Latest California Healthline Stories
Las Cruces City Councilors Approve Funding for Mental Health Hospital Feasibility Study
On Monday, the Las Cruces City Council voted to unanimously approve $25,000 to help fund a feasibility study that would look into building a public hospital to treat individuals with mental illnesses. Officials say there is no timeline for when the facility could be built. AP/Sacramento Bee.
California Halts Ebola Monitoring Program
On Wednesday, California public health officials announced that the state no longer will monitor individuals traveling from West Africa for symptoms of Ebola, citing an end to outbreaks of the disease in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Officials launched the monitoring program on Oct. 12, 2014, after a nurse at a Dallas-based hospital tested positive for the disease. Los Angeles Times‘ “L.A. Now.”
California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of January 8, 2016
Prime Healthcare Services has donated its Glendora Community Hospital to the Prime Healthcare Foundation. A San Francisco Superior Court judge has rejected the American Civil Liberties Union’s request for an emergency order to permit two women’s requests for tubal ligation to proceed at Mercy Medical Center.
Study: Few Adult Smokers in Medi-Cal Received Cessation Treatments
A recent study published in Health Affairs finds that Medicaid programs across the country, including in California, are falling short on tobacco cessation efforts, despite an Affordable Care Act provision requiring them to cover such treatments. In California, just 7% of adult Medicaid beneficiaries who smoked were prescribed cessation medications. Kaiser Health News et al.
Republicans Send Symbolic Health Law Repeal To Obama
The house passed the measure, 240-181, on Wednesday. It also includes a measure to defund Planned Parenthood. The vote highlights the partisan discord over the Affordable Care Act that hasn’t faded over the last six years.
Research Finds Link Between Sleep Apnea And Cholesterol
The findings suggest that cholesterol-lowering statins could limit the cardiovascular damage sleep apnea causes. In other news, the Obama administration’s new dietary guidelines back off earlier sodium rules, say lean meats are OK and still recommend cutting out added sugars.
Survey Shows Progress Slowing On Reducing The Number Of Americans Without Health Insurance
However, a Health Affairs report finds little evidence the health law has pushed people out of full-time employment.
California Governor’s Budget Will Revamp Health Plan Tax
The tax would replace California’s current tax on health plans that participate in Medi-Cal, which provides state-subsidized health care to the poor. The Obama administration has said the tax must be overhauled to include all health plans.
70% of Middle, High School Students Have Been Exposed to E-Cigarette Ads, CDC Finds
Nearly 70% of U.S. middle and high school students have seen advertisements for electronic cigarettes, according to a CDC report released Tuesday. The findings suggest that, in total, 18.3 million youth nationwide saw e-cigarette advertisements in 2014. American Lung Association President and CEO Harold Wimmer in a statement said it is “unacceptable and dangerous” that so many youths are exposed to e-cigarette ads. Los Angeles Times‘ “Science Now.”
Across California, emergency departments “are reaching capacity more frequently, beds for new patients are unavailable and full [ED]s must request ambulances to bypass them for other hospitals,” Chris Van Gorder, president and CEO of San Diego-Based Scripps Health, argues in a San Diego Union-Tribune opinion piece. Van Gorder writes that the issue should be addressed not by expanding or building new EDs, but instead by encouraging patients in non-emergency situations to visit a primary care or urgent care provider; expanding the hours, locations and telehealth capabilities of existing hospitals; increasing Medi-Cal reimbursements; and better addressing behavioral health problems. “None of this will be easy to do,” he writes, adding, “But something must be done — and soon — because what’s happening in the [ED]s is a public health crisis, and it’s happening now.” San Diego Union-Tribune.