Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Medi-Cal Will Cover Doulas at More Than Twice California’s Initial Proposed Rate
Under a budget passed by California lawmakers, the state will pay nonmedical workers who assist in pregnancy and labor up to $1,154 per birth through Medi-Cal, which is up significantly from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s initial offer of $450. Though it’s more than what most other states pay, many doulas say it falls short of the $3,600 they sought. (Rachel Bluth, )
Democrats Drop Push For Preteen Vaccines Without Parental Consent: California lawmakers on Thursday amended a bill that would have let preteens be vaccinated against a range of health conditions without their parents’ consent, instead raising the proposed minimum age to 15, which would still be among the youngest in the U.S. Read more from AP.
California Ranks No. 11 In Nation For Its Pandemic Response: The health system in Hawaii performed best of all the states during the pandemic and Mississippi performed the worst, according to new rankings from The Commonwealth Fund. The rankings weighed such factors as vaccination rates, capacity in hospitals and ICUs, and death rates. The Golden State barely missed the Top 10. Read more from Stateline and see the full results here.
Note to Readers: California Healthline's Daily Edition will not be published Monday in honor of Juneteenth. Look for it again in your inbox Tuesday. Below, check out the roundup of California Healthline’s coverage. For today's national health news, read KHN's Morning Briefing.
More News From Across The State
Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento County Monkeypox: 6th, 7th Cases Detected
Sacramento County health officials have detected two new probable cases of monkeypox, the sixth and seventh local infections identified since late May after none had been disclosed in more than a week, in two residents who recently traveled. The cases are “unrelated” to the first five cases discovered, county health spokeswoman Samantha Mott said in an emailed statement. The two cases announced Thursday are “related to travel within the United States,” Mott added. (McGough, 6/16)
People:
CDC Issues New Guidance On Monkeypox Symptoms As Cases Rise In The United States
As U.S. cases continue to rise, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released new guidance for monkeypox. On Tuesday, the national public health agency detailed how to identify the rare virus based on symptoms from newly reported cases. Previously, the first signs of monkeypox were fever, headache, muscle aches, chills and exhaustion. Around one to three days after those first symptoms, infected people develop a rash, typically on the face, that then spreads to other parts of the body. Now, the CDC says most patients will first show signs of a rash — typically on the mouth or "genital or perianal area" — which will turn into fluid-filled blisters. In recent patients, these lesions appear in the same area of the body compared to previous patients that saw lesions scattered around the body. (Etienne, 6/16)
CIDRAP:
As More States Report Monkeypox, Officials Urge Caution
In new research developments, a Dutch team that studied 18 recently confirmed patients found a 4- to 17-day incubation period, which supports current isolation and contact-tracing guidance, but offers a bit narrower window than other estimates. (Soucheray, 6/16)
Bloomberg:
Monkeypox Cases Could Spread Unseen In US If ‘Testing Bottlenecks’ Don’t Improve
US testing for monkeypox is insufficient to determine how widespread the virus is and where new cases are cropping up, according to infectious disease experts and advocates concerned about a sluggish response to the outbreak that’s already hit 32 countries. While government labs have the capacity to test as many as 8,000 samples a week, they’re only using 2% of that capability, suggesting that about 23 monkeypox tests are being performed a day, said James Krellenstein, the cofounder of PrEP4All, an HIV advocacy group that widened its focus during the pandemic. Much more testing is needed to find out where the pathogen is and how fast it’s moving, he said. (Muller, 6/16)
Roll Call:
Senate Passes Major Benefits Expansion For Sick Veterans
The Senate on Thursday took a major step toward broadening America’s commitment to take care of sick veterans, passing a bill to offer new health care and tax-free disability benefits to as many as 3.5 million veterans on an 84-14 vote. Under the legislation written by Veterans' Affairs Chairman Jon Tester, D-Mont., and ranking member Jerry Moran, R-Kan., the Department of Veterans Affairs would consider a veteran with any of 23 conditions, ranging from brain cancer to hypertension, who was deployed to a combat zone during the wars in Iraq or in Afghanistan automatically eligible for care at government cost, based on the presumption that exposure to toxic chemicals in the war zone caused the ailments. (Satter, 6/16)
AP:
Senate OKs Enhanced Benefits For Vets Exposed To Burn Pits
The bill is projected to increase federal spending by about $283 billion over 10 years and does not include offsetting spending cuts or tax increases to help pay for it. The House in March approved similar legislation that would have cost more than $320 billion over 10 years. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said after Senate passage that the House would “move swiftly” to take up the legislation and send it to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. Biden has encouraged the effort. In a statement after the vote, Biden said the bill “makes good on our sacred obligation to care for veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors.” He urged the House to act quickly “so I can sign it into law right away.” (Freking, 6/16)
Politico:
Senate Advances Bill On Veterans' Burn Pit Care
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) said in statement that the House will vote again on the measure, which it passed in March, next week. Biden, who has pushed for recognition of burn pit health risks since the campaign trail, is expected to swiftly sign the bill into law. (Owermohle, 6/16)
Military Times:
Here Are The Veterans Who Will Benefit From Congress’ Sweeping Toxic Exposure Bill
As many as one in five veterans living in America today could see new health care coverage and disability benefits under the toxic exposure legislation advanced by the Senate Thursday, but some veterans will see help sooner than others. The package — which was advanced by the Senate in a bipartisan 84-14 vote and heads now to the House for final congressional approval — would cost almost $280 billion over the next decade and radically transform how the Department of Veterans Affairs analyzes and compensates victims of military chemical and radiation exposure incidents. (Shane III, 6/16)
Military.com:
Veterans Exposed To Agent Orange, Radiation, Toxic Water Included In Landmark Burn Pit Bill
In addition to improving access to benefits for post-9/11 veterans exposed to burn pits, the sweeping toxic exposure legislation approved 84-14 by the Senate on Thursday will add two new conditions to the Department of Veterans Affairs' list of Agent Orange-related illnesses and expand benefits for veterans sickened by radiation or poisoned water in certain geographic locations. The bill adds hypertension and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, or MGUS, to the list of illnesses linked to Agent Orange exposure, allowing affected veterans to apply for health care and disability benefits with the VA without having to prove that their condition was caused by their service. (Kime, 6/16)
Sacramento Bee:
Should California Gun Owners Be Forced To Buy Liability Insurance? A New Bill Says Yes
California could become the first state in the country to require gun owners to be insured against the negligent or accidental use of their firearms under legislation introduced Thursday. “Guns kill more people than cars,” Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) said in a statement. “Yet gun owners are not required to carry liability insurance like car owners must. Why should taxpayers, survivors, families, employers, and communities bear the $280 billion annual cost of gun violence? It’s time for gun owners to shoulder their fair share.” (Tucker-Smith, 6/16)
San Francisco Examiner:
To Help Students Prevent Violence, Anonymous Reporting System Coming To S.F. School District
If you see something, say something. Originally coined by New York advertising executive Allen Kay on Sept. 12, 2001, the phrase is used for reporting suspicious activity to the proper law enforcement authorities in a post-9/11 America. In response to the rise in school shootings, the phrase has now made its way into the classroom. And soon, it will make its way to the San Francisco Unified School District in the form of the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation’s anonymous reporting system, or ARS. (Roseborough, 6/15)
Modesto Bee:
Mother, Modesto City Schools At Odds About Treatment For Teen
The mother of a 14-year-old boy is imploring Modesto City Schools to help after her son made threats to bring an AK-47 assault rifle to school and shoot fellow classmates. “I am literally begging you to help keep the school safe, help keep our community safe and help my son get well,” she said during a Modesto City Schools meeting last week. “I am telling you, I’m a psychiatric nurse, this isn’t something to play around with … he’s a ticking time bomb.” (Tracy, 6/16)
NBC News:
Senate Gun Group Eyes Finish Line As 'Boyfriend Loophole' Remains A Big Hurdle
The four U.S. senators leading negotiations on a gun deal met for hours in a Senate basement Thursday in pursuit of a final agreement, but emerged with one major unresolved issue. The meeting among Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., did not yield a resolution on how to close the "boyfriend loophole" involving gun rights for abusive partners. (Kapur, Tsirkin and Thorp V, 6/16)
Sacramento Bee:
CA Gov Gavin Newsom Endorses Flavor Tobacco Ban Ballot Measure
In 2020, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 793 into law, banning most flavored tobacco products — including menthol cigarettes — from being sold in the state. Now, faced with a referendum on the November ballot that could repeal the measure, Newsom is standing by his decision with a full-throated endorsement. (Sheeler, 6/17)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
County Hires Private Lab To Work On Medical Examiner's Office Case Backlog
Facing a months-long backlog of cases, the county Medical Examiner’s Office has signed a contract with a private laboratory to work through hundreds of unfinished toxicology tests. NMS Labs will do the work for San Diego County under a one-year contract that was signed Monday. County payments to the lab will not exceed $98,560, according to county spokesperson Chuck Westerheide. (Kucher, 6/17)
The Bakersfield Californian:
NOR To Hand Over Shuttle Service For Disabled, Elderly To GET
A door-to-door transportation service whose pending closure had threatened to strand local disabled and elderly passengers is being taken over by Bakersfield's public bus system. Starting July 1, Golden Empire Transit District plans to offer the same type of shuttle service that has been available for more than 23 years through the North of the River Recreation and Park District. (Cox, 6/16)
Sacramento Bee:
Placer County Deputy Revives Man From Second Colfax Opiate Overdose Reported In 10 Days
A sheriff’s deputy saved a man from an opiate overdose in Colfax this week, marking the second overdose the city has seen in the past 10 days. (Hodgman, 6/16)
Los Angeles Times:
Orange County Man Dies In Death Valley After Running Out Of Gas
A Huntington Beach man was found dead in Death Valley National Park after it appears he ran out of gas and tried walking for assistance during a dangerous heat wave, according to National Park Service officials. David Kelleher, 67, was found Tuesday about 30 feet off a highway in the park and less than three miles from his parked vehicle, according to a statement from the park service. Officials found a crumpled note inside his vehicle that read, “Out of gas.” (Toohey, 6/16)
Forbes:
Anti-Vaccine California Doctor Sentenced To Prison For Storming Capitol
Known for spreading anti-vaccine rhetoric and Covid-19 misinformation, former emergency room doctor Simone Gold was sentenced to two months in prison for storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. ... Before taking part in the Capitol riot, Gold gained notoriety for spreading misinformation about Covid-19 and vaccinations through her right-wing group, America’s Frontline Doctors. (Coleman, 6/16)
CIDRAP:
Boosters Plus Previous Infection Shown Most Protective Against Omicron
According to a study yesterday based on COVID-19 cases in Qatar, protection afforded by natural immunity from prior infections was longer-lasting than from a primary mRNA vaccine series, but booster vaccine doses combined with prior infection provided the most protection against infections during the Omicron surge. ... Previous infection alone was 46.1% effective in protecting against infection with BA.2, an Omicron subvariant that surpassed the original (BA.1) Omicron strain in late March. The highest level of protection against BA.2 infection was in people who had a previous infection plus three doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which was 77.3%.
CIDRAP:
COVID Vaccine Hesitancy Threatens Flu Vaccine Uptake
Polarized views and worries about COVID-19 vaccination had spillover effects on flu vaccination in adults, according to researchers who examined data over two pandemic years on both vaccines by state. The authors of the study say the findings are a warning of declining trust in public heath, which comes at a vulnerable time as eased COVID-19 measures put populations at risk for the return of disease threats such as flu. Late-season flu activity is still under way in some parts of the United States, and health officials are closely watching Australia, where an early-season surge is already worse than some of the country's pre–COVID pandemic flu seasons. (Schnirring, 6/16)
NPR:
Study Finds Omicron Poses Less Risk Than Delta For Long COVID
The omicron variant is much less likely than delta to cause long COVID, according to the first large-scale study published about the long-term risks posed by omicron. But almost 5% of people who catch omicron still experience fatigue, brain fog, headaches, heart problems or other health issues at least a month after getting infected, the study found. While some researchers found the results reassuring, others say the findings are alarming, given that so many people caught omicron and apparently remain at risk even if they're vaccinated. (Stein, 6/16)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
COVID-19 Vaccine Push Shouldn’t Just Focus On Young As Need For Boosters Becomes Apparent
As soon as Friday — after exhaustive studies showing the shots’ value in protecting the young from the worst consequences of coronavirus disease — federal authorities may authorize emergency use of both Moderna’s and Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines for kids ages 5 and under. The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board urges parents and guardians to do the responsible thing, heed the experts and get their minor children of all ages vaccinated. (6/16)
Capitol Weekly:
Affordable Health Care Threatened By Hospitals' Mark-Up Costs
California small businesses face a long list of challenges. From labor shortages and lost revenue due to the pandemic, to rising rents, fuel costs, inflation and the supply chain crisis, the roadblocks that small business owners must contend with in the Golden State are numerous. Even in the face of these challenges, providing health care that is both affordable and high quality to our employees and their families is still a top priority for those of us who run small businesses, but the California Legislature’s consideration of Senate Bill 958 has led many of us to believe they are working against us. (Betty Jo Toccoli, 6/13)
San Francisco Chronicle:
California Has A Nearly $100 Billion Surplus. So Why Is It Skimping On Fighting Addiction?
On Sunday, a group of nine volunteers gathered at the office of West Oakland Punks With Lunch, a small nonprofit collective that provides food, hygiene supplies, clean syringes and naloxone, the overdose reversal drug, to homeless and underserved people. “Who feels comfortable giving naloxone?” founder Ale del Pinal asked the group. Several people raised their hands. A team of three was established: If someone visiting the pop-up site under the freeway overdosed, one person would administer naloxone and provide rescue breathing. Another would call emergency services. A third would do crowd control, making sure there was space for the lifesaving work to happen. (Nuala Bishari, 6/14)
CalMatters:
Legislature’s Child Care Proposal Overlooks The Most Vulnerable
The Legislature recently released its Joint Legislative Budget Proposal, which included more than $2 billion to support the child care system. It provided no funding, however, for some of the most vulnerable children and families in California — those living below the federal poverty line (less than $28,000 for a family of four) and thus eligible for Head Start. Although the legislative budget proposal includes $1.8 billion to increase the state reimbursement rate and improve teacher salaries, this increase will not benefit most Head Start teachers. (Anna Loakimedes, 6/13)
Los Angeles Times:
Op-Ed: As A Gun-Owning Former Teacher, I Say: Don't Arm Teachers
Days ago, the governor of Ohio signed into law a bill that allows teachers to be armed after 24 hours of training. A very bad idea, I think. But who am I? I am a retired teacher. A teacher who taught four elementary students whose mothers were murdered. A teacher with a fifth-grader in my Castroville, Calif., classroom who 18 years later went on a murderous rampage in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater. A teacher who has had too many former students go to prison for gang shootings. I also grew up with guns. I own two pistols and two rifles. (Paul Karrer, 6/17)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
San Diego County Sheriff’s Department's Move To Limit Jail Opioid Deaths Is Years Late
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department’s record on jail deaths is indisputably appalling when it comes to the simplest metric of all: More than 210 inmates have died at county jails since 2006, a mortality rate significantly higher than seen in other large county jail systems in California. The great majority of those deaths occurred while Bill Gore was sheriff from 2009 to February of this year. Yet until his final day in office, Gore rejected critiques of his jail stewardship. Among the many reasons he cited was that they failed to take account of the fact that “since 2011, the use of opioids, including fentanyl, and subsequent overdoses, has become a serious national crisis,” as Gore wrote in a 2019 essay for The San Diego Union-Tribune. (6/16)
Orange County Register:
Marijuana Legalizers For Illogical Vape Bans In California
California is a funny place. A few years ago, marijuana users were put in jail, while smoking cigarettes was everywhere, even in hospitals. Today, pot has been legal for recreational use since 2016, but cigarette and other tobacco use increasingly is banned. Sure, it makes sense to ban using either in public places, and for youngsters. But can’t the politicians just let adults alone to decide for themselves what they inhale in private? (6/15)
CalMatters:
California Can Lead The Nation By Funding Changes To School Food Program
Our schools play a crucial role in influencing our children’s health and learning. School cafeterias, which feed our students breakfast and lunch, are essential players in fighting child hunger and in the education of our nation’s future leaders. We’ve long championed farm-to-school programs because we believe healthy, freshly prepared meals using local ingredients are key to providing children with the best start in life. (Jennifer Siebel Newsom and Kat Taylor, 6/15)
East Bay Times:
Accounting For Homelessness Takes More Than A Homelessness Count
Recent reports from the homeless Point in Time (PIT) counts confirm what Bay Area residents know: Homelessness remains our region’s biggest challenge. What these counts do not show are the successful efforts to prevent and end homelessness for thousands — and how much worse the problem would otherwise be. That these efforts have fallen short does not mean they were the wrong strategy, but rather that the scale has not met the need. (Dr. Margot Kushel, Tomiquia Moss and Jennifer Loving, 6/15)
San Francisco Chronicle:
This Worker Has Slept On San Francisco’s Streets For 20 Years. How The City Failed Him
Every morning, Agustin Fuentes makes his way to the front door of the San Francisco Day Labor Program in the Mission. There he starts his day by sweeping the leaves, plastic bags and cigarette butts that have blown down Cesar Chavez Street and gathered on the sidewalk overnight. After he’s done, he checks in to see if anyone’s called in to the program with a job moving, painting or gardening. If not, he joins the hundreds of day laborers standing on street corners throughout the city, hoping for a few hours of work. At the end of the day, Fuentes doesn’t retreat to a warm bed indoors. Instead, he finds a few pieces of cardboard and hunkers down on the sidewalk. (Nuala Bishari, 6/16)
Capitol Weekly:
A Matter Of Life Or Death: California Needs A Homelessness Strategy
Nearly 5,000 unhoused Californians died in 2021, many of them drawing their last breaths alone on our streets. California, which boasts the fifth largest economy in the world, cannot continue to let our neighbors die in public; it’s time for something different. Too often cities, counties, and the state point fingers at each other because the current approach lacks clear lines of responsibility and accountability. It’s also fragmented, insufficiently funded, and fails to provide the policy tools required to materially impact homelessness. (Graham Knaus, 6/14)
San Francisco Chronicle:
No, I’m Not ‘Fine’ And Neither Are Millions Of Americans
I spent my early 20s eyeing bridges, subways, high-rise windows and busy-traffic corridors, assessing which one would provide the most assured escape from my mental pain. Although inpatient treatment for my severe depression helped save my life, two decades later, I know I’m not “fine.” Depression has crept back as I’ve shouldered pandemic fatigue, grief from my father’s death, and accumulated work and caregiver burnout. The smallest tasks require courage and tremendous energy. (Stacy Torres, 6/16)
Los Angeles Times:
I Received Six Psychiatric Diagnoses In 25 Years. They Were A Dead End
The day I sat in my psychiatrist’s windowless office and was told I had bipolar disorder, I’d already been in the mental health system for 25 years. It was my sixth diagnosis. Starting at age 12, I’d also been told I had anorexia, generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and attention deficit disorder. Sitting on my psychiatrist’s gray, puffy couch, I knew quite a bit about bipolar disorder — not just from my time in and out of doctors’ offices, partial hospitalization programs and intensive outpatient programs, but from the world around me. (Sarah Fay, 6/14)
Los Angeles Times:
Don't Deny Trans Youth Gender-Affirming Care
This year has seen an array of anti-transgender legislation. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration is pursuing policies to restrict transition-related care for transgender minors and to block Medicaid coverage of this care for anyone. In 2022, legislation in 20 states so far has been introduced purporting to “protect” trans youth — by criminalizing care that has been used safely worldwide for decades. There have been two notable recent victories protecting trans healthcare. A preliminary injunction in Alabama blocked enforcement of the state’s ban on gender-affirming drug treatments for minors, and the Texas Supreme Court halted a state investigation into one family with a transgender minor prompted by Gov. Greg Abbott’s attempt to treat gender-affirming care as “child abuse.” Although these rulings are important, they cannot counter state legislatures relying on toxic distortions and outright falsehoods about science to push anti-trans policy. (Christy Olezeski, Meredithe McNamara and Anne Alstott, 6/13)