Morning Breakouts

Latest California Healthline Stories

Senate Democrats Fail To Block Short-Term Plans, But They Force Republicans To Cast Politically Dangerous Vote

Democrats have seized on Republicans’ attacks on the health law — mostly focusing on preexisting conditions — as a winning strategy in the upcoming midterms. On Wednesday, senators forced a vote on blocking President Donald Trump’s short-term plan expansion, though no one really expected the measure to be approved. Still, the move put Republicans on the record as voting to uphold plans that don’t include health law protections just weeks before the 2018 elections.

Fact Checkers Find That Almost Every Paragraph Of Trump’s ‘Medicare For All’ Op-Ed Contained Misleading Statement Or Falsehood

Fact checkers comb through President Donald Trump’s opinion piece on the Democrats’ “Medicare For All” plan and flag many of the president’s points that misstate facts about the current Medicare program, Medicare For All’s potential impact on seniors, preexisting conditions, and the cost of the plan, among other things.

CVS-Aetna Merger Clears Crucial Hurdle With Justice Department Approval

The deal is one of several in recent years that has consolidated power among health care companies. Critics worry that the mergers will mean fewer choices and higher health care costs for consumers. “The combination of CVS and Aetna creates an enormous market force that we haven’t seen before,” said George Slover, a senior policy counsel for Consumers Union. CVS still needs to get approvals from several states.

Huntington Memorial Hospital, Long-Serving Obstetrician Face Lawsuit Alleging Sexual Misconduct

The women in Wednesday’s suit were identified only by their initials, and although all three plaintiffs delivered their children at the hospital, none of the alleged misconduct occurred on Huntington’s grounds. Dr. Patrick Sutton has faced previous allegations of sexual misconduct and will be removed from hospital leadership.

Health Groups Condemn Trump Administration’s Green Card Policy As ‘Heartless, Punitive’

Experts say that hundreds of thousands of children and other members of low-income legal immigrant families could drop out of public programs providing health care, nutrition and housing assistance due to the rule, which directs immigration officials to take into account things such as Medicaid assistance when determining green card eligibility.

Roundup-Maker May Get New Trial That Could Undermine $250M In Punitive Damages Awarded To Groundskeeper

San Francisco’s Superior Court of California Judge Suzanne Bolanos issued a tentative motion granting Bayer a new trial. Her ruling calls into question the bulk of the $289 million judgment, the first in thousands of cases alleging that glyphosate, the main ingredient in Bayer’s Roundup herbicide, causes cancer.