Capital & Main: With Kaiser Mental Health Workers On Strike, California Officials Say They Are Watching To Ensure Care
With negotiations going nowhere between Kaiser Permanente and roughly 2,400 striking mental health care professionals in Southern California, state officials are turning to a connected concern: making sure history does not repeat itself. The Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) announced last week that it will monitor Kaiser patients’ access to mental and behavioral services during the open-ended work stoppage that began Oct. 21, to be sure the health giant continues to provide adequate care, which it conspicuously failed to do when it canceled more than 100,000 appointments during a 2022 strike. (Kreidler, 10/29)

VC Star: St. John's Nurses Demand More Staffing, Better Pay At Oxnard Rally
Nearly 100 nurses and medical professionals demanded increased staffing and more pay in a rally outside St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard on Monday. (Kisken, 10/29)

Becker's Hospital Review: Walgreens Expands Virtual Care To 30 States
Walgreens is rolling out virtual care to 30 states [including California] after initially launching the platform in nine.T he pharmacy retailer expanded Walgreens Virtual Healthcare on Oct. 1, offering chat- and video-based visits with physicians and nurse practitioners for common conditions and men's and women's health issues. (Bruce, 10/29)

Modern Healthcare: Walgreens Layoffs Hit 256 Workers In Another Round Of Cuts
Walgreens Boots Alliance is laying off more employees in another round of corporate personnel cuts.The struggling pharmacy chain is laying off 256 employees, or 3.6%, of its support center team employees and cutting about 215 open and unfilled roles, Walgreens spokesman Fraser Engerman confirmed Tuesday in a statement to Crain’s. (Davis, 10/29)

Axios: Hospitals, Clinics Among America's Most Violent Workplaces
Hospitals and clinics remain among the most violent workplaces in America, continuing to strain health workers in the aftermath of the pandemic experience. The situation is bad enough that the American Hospital Association and the FBI last week announced that they're collaborating on resources to help hospitals make threat assessments and work to mitigate risks. (Goldman, 10/30)

NPR: When It Comes To Improving U.S. Health Care, What 20 Years Of War Can Teach Us
A partnership funded by the Mission Zero Act, passed by Congress in 2019, has resulted in dozens of civilian-military public health partnerships across the country, ideally suited to collaborate in just such a crisis. (Lawrence, 10/30)

Becker's Hospital Review: How City Of Hope Bridges The 'Innovation Gap' In Cancer Care
When Duarte, Calif.-based City of Hope opened its doors in 1913, it did so as a tuberculosis sanatorium. Though more than a century has passed, echoes of the center's past remain at the forefront of the center's mission. "Dignity for patients, cutting-edge care and research-driven discovery were and are our core tenets," City of Hope CEO Robert Stone told Becker's. Those core tenets have led City of Hope to tremendous growth in the 28 years Mr. Stone has been with the organization, the last 11 of which he has served as CEO. (Gregerson, 10/29)

Sacramento Bee: Health Insurance For $10 Or Less? Sacramento Leaders Trumpet ‘The Best Deal In Town’
If you don’t have health insurance, you should know that there’s a place you can go starting Nov. 1 to shop and find “the best deal in town” on a health insurance policy. That place is Covered California, and two-thirds of the 5.9 million state residents who have signed up for a health plan at the site pay a monthly premium of $10 or less for a health plan that covers them if their families experience unexpected medical challenges. That monthly payment of $10 or less buys peace of mind, said U.S. Rep. Ami Bera, a physician and Elk Grove Democrat who’s had to counsel patients who didn’t have insurance. (Anderson, 10/30

Modern Healthcare: Medicare Physician Reimbursement Bill Aims To Block 2025 Pay Cuts
Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are trying to block proposed cuts to Medicare physician payments next year, with only days remaining until the deadline for regulators to finalize them. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in July proposed a 2.9% pay cut for doctors in the 2025 physician fee schedule. Statute requires the final rule to be published by Nov. 1. In the meantime, physician groups have ramped up efforts to urge Congress to block the planned reduction and overhaul the broader payment system. (Early, 10/29)

Becker's Hospital Review: Investing In Women's Heart Health Could Save US $28B Annually: 10 Things To Know
The U.S. economy could grow by $28 billion annually by 2040 if women's heart health was addressed equally to that of men. The McKinsey Health Institute and the American Heart Association studied the effect heart health inequities have on women's lives in a recently published report, "The State of U.S. Women’s Heart Health: A Path to Improved Health and Financial Outcomes." (Gregerson, 10/29)

Los Angeles Times: Gov. Newsom Joins Local Officials In Unveiling A New Round Of Homeless Funding
Gov. Gavin Newsom came to Skid Row Tuesday to announce new state funding that will bring $380 million to the Los Angeles region for homeless housing, shelter, rental assistance, outreach and prevention. The fifth tranche of the Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention program will distribute $827 million statewide and come with more stringent accountability and transparency measures than in the past, Newsom said. (Smith, 10/29)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego Region’s Getting $58.8M From The State For Homelessness. How Long Can That Aid Last? 
The San Diego region is receiving more than $58.8 million in state grants to address local homelessness, the area’s largest award yet from California’s Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Program. (Nelson, 10/29)

The Mercury News: Families With Small Kids Live In One Of San Jose's Most Dangerous Encampments
A red Radio Flyer wagon. A tiny pink chair adorned with the face of a Disney princess. A jumbo pack of Huggies diapers. These are a few of the items spread across one of San Jose’s most dangerous homeless encampments. It’s evidence that children, including infants and toddlers, live or spend time with their families in trailers and RVs at the longtime encampment at Columbus Park, just south of San Jose Mineta International Airport. Some are migrants who recently fled gang violence in Central and South America. (Varian, 10/30)

NPR: Facing Obstacles To Abortion, Military Women Have Built Their Own Support System
Seeking an abortion has always presented unique challenges for women in the military. For decades, a measure known as the Hyde amendment has banned federal funding for most abortions, and only allows military doctors to perform abortions in the case of rape, incest or where the life of the mother is at stake. But more than two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, striking down the constitutional right to abortion, the obstacles for members of the military have only gotten harder. Some 40% of women in the military now serve in states with abortion bans or expanded abortion restrictions. (Walsh, 10/30)

San Francisco Chronicle: Abortion Fund Support Surged After Roe. Will It Last?
Soon after anti-abortion activists achieved their 50-year goal of overturning Roe v. Wade, financial support began pouring into an unexpected beneficiary: grassroots organizations that help people get abortions. According to the National Network of Abortion Funds, budgets grew an average of 88% nationwide in the 12 months that followed the 6-3 ruling that revoked the constitutional right to an abortion in June 2022. (Buller, 10/30)

CIDRAP: More Human Avian Flu Cases In Washington State, California
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said there are 6 confirmed human cases of H5 avian flu in Washington state, as well as 3 more cases in California, raising the national total of human cases to 36 in the United States. In both Washington and California, the new cases have occurred in workers on affected farms. (Soucheray, 10/29)

CalMatters: As Bird Flu Spreads, CA Farmworker Advocates Want More Tests
In the heart of California’s dairy country, workers kitted in respirators, face shields and gloves are grappling with one of the largest bird flu outbreaks in history. California has reported 16 human cases of bird flu this month, and worker advocates say the state isn’t doing enough to protect dairy workers. Only 39 people have been tested for H5N1, the strain of bird flu ravaging herds of cattle, according to the California Department of Public Health. California’s confirmed cases of sick workers account for almost all of the country’s cattle-to-human transmissions, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Hwang, 10/30)

NPR: Walking Pneumonia Is Spiking, Especially In Kids. Here's What To Know
If you or your kid has a cough that’s been lingering, keep reading. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says cases of mycoplasma pneumonia are surging across the U.S., especially among young kids. (Godoy, 10/29)

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. To Pay Drug Users Up To $100 A Week For Sobriety Under New Program
San Francisco will begin paying city welfare recipients up to $100 for every week they stay sober, the latest city strategy to combat a drug epidemic that has claimed over 500 lives this year. Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Matt Dorsey — who represents the South of Market and Mission Bay — unveiled the “Cash Not Drugs” bill in July, and the plan to pay welfare recipients when they test negative for illegal substances passed the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. (Toledo, 10/29)

Los Angeles Times: 14 Sent To Hospital After Suspected Overdoses At Men's Central Jail
Three weeks after one man died from a suspected overdose at a downtown jail, authorities said another seven Men’s Central Jail inmates were hospitalized early Tuesday morning following another potential drug exposure incident. (Blakinger and Uranga, 10/29)

Stateline: Overdose Deaths Are Rising Among Black And Indigenous Americans
The recent decline in overdose deaths hides a tremendous disparity by race: Deaths have fallen only among white people while continuing to rise among people of color, according to a new Stateline analysis of federal data.Health experts in nonwhite communities say they’re finding strategies that work in their areas, but that they still struggle for recognition and funding to address the problems, especially among Black and Native people. (Henderson, 10/29)

California Healthline: For People With Opioid Addiction, Medicaid ‘Unwinding’ Raises The Stakes
It is unclear how many people with opioid addiction have lost coverage in the Medicaid disenrollment, known as the “unwinding.” But researchers at KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News, estimate that more than 1 million low-income Americans depend on the federal-state Medicaid program for lifesaving addiction care. (Krisberg and Colombini, 10/30)

CalMatters: Which Way Did Media Endorsements Go On California Propositions?
Endorsements have made national headlines lately, with both the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post announcing in the final weeks of the campaign that they won’t be backing a presidential candidate. But presidential endorsements are only part of an editorial board’s role during election season. They’re also busy crafting recommendations for state and local candidates, plus ballot propositions. (Peterson, 10/30)

Route Fifty: A Ballot Measure On Medicaid Funding Is Poised To Pass. Some Say It Could Do More Harm Than Good.
In California, where roughly 40% of the population relies on the state’s Medicaid program for health insurance, 46 hospitals have closed over the last decade and emergency room wait times have risen to around three hours in recent years. Backers of a ballot measure before voters this fall say they have a potential solution to these health care access shortages.  Proposition 35 would make an existing state tax on managed care organizations permanent and prevent lawmakers from spending proceeds from the tax on other, unrelated programs. It would also require the state to use some of the tax revenue to increase pay for doctors and other providers under Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program. (Levinson, 10/29)

CalMatters: California Voters Could Make It Easier For Cities To Build Fire Stations And Fix Hospitals — Right Away
In San Francisco, a $390 million bond would fund improvements to hospitals and pedestrian safety projects. And in the state’s rural and underserved areas, where community hospitals are under imminent threat of closures, a Prop. 5 victory could help them keep their doors open. (Mihalovich, 10/29)

CBS News: How Trump And Harris' Health Care Stances And Policy Plans Compare For The 2024 Election
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have different stances on health care policy in America, although in the 2024 presidential election, health care has not played as prominent a role in the campaign as it did in 2016 or even in 2020. In those campaigns those on the left proposed a radical overhaul of Obamacare, while Republicans sought to repeal it. (Watson and Tin, 10/30)

The Washington Post: What Trump Winning The Election Could Mean For The CDC 
State and local health departments would no longer be able to track opioid overdoses, provide cancer screenings and help people quit smoking, according to health officials, if Republicans carry out their plans to dramatically shrink the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under a second Donald Trump presidency. Conservatives in Congress and Washington think tanks have proposed eliminating programs they say are not central to fighting infectious disease. Republican House appropriators want to slash the public health agency’s budget by about 20 percent and eliminate two dozen programs they consider “duplicative and controversial,” including initiatives to study the public health impact of climate change. (Sun, 10/29)

The New York Times: Why Is Harris So Passionate About Abortion Rights? Her Past Work Holds Clues. 
In April 2004, Kamala Harris was less than four months into her new job as San Francisco’s district attorney, a high-profile position that thrust her into the local headlines, when she flew to Washington, D.C., to become one face in a sea of more than a million. People from around the country descended on the National Mall for the March for Women’s Lives, organized by groups including Planned Parenthood and the National Organization for Women, to call for the protection and expansion of reproductive health care, including abortion rights. (Knight and Belluck, 10/29)

Becker's Hospital Review: GoodRx Enters Weight Loss Drug Arena
[Santa Monica-based] GoodRx has officially entered the weight loss drug market by offering an exclusive discount on the once-daily oral medication Qsymia. Through GoodRx, patients with a valid prescription can purchase a 30-day supply of the drug for $149. The medication is available at the discounted cash price at 70,000 retail pharmacies nationwide, according to an Oct. 29 news release. (Bean, 10/29)

Bloomberg: Ozempic Copycats Spurring Employer Interest In Covering Weight-Loss Drugs
Telehealth companies Hims & Hers Health Inc., Noom Inc. and Sesame Inc. have lured individual customers with low-cost versions of popular weight-loss shots like Ozempic and Wegovy. Now, they’re going after employers, too, as the medications become an in-demand perk. After Noom began offering a compounded copy of Wegovy for $149 a month, Chief Executive Officer Geoff Cook said he was “actually a little surprised” by the level of employer interest. (Constantz and Muller, 10/29)

CNN: Some ER Patients Are Half As Likely To Receive IV Fluids Since Disruptions From Hurricane Helene
Patients visiting emergency departments for dehydration or nausea are half as likely to receive IV fluids now than they were before Hurricane Helene exacerbated supply shortages, according to an analysis of health records by Truveta Research. When the storm hit western North Carolina last month, flooding and other damage halted production at Baxter’s North Cove manufacturing facility. The site typically provides about 60% of IV fluids to hospitals across the US, and the disruptions have led to multiple new shortages. (McPhillips, 10/29)

Stat: Eli Lilly Says Modified Dosing Of Its Alzheimer’s Drug Kisunla May Be Safer
A change in the dosing regimen of Eli Lilly’s Alzheimer’s drug Kisunla resulted in a lower rate of brain swelling among patients in a clinical trial, new data reported Tuesday show. But it’s unclear whether the new dosing schedule, if approved by regulators, will convince doctors that the treatment is safer for patients. (Chen, 10/29)

San Francisco Chronicle: Work In The Food Industry? Here’s How To Access Mental Health Services
The guidelines are straightforward: If you are a cook, server, bartender, dishwasher, baker, barista, agricultural worker, winemaker, distiller or anyone else who has worked at least 30 hours per week in the food and beverage industry for the past six months, you are eligible for either 20 counseling sessions or six months of care, whichever is reached first. You will not be asked for your immigration status. After you apply, the Southern Smoke Foundation will verify your employment and refer you to Cal Lutheran — or the relevant university in other states — to be matched with a clinician. (Chung Fegan, 10/29)

Times Of San Diego: Peters: South Bay In 'Best Place' In Decades Of Sewage Fight As Work Begins On Wastewater Plant
San Diego’s congressional delegation Tuesday marked the beginning of an extensive rehabilitation project at an overburdened border wastewater treatment plant. The South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant has been blamed by county leaders, at least in part, for sewage flows at the border, which have been an issue for decades, but now may be contributing to a public health crisis. (10/30)

San Francisco Chronicle: Silicon Valley Firm Allegedly Conspired To Sell Fraudulent N95 Masks
A Silicon Valley company is accused of conspiring to sell fraudulent N95 face masks during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Advoque Safeguard LLC, headquartered in San Jose, conspired to sell hundreds of thousands of face masks mislabeled as N95s in spring 2020, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The company faces one count of conspiracy to introduce misbranded devices into interstate commerce with intent to defraud or mislead. (Ellis, 10/29)