Capital Public Radio: Selling Food From Your Kitchen Is Legal In California, But There's A Catch 
A new law in California allows home cooks to prepare and sell meals out of their personal digs as of January 1. But would-be household hash slingers shouldn't grab their aprons and chef hats just yet. The law — the first of its kind in the country — has a major caveat: counties have to opt in, and so far, none have. (Romero, 1/17)

San Francisco Chronicle: SF General’s Insured Patients Suffer Further Trauma When Bill Arrives
If you’re shot, stabbed, hit by a car, fall off a roof or suffer any other major injury in San Francisco, you’ll be whisked to San Francisco General Hospital, the only trauma center in the city. ...But you may leave with a very unpleasant side-effect: a shockingly high bill. ...That’s because S.F. General — whose patients are overwhelmingly poor and are on Medicare or Medi-Cal, or have no insurance at all — lacks a good way to deal with patients who are actually insured. (Knight, 1/18)

The Mercury News: Silicon Valley Sees Hope In Microsoft's $500 Million For Housing
Microsoft’s promise to pony up $500 million for Seattle-area housing has Silicon Valley buzzing, full of hope that tech titans here will pour similar sums into the housing shortage in their own back yards. The Redmond-based software giant will dole that money out as loans for low and middle-income housing, and as grants to fight homelessness, the company’s answer to its hometown’s rising prices and jobs-housing imbalance. (Kendall, 1/17)

In other news from across the state —

Modesto Bee: New Efforts Launched To Help Those With Untreated Mental Illness In Stanislaus County
A pair of programs are targeting the need for mental health treatment in Stanislaus County. Modesto-area residents have struggled with access to treatment. And untreated mental illness is a prominent issue with its ties to homelessness. (Carlson, 1/17)

Sacramento Bee: UC Davis Students Aim To Stock Free Menstrual Products
UC Davis students have launched a pilot program to make free menstrual products available to all students. The university chapter of Period, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to providing free menstrual care products, aims to stock all women’s, men’s and gender-neutral bathrooms on campus soon. For now, a grant funded through the Student Health and Counseling Services helps 24 volunteers take turns restocking nine bathrooms in five university buildings each week. (Morrar, 1/16)

Los Angeles Times: Climate Change Is Making Us Sicker And Shortening Our Lives, Doctors Say
In the welter of daily demands upon physicians, it might be easy to imagine that weaning the world off its reliance on fossil fuels is asking a bit too much. But preventing sickness and averting premature death are squarely in a physician’s wheelhouse. And dramatic increases in both are projected for the foreseeable future as the world’s continued reliance on fossil fuels results in more air pollution, infectious diseases, malnutrition, wildfires, extreme heat and increasingly powerful weather events. (Healy, 1/17)

In other public health news —

Orange County Register: Santa Ana Woman Is Orange County’s 1st Flu-Related Death In 2019 
The county’s Health Care Agency confirmed Thursday, Jan. 17, that a Santa Ana woman is Orange County’s first influenza-related death of a person under 65 this season. Officials said the woman had underlying health conditions and died from complications related to the flu. (Bharath, 1/17)

The New York Times: Family Separation May Have Hit Thousands More Migrant Children Than Reported
The Trump administration most likely separated thousands more children from their parents at the Southern border than was previously believed, according to a report by government inspectors released on Thursday. The federal government has reported that nearly 3,000 children were forcibly separated from their parents under last year’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy, under which nearly all adults entering the country illegally were prosecuted, and any children accompanying them were put into shelters or foster care. (Jordan, 1/17)

The Associated Press: Watchdog: Thousands More Children May Have Been Separated
Ann Maxwell, assistant inspector general for evaluations, said the number of children removed from their parents was certainly larger than the 2,737 listed by the government in court documents. Those documents chronicled separations that took place as parents were criminally prosecuted for illegally entering the country under President Donald Trump's "zero tolerance" policy. "It's certainly more," Maxwell said. "But precisely how much more is unknown." Maxwell said investigators didn't have specific numbers, but that Health and Human Services staff had estimated the tally to be in the thousands. (1/17)

Reuters: U.S. Separated 'Thousands' More Immigrant Children Than Known: Watchdog
The administration of President Donald Trump implemented a 'zero tolerance' policy to criminally prosecute and jail all illegal border crossers even those traveling with their children, leading to a wave of separations last year. The policy sparked outrage when it became public, and the backlash led Trump to sign an executive order reversing course on June 20, 2018. But the auditor said in a report that prior to the officially announced 'zero tolerance' policy, the government began ramping up separations in 2017 for other reasons related to a child's safety and well-being, including separating parents with criminal records or lack of proper documents. (1/17)

Politico: Trump Administration Separated Thousands More Migrants Than Previously Known, Federal Watchdog Says
The first separations began in 2017 and were seen as a trial balloon for the “zero-tolerance” policy announced by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions in May 2018, an HHS official not involved in conducting the audit told POLITICO. A federal investigator declined to say whether senior Trump administration officials were told about those early separations, but suggested that could be addressed in the upcoming reports. "We did not, in this report, address who knew what, when," said Assistant Inspector General Ann Maxwell on the press call. The inspector general report said some family separations continued, even after President Donald Trump in June 2018 ended the policy amid uproar and a federal court ordered his administration to reunify the families. The June 2018 court order called on the administration to reunify about 2,500 separated children in government custody. Most of those families were reunited within 30 days. (Diamond, 1/17)

The Washington Post: IG: Trump Administration Took Thousands More Migrant Children From Parents
Although previous administrations also separated minors at the border in some instances — usually when they suspected the child was smuggled, or if the parent appeared unfit — the report said the practice appears far more common under Trump and began nearly a year before administration officials publicly acknowledged it. (Goldstein, 1/17)

The Washington Post: FDA Directs Dwindling Resources Toward Reviewing New Drugs
The Food and Drug Administration plans to furlough more people and suspend lower-priority tasks to preserve money for drug reviews, including for new treatments for depression, diabetes and several types of cancer. With money for drug reviews rapidly diminishing as the government shutdown drags into its fourth week, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in an interview Thursday that he plans to curtail “discretionary activities” and call for additional furloughs in areas in which workloads have been reduced due to the shutdown. (McGinley, 1/17)

CNN: This Diabetic Federal Worker Rationed Her Insulin During The Shutdown Because Debt Was Scarier Than Dying
A furloughed federal worker who is diabetic said she resorted to rationing her insulin medication because "the thought of having more debt was scarier than the thought of dying" in her sleep. "I thought, no end in sight for the shutdown. I can't afford an ambulance bill. I can't afford to go to the emergency room right now, because I know there's more bills coming our way," Mallory Lorge explained on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360." (Barrett, 1/17)

In other national health care news —

The Associated Press: Trump Administration Proposes Higher 'Obamacare' Premiums
The Trump administration on Thursday announced proposed rule changes that would lead to a modest premium increase next year under the Affordable Care Act, potentially handing Democrats a new presidential-year health care issue. The roughly 1 percent increase could feed into the Democratic argument that the Trump administration is trying to "sabotage" coverage for millions. The administration said the proposal is intended to improve the accuracy of a complex formula that affects what consumers pay for their premiums. (1/17)

Politico: Senate Measure Banning Abortion Funds Defeated
Senate Republicans on Thursday failed to muster the 60 votes needed to approve a permanent ban on federal funding of abortion, a largely symbolic effort timed to coincide with the country’s largest annual anti-abortion demonstration in Washington this week. The Senate vote was the first on an anti-abortion measure since Republicans narrowly expanded their majority in the chamber in the 2018 midterms, and it marked a sharp contrast with House Democrats' plans to loosen restrictions on taxpayer support for the procedure. (Ollstein, 1/17)

The Hill: Abortion Foes March Into Divided Washington
The country's largest annual march against abortion comes to Washington on Friday, and this year there’s a new sense of urgency and frustration from a voting bloc that helped put President Trump in the White House. With virtually no chance of moving abortion restrictions through a divided Congress, anti-abortion activists are re-applying pressure on the Trump administration to take executive action ahead of the 2020 elections. (Hellmann, 1/18)

The Washington Post: VA IG Report Says Shulkin Violated Ethics Rules, Executive Protection Division Compromised Security
Members of the security detail tasked with protecting senior leaders at the Department of Veterans Affairs followed questionable procedures that put officials' safety at risk, abused rules governing overtime pay, and acted as chauffeur for former Secretary David Shulkin’s wife, according to a new investigation. The alleged failures, documented by VA Inspector General Michael Missal in a report released Thursday, detail missteps that went on for years and came to a head under Shulkin. The investigation was commissioned after “various complaints” alleged broadly that VA’s protection division was being grossly mismanaged, the report says. (Mettler and Rein, 1/17)

Los Angeles Times: When It Comes To Healthcare, Newsom Says It’s Time For ‘Big And Bold’ Changes 
He’s been in office only two weeks, and already [Gov. Gavin] Newsom is making waves with sweeping proposals to tackle major healthcare issues. Pharmaceutical executives, he said, “are lighting up my phone lines.” Along with drug pricing, he’s announced plans to stabilize the Covered California insurance program — our version of the the Affordable Care Act exchanges — with a restored coverage mandate. He’ll also seek cooperation from the federal government for a statewide single-payer insurance system. (David Lazarus, 1/17)

San Francisco Chronicle: Newsom’s Bold Proposal — A Cost-Of-Living Refund To Make California Affordable
A cost-of-living refund to put money back in the pockets of low-income Californians who need it most is one solution. Delivered as a tax refund based on earnings, the Earned Income Tax Credit is one of the most powerful mechanisms to address affordability and inequality, while giving people the ability to put resources toward their most pressing needs. (Natalie Foster and Chris Hoene, 1/14)

San Jose Mercury News: Gov. Newsom's Early Childhood Plans Face Dilemmas
No governor has grasped the evidence so firmly: Nurturing the health and cognitive growth of children before they start school yields the strongest returns to public investment. Suffering from dyslexia as a child, Newsom felt the pain of falling behind at school and in everyday life. The governor’s compelling aspirations are pioneering as well, sending to lawmakers a rough blueprint for a $4.3 billion village that snags design features from Europe but has never been built in the United States. It remains a work in progress. (Bruce Fuller, 1/13)

Sacramento Bee: Why A Surgeon General For California? 
As a health foundation executive committed to improving health and wellness for vulnerable communities, I think it’s a terrific idea. A state surgeon general could be more than another figurehead in the morass of state government, using the position to push for a system that promotes health instead of managing sickness. (Robert K. Ross, 1/18)

Sacramento Bee: Shutdown Tale Of Woe: IRS Employee To Miss Cancer Treatment
Chris DeLeon feels a financial sting of unpaid furlough familiar to hundreds of thousands of his fellow government employees as the partial federal shutdown stretches into its fourth week. But the stakes are higher for the 53-year-old IRS employee. His health is at risk. And, perhaps, his survival. (Rory Appleton, 1/15)

Los Angeles Times: The Clampdown On Opioid Prescriptions Is Hurting Pain Patients
The recent clampdown has had harmful consequences. Some patients told researchers that they were forced to quit working or go on disability when their medication was denied. Others are now homebound. Many mentioned the possibility of suicide. Patients also said that they were turning to alcohol or illegal substances to treat their pain. What began as an effort to protect patients may be morphing into one that is harming them. (Kate M. Nicholson, 1/18)

The Mercury News: AG Must Not Block Sale Of 2 Bay Area Hospitals
California’s public hospitals have enough trouble providing safety-net care and making their finances work without needless interference from the state. It boggles the mind that Attorney General Xavier Becerra is asking a bankruptcy judge to block Santa Clara County’s effort to buy O’Connor Hospital of San Jose and St. Louise Regional Hospital of Gilroy. (1/17)

Los Angeles Times: How The Teachers’ Strike Is Playing Out At The School With The Most Homeless Students In The District
I went to Telfair in Pacoima to see how the strike is affecting the school because I spent weeks there last year, reporting on how high rates of homelessness and poverty affect families and make teachers’ jobs more difficult. It doesn’t help that there’s no full-time nurse or psychiatric social worker at Telfair, or that the library is usually closed. (Steve Lopez, 1/16)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Should Transition Retired Public Employees To Covered California
By transitioning retired employees to Covered California (the state’s excellent health care exchange under the federal Affordable Care Act), unblending the medical insurance premium rates paid by active and retired employees, and limiting subsidies to retirees with less than $50,000 in household income, Glendale reduced in 2015 its retiree health liabilities and spending by more than 90 percent. If that model was applied to the state’s 2017 retiree health liability, it would allow the state to reduce its liabilities by more than $80 billion and to save more than $2 billion per year. (David Crane, 1/14)

The Mercury News: Dangerous Wildfires Show Need To Detoxify Carpets
The unprecedented wildfires that devastated California last year resulted in some of the most toxic air ever recorded. Nearly 20,000 buildings and homes were destroyed by the Butte County Camp Fire alone. Many of these structures were filled with products, including carpets, that contain hazardous chemicals. As our state rebuilds, we should reconsider the kinds of chemicals we allow in carpets. (Jeff Gearhart and Monica Wilson, 1/16)

San Jose Mercury News: I Live With Mental Illness And I'm Not A Bad Person.
In some families, the very existence of a mentally ill family member is hidden; in other instances, a relative will apologize for them. Today, mental illnesses are considered shameful. We are associated with depravity, with uncleanliness, with being “druggies” or we are thought to be dangerous. Society is harsh toward people with a mental illness. Being on the receiving end of this is rough. Although my behavior has not always been pristine, I try my best to do the right thing. (Jack Bragen, 1/11)