Los Angeles Times: UC Healthcare And Service Workers Demand Wage Hike And Housing Aid
Hundreds of UC healthcare and campus service workers converged in front of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center to picket during their lunch break Wednesday, demanding higher wages and investment in affordable housing solutions. The informational picket was one of five across the UC campuses organized by AFSCME Local 3299, which represents more than 30,000 workers, who are among the lowest-paid in the UC system. These union members are patient care technical workers, custodians, food service employees, security guards, secretaries and others who keep hospitals and campuses running behind the scenes. (Roseborough, 8/1)

Los Angeles Times: Study: Long Waits, Few Openings For L.A. Psychiatric Care With Medicaid
Only 15% of phone calls seeking psychiatric appointments for Medicaid patients resulted in an appointment in Los Angeles, the lowest percentage out of four cities in a “secret shopper” audit, researchers found. Los Angeles also had the longest wait times, with the median wait stretching 64 days — more than twice as long as in New York City or Chicago and nearly six times the median wait in Phoenix, secret shoppers found. The findings, published Wednesday in a research letter in JAMA, underscore long-standing concerns about Medicaid recipients being unable to access psychiatric care when they need it. (Alpert Reyes, 7/31)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area Companies Hit With Hundreds Of Layoffs, Including Biotech Firm’s 75% Reduction Of U.S. Workers
Numerous Bay Area companies slashed hundreds of jobs in the past week, a sign that downsizings are continuing and expanding beyond the tech sector. San Francisco-based biotech firm FibroGen said it would cut around 75% of its U.S. workforce, following the failure of two pancreatic cancer drug clinical trials. The company “plans to implement an immediate and significant cost reduction plan in the U.S.” (Li, 7/31)

Los Angeles Times: A Chiropractor Hid A Camera In A Restroom, Lawsuit Claims
A chiropractor allegedly placed a hidden camera in the bathroom of a Valencia practice where he worked and inappropriately touched patients, according to a lawsuit filed by several patients. The chiropractor, a part-time employee of a practice called the Joint Chiropractor, was arrested in June and released after posting bail. (Solis, 7/31)

Becker's Hospital Review: How Kaiser Permanente Is Maximizing Its Tech
With more than half of 2024 in the books, healthcare leaders are shifting their gaze to 2025, specifically regarding how they will maintain a competitive edge in the tech landscape. Brian Hoberman, MD, CIO of the Permanente Federation, a part of Kaiser Permanente that supports Permanente Medical Groups, based in Oakland, Calif., connected with Becker's to discuss strategies for harnessing success through existing and emerging technologies. (Talaga, 7/31)

NBC News: After Private Equity Takes Over Hospitals, They Are Less Able To Care For Patients, Say Top Medical Researchers
After private-equity firms acquire hospitals, the facilities’ assets and resources diminish significantly, leaving the facilities less equipped to care for patients, according to a new study by physician researchers at the University of California at San Francisco, Harvard Medical School and the City University of New York’s Hunter College. Published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the research highlights a pattern of asset stripping at health care facilities purchased by private-equity firms, its researchers said, and is the first study to analyze the activity nationwide. (Morgenson, 7/31)  

USA Today: Nearly Half Of Insured Americans Get Surprise Expenses In Medical Bills, Survey Finds.
Nearly half of Americans with health insurance said they received a recent medical bill or a charge that "should have been free or covered by their insurance," according to a survey released Thursday. The survey, from the Commonwealth Fund in New York City, found 45% of working-age consumers last year were erroneously billed, however, fewer than half of those patients challenged their health insurance company or a medical provider about the unexpected charges. (Alltucker, 8/1)

WHYY: Most U.S. Adults Don’t Know They Can Fight Insurance Denials, New Study Finds
Despite laws in states like Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware that aim to ensure people have access to affordable health care services, research shows that patients still receive unexpected medical bills and face insurance denials — and few of them choose to take action. A new national survey report released Thursday by the Commonwealth Fund shows that fewer than half of people who experienced insurance denials and billing issues actually fought the decisions. (Leonard, 8/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: SF Ramping Up For Promised ‘Aggressive’ Sweeps Of Homeless Camps
Ramon Castillo was tidying up inside his neatly organized tent on Folsom Street in the Mission District on Tuesday afternoon when a group of San Francisco police officers surrounded his encampment. “Hello, police,” an officer yelled. Castillo, 48, ducked his head out. (Angst, 7/31)

San Francisco Chronicle: Here’s Why We Don’t Really Know How Many People Are Homeless In S.F.
How many homeless people are in San Francisco? It depends on where you look. According to an annual one-night tally, the most frequently cited measure, the city had about 8,300 people experiencing homelessness in January 2024. That’s the number that’ll be repeated by public officials, compared to counts from previous years and weighed by state agencies to help determine where funding should go. It’s also widely cited in the media, by the Chronicle and others. (Leonard, 8/1)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego Again Declares A Crisis Over A Lack Of Shelter. It’s Still Not Clear Where Beds Might Be Found. 
The San Diego City Council has again declared a crisis over a lack of available shelter for a growing homeless population, a largely symbolic move that nonetheless highlights the upcoming closure of multiple facilities which hold hundreds of beds. (Nelson, 7/31)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego County Only Has A Few Dozen Detox Beds For Homeless Residents. That Total Is About To Get A Boost. 
At the end of this year, a four-story building downtown with hundreds of beds will stop being a traditional homeless shelter. It’ll then become something San Diego might need even more. (Nelson, 7/31)

Times of San Diego: Father Joe's Villages Announces New Detox Facility For The Unhoused
Councilmember Raul Campillo joined Father Joe’s Villages Wednesday in announcing the creation of a new detox facility that will provide up to 45 beds for low-income and unhoused patients. The new beds will be a major step in creating access for treatment during the region’s fentanyl epidemic. Currently, only two MediCal-eligible detox beds are located in the city of San Diego, and neither serves unhoused patients. (Ramirez, 7/31)

LAist: At LA’s Infamous Cecil Hotel, Formerly Unhoused Tenants Report A Plague Of Problems
When the owners of the Cecil Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles announced plans to reopen the building as homeless housing back in 2021, the move was celebrated for giving new purpose to a storied piece of Skid Row real estate. Years later, some formerly unhoused residents wonder if they were better off before moving into the Cecil. (Wagner, 7/31)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: California Pharmacy Board May Ban Drug That Could Reduce Cancer In Firefighters 
As the massive Park Fire charred the landscape and darkened the skies 100 miles to the north, members of the California State Board of Pharmacy prepared to meet Wednesday in Sacramento. Items on its agenda included “discussion and possible action” on a matter that could affect the health of many of the firefighters working to contain that 389,000-acre blaze. (Murphy, 7/31)

Bay Area News Group: California Experiencing Most Severe Start To Wildfire Season In 16 Years 
After two relatively mild years, California is off to its most severe wildfire season in 16 years. (Rogers, 7/31)

CalMatters: Dangerous Dust: Coachella Valley Residents Struggle To Breathe
Outside her home in Riverside County, near the north shore of the Salton Sea, Sara Renteria is struggling to breathe. She has to speak in short sentences, and pauses often to take a breath. When she was diagnosed with asthma as an adult about five years ago, Renteria said her doctor gave her a choice: Leave her home in the Coachella Valley or take an array of medications to treat her condition. It was the air, he told her, that worsened her asthma. (Reyes-Velarde, 8/1)

Public Health Watch: As California Hydrogen Hubs Receive Billions, Public Health Concerns Grow
Billions of dollars in public money are beginning to flow to seven “hydrogen hubs” around the country — regional nerve centers for a potentially clean fuel that could someday rival solar and wind and cut carbon from the atmosphere. Earlier this month, California’s hub, a public-private partnership called ARCHES, became the first to negotiate an agreement with the Department of Energy to build out hydrogen power plants, pipelines and other projects. But researchers and community advocates warn that unless the federal government’s so-called hydrogen earthshot has adequate safeguards, it could worsen air pollution in vulnerable communities and aggravate a warming climate. They’re also concerned that specifics of the emerging efforts remain stubbornly secret from people who live near shovel-ready projects. (Peterson, 8/1)

The Washington Post: Gen X And Millennials At Higher Cancer Risk Than Older Generations
Generation X and millennials are at an increased risk of developing certain cancers compared with older generations, a shift that is probably due to generational changes in diet, lifestyle and environmental exposures, a large new study suggests. In a new study published Wednesday in the Lancet Public Health journal, researchers from the American Cancer Society reported that cancer rates for 17 of the 34 most common cancers are increasing in progressively younger generations. (Bever, 7/31)

CBS News: Double Mastectomy Shows No Survival Benefit For Most Breast Cancer Patients, Study Says 
A new study published in JAMA Oncology followed more than 650,000 women with breast cancer in one breast for up to 20 years and found that women who underwent double mastectomy were less likely to develop cancer in the other breast, but didn't live any longer, on average, than women who didn't undergo double mastectomy. In other words, women who had a lumpectomy or a mastectomy on the affected side but kept their other breast did just as well from a survival benefit as women who had both breasts removed. They say this may not apply to women with the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes which puts them at much higher risk of breast cancer. (Marshall, 7/31)

Stat: Cancer Moonshot's Future May Hinge On Election, Advocates Say 
In President Biden’s address to the nation after dropping out of the election race, he said he would “keep fighting for my Cancer Moonshot.” He will, at least, for his remaining six months in office. Biden’s impending exit from the political stage leaves uncertainty hanging over the future of this signature health initiative, which Biden began first as vice president under Barack Obama and later renewed as president. (Chen, 8/1)

Military.com: With Medical Readiness At Stake, Pentagon Embarks On Plan To Fix The Military Health System 
The Defense Department is taking a four-pronged approach to improve military hospitals and clinics following a drop in patient load that has caused providers' skills to deteriorate. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Dr. Lester Martinez-Lopez said Tuesday that, with roughly 60% of Defense Department medical care now provided through the civilian Tricare network, the DoD is working to attract staff and bring back patients. (Kime, 7/31)

Military.com: Tricare Patients Would See Lower Mental Health Care Costs Under Bill Introduced In Congress 
Out-of-pocket costs for mental health care appointments for patients in the military health care system would be capped under a bill introduced in Congress on Wednesday. Under the Stop Copay Overpay Act, Tricare users' out-of-pocket fees for outpatient behavioral and mental health visits would not be allowed to cost more than those for primary care visits. The limitation could cut patients' costs by an average of 48%, according to a news release from the office of Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., one of the bill's sponsors. (Kheel, 7/31)

The Hill: Effort To Patch VA Budget Shortfall Sees Conservative Resistance
Senate conservatives are showing early resistance to expediting legislation to address a roughly $3 billion budget shortfall for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), as officials warn millions of veterans’ benefits are at risk in the coming weeks. Some senators had been hopeful of passing the bipartisan bill this week amid growing concern over the shortfall. However, the effort is getting pushback from some conservatives, as Republicans have raised scrutiny over the issue. (Folley, 7/31)

Military Times: Pentagon Report Shows What Military Jobs Have Highest Suicide Rates
The military jobs performed by troops who were found to be most at risk of suicide include infantry, ordnance disposal and diving, combat engineering, medical care and those for technical specialists “not elsewhere classified,” according to a Department of Defense study finalized this month and shared with Military Times. The report studied rates of suicide in the armed forces between 2011 and 2022 by military occupational specialty and identified trends to help the Pentagon address suicide risk among certain jobs. (Lehrfeld, 7/31)

NPR: Advocates Haven't Given Up On MDMA Therapy Getting FDA Approval
It’s a pivotal moment: By August 11, the Food and Drug Administration is expected to make a landmark decision on whether to approve MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD. Supporters may face an uphill battle. In June, a panel of advisors to the FDA poked holes in the research from the drugmaker Lykos Therapeutics and voted overwhelmingly to reject the evidence. (Stone, 8/1)

Modern Healthcare: Nursing Homes To Receive 4.2% Medicare Pay Bump In 2025
Medicare rates for skilled nursing facilities will increase 4.2% in fiscal 2025 under a final rule the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published Wednesday. That's higher than the 4.1% reimbursement increase CMS proposed in March. Payments for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 are based on a 3% increase in the skilled nursing facility market basket minus a 0.5 percentage point productivity adjustment and plus a 1.7 percentage point boost to correct previous forecasts. (Eastabrook, 7/31)

Modern Healthcare: Older Americans Act Reauthorization Passes Senate Committee
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee took the next step Wednesday in reauthorizing the expiring Older Americans Act, sending the $15 billion measure to the full Senate. The bill would increase funding for investigating abuse and poor services at long-term care facilities and includes enhanced measures for caregivers, alongside money for items such as senior centers and the Meals On Wheels program. (McAuliff, 7/31)

Bloomberg: Almost Half Of Dementia Cases Can Be Delayed Or Prevented, Study Finds
Almost half of dementia cases can be prevented or delayed by addressing health issues such as vision and hearing loss along with depression, researchers said, offering potential relief as cases of the condition continue to rise. Wearing head protection in contact sports and controlling levels of cholesterol, a blood fat that’s also been linked to dementia, are among 14 actions that should be encouraged by health officials and doctors to slow growth of the condition in the population, according to a report in the Lancet medical journal. (Mannion, 7/31)

NBC News: Weight Loss Drugs Like Wegovy May Trigger Eating Disorders In Some Patients, Doctors Warn
Over the past six months, psychologist Tom Hildebrandt has seen an increase in patients with eating disorders who are taking popular weight loss drugs like Wegovy or Zepbound. “They start using this drug and next thing you know, they’ve developed what looks very much like anorexia nervosa,” said Hildebrandt, who leads Mount Sinai’s Center of Excellence in Eating and Weight Disorders in New York City. (Szabo, Kopf and Syal, 7/31)

Los Angeles Times: Here's What Happened When L.A. Residents Were Given $1,000 A Month 
Some of L.A.’s poorest families received cash assistance of $1,000 a month as part of a 12-month pilot project launched nearly three years ago. There were no strings attached and they could use the money however they saw fit. Now, a new study finds that the city-funded program was overwhelmingly beneficial. (Plevin and Smith, 7/31)

Los Angeles Times: As Harris Rises In Polls, Trump Makes False Claim About Her Black Identity In Combative Interview
Former President Trump made baseless assertions about Vice President Kamala Harris’ racial identity during a combative interview at a Black journalism conference Wednesday, while polls showed his opponent had notched significant gains in battleground states. Trump’s question-and-answer session with three reporters at the annual convention of the National Assn. of Black Journalists grew heated from the start, when Rachel Scott, senior congressional correspondent for ABC News, rattled off a series of Trump’s inflammatory comments — including that former President Obama was not born in the U.S. — and asked why Black voters should trust him. (Moore, Jennings, Rainey and Pinho, 7/31)

Axios: Trump Remarks On Harris' Race Echo His Birtherism About Obama
Donald Trump's audacious lie about Vice President Kamala Harris' race confirmed what many had long suspected: running against a Black woman could summon the former president's worst impulses. Trump's political rise began with a yearslong crusade to delegitimize the nation's first Black president, Barack Obama. Much has changed since 2011, but Trump has never strayed far from the conspiratorial and racist roots of the birther movement. (Basu, 8/1)

The New York Times: Trump Remarks On Harris Evoke A Haunting And Unsettling History 
The audacity of Mr. Trump, a white man, questioning how much a Black woman truly belongs to Black America was particularly incendiary. And it evoked an ugly history in this country, in which white America has often declared the racial categories that define citizens, and sought to determine who gets to call themselves what. (Lerer and King, 7/31)

Stat: Kamala Harris Potential VP Picks On Health Care 
With less than 100 days until the presidential election, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris is expected to name her pick for vice president as early as this week. The pool of potential VP picks share some traits: They are largely white men from battleground or conservative-leaning states who can boast working across the aisle and bridging gaps with moderate voters. (Owermohle, 8/1)