consent of every senator -- and at least one senator is raising the possibility of objecting. (Kheel, 9/18)

Becker's Hospital Review: VA, Epic, Oracle Launch Initiative To Identify Veterans In Health Systems
The Department of Veterans Affairs has partnered with EHR vendors Oracle Health and Epic to help identify veterans receiving care outside of the VA system. As part of this collaboration, both Oracle Health and Epic have made code available to all their hospital and health system clients, allowing them to integrate the VA's open API into their workflows. The goal of this initiative is to identify veterans under their care, offer them essential support, and provide access to health benefits, including those outlined in the PACT Act. (Diaz, 9/18)

The Hill: Robert F. Kennedy Says He's Helping Trump Pick FDA, NIH, CDC Leaders
Former independent presidential candidate and antivaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that former President Trump wants him to choose leaders for key public health agencies if he wins the election in November. Kennedy told conservative commentator Tucker Carlson that under a second Trump term, he would be responsible for eliminating “corrupt influences” from agencies, Mediaite first reported. (Ventura, 9/18)

NPR: Exclusive: Watchdog Finds Black Girls Face More Frequent, Severe Discipline In School
Black girls face more discipline and more severe punishments in public schools than girls from other racial backgrounds, according to a groundbreaking new report set for release Thursday by a congressional watchdog. The report, shared exclusively with NPR, took nearly a year-and-a-half to complete and comes after several Democratic congressional members requested the study. ... The findings offer a first of its kind snapshot of the disciplinary disparities that Black girls face in public schools across the U.S. — often for similar behaviors. (Grisales, 9/19)

CNN: MIND Diet Slows Cognitive Decline, Especially In Women And Black People 
Following the MIND diet for 10 years produced a small but significant decrease in the risk of developing thinking, concentration and memory problems, a new study found. The Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay diet combines elements from the traditional Mediterranean diet and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, or DASH diet, which focuses on reducing blood pressure. (LaMotte, 9/18)

The North Bay Business Journal: New Center To Quadruple Healthful Meals Delivered In Sonoma-Marin 
Ceres Community Project on Wednesday took a big step closer to the organization’s goal of changing how youth and adults in the North Bay and beyond approach the foods they eat — as medicine for a number of nutrition-linked ailments. (Quackenbush, 9/18)

San Francisco Chronicle: San Quentin Inmate Dies In Possible Homicide
The death of a man at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center this week is being investigated as a homicide, officials said Wednesday. Correctional officers at the Marin County facility responded to the cell of incarcerated individuals Mark Squires and Gustavo Lopez at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, officials said. Officers found Squires unresponsive in the cell and immediately requested medical assistance. Lopez was moved to another part of the facility. (Parker, 9/18)