Latest California Healthline Stories
And in more federal government news impacting Californians: CHIP rescissions explained; lessons learned from a mock pandemic excercise; FDA approves stroke diagnostic device; and the White House event on fitness.
White House Announces Drug Companies Plan ‘Massive’ Cuts In Prices Soon
The statement appeared to catch administration officials and industry leaders off guard, and no other details were offered. In other news: President Donald Trump eyes changes to the way Medicaid pays for drugs.
Voters Will Weigh In On Ballot Measure That Proposes Dialysis Industry Regs
The initiative qualified to appear on the November ballot. In local news from around California: Los Angeles cracks down on illegal marijuana dispensaries, and Oakland votes to appeal a ruling that overturned its ban on shipping coal.
A New Experiment: California Pays People To Test Their Drugs For Fentanyl
In more news on the national epidemic: inspectors struggle to catch opioids smuggled in small amounts through the mail or delivery services; drugged driving deaths spike; and a USC medical school dean’s hard drug usage is probed.
Assembly Passes Bill To Make California First State To Cover Undocumented Immigrants Under Medicaid
The state Senate will consider the measure next. In national news, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services refutes reports on missing migrant children. And a special report focuses on burnout doctors are suffering by being required to give uninsured, undocumented patients suboptimal care.
Legal Limbo Over California’s Aid-In-Dying Law Impacts Patients And Doctors
The state’s law allowing medical aid-in-dying for terminal patients is on hold for at least another month. A judge refused a stay on his ruling that the measure was illegally passed during a special session of the Legislature. With appeals underway, the uncertainty leaves many questions for the medical community.
Supreme Court Refuses Case On Arkansas Law Restricting Medication Abortions
The legislation requires providers of medication abortions to have contracts with doctors who have admitting privileges at a hospital in the state. The case will continue being litigated in the lower courts, but Arkansas is the only state to essentially ban medication abortions.
Even As LA Pours Money Into Homeless Crisis, City Gets Tied Up In Red Tape
An initiative to open public bathrooms on skid row was cheered as a step forward, but only three months later they’re already gone again. “If we can’t get something as simple as mobile restrooms up and running, that doesn’t give me a lot of faith the city can produce the leadership needed to produce housing units,” said Pete White of the Los Angeles Community Action Network, a skid row anti-poverty group.
Community Workers Strive To Keep Former Inmates Out Of Prison By Focusing On Their Health Needs
“We’ve always known incarceration is bad for health,” said Leah G. Pope, director of the substance use and mental health program at the Vera Institute of Justice, a research and advocacy group. “But in an age of increasing attention to justice reform and health care reform, the two are increasingly connected.”
Parents Turn To Courts To Force California Into Improving Access To At-Home Care For Medi-Cal Kids
“They’re asking the court to tell the state to do a better job of arranging for nursing care, by actively helping them recruit and keep nurses,” said Will Leiner, an attorney with Disability Rights California. “And the state also needs to do a better job to identify and monitor children who are not getting the services that they need.”