Reuters: California Insurance Commissioner Urges DOJ To Block Aetna-Humana Deal
California's insurance commissioner on Thursday urged national antitrust regulators to block health insurer Aetna Inc's proposed $34 billion acquisition of Humana Inc. David Jones, whose state Department of Insurance does not have authority to block the deal, said the acquisition would be anti-competitive in California and nationwide and contribute to higher prices for insurance. (6/23)

California Healthline: California Insurance Commissioner Weighs In Against Aetna-Humana Deal
The official opinion of Dave Jones came just three days after California’s other health insurance regulator, the Department of Managed Care, approved the planned transaction. Just a week ago, Jones urged the federal government to block another mega-merger, Anthem Inc.’s $54 billion offer for Cigna Corp, also on competitive grounds. Jones said an Aetna-Humana tie-up would reduce competition in commercial health insurance markets that are already highly concentrated. “The Aetna and Humana merger has anticompetitive impacts that will likely result in increased prices, decreased availability of health insurance products, and decreased quality and access to healthcare,” Jones said. (Ibarra, 6/23)

Los Angeles Times: Sun Valley Hospital Settles For $1 Million In Second Patient-Dumping Lawsuit
A San Fernando Valley hospital has agreed to pay $1 million in civil penalties to settle allegations that it put a mentally ill woman in a taxi and lost track of her for three days, Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer announced Thursday. Under the terms of the settlement, Pacifica Hospital of the Valley admitted no wrongdoing but agreed to revamp its protocols for discharging homeless patients. It is the second time in two years that the hospital — a 231-bed facility in Sun Valley — has settled with the city attorney’s office in patient-dumping cases. (Branson-Potts, 6/23)

Los Angeles Daily News: Valley Hospital To Pay $1 Million For Alleged Patient Dumping, LA City Attorney Says
Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer alleges Pacifica Hospital of the Valley in Sun Valley failed to adequately care for a patient in a March 2016 incident. Kasey Lucious, who has a history of mental illness and homelessness, was sent to Crenshaw Nursing Home by hospital staff, but failed to check into the facility and was found three days later in the area by the California Highway Patrol, Feuer said. Pacifica Hospital also settled a lawsuit with Feuer’s office in 2014 over alleged patient dumping, in which the hospital agreed to pay $500,000 and follow a new set of homeless discharge protocols. (Smith, 6/23)

KPCC: Pacifica Hospital To Pay $1 Million To Settle Its Second 'Patient Dumping' Case
The upgrade of Pacifica's protocols will include "a detailed transportation policy and increased training for hospital personnel," the city attorney's office said. This is the fifth patient dumping case Feuer has settled since he took office three years ago. (Glickman, 6/23)

KPCC: Kaiser Says 4-Day Nurse Walkout Won't Disrupt Patient Care
Hundreds of registered nurses began a four-day strike at Kaiser Permanente's Los Angeles Medical Center Thursday, the second short-term walkout in three months. The HMO says it has hired enough replacement nurses to ensure normal operations throughout the job action. Kaiser has lined up more than 500 traveling and replacement nurses to fill in, said Kaiser spokeswoman Socorro Serrano. (Glickman, 6/23)

KQED: Google Glass Flopped. But Kids With Autism Are Using It to Recognize Emotions
Some children with autism struggle to understand social interactions, make eye contact or recognize facial expressions. So the Stanford researchers developed facial-recognition software specifically for Glass. The software acts as a coach, helping the kids search for and correctly identify emotions expressed on people’s faces. The technology could impact millions of children. In 2014, one in 68 children was diagnosed with autism, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s up about 30 percent from the previous estimate in 2012. (Hoshaw, 6/23)

In other health IT news, a grieving family hopes an app can help suicidal teens —

Deseret News: Family Coping With 2 Sons' Suicides Hope Free App Will Save Others
Burningham said her family doesn't want another to experience the loss of a loved one to suicide, the Deseret News reported. It is why they consented that a memorial donation from members of St. Paul United Methodist Church of Copperton be used to help spread awareness of the SafeUT cellphone app. The app, which can be downloaded free from the App Store or Google Play, provides youths confidential and anonymous two-way communication with crisis counselors at the University Neuropsychiatric Institute or school staff via one-touch options to "Call Crisisline," "Chat Crisisline," or "Submit a Tip." (Cortez, 6/19)

Orange County Register: Dana Point Sues To Halt Two Sober-Living Houses
City officials have filed two lawsuits seeking to shut down two sober-living houses affiliated with two treatment centers in Capistrano Beach, saying their operation violates state law and the city’s zoning code. The lawsuits, filed Wednesday in Orange County Superior Court, allege that sober-living homes Capo By the Sea, at 27036 Azul Drive, and Sovereign Health Group, at 25512 Evans Pointe, are operating as drug abuse recovery and treatment facilities without state licenses. The city also alleges in the lawsuits that the homes are providing service to more than six people, which under the Dana Point zoning code means they’re a business, and that they are operating in a residential area, which is illegal for businesses. (Ritchie, 6/23)

In other news from across the state —

The Press Democrat: Healdsburg Voters Will Again Decide Whether To Fluoridate City Water
Two years after Healdsburg voters overwhelmingly agreed to keep fluoridating the city’s water, the question is again expected to appear on their ballots. But how it will be worded isn’t clear. City Council members this week postponed placing the issue on the November ballot after anti-fluoride activists complained the proposed language prepared by city staff did not accurately reflect the text of their initiative measure. (Mason, 6/23)

The Desert Sun: Insider: Riverside County Opposes Health District Bill
Riverside County officials have gone on the record in their opposition to a plan that would expand the Desert Healthcare District into eastern Coachella Valley. Jim Gross, a lobbyist for the county, told a panel of state senators on Wednesday that a proposed bill for the expansion places unfunded expenses on the county and goes against the typical local process for expanding the influence of a government agency. (Newkirk, 6/23)

The Associated Press: Obama Threatens To Veto GOP-Backed Bill On Zika Virus Aid
The White House Thursday promised that President Barack Obama would veto the long-delayed response of the Republican-controlled Congress to the president's request for fighting the Zika virus, saying it provided too little money and contained too many partisan provisions. The $1.1 billion measure had already appeared sure to die in the Senate next at the hands of filibustering Democrats backing Obama's $1.9 billion request and opposing spending cuts that House Republicans added to the measure. (6/23)

The Wall Street Journal: Gridlock Over Funding Threatens To Stall Obama Plan To Fight Zika Virus
White House principal deputy press secretary Eric Schultz ... called the $1.1 billion deal “totally inadequate,” saying that Republican lawmakers had turned a public health issue into a partisan political exercise. “We urge Republicans to stop turning this into a political football and actually get to work, come up with a proposal that’s going to serve the American people,” Mr. Schultz said. Mr. Schultz ticked through a list of problems with the measure that passed the House, raising objections to what he said was insufficient funding. The bill also would “steal money” from other public-health priorities, he said, cutting unused funds from the Affordable Care Act, funds to fight Ebola and money from the Health and Human Services Department. (Armour and McCain Nelson, 6/23)

The Hill: White House Threatens Veto Of GOP's Zika Bill
Senate Democrats say the bill is all but doomed in the upper chamber, where it will need support from members of their party to pass. Lawmakers and aides say that would be extremely unlikely after Democratic lawmakers were dropped from the previously bipartisan talks. (Ferris, 6/23)

Stat: White House Threatens To Veto Zika Bill As Senate Barrels Toward Uncertain Vote
[Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell] chided Democrats for having “phony excuses” to oppose the bill. “Democrats should work with us to pass Zika control funding again, not block funding for combatting this virus,” he said in a Senate floor speech. “Phony excuses and made-up objections to the funding we’ve already passed won’t help create a vaccine or eradicate the threat of Zika.” (Scott, 6/23)

Politico Pro: Zika Funding Fight Could Drag On For Weeks
The House isn't scheduled to return from recess until July 5. That leaves the House and Senate just a few work days when they’re both scheduled to be in Washington until both chambers depart until Labor Day. (Ehley and Haberkorn, 6/23)

Los Angeles Times: A New Way To Cut Drug Prices? Make Big Pharma Show What It Spends To Bring Drugs To Market
At least 10 states are pondering a radical approach to putting a leash on soaring drug prices: force drug companies to explain how they arrived at the price of their costliest new drugs. The approach is radical not in the sense that it’s a new idea, but in the sense that it hasn’t been tried before. The idea is that the prices of some blockbuster new drugs—and some hard-to-get old drugs—are opaque. (Michael Hiltzik, 6/20)

The Fresno Bee: Let’s Shed Some Light On The High Price Of Drugs
Senate Bill 1010, pending in the Assembly, would require drugmakers to give purchasers some notice and justification before they hike the price of big-ticket drugs on the market, and require health plans and insurers to identify which drugs are driving spending. It’s basic stuff, really, but drug companies are kicking and screaming. (6/20)

Los Angeles Times: Cutting Through The Drug Manufacturers' Smokescreen On SB 1010
When the pharmaceutical industry feels threatened by lawmakers or regulators, it often plays what I call the “Miracle Cure card.” Here’s how that works. The industry trots out one or more gravely ill people whose lives have been prolonged or even saved by a drug the industry spent an enormous amount of money developing. Then it warns that the pipeline of such miraculous drugs will shut down if the industry is forced to do what lawmakers (or regulators) are proposing. (Jon Healey, 6/20)

The Sacramento Bee: Bill Won’t Lower Drug Prices
Health care costs are on the minds of many Californians, who see their insurance premiums and out of pocket expenses rising. Unfortunately, as state legislators consider good-faith efforts to address the issue, one measure – Senate Bill 1010, which goes before the Assembly Health Committee on Tuesday – not only fails to protect affordability and access, it threatens to make matters worse. Proponents of SB 1010 say the purpose of the bill is to lower costs driven by drug prices. They point to the mythical “$1,000 pill” and specialty drugs as the problem and say it’s time to bring drug pricing out of the shadows. (Sara Radcliffe, 6/20)

Los Angeles Times: Cutting Healthcare Costs Shouldn't Be This Painful
Wen my son was circumcised, Sade’s “Love Is Stronger Than Pride” was playing on a radio at the hospital. The pediatrician glanced over at me and said, “Some day, he’ll hear that song and won’t know why it makes him uncomfortable.” Snip. I recalled this experience while speaking the other day with Matt Williamson about his own son’s quiet storm of foreskin loss. The issue wasn’t the procedure, which I know some people question. The issue was the cost. (David Lazarus, 6/24)

Bloomberg: The Legal Splatter Where Religion Meets Health Care
The Obama administration has sided with a ruling by the state of California to require health insurers to cover abortion – even for religious organizations that object to the coverage. The decision by the federal Department of Health and Human Services, interpreting a federal law called the Weldon Amendment, is legally doubtful, and will probably be challenged in court. The uncertainty of the law’s meaning illustrates how baffling the conflict has become over the intricate web of legal principles that surround health-care coverage when it collides with religious values. (Noah Feldman, 6/23)

Los Angeles Times: Obamacare Update: Still Succeeding, Repeal Fading
The graphic above embodies the latest good-news story connected with the Affordable Care Act. It shows how projections of U.S. healthcare spending growth have come sharply down since Obamacare’s enactment in 2010. The latest projections are $2.6 trillion lower than the original post-ACA baseline forecast through 2020 — a reduction in projected spending of almost 13%. (Michael Hiltzik, 6/21)

LA Daily News: Bill Takes Risks With Lives Of People In Mental Health Crisis
From 1995 to 2010, California hospitals cut their capacity to serve people with acute psychiatric needs by 40 percebt. That means that in times of crisis, many people with serious mental health conditions have few alternatives to our state’s crowded emergency rooms. Instead of working to rebuild the system that we need, California’s hospitals have deployed lobbyists to pass a bill — AB 1300 — that would make it easier for ERs to simply dump people in psychiatric crisis onto the street. (Stuart Bussey and Hector Ramirez, 6/22)

Oakland Tribune: Moral Obligation To Report Elder Abuse Suspicions
Like other forms of elder abuse, financial abuse is a growing problem in Alameda County as our population ages. The numbers are as startling as they are disturbing. It is estimated that nationally, only one in 14 incidents of abuse against people who are 65 years of age or older is reported. (Lori Cox, 6/23)

The Sacramento Bee: Tobacco Tax Could Be Way To Keep Doctors On Medi-Cal List
When President Barack Obama’s federal health reform took effect in 2013, it included a temporary, two-year bump in the amount paid to doctors who care for the poor through the state Medi-Cal program. No surprise, more doctors opened their doors to low-income patients. But now those federally subsidized extra payments are gone, and advocates fear that access to care is slipping again for people without private insurance. With about 13 million Californians – nearly one-third of the state – depending on Medi-Cal for their health care, getting as many doctors as possible to accept the program’s patients has become a crucial undertaking. (Daniel Weintraub, 6/21)

LA Daily News: Reframing The Conversation: Seeking Help Can Mean Living Longer
A lot of what our nation needs to put in place to care well for people is readily available and affordable. Mostly, however, people don’t know when and how to ask for the services they need, including palliative and hospice care. Multiple studies have shown that palliative care, including hospice, is often associated with people living longer. But I don’t need research to tell me that because I know how hospice extended my cousin Edith’s life. (Ira Byock, 6/23)

LA Daily News: Ready Or Not, LA Sick-Leave Law Starts Soon
Los Angeles’ new requirement that businesses in the city offer their workers at least six days of paid sick leave a year is enough to make employers’ own heads throb. Not only is the increase to six days from the state-mandated three days another in a string of added burdens for business owners, as the editorial board detailed here recently. Compounding the problem is the fact the law takes effect July 1 for many businesses, less than a month after the City Council approved it and Mayor Eric Garcetti signed it. (6/23)

Los Angeles Times: Do Nutritional Labels Work?
The Food and Drug Administration recently unveiled significant changes to nutritional labels. After a hard-fought battle, the new labels will give consumers greater insight into how much added sugar is hidden in the food we eat. ... Public health advocates, consumer groups and the FDA have touted these new requirements as essential to combating America’s obesity epidemic. The only problem is that these new-and-improved labels may not help those who need nutritional information the most. (Elena Fagotto, 6/20)

Ventura County Star: Legalizing Marijuana Would Create A Well-Regulated Market
Ventura Police Chief Ken Corney, who is also president of the California Police Chiefs Association, has come out swinging against marijuana legalization in order to save our citizens from the evil weed. Especially the children. But let's be real for once: Maintaining marijuana prohibition and the status quo not only doesn't protect our children, it does the opposite. (Jeff Meyers, 6/18)

Orange County Register: Fullerton Fumbles On Pot
It looks like medical marijuana will remain prohibited in Fullerton, at least for the time being, after “City Council members on Tuesday unanimously agreed to wait until after the November election to make a decision on permitting the cultivation of medical marijuana within city limits,” the Register reported. While the merits of a plebiscite on the issue seem dubious, as we believe that city councils are elected to make decisions like this on behalf of the people they represent, it is even more questionable why it is necessary to wait until after the November election to decide whether to allow access to medical marijuana within the city. The voters already spoke on the subject of medical marijuana back in 1996 when Proposition 215 passed with 56 percent of the vote. (6/24)

Oakland Tribune: Surprise Medical Bills Need To Stop
California should join New York and Florida in shielding patients from surprise out-of-network medical bills experienced by more than 20 percent of patients who have ER visits, surgeries or hospitalizations. The practice can cost patients thousands of dollars and has sent some into bankruptcy. If you've experienced the shock, you'll agree this has to stop. (6/23)