San Francisco Business Times: Blue Shield Of California Will Take A Week Off In September Due To Obamacare Losses 
Blue Shield of California is shutting down for the four days after Labor Day to reduce its payroll-related liabilities, citing losses in California's Covered California Obamacare exchange. The move will affect most of its 6,000 employees in California, except about 1,000 who work for Care1st, which it acquired last fall for $1.2 billion, and some staffers in customer service and related areas who will remain on the job. The exact number of workers involved hasn't yet been tabulated, according to the San Francisco-based insurer. (Rauber, 8/11)

Bay Area News Group: Legislation To Improve Tracking Of Mental Health Services For California's Foster Kids Moves Forward
Legislation that would require better transparency and tracking of mental health services for foster kids in every California county unanimously passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Thursday. Senate Bill 1291, by Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose, would institute more stringent annual oversight of county Medi-Cal mental health plans' services to foster youth. Services may include screenings, assessments, psychiatric hospitalizations, crisis interventions, case management, and psychotropic drugs, among other treatments. (Seipel, 8/12)

Capital Public Radio: California Legislature Kills Fentanyl, Whistleblower Protection Bills
California lawmakers churned through more than 500 bills one-by-one in the blink of an eye Thursday. The Senate and Assembly appropriations committees froze some measures while advancing and amending others – all without any debate or explanation. Among the noteworthy measures that died: Stronger criminal penalties for illegal distribution of fentanyl, a powerful opioid that health officials say is responsible for multiple deaths and hospitalizations in recent months. (Bradford, 8/11)

Modern Healthcare: Transgender Bias Case Against Dignity Health Could Set Off Religious Freedom Clash
Dignity Health has answered a federal discrimination lawsuit filed by a transgender nurse by arguing that civil rights law does not require its self-insured employer health plan to cover gender reassignment-related care. It says Title VII of the Civil Rights Act does not cover transgender status as a protected classification. The San Francisco-based hospital chain also argued last month in response to the closely watched suit—one of the first of its kind in the country—that HHS' May rule barring categorical exclusion of coverage for gender transition services does not take effect until Jan. 1, 2017. (Meyer, 8/10)

In other hospital news —

Fresno Bee: Groceries Offered In Exchange For Tulare Hospital Bond Voting 
Measure I is a proposed $55 million bond that would raise the money to finish the stalled Tulare Regional Medical Center hospital addition....The measure is proving controversial in Tulare Local Health Care District, which includes Tulare and environs, because voters several years ago approved an $85 million bond for the hospital addition that was never completed. (Griswold, 8/11)

The San Diego Union-Tribune: New Hospital To Support Growth 
The chief of Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center said the hospital is investing nearly $245 million to build a next generation hospital for the South Bay.During an Aug. 5 meeting in Chula Vista hosted by the Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce, Pablo Velez, hospital CEO and senior vice president, said the new seven-floor tower will be one of the most advanced hospitals in the county, with 10 private intensive care and 138 private patient rooms, six operating rooms, a rooftop café with panoramic views and a room for visitors to spend the night, among other features. (Sampite-Montecalvo, 8/11)

KQED: Fed Up With Insurance, Doctors Bolt The System To Get More Patient TimeKQED Future Of You KQED Science
She’s one of a growing number of doctors who have cut loose from what she calls the “assembly-line, volume approach” and is now using a health care delivery model called direct primary care. She has scaled back the number of patients she sees and takes longer with the ones she does. She doesn’t take insurance and deals mostly in cash; she charges each time she sees a patient, but most direct primary care doctors charge a monthly fee for unlimited visits. In her previous practice, (Lorraine) Page says, the pressure to see more patients in less time wore her down, as did the need for an army of support staff to process the copious paperwork required by insurance companies. (Gorn, 8/11)

Mercury News: High-Tech 'Flying Eye Hospital' Visits Silicon Valley 
From the outside, the Flying Eye Hospital could blend in with other aircraft at Moffett Federal Airfield. But the massive MD-10 jet, donated by FedEx, hides a state-of-the-art teaching center for ophthalmology -- medicine for the eyes. Repurposed by New York-based nonprofit Orbis International, the mobile hospital will rival the technology of top eye care centers on the ground when it sets off this fall to train doctors and nurses in areas of the world where underserved patients struggle with vision issues that could be solved with the right medical know-how. (Knowles, 8/11)

The Orange County Register: Two More O.C. Residents Infected With West Nile Virus
West Nile virus continues to spread in Orange County, with two new human cases reported and infected mosquitoes found in three more cities, vector control officials said Thursday. So far this season, three residents have been diagnosed – from Anaheim, Irvine and Orange, all cities where mosquitoes have tested positive, said Mary-Joy Coburn, spokeswoman for Orange County Mosquito and Vector Control District. The first case last week, in Anaheim, was a woman in her 60s; the newest cases are women in the 50-64 age range. (Perkes, 8/11)

Modesto Bee: 52-Year-Old Woman Is First West Nile Case In Stanislaus County This Year
Stanislaus County health officials have reported the first local case of West Nile illness this year. The county has seen two travel-associated cases of Zika infection in adults. Officials said a 52-year-old Modesto woman tested positive for the virus. Health Services Agency spokesman Jim Ferrera said the woman was not hospitalized. The woman’s name was not released. (Carlson, 8/11)

Fresno Bee: California Teen Birth Rate Dives, But Valley Remains Among Highest
California teen birth rates have declined to record-low levels, but the central San Joaquin Valley continues to be have some of the highest rates in the state. In a report released this week, state officials cited programs aimed at preventing pregnancy and no-cost family services for a low teen birth rate of 20.8 in 2014. (Anderson, 8/11)

In other health care news from across the state —

Mercury News: East Bay's Blue-Green Algae Is Officially Toxic, County Says
County and state officials are warning the public to stay completely out of the water in Discovery Bay now that water samples have tested positive for a potentially harmful toxin. Contra Costa County Health Services announced Wednesday that blue-green algae found in various spots around the community's waterways is producing microcystin, a poison that can cause an array of symptoms, including rashes, eye irritation, diarrhea, stomach cramps, vomiting, fever and a sore throat. The toxin has not compromised Discovery Bay's well water system; tap water remains safe to use. (Coetsee, 8/11)

The New York Times: With Congress Deadlocked, White House Diverts Funds To Fight Zika
The Obama administration on Thursday said it was shifting $81 million away from biomedical research and antipoverty and health care programs to pay for the development of a Zika vaccine, resorting to extraordinary measures because Congress has failed to approve new funding to combat the virus. Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the secretary of health and human services, told members of Congress in a letter that without the diverted funds, the National Institutes of Health and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority would run out of money to confront the mosquito-borne illness by the end of the month. (Davis, 8/11)

In other national health care news —

The Wall Street Journal: Obama Administration Counters Insurer View On Healthcare Law’s Costs
The Obama administration on Thursday issued a data analysis saying insurers’ costs for people who buy health-care coverage on their own remained essentially the same between the first and second years of the Affordable Care Act, partly because of a healthier mix of customers on exchanges created by the law. The analysis is one way the administration is seeking to counter insurers seeking substantial premium increases for 2017. Health insurers already have filed proposed rates for the year ahead with state regulators, and big plans across the country are seeking hefty premium increases because of what they say are substantial losses in the first few years of the law’s implementation. (Radnofsky, 8/11)

Modern Healthcare: DeSalvo Out, Washington In At ONC
Dr. Karen DeSalvo, who had been wearing two hats at HHS, is stepping down from her role as the nation's top health information technology official. Effective Friday, Dr. Vindell Washington, the agency's principal deputy national coordinator, will take over as head of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. DeSalvo will remain at HHS as acting assistant secretary for health. (Conn, 8/11)

Stat: IRS Is Urged To Investigate Gilead For 'Dodging' US Taxes
An advocacy group is urging the US Internal Revenue Service and the US Treasury Department to investigate Gilead Sciences for allegedly shifting billions of dollars of income offshore in order to avoid paying taxes. The request from Americans for Tax Fairness comes one month after the group released a report accusing the drug maker of dodging $10 billion in taxes. The move also comes shortly after the federal government went to court to force Facebook to respond to summonses in connection to an investigation into whether the firm shifted certain property rights to an Irish subsidiary. (Silverman, 8/11)

The Washington Post: Do The New Merck HPV Ads Guilt-Trip Parents Or Tell Hard Truths? Both.
Merck, which is running its first television commercials on human papillomavirus (HPV) in half a dozen years, has ignited a fierce debate over whether the pharmaceutical giant is trying to "shame" parents into getting their children vaccinated for the most common sexually transmitted infection. The ads, which first aired June 28, are running on major network and cable channels, in day time and prime time, including during the Olympics, when a lot of people are watching TV with their families. They don't mention Merck's Gardasil, the most widely used vaccine for HPV. Instead, they take aim at a tender spot: parents' worries about doing right by their kids. (McGinley, 8/11)

Stat: US Babies Born Addicted To Opioids Has Tripled, CDC Says
The number of babies being born in the United States addicted to opioids has tripled in a 15-year stretch, according to a government report published Thursday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its most recent Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that the findings, based on hospital data, are likely underestimates of the true problem and point to an urgent need for public health efforts to help pregnant women deal with addiction. The CDC found that the incidence of neonatal abstinence syndrome jumped to 6 per 1,000 hospital births in 2013, up from 1.5 per 1,000 in 1999. The data came from 28 states with publicly available data on opioid addiction. (Ross, 8/11)

The Sacramento Bee: The Bill Pharma Wants To Bottle Up
Few pocketbook issues are as widespread or as hard to fathom as the soaring cost of prescription drugs. In the past five years, prices for the nation’s 10 top selling medications – for high cholesterol, arthritis, diabetes, depression and other common conditions – have shot up 50 percent, 100 percent and even higher. In the last year alone, spending on prescription medication is up 12 percent, to a national total of some $425 billion. Why? Are we sicker? Are drug ingredients scarcer? Are we all just being ripped off?Enter Senate Bill 1010, up Thursday in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. A sunshine bill, it doesn’t set prices or raise taxes; it just demands a few fundamental, and extremely relevant, facts. (8/10)

Los Angeles Times: It's Time For The Government To Play Hardball With Those Whining Obamacare Insurers
It’s easily forgotten that Congress and the Obama administration did the health insurance industry an enormous favor in enacting the Affordable Care Act in 2010. Several favors, in fact. They placed commercial insurers at the center of Obamacare, giving them most of the responsibility for covering enrollees—and therefore access to an army of new customers. They left in place private insurers’ access to the immense Medicaid pool via Medicaid managed care. They killed the public option, which would have provided a nonprofit counterweight to private insurers, hopefully goading the latter into maintaining competitive pricing and customer service. (Michael Hiltzik, 8/9)

Los Angeles Times: Sleek Olympic Athletes Shame Flabby American Desk Jockeys
On the plus side, the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro are providing a nice distraction from the relentless 2016 presidential campaign that has now been with us for two long summers and all the time in between. Not only are the athletes wowing us with their always amazing feats of skill and strength, but there is an edifying moral example being set by the drug-free competitors who are shaming the few among them who have been found guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs. On the minus side, though, there is this: The physical perfection of all these gymnasts and runners and swimmers and soccer players presents a stark contrast to our own all-American summer bodies. (David Horsey, 8/10)

The Sacramento Bee: New Vaccine Law Making Schools Safer By Re-Establishing Community Immunity
This August marks the first school year that children starting school must have required vaccines unless they have a medical exemption from a physician. The number of children without the required vaccines at school enrollment had skyrocketed by 337 percent since 2000, raising the risk of outbreaks of preventable serious diseases such as measles. The new law is already having an impact. Thanks to greater public awareness, the rate of unvaccinated children in our state is already changing for the better. The vaccination rate for kindergartners was up 2.5 percentage points over 2014. And with implementation of the new law, it is my hope and expectation that the immunization rate will climb even higher over the next several years to re-establish the community immunity California previously enjoyed. (Richard Pan, 8/5)

Los Angeles Times: Arianna Huffington Wants To Sell Health Advice And Products. Science Help Us
Arianna Huffington got very rich off writers working for free and by providing a platform for quacks to push dubious medical advice, including dangerous amounts of anti-vaccination nonsense. Now, she’s leaving the Huffington Post and apparently taking the worst of it with her to her new start up, Thrive Global, a “corporate and consumer well-being and productivity platform.” Translating start up-talk into communicable English can be a challenge even for readers at the 10th-grade level, but whatever it is that Thrive ends up doing, know that Huffington will garner a lot of money doing it. This write-up on Thrive from Business Insider tries to pin down exactly what Huffington plans on doing beyond preaching platitudes about wellness and health to corporate HR types worried about worker burnout. (Paul Thornton, 8/11)

Fresno Bee: Unconscionable Drug Price Hikes Hurt Fresno And All Of California 
In Fresno County, nearly half our population is enrolled in Medi-Cal, and Medi-Cal is one of the programs that’s been hit hardest by out-of-control prescription price spikes. California’s 2016-17 budget allocates nearly $1 billion to cover the cost of outrageously expensive Hepatitis C treatments for Medi-Cal enrollees. That’s the cost of just one drug in just one program. (Smita Rouillard, 8/9)

The New York Times: How Common Procedures Became 20 Percent Cheaper For Many Californians
At a time when health care spending seems only to go up, an initiative in California has slashed the prices of many common procedures. The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (Calpers) started paying hospitals differently for 450,000 of its members beginning in 2011. It set a maximum contribution it would make toward what a hospital was paid for knee and hip replacement surgery, colonoscopies, cataract removal surgery and several other elective procedures. Under the new approach, called reference pricing, patients who wished to get a procedure at a higher-priced hospital paid the difference themselves. (Austin Frakt, 8/8)

Mercury News: Alzheimer's Patients Need More Options, Funding
It's a grim statistic: As our population ages, the number of individuals afflicted with Alzheimer's disease is expected to double in the next 15 years. While many of us need help as we get older, care options for those afflicted with Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia are much more limited and constrained even further by health insurance rules that favor medicalized care over supportive programs that might actually lessen the need for medical intervention.This was the situation my family and I faced when my beloved wife Nancy was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. ( John Ottoboni, 8/11)

Contra Costa Times: Bill Empowers Whistleblowers On Safety Issue
Going to work as a registered nurse at Alameda County's John George Psychiatric Hospital makes me proud -- I'm passionate about extending the human right of compassionate care to patients who are too often on the fringes of society. But sometimes, stepping into the hospital also makes me afraid, because I know my safety isn't a high priority for hospital administrators. By voting for AB 2835 by Assemblyman Jim Cooper, Bay Area legislators can help ensure that my colleagues and I who dedicate ourselves to public service have the information we need to stay safe, starting on day one. Health care workers face extremely high levels of violence on the job, including physical, emotional, sexual and verbal assaults. (Rachel Odes, 8/9)

Mercury News: Silicon Valley's Fascination With A Fountain Of Youth
Peter Thiel, the billionaire investor behind Facebook and co-founder of PayPal, recently made headlines for his reported personal and professional interest in whether blood transfusions from younger people can improve and even extend life for older people. Ewww. Vampire alert. Ghoulish and ethically questionable as it may seem, Thiel's interest in young blood and other life extension gambits shouldn't come as a surprise. (Michelle Quinn, 8/9)