Becker's Hospital Review: U Of California Workers Set 3rd Statewide Strike
Members of the University Professional and Technical Employees and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees unions plan to participate in a statewide strike May 1 at University of California campuses, major laboratories and medical centers. ... The strike involves 19,201 UPTE-represented healthcare, research and technical employees and 36,683 AFSCME-represented UC service and patient care workers. (Gooch, 4/16)

Becker's Hospital Review: 2 Permanente Medicine Groups Affiliate
Two medical groups caring for Kaiser Permanente members have forged a closer alignment to increase patient access and improve quality of care. Northwest Permanente in Oregon and The Permanente Medical Group of Northern California formally unveiled their affiliation April 16, shortly after the Oregon Health Authority’s Healthcare Market Oversight Program approved the transaction April 11. Both independent Permanente Medicine groups are physician-led and partner exclusively with Kaiser Foundation Health Plan on care for patients in Oregon, Washington and California. (Dyrda, 4/16)

Becker's Hospital Review: 8 Health System CEOs On The Turbulence Defining 2025
From capacity constraints to reimbursement pressures, health system CEOs are navigating a changing healthcare landscape. One of the top concerns in 2025 is the potential for Medicaid funding cuts. A recent report estimates hospitals could face a $31.9 billion loss in revenue if federal proposals to scale back Medicaid expansion move forward. CEOs from across the country ... recently shared how they are preparing for continued uncertainty and what strategies they are prioritizing in response. (Gooch and Kuchno, 4/16)

Stat: Supreme Court To Hear Challenge To ACA Rule Requiring Free Preventative Care, Cancer Screenings
For a decade and a half, Americans have been guaranteed that no matter their health insurer, certain preventive care like cancer screenings are free of charge. That’s because an Affordable Care Act provision has required insurers to fully cover services given an A or B recommendation by an expert task force. (Chen, 4/17)

LAist: LA Homeless Agency Refuses To Release Records On $800,000 In Payouts For Wrongful Termination Claims
Officials at the homelessness agency for the L.A. region are refusing to release public records to LAist about allegations of high-level wrongdoing — including whistleblower retaliation — that led to $800,000 in taxpayer payouts to settle the claims. A public records attorney says the L.A. Homeless Services Authority’s decision to withhold wrongful termination and whistleblower retaliation claims filed by two executives who left the agency in 2024 is clearly “unlawful.” The employees — former chief financial and administration officer Kristina Dixon and data and IT director Emily Vaughn Henry — were terminated during Va Lecia Adams Kellum’s first year as LAHSA’s chief executive. (Gerda, 4/16)

Sacramento Bee: Homeless People Increasingly Jailed In Sacramento County
Elizabeth Williams didn’t want any trouble with the police. She also didn’t want to freeze to death, so she left her tent up overnight. As temperatures dropped into the 40s, she bundled up under her blankets. The deadline to move the camp was the next day; she could pack the tent away in the morning, she thought. The cops had told her the encampment where she lived was being “swept,” and she was doing her best to comply. Most of her belongings, she and two neighbors said, were already in storage bins. (Lange, 4/17)

Bloomberg: DOGE Places Entire Staff Of Federal Homelessness Agency On Leave
The entire staff of the White House agency tasked with coordinating the federal government’s efforts to combat homelessness was placed on leave on April 15.All 13 employees of the US Interagency Council on Homelessness, or USICH, received notice from the agency’s acting director on Tuesday informing them that they were being put on administrative leave, starting immediately, according to three people familiar with the matter. (Capps, 4/16)

Bay Area News Group: Bill Would Make California Schools ‘Safe Havens’ From Immigration Enforcement
The Santa Clara County Office of Education and the Santa Clara County Board of Education are co-sponsoring a California bill that would establish school campuses as safe havens from immigration enforcement activity, as fears around deportations and arrests ramp up in Bay Area communities amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on noncitizens. (Gibbs, 4/16)

KRON4: Sonoma County Faith Leaders, Residents Rally For Immigrant Rights, Urge Sanctuary Status 
At a huge rally in Santa Rosa on Wednesday, hundreds of people took over the city’s Old Courthouse Square, demanding Sonoma County leaders declare the county a sanctuary haven for migrants. (Rothman, 4/16)

The Washington Post: ICE, DOGE Ask To Use Sensitive Medicare Data To Find Where Immigrants Live
Trump immigration officials and the U.S. DOGE Service are seeking to use a sensitive Medicare database as part of their crackdown on undocumented immigrants, according to a person familiar with the matter and records obtained by The Washington Post. The database, which is managed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and includes reams of health and personal information, contains addresses sought by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, according to the person and documents reviewed by The Post. (Natanson, Roubein and Diamond, 4/16)

San Diego Union-Tribune: ‘Every Position Is Mission Critical’: Veterans And Supporters Voice Opposition To Trump’s Proposed VA Cuts 
Local veterans and their allies and healthcare providers, along with Sen. Alex Padilla and Rep. Mike Levin, spoke out Wednesday against proposed cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs at a pair of events in San Diego County. (Fox, 4/16)

The Washington Post: Internal Budget Document Reveals Extent Of Trump Health Program Cuts
The Trump administration is seeking to deeply slash budgets for federal health programs, a roughly one-third cut in discretionary spending by the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a preliminary budget document obtained by The Washington Post. The HHS budget draft, known as a “passback,” offers the first full look at the health and social service priorities of President Donald Trump’s Office of Management and Budget as it prepares to send his 2026 fiscal year budget request to Congress. (Sun, Johnson, Roubein, Achenbach and Weber, 4/16)

The Washington Post: NIH Science Board Purge Hits Women And Minorities Hardest, Review Shows
Thirty-eight of 43 experts cut last month from the boards that review the science and research that happens in laboratories at the National Institutes of Health are female, Black or Hispanic, according to an analysis by the chairs of a dozen of the boards. The scientists, with expertise in fields that include mental health, cancer and infectious disease, typically serve five-year terms and were not given a reason for their dismissal. About a fifth of the roughly 200 board members — who provide an independent, expert layer of review for the vast research enterprise within the NIH — were fired. (Johnson, 4/16)

Slate: Trump’s Trans Policies Are Making Legal Medical Care Impossible To Access.
Khai Devon’s dreams have been put on hold, indefinitely. His primary care provider approved his referral for top surgery five months ago, but he cannot find a single doctor within reasonable driving distance who will perform the operation. He has been taking time off work to contact surgeons hoping to get an appointment for a consultation, and no one will respond to his phone calls. Finding someone to help would be no issue if he were a cisgender woman, but area medical providers are in “wait-and-see mode,” he says, following an executive order from Trump in the second week of his administration, targeting trans health care. (Lang, 4/16)

Fierce Healthcare: Finicky Investment Markets Threaten Nonprofit Hospital Liquidity, Financial Security
Nonprofit hospitals' investment returns—a key lifeline for balance sheets during times of hardship—are at risk amid recent weeks’ tariff-fueled market volatility, bringing likely repercussions to organizations’ liquidity, debt leverage and ability to survive the coming months' potential operating challenges. The healthcare industry and other adjacent sectors have kept a close eye on President Donald Trump’s shifting tariff policy and the responses from other nations. The pharmaceutical supply chain has been a particular concern, as the products and their components were initially exempted from the highest rates even as officials signal more targeted tariffs to come. (Muoio, 4/16)

Politico: Kennedy Pledges To Figure Out Which ‘Environmental Toxins’ Are Causing Autism
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. used newly released autism figures to insist the nation is facing a crisis and promised to ferret out the “environmental toxins” he believes are responsible. The secretary, who in the past has repeated debunked claims that there is a link between vaccines and Autism Spectrum Disorder, said better diagnostics and awareness are responsible for only 25 percent of the increased rate, which is now 1 in 31 children. (Cirruzzo and Gardner, 4/16)

Stat: Robert Kennedy Returns To Vaccine Criticism After Moderating Views 
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. downplayed his past criticism of vaccines as he sought to become the nation’s health secretary. Now, just two months after winning confirmation, he’s frequently returning to rhetoric from his time as perhaps the most prominent vaccine critic in the U.S. (Payne, 4/16)

Stat: Vaccine Advisory Panel To CDC Recommends Expanded RSV Use
A committee of independent vaccine experts voted Wednesday to recommend lowering the age at which adults can get a vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus, potentially opening up access to these vaccines for adults in their 50s who are at high risk of severe illness from RSV. (Branswell, 4/16)

The Hill: CDC ‘Scraping’ To Find Resources To Help States Respond To Growing Measles Outbreaks
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is struggling to keep up with requests for help from states responding to ongoing measles outbreaks, even as a large number of cases are not being reported, a senior agency scientist said Tuesday. More than 700 measles infections have been reported nationwide, making 2025 the second-worst year on record in decades. There are 561 confirmed cases in Texas alone since late January, according to the most recent statistics. (Weixel, 4/16)

Voice of OC: Santa Ana Looks To Crack Down On Problematic Sober Living Homes
Officials in Santa Ana are looking to join a growing list of Orange County cities regulating problematic sober living homes amid noise complaints, drug use and various disturbances in residential areas. On Tuesday, city council members directed staff to bring back an ordinance regulating group homes where people with alcohol and drug addictions stay and participate in a recovery program to help them achieve sobriety. (Elattar, 4/16)

CalMatters: California Drivers With Disabilities May Use Blue Envelopes For Police Stops
An Inland Empire lawmaker wants to make it easier for Californians with disabilities to deal with police traffic stops, by enabling drivers to present law enforcement with special blue envelopes containing information about their vehicle and disability accommodations. (Brennan, 4/16)

San Francisco Chronicle: CA SB 68 Would Require Restaurant Menus To Include Allergen Labels
A California bill mandating restaurants to disclose allergen information on their menus is making its way through Sacramento. Senate Bill 68 would require restaurants and facilities serving food, such as school cafeterias, to include written notice of major allergens, including milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, wheat, peanuts, soybeans and sesame. State Senator Caroline Menjivar (D-San Fernando Valley) introduced the bill, which last week passed the Senate Health Committee with unanimous support. (Cortez, 4/17)

The New York Times: Daily Pill May Work As Well As Ozempic For Weight Loss And Blood Sugar 
A daily pill may be as effective in lowering blood sugar and aiding weight loss in people with Type 2 diabetes as the popular injectable drugs Mounjaro and Ozempic, according to results of a clinical trial announced by Eli Lilly on Thursday morning. (Kolata, 4/17)

The New York Times: Patients Cut Off From Cheaper Obesity Drugs As FDA Halts Sales Of Copycats 
Hundreds of thousands of Americans stand to soon lose their access to cheaper weight-loss drugs, with a federal crackdown on copycat versions threatening to disrupt treatment and raise costs. The Food and Drug Administration has ordered producers and sellers of the less expensive products to wind down operations in the coming weeks now that it has declared there are no longer shortages of the blockbuster drugs Wegovy and Zepbound. (Robbins and Blum, 4/16)