California Healthline: Insurers And Customers Brace For Double Whammy To Obamacare Premiums
Most of the 24 million people in Affordable Care Act health plans face a potential one-two punch next year — double-digit premium increases along with a sharp drop in the federal subsidies that most consumers depend on to buy the coverage, also known as Obamacare. Insurers want higher premiums to cover the usual culprits — rising medical and labor costs and usage — but are tacking on extra percentage point increases in their 2026 rate proposals to cover effects of policy changes advanced by the Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress. (Appleby, 7/18)

The Hill: Democratic Attorneys General Sue Trump Administration To Block ObamaCare Changes
A coalition of 20 Democratic attorneys general sued the Trump administration Thursday to block implementation of a rule they argue will undermine the Affordable Care Act. The complaint was co-led by California, Massachusetts and New Jersey and filed in federal court in Massachusetts. The lawsuit alleges the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) illegally made changes to the health law, which will make it harder for people to enroll and will shift costs to states. (Weixel, 7/17)

Bloomberg: Nevada, California Among States Likely Hurt Most By Medicaid Cuts, Barclays Says
President Donald Trump’s budget bill that could deeply cut the nation’s largest public health-insurance program stands to hurt some states more than others, according to Barclays Plc. Louisiana, Nevada and California stand to be the most negatively impacted if Medicaid is reduced, based on funding losses as a percentage of yearly revenue loss and the number of Americans with chronic health conditions living there, municipal strategists Mikhail Foux, Francisco San Emeterio and Grace Cen said in a Thursday note. (Taylor, 7/17)

California Healthline: Surprise Medical Bills Were Supposed To Be A Thing Of The Past. Surprise — They’re Not
Last year in Massachusetts, after finding lumps in her breast, Jessica Chen went to Lowell General Hospital-Saints Campus, part of Tufts Medicine, for a mammogram and sonogram. Before the screenings, she asked the hospital for the estimated patient responsibility for the bill using her insurance, Tufts Health Plan. Her portion, she was told, would be $359 — and she paid it. She was more than a little surprised weeks later to receive a bill asking her to pay an additional $1,677.51. “I was already trying to stomach $359, and this was many times higher,” Chen, a physician assistant, told me. (Rosenthal, 7/18)

KVPR: Valley Health Clinics Brace For Impact To Services, Patients From Medicaid Provisions Of Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’
Health clinics that serve more than 1.1 million patients up and down the San Joaquin Valley are bracing for the prospect of budget cuts and other fallout in the wake of the passage of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” budget act, narrowly approved by Congress and signed into law on July 4. ... Throughout the eight Valley counties – Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tulare – almost seven out of 10 patients rely on MediCal, California’s incarnation of Medicaid. (Sheehan, 7/17)

Becker's Hospital Review: Medicare Goes In-Network With DISC Surgery Center At Marina Del Rey
DISC Surgery Center at Marina del Rey (Calif.) is now in-network with Medicare, according to a July 15 news release. The ASC went in-network after meeting all qualifying health and safety standards under Conditions for Coverage. DISC Surgery Center at Marina del Rey, which was AAAHC accredited when it opened in 2023, specializes in spine and orthopedic care. And now Medicare members have access to services in the 11,000-square-foot facility. (Behm, 7/17)

The San Diego Union-Tribune: Palomar Health, UC San Diego Health Considering Collaboration
Palomar Health in North County and UC San Diego Health in La Jolla appear to be working on a joint powers agreement that would allow the two organizations to collaborate closely, though the details of the potential deal remain undisclosed. (Sisson, 7/17)

Marin Independent Journal: Kaiser Permanente Lays Off Nurses In Two Bay Area Hospitals 
Kaiser Permanente managers met with 42 outpatient clinic nurses in San Rafael and Petaluma on Thursday to notify them that their positions are being eliminated. The nurses work in a variety of clinics, including dermatology, gastroenterology, general surgery, ophthalmology, head and neck, psychiatry, obstetrics, gynecology, orthopedics, pediatrics and urology. (Halstead, 7/18)

The Mercury News: Foster City Drugs Giant Gilead To Pay $202 Million Over Alleged Kickback Scheme
Foster City pharmaceuticals giant Gilead Sciences has agreed to pay a $202 million settlement over allegations in a lawsuit by state and federal authorities that it paid doctors kickbacks, sent them on trips and fed them dinners at fancy restaurants to promote the company’s HIV drugs, used to treat the virus that causes AIDS. The lawsuit by California, 47 other states and the federal government alleged an unspecified number of “San Francisco doctors,” whose names were redacted from a 193-page complaint over the claimed scheme, received a total of more than $1 million in kickback payments for speaking at Gilead events. (Baron, 7/18)

Becker's Hospital Review: 51 Healthcare Leaders' Takes On Doing More With Less
It’s a directive that hospitals and health systems of every size know well — whether sprawling academic medical centers, multistate nonprofit systems or rural, independent 25-bed hospitals. While the phrase isn’t new, the urgency behind it is intensifying. The nation’s healthcare workforce remains fragile, forcing leaders to distinguish between staffing gaps that are temporary hurdles or structural limitations. Revenue projections for health systems have shifted dramatically — even within the last six months — as federal spending plans tighten, particularly around Medicaid. Funding for clinical research, once considered a durable pillar of U.S. healthcare post-World War II, is also undergoing one of its most significant shakeups, underscoring a stark reality: Even the most established sources of support are no longer guaranteed. (Woldenberg, Gooch, Taylor, Bruce, Kuchno and Cass, 7/17)

LAist: LAHSA Moved Hundreds Out Of LA City Homeless Count Without Informing Elected Officials
homeless count — moving them out of the city of L.A. — in the days before the public release of the findings this week. The moves were made without informing elected officials who had seen the earlier numbers. On July 7, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority told local elected officials and their aides that overall homelessness had declined by 2.5% within the city of L.A. This week, the agency publicly touted a slightly larger 3.4% reduction in the city. (Schrank and Gerda, 7/18)

KQED: ‘Do You Want Help?’: Inside Orange County’s Bet On Voluntary Mental Health Care
[Giovanni] Figueroa is among the first to work for California’s brand new CARE Courts, the state’s grand experiment wading into one of medicine’s most vexing debates: how to help people whose psychotic illness makes them unable to recognize that they’re ill, whose fixed delusions make them believe doctors are part of an alien conspiracy, or whose voices tell them medication is poison. While the 2022 law gives judges authority to force people into treatment, Orange County decided early on that its program would be utterly voluntary, leaning on the tenets of relentless outreach to coax, rather than coerce, people into care. (Dembosky, 7/17)

Los Angeles Blade: West Hollywood To Advance Protections For Diverse And Non-Nuclear Families
West Hollywood is once again at the forefront of LGBTQ+ equality and family inclusivity. The city, known for its progressive leadership, is working to update local ordinances to better reflect the full spectrum of modern family structures, including non-nuclear, polyamorous, and chosen families. Christina Fialho, an attorney and founder of Rewrite the BiLine, has been a driving force behind the effort. Fialho has spent nearly two decades advocating for LGBTQ+ and immigrant rights. For her, this fight is deeply personal. (Montoya, 7/16)

Bay Area Reporter: $6.2 Million In Federal Grants Restored After Legal Win, Lambda Legal Says
Over $6 million in grant funding to nine organizations was restored after a judge’s decision last month against the Trump administration, according to Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. It had filed the lawsuit in federal court. ... Lambda represented plaintiffs in San Francisco AIDS Foundation v. Trump. As the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar granted a preliminary injunction temporarily blocking the Trump administration from defunding nine LGBTQ and HIV organizations. (Ferrannini, 7/17)

Los Angeles Times: Rep. Garcia Asks RFK Jr. To Explain Targeting Of HIV/AIDS Funding
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach) is calling on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to explain why the Trump administration has repeatedly ordered cuts to HIV/AIDS programs both at home and abroad. In a letter to Kennedy dated Thursday, Garcia asserted that the cabinet secretary has a history of peddling misinformation about the virus and disease, and that the planned cuts — which he called “alarming and unprecedented” — would cost lives. (Rector, 7/17)

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?' Podcast: The Senate Saves PEPFAR Funding — For Now
The Senate has passed — and sent back to the House — a bill that would allow the Trump administration to claw back some $9 billion in previously approved funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting. But first, senators removed from the bill a request to cut funding for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, President George W. Bush’s international AIDS/HIV program. The House has until Friday to approve the bill, or else the funding remains in place. (Rovner, 7/17)

ProPublica: RFK Jr. Wants To Overhaul A Vital System That Supports Childhood Immunization
Five months after taking over the federal agency responsible for the health of all Americans, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to overhaul an obscure but vital program that underpins the nation’s childhood immunization system. Depending on what he does, the results could be catastrophic. (Callahan, 7/17)

The New York Times: F.D.A. Approves Juul Vapes After Yearslong Delay
The Food and Drug Administration authorized Juul e-cigarettes for the U.S. market on Thursday, ending a lengthy standoff with regulators and lawmakers who accused the company of spurring an epidemic of e-cigarette use among youths. The company was required to prove that the products were “appropriate for the protection of public health” under agency rules. Juul said in a statement that it met the bar, in part, by showing that its products had helped about two million adults quit smoking cigarettes. (Jewett, 7/17)

CNBC: Trump Diagnosed With Chronic Venous Insufficiency
President Donald Trump underwent a comprehensive medical exam that revealed he has a common vein disorder but cleared him of more serious illnesses, the White House said Thursday. The White House disclosed the 79-year-old president’s medical information in response to speculation after photos showed Trump with swollen ankles. (Breuninger, 7/17)

KQED: With New 'Razor Blade Throat' Nimbus Variant, Bay Area COVID Levels Now Higher Than Winter Peak
If it feels like several people you know are complaining of feeling sick with what they assume is an “awful summer cold” — perhaps with a painful sore throat — there’s a good chance it could be COVID-19. Again. COVID-19 levels in Bay Area wastewater have now exceeded the winter peak, according to Stanford’s WastewaterSCAN team, which monitors coronavirus presence in human sewage. This also means Bay Area COVID-19 levels are rising faster than the statewide average. (Severn, 7/16)

KQED: Getting Sneezier? Blame Climate Change For Making Fungal Allergy Season Longer
If your springtime allergies have felt sneezier and sneezier, you might be right. And pollen is likely not the only culprit. Mold and other fungi release microscopic spores that can also trigger allergy symptoms, and a new study found the invisible allergens are now showing up earlier each year. (Mohamad, 7/16)

Los Angeles Times: Immigration Crackdown Could Stymie Efforts To Fight Bird Flu Outbreak, Experts Fear
As authorities brace for a potential resurgence in bird flu cases this fall, infectious disease specialists warn that the Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants could hamper efforts to stop the spread of disease. Dairy and poultry workers have been disproportionately infected with the H5N1 bird flu since it was first detected in U.S. dairy cows in March 2024, accounting for 65 of the 70 confirmed infections, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Rust, 7/18)

San Diego Union-Times: With Less Federal Support, California Will Have To Find Medi-Cal Savings
In the unfolding war between the California and federal governments, the state has a major vulnerability: its reliance on federal healthcare funds. This year’s enacted budget includes over $120 billion of federal funds for the State Department of Healthcare Services, primarily for Medi-Cal. With the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill, the Trump administration is beginning to chip away at this funding. (Marc Joffe, 7/14)

San Francisco Chronicle: I Have ALS. Trump Just Cut Funding That Could Help Find A Cure
Last month, President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans in Congress slashed funding to the National Institutes of Health by 40%. Such a drastic cut will negatively impact ALS research, disrupt the drug development pipeline and limit access to potential life-saving therapies. It also came after the administration canceled university grants to researchers looking for a cure for diseases like ALS. (Kevin Morrison, 7/16)

CalMatters: What California Still Doesn't Understand About Men's Mental Health 
I’m a 26-year-old Black man and a project director of a youth-led mental health initiative in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. I’ve been doing this work for years. But I started living this work when I was 12, the year I lost a sibling to suicide. (Ayo Banjo, 7/17)