California Vaccination Rates Climb But Pockets Still Worry Health Officials
In other health news from around the state, startup insurer Oscar reports first-half losses of $57.6 million from California, Texas and New York. And Sacramento County orders a makeshift youth shelter to close.
Los Angeles Times:
Vaccination Rates Are Up In California, But Pockets Of Resistance Still Threaten Everyone
As the new school year begins, parents have reason to worry about what their kids may be exposed to in the classroom. Despite an overall increase in kindergarten vaccination rates to 95.6% since 2015, when the Legislature stopped allowing public school students to skip their shots simply because of their “personal beliefs,” a Los Angeles Times analysis found that at nearly 750 California schools, most of them charter or private schools, 90% or fewer of the kindergartners had their full course of vaccinations against diseases such as measles, polio, and whooping cough. The optimal rate for preventing a measles outbreak is 95%. (8/15)
Bloomberg:
Obamacare Startup Oscar Posts $57.6 Million First-Half Loss
Oscar Insurance Corp., the health-insurance startup focused on selling Obamacare plans, posted a smaller first-half loss than a year earlier, according to state regulatory filings. Oscar, whose co-founders include Joshua Kushner and Mario Schlosser, lost $57.6 million in the first half of the year in Texas, New York and California. That’s down from $83 million a year earlier. In Texas and California, the company brought in more in premiums than it spent on care, though in New York its health costs still exceeded premiums. (Tracer, 8/15)
Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento Country Ordered To Close Illegal Shelter For Foster Children
More than a year after telling Sacramento County Child Protective Services to stop using a clerical office as a makeshift youth shelter, state officials have ordered the agency to end the illegal practice by a September deadline. The California Department of Social Services wrote in a July letter to Sacramento County Child Protective Services that it must stop letting kids sleep at the county office on Auburn Boulevard near Watt Avenue. (Garrison and Chabria, 8/15)