Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
State Lawmakers Eye Federal Dollars To Boost Mental Health Counseling By Peers
Medicaid pays for mentoring of mental health patients by “peer supporters,” but only if they are state-certified. California is one of two states with no certification program. Legislation pending in Sacramento would change that — if the governor backs it. (Rob Waters, )
Good morning! California Sen. Kamala Harris had a breakout performance in the second night of the 2020 Democratic debates. Harris was one of two candidates on stage who wanted to get rid of the private insurance industry, and was joined by all her rival candidates in supporting universal health care for residents regardless of immigration status. More on the debates, and other news, below. But first here are your top California health stories of the day.
Newsom Signs His First State Budget. Here’s A Look At What’s In there: The $214.8-billion budget Gov. Gavin Newsom signed, which is the largest in state history, will cut costs for some Californians and raise taxes on others though a sweeping set of new policies ranging from ending sales taxes on diapers and tampons to fining people who don’t buy insurance.
Under the budget:
— More than 900,000 Californians who buy their own health insurance will be eligible for new help paying their insurance premiums. The subsidies will cap premiums to a percentage of income on a sliding scale for people between 200 and 600 percent of the federal poverty level.
— California will reinstate a variety of Medi-Cal services that were deemed nonessential during the recession, such as optical services, podiatry, help for incontinence issues, audiology and speech therapy.
— Medi-Cal eligibility is also being extended to adults in the U.S. illegally through the age of 25.
— Sacramento and other large cities will get more money to help homeless people under a deal announced Thursday by Newsom and legislative leaders. Under the agreement, $275 million will go to big cities including Sacramento that have more than 300,000 people. Counties will get $175 million and regional agencies called continuums of care will receive $190 million.
— Monthly landline and mobile phone bills will increase slightly Jan. 1, and the budget earmarks that money for improvements to 911 emergency communications across the state. Most states are far ahead of California on updating their 911 systems, and lawmakers were warned that the growing threat of deadly wildfires — in addition to earthquake and flood dangers — makes it important to fix the system as soon as possible.
— Newsom and legislative leaders agreed to spend $143.3 million to add 12,400 new slots in child-care centers across the state, most of which will be reserved for children from low-income families.
— The budget eliminates sales taxes on diapers and feminine hygiene products for two years.
Read more from John Myers of the Los Angeles Times; Sophia Bollag of the Sacramento Bee; Karina Gonzalez of CALmatters; and Ben Adler of Capital Public Radio.
San Francisco May Signals Intent To Sign Bill Banning E-Cigarettes: San Francisco Mayor London Breed said she supports a citywide ban on the sale of e-cigarettes. With the mayor’s backing, San Francisco will become the first U.S. city to implement a ban on nicotine vaporizer products. Breed is expected to sign the law in the next week. After that, stores will have seven months before they must remove all e-cigarettes from shelves. Cigarettes, other tobacco products and recreational marijuana will remain legal. “We don’t understand the impacts of this product,” Breed said. “Until the FDA provides the facts and the appropriate regulations of this product, then we should not allow those things to be sold on the market.” Read more from Romy Varghese and Brad Stone of Bloomberg.
Below, check out the full round-up of California Healthline original stories, state coverage and the best of the rest of the national news for the day.
More News From Across The State
Sacramento Bee:
CalPERS Long-Term Care Class Action Lawsuit Moves Forward
Public workers and retirees who sued CalPERS over an 85 percent rate increase to long-term care insurance plans could find out next week whether their lawsuit will move forward. The lawsuit cleared a potential hurdle when a judge tentatively ruled that it shouldn’t be thrown out based on how much time passed before it was filed, and a decision on a second piece of the trial is expected Monday or Tuesday. (Venteicher, 6/28)
San Jose Mercury News:
Gun Control: New Law Requires Background Checks For Ammo. Would It Have Prevented Bay Area Carnage?
Starting Monday, anyone looking to buy ammunition in California will be subject to a background check. Voters approved the first-in-the-nation requirement as part of 2016’s Proposition 63, the slate of gun control measures that also banned the possession of high-capacity magazines. It’s not clear, though, whether the law would have prevented a quadruple homicide and suicide inside a San Jose home earlier this week that was carried out by a man whose criminal record was supposed to bar him from possessing guns or bullets. (Savidge, 6/27)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. Must Fix Its Process Of Clearing Homeless Camps, Activists Say — Without LAPD's Help
Activists registered their outrage on Thursday over a new plan that would allow Los Angeles police to continue participating in cleanups of homeless encampments. About 20 members of the Services Not Sweeps coalition gathered near the steps of City Hall to protest the plan, even though it includes many ideas that the group has supported. (Oreskes, 6/27)
Sacramento Bee:
How Many Homeless Youths Identify LGBT In Sacramento County?
About 1 in 6 homeless young adults in Sacramento County identified as being gay/lesbian, bisexual or a sexual orientation other than straight, and 3 percent identified as gender non-conforming, according to this year’s census count. Another 8 percent of homeless young adults also refused to answer what their sexual orientation was – a frequent indication of someone who also likely falls within the LGTBQ community, said Koby Rodriguez with the Sacramento LGBT Community Center. (Yoon-Hendricks, 6/28)
KPCC:
Audio: Who’s Visiting Immigrant Detainees At The Adelanto Detention Center?
Members of her Pasadena Quaker meeting joined a visitation network for immigrant detainees after hearing a presentation by Freedom For Immigrants. The California-based advocacy group sends more than 4,000 volunteers to 55 large detention centers across the country, to offer support and monitor conditions. (Schrank, 6/27)
Sacramento Bee:
Fresno CA Housing Authority Against HUD Plan For Immigrants
The Fresno Housing Authority’s board of commissioners voted to approve a letter strongly opposing a controversial federal proposal that could displace hundreds of children and families from public housing in Fresno. The board’s vote Tuesday was unanimous, said Preston Prince, executive director and chief executive officer for the Fresno Housing Authority. (Amaro, 6/27)
Reuters:
Harris Challenges Biden In Breakout U.S. Debate Performance
Presidential candidate Kamala Harris dominated her Democratic rivals in a debate on Thursday, confronting front-runner Joe Biden on race and calling his remarks about working with segregationist senators "hurtful." In a breakout performance, the daughter of a black father from Jamaica and an Indian mother was at the center of several heated exchanges during the second night of debates among Democrats vying for the right to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in the 2020 election. (6/28)
The Associated Press:
Takeaways From Night 2 Of The Democratic Debate
The roster for Thursday night's Democratic presidential debate demonstrated some of the party's major divisions — even before candidates started talking. (6/28)
The Washington Post:
Democratic Presidential Candidates Dive Into Complicated Health Policy With Mixed Results
For two nights, the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates tried to navigate the complicated terrain of national health-care policy — with answers that were often oversimplified, incomplete or simply misleading, according to health-care experts. Both nights saw abbreviated explanations of how to move 330 million Americans onto a single government health insurance system. Candidates gave dire warnings about the dangers of Medicare-for-all that even the proposal’s critics say could not come to pass. And some of the Democratic presidential candidates overstated rising costs during the Trump administration. (Stein and Abutaleb, 6/28)
The New York Times:
Which Candidates And Topics Got The Most Time During The Second Democratic Debate
When the moderator asked who would abolish private health insurance in favor of a government-run plan, only Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Ms. Harris raised their hands. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York explained that she supports Mr. Sanders’ “Medicare for all” bill, but that it will have a transition period for people to actively buy-in. (6/27)
The Hill:
Biden Vows To Oppose Any Democrat Or Republican Who Wants To Dismantle ObamaCare
Former Vice President Joe Biden said the fastest way to get to universal health care coverage is to build on ObamaCare and vowed to oppose any Democrat or Republican who tries to cut down the law. "I’m against any Democrat who wants to take down ObamaCare and any Republican who wants to take it away," Biden said. (Weixel, 6/27)
The New York Times:
6 Takeaways From Night 2 Of The Democratic Debate
Mr. Sanders entered the debate as a top candidate in the polls and fund-raising, and there were big expectations he would use his stature to push his message of revolution and aggressively go after Mr. Biden. But though many of the progressive policy ideas he has helped popularize dominated the night — most notably, universal health care — he at times got lost on stage, overshadowed in particular by Ms. Harris. (Glueck, Goldmacher, Ember and Epstein, 6/27)
The Washington Post:
Immigration, A Central Issue For Trump, Also Key Issue At Democratic Debate
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said Trump has “torn apart the moral fabric of who we are.” South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg called the president’s family separation policy “dead wrong.” And Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) vowed to use his executive authority, if elected, to erase Trump’s policies. “On day one, we take out our executive order pen and we rescind every damn thing on this issue that Trump has done,” Sanders said to cheers. But the Democrats also had to confront the party’s role in creating and funding a federal immigration system that set the stage for Trump’s tighter enforcement. (Sacchetti, 6/28)
The Associated Press:
Fact Check: Dems On Migrant Kids, The Rich And Climate
A fired-up field of Democrats stumbled on some facts at the most visceral turns in their debate Thursday as they took on and sometimes sparred over race, the treatment of migrant children, the climate and the super-rich. ... [The candidates] are tapping into a misleading and common insinuation by Democrats about Trump placing "children in cages." The cages are actually chain-link fences and the Obama-Biden administration used them, too. Children and adults are held behind them, inside holding Border Patrol facilities, under the Trump administration as well.Obama's administration detained large numbers of unaccompanied children inside chain link fences in 2014. Images that circulated online of children in cages during the height of Trump's family separations controversy were actually from 2014 when Obama was in office. (6/27)
Reuters:
In Victory For Trump, U.S. House Democrats Back Down On Border Aid Bill Demands
Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives backed down to President Donald Trump and passed a $4.6 billion aid package to address a migrant surge at the U.S.-Mexico border without the additional protections for migrant children that liberals had sought. Trump, the Republican-controlled Senate and moderate Democrats insisted on finishing the emergency aid bill as soon as possible, without further haggling over demands for greater migrant safeguards and reduced immigration enforcement spending. (6/27)
The New York Times:
Five Takeaways From The Border Aid Vote
House Democrats have long played up their diversity, saying that the variety of viewpoints strengthen the party’s reach. But the different factions have frequently clashed, with more moderate members voicing concern that the progressive wing pushes the party too far to the left and more liberal members complaining about the tendency of moderate members to break with the party and vote with Republicans. (Cochrane, 6/27)
Reuters:
U.S. 'Gag Rule' Linked To 40% Jump In Abortions In Parts Of Africa
A decades-old U.S. government policy reinstated by President Donald Trump in 2017 that restricts international aid to NGOs that support abortion is linked to a 40% rise in abortions in some parts of sub-Saharan African, a study showed on Thursday. The "Mexico City Policy", also known as the "global gag rule", also led to more pregnancies and lower contraceptive use among women in African countries reliant on U.S. foreign aid, the study in the Lancet Global Health journal showed. (6/27)
USA Today:
LGBTQ Acceptance Among Young People Is On The Decline: GLAAD Survey
Young people are growing less tolerant of LGBTQ individuals, a jarring turn for a generation traditionally considered embracing and open, a survey released Monday shows. The number of Americans 18 to 34 who are comfortable interacting with LGBTQ people slipped from 53% in 2017 to 45% in 2018 – the only age group to show a decline, according to the annual Accelerating Acceptance report. And that is down from 63% in 2016. Driving the dilution of acceptance are young women whose overall comfort levels plunged from 64% in 2017 to 52% in 2018, says the survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD. (Miller, 6/27)
Los Angeles Times:
Banning Semiautomatic Weapons Won’t Solve America’s Gun Problem
Every time there is another mass shooting, calls begin anew for a ban on private ownership of semiautomatic rifles. But, sadly, the time has passed when such an approach would make a decisive difference in the United States. In an era of declining hunting, firearms manufacturers have increasingly transformed their product lines to feed gun buyers’ desires for military-style weaponry. Even if Congress could agree to pass a new law banning semiautomatic rifles – a big if in today’s polarized climate – a wide range of combat weapons would still be legally available, along with accessories to make them deadlier. (6/25)
Los Angeles Times:
Bills Seeking To Firm Up California's Red-Flag Gun Law Offer A Mixed-Bag
Three years ago, California became the first state to give immediate family members of mentally unstable people the ability to obtain a court order temporarily barring the ailing person from possessing firearms. The genesis of that measure was the May 2014 tragedy at Isla Vista, in which 22-year-old Elliot Rodger stabbed and shot to death six UC Santa Barbara students before killing himself. A month earlier, Rodger’s parents had discovered troubling videos he’d posted on YouTube and called police, but the officers who responded found insufficient cause to intervene. The new law allowed a judge, at the request of a mentally troubled person’s close relatives or law enforcement officers, to order firearms be removed immediately. (6/26)
Los Angeles Times:
San Francisco’s E-Cigarette Ban Isn’t Just Bad Policy, It’s Bad For Public Health
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors gave a tentative thumbs-up to the ban last week, and the supervisors are expected to reaffirm their support in a final vote Tuesday. We hope the supervisors will see the light before then. Not only is it bad public policy to outlaw a legal product that’s widely available just outside the city’s borders, but it’s bad public health policy to come down harder on the lesser of two tobacco evils. (6/24)
CALmatters:
California’s New Budget Invests In Overlooked Piece Of Health Care Puzzle: Workers
Is this the start of a new era for California’s health workforce? It sure looks like it. Gov. Gavin Newsom is poised to sign the largest, most comprehensive set of proposals in years to expand California’s health workforce pipeline—tapping $300 million in the 2019-20 budget to address an often overlooked threat to our health care system: a shortage of qualified health professionals. Our state has been acting boldly for years now on a variety of fronts to improve health and health care—from cutting the uninsured rate in half to reducing medical costs. (Dr. Sandra Hernandez and Raymond Baxter, 6/25)
Bloomberg:
California SB276: Helping Parents Protect Children From Measles
The threat from measles is severe and getting worse. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of U.S. measles cases in the first five months of 2019 surpassed the annual total in each of the previous 25 years. The cause of this surge is no mystery. Too many parents are failing to vaccinate their children. New approaches are required to help parents recognize the necessity of protecting their children from this dangerous and highly infectious disease. Officials understand the urgency of getting more children vaccinated, but anti-vaccine propaganda has convinced some parents to seek medical exemptions from vaccination, even where not warranted. Doctors who enable this behavior put entire communities at risk. (6/25)
Los Angeles Times:
Sneaky Deals Are Keeping Cheaper Generic Medicines Off The Market
It’s bad enough drug companies charge sky-high prices for brand-name prescription meds and raise those prices with regular frequency. Some also cut secret deals to keep cheaper generic alternatives off the market — a practice known as pay for delay. It’s a bad-faith ploy that affects millions of people, potentially endangering the lives of patients who can’t afford needed medicine. (David Lazarus, 6/27)
Sacramento Bee:
How Do We Give At-Risk Mothers Support? By Empowering Them
In the minute it takes to read this sentence, 24 Americans will become a victim of rape, physical violence, stalking or domestic abuse by an intimate partner. Not so long ago, I was one of them. After enduring emotional abuse from a former partner, I clearly remember the night I decided enough was enough. I had been forbidden from using the car or leaving the house without his permission. I was told not to have contact with certain family members and friends, and was terrified of what would happen if I did. (Krystle Hatchett, 6/27)
Los Angeles Times:
Bodies Pile Up At The U.S.-Mexico Border While Washington Dithers On Immigration
A single photograph of two bodies has grabbed the nation’s attention. Taken from overhead, it shows a man face down in the water at the edge of the Rio Grande with his toddler daughter held to his back under his T-shirt. The stillness of the scene is in jarring contrast to what must have been their frantic last moments struggling against the muddy current in a doomed effort to reach the other side. (6/26)
Sacramento Bee:
Rio Grande Picture Of Dead Father, Child Captures Border Crisis
I saw the horrific photograph and felt the shame of a privileged person who never had to risk his life by fleeing his home to find refuge in the United States. That’s what Oscar Martinez and his nearly 2-year-old daughter Valeria were trying to do on Monday – they were swimming for their lives to reach Brownsville, Texas – when they drowned. (Marcos Breton, 6/27)
Los Angeles Times:
There’s No Magic Bullet For Alzheimer’s, But There Are Ways To Keep Your Brain Healthy
In recent years, one promising Alzheimer’s drug after another has failed to produce results in clinical trials. At the same time, the growing number of older adults with cognitive problems is reaching a crisis point. In 2018, there were 5.7 million people in the United States living with Alzheimer's disease. That number is projected to grow to 13.8 million by 2050, threatening to overwhelm the U.S. healthcare system. (Gary Rosenberg, 6/26)
Los Angeles Times:
Santa Barbara County Has Too Much Marijuana Too Close To Kids
The legalization of cannabis has created another disruptive industry in California, one that is now in the hands of local governments to regulate. At the top of the list of goals for counties and municipalities should be protecting the health and safety of all, especially children. Unfortunately, in my home county of Santa Barbara, the prospect of attracting a high-profit, taxable growth industry seems to be outweighing every other consideration. I support the legalization of marijuana for adult use and the establishment of cannabis businesses, but my county has opened the pot floodgates too far. (Laura Capps, 6/26)
Sacramento Bee:
Regulation Is To Blame For The Housing Shortage, Not Landlords
The futility of the California Assembly’s frenzied effort to address high housing costs is best illustrated by this language in Assembly Bill 1482, passed to impose rent control statewide: “This section is intended to respond to the unique circumstances of the current housing crisis, and to only apply for a limited time.” There is nothing temporary about our state’s housing crisis. It is the deliberate result of policies that governments at all levels have pursued since the early 1950s. And the short-sighted, simplistic approach taken by the Assembly could ensure it lasts for decades to come. (Andre F. Shashaty, 6/26)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. County Is Paying Millions For A Replacement Jail — Without An Actual Plan
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors moved boldly and wisely in February when it rejected longstanding plans to build a jail for inmates with psychiatric and medical problems and instead called for providing better mental health care in a non-jail setting — and buildings that would accommodate a plan to treat sick people more like patients than inmates. (6/27)