- Covered California & The Health Law 1
- Covered California Premiums To Rise 8.7 Percent, A More Modest Increase Than Double-Digits Expected Elsewhere
- Courts 1
- California Sues Over Truck Pollution Decision: EPA's Chief Put 'Profits Of Major Polluters Above Health Of Our Families'
- Around California 1
- Safety Officials Investigate Explosion Outside A Kaiser Permanente Medical Office
- National Roundup 3
- Merck Is Latest Drugmaker To Lower Some Prices, Earning Political Points As White House Prepares Cost Plan
- As Democrats Campaign For A House Takeover, Health Care Becomes Wedge Issue Dividing The Party
- McConnell Threatens To Hold Vote Right Before Midterms If Dems Keep Pressing For Information On Kavanaugh
Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
California’s ACA Rates To Rise 8.7% Next Year
The average increase in California is smaller than the double-digit hikes expected around the nation, due largely to a healthier mix of enrollees and more competition in its marketplace. Still, health insurance prices keep growing faster than wages and general inflation. (Chad Terhune and Pauline Bartolone, )
More News From Across The State
Covered California & The Health Law
But officials said the increase would have been closer to 5 percent had the individual mandate not been zeroed out.
Sacramento Bee:
Covered California Premiums Will Rise Average Of 8.7 Percent
Covered California announced Thursday that it expects to increase its health insurance premiums by a statewide average of 8.7 percent in 2019, double what it would have been if Congress had not dropped a tax penalty that encouraged U.S. citizens to maintain health insurance. A state-run health-insurance marketplace, Covered California strives to offer consumers high-quality health insurance at the most affordable prices. (Anderson, 7/19)
San Francisco Chronicle:
California Health Insurance Premiums To Rise An Average Of Nearly 9% In 2019
It is the fifth straight year that premiums are rising for such health plans. The increase applies to the 1.1 million lower-income Californians who receive federal financial assistance to buy plans on Covered California, as well as the 1.2 million residents who buy plans without subsidies. (Ho, 7/19)
California Healthline:
California’s ACA Rates To Rise 8.7% Next Year
The average increase in California is smaller than the double-digit hikes expected around the nation, due largely to a healthier mix of enrollees and more competition in its marketplace. Still, health insurance prices keep growing faster than wages and general inflation as a result of rising medical costs overall, squeezing many middle-class families who are struggling to pay their household bills. (Terhune and Bartolone, 7/19)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Covered CA Rates To Increase 9 Percent, On Average, In San Diego County
California is the latest state to release 2019 preliminary rates and, according to the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation, some localities have seen even larger upticks as carriers react to the elimination of the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that most Americans must buy coverage or pay a tax penalty. The Kaiser analysis shows, for example, that the average premium in Maryland will increase 30 percent next year with a 24 percent spike in New York and 19 percent in Washington. (Sisson, 7/19)
Fresno Bee:
Covered California Announces 2019 Insurance Rate Increases
Peter V. Lee, executive director of Covered California, said steady enrollment in California has helped offset rate increases, but in other parts of the country people are being priced out of coverage. “Covered California’s strong enrollment, low premiums and healthy consumers are the result of promoting competition that focuses on lowering costs,” Lee said. (Anderson, 7/19)
Capital Public Radio:
Covered California Premiums To Rise Nearly 9 Percent
All 11 insurers that participated in the market last year will remain, and customers who shop around for lower-cost plans may be able to reduce or avoid a premium increase, Lee said. (Caiola, 7/19)
Ventura County Star:
8.7 Percent Insurance Premium Hike Projected In Ventura County For 2019
A year ago, Covered California rates rose 12.5 percent statewide and about 6 percent in Ventura County. About 66,000 people in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties and about 1.4 million people across the state are covered by the insurance exchange created through the Affordable Care Act. (Kisken, 7/19)
Newsom Says Cox Is One Of 'Most Extreme' Gubernatorial Candidates In Decades
Republican John Cox opposes all abortions, including in cases of rape or incest, and has been endorsed by the California ProLife Council. The issue is heating up in state races as Roe v. Wade is thrust into the spotlight on a national level.
San Francisco Chronicle:
Gavin Newsom Calls John Cox ‘Extreme’ For Opposing All Abortions
Democrat Gavin Newsom called Republican rival John Cox one of the “most extreme” gubernatorial candidates in decades on the issue of abortion rights as Newsom accepted the endorsement of two pro-choice groups Thursday. Pro-choice advocates are trying to make abortion rights an issue in the November election as the Senate prepares to consider President Trump’s nomination of appeals Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. (Garofoli, 7/19)
Meanwhile The New York Times looks at the difference between getting an abortion in California versus Mississippi —
The New York Times:
What It Takes To Get An Abortion In The Most Restrictive State In The U.S.
With the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, Democrats and abortion rights groups have warned of a threat to Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that made abortion legal nationwide. Already, American women face increasingly different paths to getting an abortion, depending on their state. “It doesn’t make a difference if it’s legal if it’s inaccessible,” said Diane Derzis, owner of Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the only remaining abortion clinic in Mississippi. “And it’s definitely inaccessible to many people.” (Carlsen, Ngu and Simon, 7/20)
EPA suspended a rule that limited production of heavy-duty freight trucks outfitted with older engines that don't meet today's emissions standards. The Obama administration said pollution from the trucks could lead to 1,600 early deaths each year.
The Associated Press:
California Sues Over Trump Halt To Truck Pollution Rule
California and 14 other states sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Thursday over its decision to suspend an Obama-era rule aimed at limiting pollution from trucks. The July 6 decision by the Trump EPA was illegal and could put thousands of additional highly polluting trucks on the roads, the states and the District of Columbia said in the lawsuit filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. (7/19)
Safety Officials Investigate Explosion Outside A Kaiser Permanente Medical Office
The exact cause of Wednesday’s explosion remains unclear, but authorities have said it occurred when a truck driver was trying to deliver oxygen to an on-site tank.
Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
Cal-OSHA Investigating Santa Rosa Tanker Explosion At Kaiser Medical Campus
Santa Rosa authorities and state workplace safety investigators continued their investigations Thursday into the explosion of a tanker truck outside a Kaiser Permanente medical office, the results of which won’t be known for weeks or months. The explosion, which occurred Wednesday as the truck was delivering liquid oxygen to a Kaiser office on Old Redwood Highway in north Santa Rosa, is under review by the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health, better known as Cal/OSHA. The agency has up to six months to issue citations for any violations of workplace safety and health regulations in the blast, which caused significant injuries to the driver and forced the evacuation of two medical offices located about a mile north of the main Kaiser hospital site in Santa Rosa. Highway 101 and Old Redwood Highway also were closed for about two hours. (Chavez and Morris, 7/19)
In other news from across the state —
CALmatters:
Fleeing War-Torn Homes For Crippling Rents — How California Housing Costs Are Creating A Harsh Reality For Refugees
The state’s skyrocketing housing costs have created a harsh new reality for refugees on the ground, many of which are going to extraordinary lengths just to afford rent. The cost of living has increased so much in recent years that refugee resettlement agencies working in California are rethinking their strategies for relocating clients — and whether the state is a good fit for some refugees in the first place. (Levin, 7/19)
Ventura County Star:
CURE Pharmaceutical Acquiring Assets Of Therapix Biosciences
CURE Pharmaceutical, an Oxnard-based drug delivery and development company, has signed a term sheet for proposed acquisition of the non-pain assets of Therapix Biosciences Ltd., a specialty, clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing cannabinoid-based treatments. These assets include several clinical drug candidates as well as two pre-clinical drug candidates. CURE will issue shares of its common stock to Therapix in exchange for the assets, and Therapix will become a significant shareholder in CURE. Therapix CEO and Chairman Ascher Schmulewitz, MD PhD, will be appointed to CURE’s board of directors. As one of the conditions of the acquisition, CURE will be raising additional financing, some of which will be provided by Therapix. (7/19)
KQED:
Health Officials Warn Public To Stay Out Of Discovery Bay’s Toxic Waters
Contra Costa health officials are warning people to stay out of Discovery Bay after recent tests showed elevated levels of a toxin from blue-green algae. A routine sampling of the waters on June 27 by health officials found high concentrations of blue-green algae, which contains cyanotoxin. (Ahmed, 7/19)
Merck follows Pfizer and Novartis in dropping prices on a few of their drugs. But, like with the other two, beneath the promise is a strategy that makes it uncertain if consumers will benefit. For example, Merck lowered the cost of its hepatitis C drug, Zepatier. But that treatment has not gained traction in the U.S. marketplace anyway, so the drop could actually be an attempt to boost Merck sales for an underperforming drug.
The Hill:
Merck To Lower Prices For Some Drugs
The pharmaceutical company Merck on Thursday announced it would lower the costs of some drugs in its portfolio. The company will drop the price of Zepatier, a Hepatitis C drug, by 60 percent, and decrease the costs of "several other" drugs by 10 percent. It also said it would not increase the average net price of drugs in its portfolio by more than inflation annually. (Hellmann, 7/19)
Stat:
Merck Joins The List Of Drug Makers Agreeing To Freeze Or Lower Some Prices
In a brief statement, the company agreed not to increase the average net prices of its medicines by more than inflation annually, and then also dropped the wholesale — or list — price by 60 percent on its Zepatier hepatitis C treatment and lowered list prices by 10 percent on a half dozen other drugs. However, the extent to which its moves will actually be meaningful are being questioned. (Silverman, 7/19)
The New York Times:
Merck To Lower Prices On Some Drugs, But Not Its Blockbusters
The move follows recent announcements by Pfizer and Novartis that they would freeze price increases for the rest of the year, as the industry confronts sustained criticism from President Trump, lawmakers and the public over the rising cost of prescriptions. Merck’s action shows just how cautiously the industry is shifting strategies: It did not cut the prices of any blockbusters like the cancer treatment Keytruda or the diabetes drug Januvia. Instead, it said it would reduce by 60 percent the list price of Zepatier, a hepatitis C drug whose recent sales have dipped so low that, after paying after-the-fact rebates to insurers, the company recorded no sales in the United States for the product in the first quarter of this year. (Thomas, 7/19)
The Wall Street Journal:
Merck To Limit Drug-Price Increases, Cut Some Prices
Merck, based in Kenilworth, N.J., said it was cutting prices “to help reduce patient out-of-pocket costs.” The price cuts will go into effect in the fall, a spokeswoman said. Merck and other drugmakers typically pay rebates to pharmacy-benefit managers and insurers that amount to discounts from list prices. But uninsured patients and those with high-deductible health plans can still be on the hook for the full list price. (Loftus, 7/19)
In other pharmaceutical news —
The Washington Post:
Trump Administration To Explore Allowing Drug Imports To Counter Price Hikes
The Trump administration is cracking open the door to using prescription drugs imported from overseas — ones that have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration — to combat high drug prices in limited circumstances. The FDA announced on Thursday that it plans to create a working group to examine how to safely import drugs in a specific situation: when there's a sharp price increase for an off-patent drug produced by a single manufacturer. (McGinley, 7/19)
Stat:
HHS Opens Door To Possibility Of Importing Some Drugs In Limited Cases
It’s an early step, but the idea behind it is one of the boldest the administration has yet proposed as it has laid out a series of ways to bring down the cost of prescription drugs. Although President Trump said on the campaign trail that he supports importing drugs from other countries as a way to lower prices for Americans, the notion has traditionally been more popular among Democrats. Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the former presidential candidate, is one of its most vocal proponents. (Mershon, 7/19)
As Democrats Campaign For A House Takeover, Health Care Becomes Wedge Issue Dividing The Party
On the more progressive side of the party, there's a push for a "Medicare For All" type plan, while on the more moderate end, there's a focus on fixing and shoring up the health law. The mixed messaging could muddy the waters in the coming high-tension midterms. Meanwhile, Republicans are trying to get ahead of criticism over rising premiums.
The Associated Press:
Democrats Wrestle With Election-Year Message On Health Care
Cheered on by a handful of activists, liberal House Democrats announced outside the Capitol that they were forming a caucus to push for "Medicare for All" — shorthand for government-financed health care. At the same time Thursday, Democratic senators were introducing a resolution aimed at putting Republicans on the defensive about Trump administration efforts to undermine former President Barack Obama's health care law. (7/20)
The Hill:
GOP Looks To Blunt Dems’ Attacks On Rising Premiums
House Republicans are trying to blunt Democratic attacks over rising ObamaCare premiums, an issue that’s poised to play a key role in the November midterm elections. The House is planning to vote next week on several GOP-backed health-care measures that supporters say will lower premiums, and passing them could give a boost to some vulnerable Republicans. (Sullivan, 7/19)
In other health law news —
The Hill:
Dems Pressure GOP To Take Legal Action Supporting Pre-Existing Conditions
Senate Democrats are targeting Republicans on health care, urging them to sign on to a resolution that would allow the Senate to intervene in a lawsuit challenging the legality of ObamaCare. The resolution, introduced Thursday, would allow the Office of Senate Legal Counsel to intervene in a case brought by Republican attorneys general that argues ObamaCare is now unconstitutional since Congress repealed the 2010 law's individual mandate last year. (Hellmann, 7/19)
The Hill:
House Dems Want Answers On Cuts To ObamaCare Outreach Groups
A pair of House Democrats want answers from the Trump administration about the decision to significantly slash funding for outreach groups that help people enroll in ObamaCare coverage. The funding will be cut from $36 million this year to $10 million in 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said last week. The administration's funding for such outreach had already been slashed last year to well below the $63 million budgeted annually under former President Obama. (Weixel, 7/19)
The Hill:
Poll: Half Of Americans Find Health Care Harder To Afford This Year
Nearly half of respondents in a new poll said they are now finding it more difficult to afford health care than they were a year ago, according to a poll released Thursday. The Navigator poll found 49 percent of respondents said it’s more difficult to afford prescription drugs, insurance premiums and doctor visits compared to last year. Additionally, 78 percent of those surveyed said they believe the government should be doing more to make health care more affordable. (Samuels, 7/19)
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell predicts that if the vote was held that late, Democratic voters would be left deflated if Brett Kavanaugh is appointed to the seat. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has been making a lot of noise clamoring for the full set of documents from Kavanaugh’s time in the George W. Bush White House.
Politico:
McConnell Issues Supreme Court Ultimatum
Mitch McConnell has a warning for Democrats demanding copious documents on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh: Be careful what you wish for. The Senate majority leader privately told senior Republicans on Wednesday that if Democrats keep pushing for access to upwards of a million pages in records from President Donald Trump’s high court pick, he’s prepared to let Kavanaugh’s confirmation vote slip until just before November’s midterm elections, according to multiple sources. (Schor and Everett, 7/20)
In other national health care news —
The Hill:
More Than 400 Bills Aimed At Improving Reproductive Health Have Been Introduced In 2018: Report
More than 400 bills aimed at improving reproductive health have been introduced across 44 states in 2018, according to a new report. The National Institute for Reproductive Health (NIRH) on Monday released a report that found fewer state-level initiatives related to reproductive rights were introduced this year than in 2017, but that overall legislation has continued to skyrocket under President Trump's administration. (Birnbaum, 7/18)
The New York Times:
After Flint, Watchdog Urges E.P.A. To Monitor Drinking Water More Closely
The Environmental Protection Agency’s failure to intervene earlier and stop the water crisis in Flint, Mich., exposed a need for wholesale changes to how federal officials monitor drinking water systems, a government watchdog said Thursday. A report from the E.P.A.’s Office of Inspector General said management weaknesses hobbled the agency’s response to the lead and other contaminants that poisoned Flint’s drinking water for more than a year and that federal officials should have taken stronger action to correct repeated blunders by state regulators. (Smith and Friedman, 7/19)
The Hill:
Senate To Vote Monday On Trump's VA Nominee
Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), the chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, said earlier Thursday that the Senate should vote to confirm Wilkie “without delay.” "It is of utmost importance that any policy changes that impact the future of the department be made by a confirmed VA secretary who can be held accountable by Congress and the American people," Isakson said. (Carney, 7/19)
Viewpoints: We Need Tools To Intervene To Help Homeless With Mental Illnesses
A selection of opinions on health care developments from around the state.
Ventura County Star:
Legislators Add To Broken Mental Health System
On June 26, the California Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony regarding Assembly Bill 1971, which would expand the definition of “gravely disabled” to include medical necessity. Existing law does not recognize a person’s inability to provide for his or her basic personal needs for health as an element of grave disability. AB 1971 can change this. Homelessness and homeless encampments have become a part of the permanent landscape of California, and approximately 33 percent of these people suffer from serious mental illness. A subset of the mentally ill lack the capacity to understand that without medical intervention, they will die. (Mary Haffner, 7/14)
Sacramento Bee:
California’s Sanctuary Laws Also Hurt Immigrants
California needs to have a serious conversation about illegal immigration, without the vapid posturing of politicians on both sides who view immigration as a political football used to score political points. This state needs to address the long-term deleterious effects of a two-tiered system that restricts deserving and qualified immigrants from coming here legally, while opening the door to a flood of illegal immigrants offered every incentive to make California their home – welfare benefits, free education, scholarships to our UC system, subsidized or free healthcare – even the right to practice law. (Harmeet Dhillon, 7/18)
The Mercury News:
It's Time Migrant Children Labor Laws Grew Up
Public attention has never been more focused on the plight of migrant children. Americans are demanding these children have what humanitarian organizations call children’s rights: education, safety, basic health care, and the right to be with their families. Let’s use this attention to recognize that many migrant children – documented or not – are denied those very same rights once they cross the border to live and work on American soil. (Adrienne Rose Bitar, 7/19)
Los Angeles Times:
Big Pharma Is Quietly Using Nonprofits To Push Opioids
Last month, Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri introduced a bill going after, of all things, nonprofits. The word “nonprofit” tends to conjure images of idealistic charities committed to saving vanishing forests, teaching underprivileged kids or counseling the victims of sexual assault. The reality can be far different. McCaskill’s proposed legislation follows from a scorching report she released in February detailing how opioid manufacturers funneled almost $9 million over five years to various advocacy groups that amplified messages and policies favorable to their industry. Many of these nonprofits had lobbied against laws to decrease opioid use and tried to downplay charges against physicians and pharmaceutical industry officials responsible for over-prescribing. (Paul D. Thacker, 7/19)
Ventura County Star:
Single-Payer Supporters Keep Pressing
Nothing frustrated California’s politically dominant liberal Democrats more this year than having to live with the reality that their holy grail of single-payer health care won’t happen here for years to come. This is in part because of fiscal realities — the cost would be enormous. It’s also because of political reality. So long as Donald Trump is president, there’s no chance the federal government will cede Medicare dues paid by Californians to state government. Those dollars would be a key component in paying for any state single-payer plan. (Tom Elias, 7/17)
Los Angeles Times:
Americans Like Socialism Now
American socialism is having one hot summer. In New York, 28-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, running as a Democratic Socialist, upset Rep. Joe Crowley, favored to succeed Rep. Nancy Pelosi as leader of the House Democrats, in the Democratic primary. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon, running in the September primary against Gov. Andrew Cuomo, has proclaimed herself a Democratic Socialist too. Its numbers surging in the wake of Ocasio-Cortez’s stunning victory, the Democratic Socialists of America now claims 45,000 members. That’s a nine-fold increase over the 5,000 members (myself included) it had before Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders began his presidential run in 2015. (Harold Meyerson, 7/19)
The Mercury News:
Region Can't Afford To Lose Four Hospitals
Here we go again. Nearly three years after the financially beleaguered Daughters of Charity made a deal that kept four Bay Area hospitals afloat, the current operators, Verity Health System, said last week that they can’t make their financing work and that the hospitals may be put up for sale. It’s a potential health care disaster for Santa Clara County and San Mateo County residents if any significant number of the hospitals’ 924 beds were no longer available. (7/18)
San Jose Mercury News:
Don't Let Children Be Undercounted In 2020 Census
The 2020 Census will have a tremendous impact on federal funding that states and localities receive for the next decade. And that means our kids are in jeopardy of being shortchanged on funding for programs that help them thrive. (Moira Kenney, John Dobard and Ted Lempert, 7/13)