KVPR: Kern County Program To Prevent Suicide And Substance Use Among Native Youth Faces Uncertainty As Federal Grant Ends
Amid ongoing uncertainty over federal funding of local health services, a project to prevent suicide and substance use among Native American youth in Kern County could be scaled back, or possibly eliminated. Since 2020, the Bakersfield American Indian Health Project (BAIHP), a nonprofit serving Native communities in Kern County, has used federal money to fund a program that integrates cultural practices into its youth services. Customs such as music, regalia making and medicine gathering are taught and practiced to promote social, emotional and spiritual health. (Barahona, 7/31)

KQED: For Altadena’s Therapists, Trauma And Healing From Wildfire Ripple Outwards
Months after the Eaton Fire, Natalie Bowker still makes regular visits to the cleared lot where her family’s home once stood. Even with the destruction of her Altadena neighborhood all around, the view of the San Gabriel Mountains is breathtaking. Bowker, a self-described “tree hugger,” said she returns to the site to feel the energy of her old home.“ It’s a lot better seeing the [empty] lot rather than everything destroyed,” Bowker said. Bowker and her family fled the neighborhood hours before fire took the house. As a certified hypnotherapist, she’s doing the best she can to manage their collective grief. (Cuevas, 8/1)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego County Cancels Naloxone Contract. The DA’s Now Investigating. 
San Diego County has canceled a multimillion-dollar contract to distribute naloxone, a nasal spray that can reverse opioid overdoses, at a critical time for addiction services. The agreement with the Harm Reduction Coalition of San Diego ended June 30, according to public records available on the county’s website. Officials also terminated a second contract with the coalition for drug testing. (Nelson, 7/31)

MedPage Today: Vaping Declined In States With Flavor Bans — But It's Not All Good News
Flavor restriction policies at the state level were associated with reductions in e-cigarette use but "unintended increases" in cigarette use when compared with states that did not enact such policies, according to a cross-sectional study. (Firth, 7/31)

LAist: Homelessness Is Down In The LA Region — But Not For Children And Families
When Los Angeles County and city officials released the results of their latest count of unhoused people in July, they touted the results as a win: “ Over the last two years, our leaders came together to bring people inside, and their efforts have paid off,” said Va Lecia Adams Kellum, who until this past week ran the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. Left out of that announcement, however, was any mention of families and children. But data reviewed by LAist show that the situation for families with children has not improved — especially for those living on the street. (Yu, 8/1)

LAist: LA County Preps For Possible Major Cuts To Housing, Homelessness Funding After Meeting With Trump Appointee
L.A. County officials are concerned that major cuts could be coming to federal money that houses people in the region following a meeting with a high-ranking Trump administration appointee and a new executive order from the president.This comes as county leaders say they're already facing a perfect storm of local, state and federal funding reductions to the social safety net. (Gerda, 7/31)

The Mercury News: Distrust Shrouds Clearing Of Homeless Encampment At San Jose's Columbus Park
Amid the throng of RVs lined up around San Jose’s Columbus Park, brown paper signs draped on vehicles along Asbury Street read “Where do we go” and “Where will we go?” The questions are popular refrains among the hundreds of unhoused residents who will continue to call the park home for the next few weeks before the city of San Jose moves forward with clearing the massive encampment just south of the airport on Aug. 18 as part of its plans to revitalize it in early 2026, after years of deterioration. (Patel, 8/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: SF Judge Blocks Trump Plan To Revoke Legal Protections For Immigrants
President Donald Trump’s cancellation of legal protections for more than 61,000 immigrants from Honduras, Nicaragua and Nepal, most of whom have lived in the United States for more than 20 years, was blocked Thursday by a federal judge, who said it appears to be unjustified and racially motivated. The immigrants are among about 1.1 million from 17 nations who have been granted temporary protected status, shielding them from deportation because of dangers in their home countries. Trump has ordered those protections revoked, saying conditions abroad have improved and some of the immigrants are gang members, while others cause financial burdens. (Egelko, 8/1)

CalMatters: Trump’s Immigration Crackdowns Raise Eviction Risks Across California
It’s hard enough to be a tenant in California, where rents are among the highest in the country. Immigrants who are living illegally in the country often lack a reliable credit history and work low-paying jobs with tenuous benefits. They already find it harder to secure housing, pay more for the housing they do get, are more likely to live in overcrowded conditions and may be more likely to face eviction. (Yu and Christopher, 8/1)

The Hill: Trump Demands Pharma Companies Slash Drug Prices In Next 60 Days
President Trump sent letters Thursday to 17 of the world’s largest drug companies, telling them to take more steps to slash the prices of prescription drugs to match the lowest price in certain foreign countries. The letters represent an escalation of the administration’s push for lower drug prices by launching a “most favored nation” model, which ties the prices of prescription medicines in the U.S. to the lowest found among comparably wealthy nations. (Weixel, 7/31)

Bloomberg: CDC Cuts Experts Out Of Panels That Develop Vaccine Policy
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told physician groups, public health professionals and infectious disease experts that they will no longer be invited to help review vaccine data and develop recommendations, according to an email viewed by Bloomberg. The move marks an escalation in Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s efforts to assert control over the CDC’s vaccine advisory process. (Cohrs Zhang and Nix, 8/1)

CalMatters: She Had To Fight For Help With Medical Bills. A New California Bill Could Make It Easier.
Sierra Freeman has a rare genetic disorder that makes her prone to aneurysms and has sent her to the hospital repeatedly. In July 2022, the Stockton resident had surgeries to repair an aortic tear and a ruptured blood vessel in her brain and spent two months at Stanford Medical Center, which hosts one of the leading programs in connective tissue disorders like the one Freeman has. Over the next 18 months, she racked up more than $4 million in medical bills, most of which was paid through her employee health insurance. (Ibarra, 7/31)

Modern Healthcare: Medicare Pay For Inpatient Hospitals To Increase 2.6% In 2026
Medicare payments for inpatient hospital services will increase 2.6% in fiscal 2026 under a final rule the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued Wednesday. CMS offered hospitals a slightly higher boost than the 2.4% raise it proposed in April. The agency also finalized policies to streamline quality measurement and made tweaks to the Transforming Episode Accountability Model, a mandatory initiative known as TEAM that kicks off Jan. 1. (Early, 7/31)

Modern Healthcare: Medicare Pay For Nursing Homes To Increase 3.2% In 2026
Medicare reimbursements to skilled nursing facilities will rise 3.2% in fiscal 2026 under a final rule the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published Thursday. The agency proposed a 2.8% Medicare rate increase for nursing homes in April. In addition to the higher payments, the final rule includes billing code updates and modifications to quality measurement programs. (Early, 7/31)

The Washington Post: Medicare, Medicaid To Experiment With Covering Weight Loss Drugs 
Some obese Americans on Medicare and Medicaid could get access to expensive weight loss drugs under a five-year experiment being planned by the Trump administration. Under the proposed plan, state Medicaid programs and Medicare Part D insurance plans will be able to voluntarily choose to cover Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound for patients for “weight management” purposes, according to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services documents obtained by The Washington Post. (Cunningham, 8/1)

Modern Healthcare: HRSA To Launch Voluntary 340B Drug Rebate Pilot Program In 2026
The federal government has cracked open the door to what could be a transformation of the 340B Drug Pricing Program. The Health Resources and Services Administration is launching a voluntary program to test drugmakers paying rebates after purchase to safety-net providers that participate in 340B rather than discounting prices upfront, the agency announced Thursday. (Early, 7/31)

Stat: Senate Committee Rejects NIH Cuts, Boosts Budget By $400 Million 
Senators from both parties endorsed a $400 million increase to the budget of the National Institutes of Health on Thursday, in an Appropriations Committee vote that represents a clear rebuke of President Trump’s plan to dramatically reduce the agency’s spending. (Wosen and Russo, 7/31)

Axios: OB-GYN Group Won't Take Federal Funds Over Trump Policies
The leading professional association for gynecologists is cutting financial ties with the federal government, citing Trump administration policies it says prevent it from providing evidence-based guidance. (Goldman, 8/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: UCSF Doctor Challenges Trump Cuts To Wildfire Health Research Grants
As smoke from Canadian wildfires drifted across North America and western U.S. states girded for their annual fire siege, Neeta Thakur was well into her search for ways to offset the damage of such fumes to people’s health, especially among minority and low-income communities. For more than a decade, the UC San Francisco researcher relied on federal grants without incident. But Thakur, a doctor and a scientist, suddenly found herself leading the charge for public health science against President Donald Trump’s political ideology. (Thompson, 8/1)

Bay Area News Group: Caregiver OneCall Offers A Lifeline To Burned-Out Family Caregivers 
After she became a caregiver for her grandmother, Nicole Lopez learned firsthand how overwhelming and isolating caregiving can be, especially without training. The challenge inspired her to start a for-profit senior care agency. However, over time, Lopez quickly realized that sometimes, people are thrown into the demanding role of a caregiver without proper training and support. (Sivanandam, 8/1)

Vacaville Reporter: Bay Area Kaiser Hospital Earns National Ranking For Rehab Care
Compared to thousands of others across the country, Solano County’s local hospitals ranked moderately well, with Kaiser Permanente-Vallejo earning a national ranking in rehabilitation services. (Miller, 8/1)

KVPR: Kern County Supervisors Approve Major Cuts To Public Health Department
Kern County supervisors have approved significant cuts to the county’s public health department. They voted Tuesday to eliminate more than $3.5 million from the department. They also approved the layoffs of 27 employees. Brynn Carrigan, the director of the department, said the budget cuts largely stem from a decline in federal and state funding and increased operational costs. (Livinal, 7/31)

Los Angeles Times: Ahead Of The 2028 Olympics, L.A. Moves To Expand Shade Across The City
As heat waves grow longer and more intense across Southern California, the absence of shade is becoming a serious public health concern — but vast stretches of Los Angeles remain dangerously exposed. Research shows shaded areas can have a “heat burden” — a combined measure of temperature, humidity and wind — up to 68–104 degrees less than nearby sun-exposed areas. Quality shade can also reduce UV radiation exposure by up to 75% and help prevent up to 50% of emergency-room visits during heat events. (Ordner, 8/1)

Orange County Register: Feds Right To Curtail California’s Medicaid Scam 
Offering Medi-Cal to undocumented immigrants was originally expected to cost $3.9 billion from January 2024 through June of this year. But the state is actually spending about $8.5 billion annually to fund coverage for roughly 1.6 million undocumented immigrants. It had to borrow billions from the General Fund earlier this year to cover that tab. (Sally C. Pipes, 7/27)

San Francisco Chronicle: Tech Like Artificial Intelligence Presents New Challenges For Disabled
Saturday marks the 35th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and it’s worth reflecting on ... examples of the ways that emerging technologies like AI tools and algorithmic systems can pose risks to people with disabilities. (Ariana Aboulafia, 7/25)

East Bay Times: Maternity Ward Closures In California Strain More Than Women's Health
A few months ago, I worked my final night as an OB-GYN on labor and delivery at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital in the Los Angeles County city of Glendale. I wanted my team of doctors, nurses and other staff to get together one last time and connect before we shut down the unit. (John McHugh, 7/30)

The Bay Area Reporter: Dorsey’s Benefits Repeal Should Be DOA
Gay District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey’s idea to jettison San Francisco’s landmark law that requires companies doing business with the city to offer unmarried same-sex partners the same benefits as their married heterosexual colleagues is not a good one. With the supervisors about to start their August recess, we urge Dorsey to rethink his plan. And the other supervisors should make sure his plan is dead on arrival if he proceeds with legislation. (7/30)