Sacramento Bee: CA Gov. Jerry Brown Keeps Tobacco Tax Money Doctors Wanted 
Doctors have long argued that the money they receive for serving Medi-Cal patients isn’t enough to sustain a practice, leading to a shortage of medical providers willing to treat California’s poorest residents in rural communities and other pockets of the state. But they have been unable to persuade a fiscally restrained Gov. Jerry Brown to allocate money in the state budget to raise reimbursement rates. (Luna, 1/12)

Los Angeles Times: As A Deficit Looms, Here's A Look At Some Of The Plans In California's New Budget 
Gov. Jerry Brown’s newly unveiled state budget calls for spending $179.5 billion in the coming fiscal year, while offering ways to avoid what he believes would otherwise be California’s first deficit in more than three years. Here’s an overview of some of the most important proposals outlined by Brown in the budget he presented to the Legislature on Tuesday. (Myers, 1/13)

Mercury News: Obamacare's Architect: Five Points About Health Care Reform
In a wide-ranging conversation Wednesday night at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, Obamacare’s main architect, talked about health care reform and the debate over President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, which has helped insure at least 20 million more  Americans, including five million Californians. Emanuel is still a [strong] advocate of the law, saying it has contributed to keeping U.S. health care costs more under control than at any time in the last 50 years. But like many other health care experts, he acknowledges room for improvement — and hopes it can now be done a bipartisan fashion. (Seipel, 1/12)

San Francisco Business Times: Bay Area Health Leaders Try To Plan Around Potential ACA Repeal 
President Obama’s signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act, has provided roughly 20 million people nationwide with health insurance. With an incoming president and Congress hard at work trying to repeal the bill, Bay Area health care leaders are watching the situation closely, still unsure of precisely how it will unfold. (Siu, 1/12)

KPBS Public Media: Obamacare Supporters Protest At Issa's North County Office
Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Vista) is a staunch opponent of the Affordable Care Act and wants to repeal it as soon as possible. About 30 people who disagree with his position protested in front of his Vista office on Thursday. And while some simply held signs declaring their support for Obamacare, others, like Vista resident Marjorie Bramwell, didn't mince her words. (Goldberg, 1/12)

And media outlets look at what else will be affected by repeal —

Orange County Register: Asian Americans, Latinos At Orange County Forum Worry About What May Come Under Trump 
Alexis Nava Teodoro said he attended a community forum at Whittier Law School on Thursday afternoon "to build bridges." The Santa Ana immigrant rights activist said he is one of many who are concerned about the steps a Donald Trump administration might take to make matters worse for immigrant families, particularly those who are undocumented. ... The repeal of the Affordable Care Act is also a huge concern among Asian Americans, Wang said, adding that the Asian American community in California saw a 59 percent drop in those uninsured after ACA passed. About 32,000 Asian Americans in Orange County benefit from the Affordable Care Act, she said. (Bharath, 1/12)

San Diego Union-Times: California's Stem Cell Agency Backers Considering Bond Financing
California’s stem cell agency begins 2017 with two issues on the mind of its vice chair, Art Torres. What happens to health care reimbursements if Obamacare is repealed? Will supporters of the agency organize to urge California voters to grant the agency more money to continue its mission? That mission is to hasten bringing stem cell and related therapies to patients, in a way that strengthens California’s economy. It began in 2004, when 59 percent of California voters approved Prop. 71, establishing the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. (Fikes, 1/12)

Stat: Arizona Takes Steps To Sue Theranos For Consumer Fraud
The Arizona attorney general is prepping for a lawsuit against Theranos, alleging consumer fraud by the embattled blood-testing startup. The office of Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich is looking to hire an outside firm to take legal action against Theranos and its subsidiaries according to a bidding contract filed Jan. 4. (Keshavan, 1/12)

Sacramento Bee: California Lawmakers And UCLA Researchers Cite Roadblocks To Breast Cancer Care
It’s one of the most high-profile, well-funded cancers out there, but breast cancer treatment is still hobbled by obstacles for thousands of California women who get diagnosed each year. That’s the prognosis by a UCLA research team that cited three main roadblocks: uneven insurance coverage, time limits on treatment programs and language/cultural barriers. (Buck, 1/12)

In other public health news —

Sacramento Bee: Diabetes Deaths Exploding In California’s Under-55 Population 
In 2015, 390 Californians under age 55 died from the disease, according to new figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Deaths from Type II diabetes have risen across all age groups. About 4,900 Californians died from the disease last year, for a rate of 12.5 deaths per 100,000 people, up from 2 deaths per 100,000 people in 1999. (Reese, 1/12)

Los Angeles Times: Experts Have Only A Hazy Idea Of Marijuana’s Myriad Health Effects, And Federal Laws Are To Blame
More than 22 million Americans use some form of marijuana each month, and it’s now approved for medicinal or recreational use in 28 states plus the District of Columbia. Nationwide, legal sales of the drug reached an estimated $7.1 billion last year. Yet for all its ubiquity, a comprehensive new report says the precise health effects of marijuana on those who use it remain something of a mystery — and the federal government continues to erect major barriers to research that would provide much-needed answers. (Healy, 1/12)

The New York Times: House Expected To Follow Senate’s Lead On Rush To Repeal Health Law
The House is expected to give final approval on Friday to a measure that would allow Republicans to speedily gut the Affordable Care Act with no threat of a Senate filibuster, a move that would thrust the question of what health law would come next front and center even before President-elect Donald J. Trump takes office. (Kaplan, Pear and Huetteman, 1/12)

The Washington Post: Anxious Lawmakers To GOP Leaders: What’s The Plan To Replace Obamacare?
House Republican leaders attempted to quell concerns of a skittish rank and file before a key vote Friday to begin unwinding the Affordable Care Act. The assurances came after lawmakers across the GOP’s ideological divides sounded anxious notes this week about advancing legislation that would repeal Obamacare without firm plans for its replacement. “We just want more specifics,” Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said Wednesday. “We need to know what we’re going to replace it with.” Meadows said he was personally undecided on his vote Friday and that other caucus members were leaning toward no. (DeBonis, 1/12)

Politico: House Liberty Caucus Opposes Budget To Trigger Obamacare Repeal
The House Liberty Caucus, a collection of libertarian-minded lawmakers, is urging the House to reject the Senate-passed budget resolution meant to clear the way for the repeal of Obamacare. “This may be the worst budget ever seriously considered by Congress,” said caucus Executive Director Matt Weibel, in a statement announcing the recommendation. “It never balances, and it grows the national debt by more than $9 trillion over the next decade—to nearly $30 trillion—dwarfing debt increases proposed by even the most far-left budgets.” (Cheney, 1/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Health Care’s Bipartisan Problem: The Sick Are Expensive And Someone Has To Pay
Congress has begun the work of replacing the Affordable Care Act, and that means lawmakers will soon face the thorny dilemma that confronts every effort to overhaul health insurance: Sick people are expensive to cover, and someone has to pay. ... If policyholders don’t pick up the tab, who will? Letting insurers refuse to sell to individuals with what the industry calls a “pre-existing condition”—in essence, forcing some of the sick to pay for themselves—is something both parties appear to have ruled out. Insurers could charge those patients more or taxpayers could pick up the extra costs, two ideas that are politically fraught. (Wilde Mathews and Radnofsky, 1/12)

Politico: GOP Governors Fight Their Own Party On Obamacare
Republican governors who reaped the benefits of Obamacare now find themselves in an untenable position — fighting GOP lawmakers in Washington to protect their states’ health coverage. This rift between state and federal GOP officials is the real battle on Obamacare at a time when Democrats have only marginal power in Congress. The voices of even a handful of Republican governors intent on protecting those at risk of losing coverage could help shape an Obamacare replacement and soften the impact on the millions who depend on the law. (Pradhan, 1/13)

In other national health care news —

The Associated Press: Trump's HHS Pick Will Sell Off Stock To Avoid Conflicts
President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be the nation's top health official will sell off stock holdings to avoid potential conflicts of interest, according to government documents released Thursday. Rep. Tom Price's ethics agreement and financial disclosure were posted online by the Office of Government Ethics. ... If confirmed by the Senate, Price said he would divest himself of stock in more than 40 companies. He'll also resign a position with the American Medical Association, as well as a managing role in a business partnership. (1/12)

Roll Call: Republicans Not So Sure About Trump's Call for Drug “Bidding”
Congressional Republicans are downplaying or dismissing President-elect Donald Trump’s call Wednesday for the government to start “bidding” for prescription drugs. Addressing the high price of prescription drugs is a popular bipartisan issue, but Republicans tend to favor an approach that would stimulate competition that could help bring prices down. Under the Medicare drug program, price negotiation does occur between drug companies and the insurers who administer the coverage, but the federal government is forbidden from leveraging the bargaining power of Medicare as a whole. Changing that dynamic has largely been a non-starter among Republicans, who think the government would have a hard time negotiating better prices than the private insurers in the Medicare Part D drug program. (Siddons, 1/12)

Reuters: Investors In Big Pharma, Biotech Look To Ride Out Trump Storm
Investors in large U.S. pharmaceutical and biotech companies are counting on strong dividends, reasonable stock valuations and new products to help ride out a storm of political uncertainty as the incoming Trump administration dives into healthcare policy. (Krauskopf, 1/12)

Los Angeles Times: Allowing Medicare To Negotiate Drug Prices Is A Popular Solution To Healthcare Costs. But It May Not Work
At his press conference Wednesday, President-elect Donald Trump endorsed what may be the most oft-cited solution to the crisis of skyrocketing drug prices: allowing Medicare to negotiate prices directly with drug manufacturers. Trump’s words were solidly in the mainstream of healthcare reform thought, even if he did add the spin of a self-styled dealmaker. (Michael Hiltzik, 1/11)

Los Angeles Times: Repealing Obamacare Could Be A Matter Of Life Or Death For Many Americans. Here Are Their Voices 
Obamacare’s critics have painted a picture of the law that is wholly negative: that it’s a “disaster,” that it’s in a “death spiral,” that it’s caused a “struggle” for families that use it. To people not directly affected by the Affordable Care Act — the 85% of Americans who get their coverage from their employers or public programs such as Medicare — these assertions seem plausible enough, especially since they’ve been repeated incessantly for more than six years. Repeat a big lie often and loudly enough, and you don’t need evidence. (Michael Hiltzik, 1/9)

Orange County Register: Don't Count On An Easy Cure For Obamacare 
No government “plan” can meet the needs of people as well as businesses competing for customers and customers shopping for the best deal. Then the government can limit its role to filling in the gaps. It can pay for Medicaid. It can guarantee a risk-pool or reinsurance fund so pre-existing conditions can always be covered. As Obamacare slips into the next world, no one should lie awake thinking salesmanship could have saved it. (Susan Shelley, 1/7)

Sacramento Bee: Trump, Republicans At Odds Of Dealing With Provisions In Obamacare
Trump promised to guarantee coverage to all, not cut Medicaid and preserve protections for those who have pre-existing conditions. If he does all of that, he will be repealing Obamacare and replacing it with something that changes the name but not the program. That may be what he has in mind, but it’s not what his closest allies and advisers have said they intend to enact. (Daniel Weintraub, 1/9)

Los Angeles Times: Healthcare Hell: Fighting To Overturn Denied Insurance Claims
One focus of the planned repeal of Obamacare is maintaining coverage for people with preexisting conditions. Republican lawmakers say the current law’s safeguards won’t change, but they have yet to explain how they’ll accomplish this without also keeping the mandate that everyone buy insurance. What isn’t being discussed — although it should be — is the obstacle course that insurance companies and middlemen often make policyholders navigate just to get claims approved, often for chronic conditions. (David Lazarus, 1/13)

Orange County Register: Use The Marketplace To Improve Health Care 
As our next president, Donald Trump has an opportunity to save lives and improve the health care system for everyone. I am particularly pleased that health care reform is high on the president-elect’s agenda. Rep. Tom Price, the nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, has made clear his belief that government should be less involved in health care, which makes it even more important for government to help patients obtain the information and skills they will need to become more active consumers. As a businessman, Trump knows that marketplace dynamics can transform health care, just as they have transformed every other sector of our economy. (Leslie Michelson, 1/6)

Los Angeles Times: A Texas Federal Judge OKs Nationwide Discrimination In Healthcare Against Transgender People
In a ruling upholding the latest tangential attack on the Affordable Care Act by religious activists, a federal district judge in Texas blocked regulations prohibiting insurers, doctors, or hospitals from discriminating against transgender patients or women with an abortion in their medical history. (Michael Hiltzik, 1/9)

Los Angeles Times: Defunding Planned Parenthood Hurts The Healthcare System 
Way up high on the list of priorities of the newly empowered Republican-controlled Congress is the defunding of Planned Parenthood, the well-known and highly competent not-for-profit organization that provides a broad array of reproductive healthcare services to women throughout the country... The first thing to understand is that this plan on the part of the Republicans has nothing to do with improving healthcare services.  Members of Congress want to defund Planned Parenthood simply because it also provides abortions — which are anathema to many Republicans despite the fact that they are not only legal but are constitutionally protected, as has been affirmed by the Supreme Court in three different landmark decisions. (1/7)

Fresno Bee: Who Pays For War On Planned Parenthood? 
Californians can be forgiven if the fight over Planned Parenthood feels more like time-worn political theater than a real threat. This is a blue state. We haven’t suffered the arcane restrictions and mass clinic shutdowns that have constricted reproductive rights in Texas and other states. But the crusade will hit home hard if President-elect Trump – whose new head of White House health policy is a former Republican Senate staffer who has claimed, falsely, that contraception causes abortions – acquiesces to his party’s true believers in Congress. Of the $500 million Planned Parenthood gets each year in Medicaid reimbursements, contraceptive discounts and other federal funding, about $260 million goes to health centers in California. (1/8)

Orange County Register: Trump's Choice Of Vaccine Foe Kennedy Could Worsen Political Ills - The Orange County Register
Not one to skirt controversy, President-elect Donald Trump has reinserted himself into a marginal but revealing controversy: vaccines. Drawing fire from across the political spectrum — but also some cheers — Trump asked Democrat Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a well-known opponent of standard practices, to head up a new commission on vaccinations. Kennedy agreed. (1/12)

Los Angeles Times: Donald Trump And A Major Medical Clinic Have Moved Vaccine Anti-Science Back Into The Mainstream
Scientific ignorance never lies very deep beneath the claims of the anti-vaccine movement. Many of its adherents still claim there’s a connection between childhood vaccines and autism, even though the connection has been conclusively debunked and shown to have originated in an act of scientific fraud. (Michael Hiltzik, 1/11)

Los Angeles Times: 2017 Is Shaping Up To Be A Banner Year For Anti-LGBT Discrimination 
If you thought 2016 was a nasty, brutish year for LGBT rights across the country, 2017 is already shaping up to be much, much worse.Over the holidays, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) announced that he would be reintroducing the First Amendment Defense Act, a bill first put forward in 2015. It would prevent the government from taking action against businesses that discriminate against LGBT people based on their “religious belief or moral conviction” that marriage is defined as a union solely between one man and one woman. (Nico Lang, 1/6)