The Mercury News: What Senate Health Care Delay Means For House Republicans
The Republican health care bill would have a dramatic effect in California because of its steep cuts to Medicaid – particularly in the Central Valley... All of the state’s 14 Republican members of Congress voted for the House’s version of the bill, in part due to pressure from House leaders and a desire to keep their promises on the campaign trail to repeal “Obamacare.” (Tolan, 6/29)

The New York Times: Projected Drop In Medicaid Spending Heightens Hurdle For G.O.P. Health Bill
Projected Medicaid spending under a Senate Republican bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act would be 35 percent lower after two decades, the Congressional Budget Office said on Thursday in a new report, which detailed how Medicaid changes would cut more deeply as they go fully into force. The budget office analysis created a fresh challenge for Republican leaders as they tried to muster support for their bill, even as senators scattered to their home states for a 10-day July 4 recess. (Pear and Kaplan, 6/29)

Reuters: Senate Republican Bill Would Slash Medicaid By 2036, Complicating Talks
The Congressional Budget Office report, requested by Senate Democrats, provides a longer-term look at how the Republican plan would affect Medicaid spending as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell searches for a formula to win over the conservative and moderate elements of his Republican caucus. (6/29)

The Washington Post: Senate Democrats Shine Light On Health Bill’s Longer-Term Effect On Medicaid
The Better Care Reconciliation Act relies on the time-honored political strategy of pressing a bill’s most profound effects years into the future — in this case, in severely constricting the main source of public health insurance for poor and vulnerable Americans. Until Thursday, that scenario had been cloaked in arcane legislative language about per-capita caps and varying inflation adjustments. What Congress’s nonpartisan budget scorekeepers did, at the prodding of the Senate Finance Committee’s senior Democrat, is make clear that the GOP legislation would squeeze federal Medicaid spending by 35 percent by the end of two decades, compared with current law. (Goldstein, 6/29)

Politico: CBO: Medicaid Spending Falls 35 Percent In 20 Years Under Senate Health Bill
The drop-off stems from stricter limits Republicans want to enact beginning in 2025 to control the entitlement's growth. Under the Senate bill, federal Medicaid outlays would be 26 percent less in 2026 compared to current law. The gap widens to 35 percent in 2036. (Pradhan, 6/29)

Los Angeles Times: Hopes Fade For Friday Revise Of Senate Republican Health Bill With No Quick Fix In Sight
Senate Republicans appeared unlikely to hit a self-imposed Friday deadline for revising their healthcare bill, as negotiators considered scaling back promised tax cuts for the wealthy in order to provide more insurance assistance to the poor. Vice President Mike Pence led a White House push by meeting Thursday with divided Republican senators, but conservatives and centrists have been unable to resolve their differences. “We’re working,” Pence said as he dashed through the halls, followed by reporters shouting questions. (Mascaro, 6/29)

The Wall Street Journal: Republicans Clash Again Over Senate Health-Care Bill
New divisions opened among Senate Republicans on Thursday over their proposed health-care legislation even as they edged closer to hammering out some agreements to shore up support for the bill. The bill’s status appeared shaky as lawmakers left Washington for a week-long break, its fate likely vulnerable to home-state pressures they may face and any deals they can make over the vacation. (Peterson, Rubin and Hughes, 6/29)

Roll Call: GOP Wheeling And Dealing Takes Center Stage In Senate
Deal-making was the name of the game Thursday as Senate Republican leaders met with skeptical lawmakers in an attempt to bridge deep policy divides among the GOP conference on their legislation to overhaul the U.S. health care system. Vice President Mike Pence and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma were also on Capitol Hill, joining in the effort to rework a bill that would tighten the cap on federal funding for Medicaid over several years and alter the 2010 health care law’s subsidies that help individuals afford insurance. (Williams, 6/29)

The Hill: GOP Adds $45 Billion In Opioid Money To Healthcare Bill 
Senate Republicans are adding $45 billion to their ObamaCare replacement bill to fight opioid abuse, according to sources familiar with the discussions. The move was widely expected as an attempt to win over moderate Republicans like Sens. Rob Portman (Ohio) and Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), who have both made the opioid epidemic a priority. (Sullivan, 6/29)

The Associated Press: GOP May Keep Some Obama Tax Increases To Save Health Bill
Senate Republican leaders considered keeping one of former President Barack Obama's big tax increases on wealthier Americans and using the money to fatten proposed subsidies for the poor in a bid Thursday to placate moderate GOP lawmakers and salvage their struggling health care bill. (6/29)

The Washington Post: Why Republicans Are Thinking Of Keeping An Obamacare Tax On The Rich
The details of which taxes would be scaled back and by how much haven't been officially released, but The Washington Post reported that Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was rewriting the bill to preserve a tax on investment income for families that made more than $250,000 a year or individuals who made more than $200,000. Over a decade, that tax is projected to add up to $172 billion by the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation. (Johnson, 6/29)

The Washington Post: Americans Watch A Health-Care Bill That Could Upend Many Lives Again
Millions of Americans of all ages and needs would be affected if Republicans in Congress succeed in overhauling major parts of the Affordable Care Act. And the latest maneuvering is only intensifying concerns. But with Senate GOP leaders trying to retool parts of their bill — which was pulled back this week after support for a fast vote eroded — it isn’t easy sussing out exactly how an individual might benefit or lose. Would an uninsured home-care worker in Ohio get a tax credit that would make private health coverage affordable? Would the big changes envisioned for Medicaid funding cut out a New Mexico house painter with emphysema? What about the medical services a young West Virginia boy might require for the rest of his life? (Somashekhar, McGinley, Sun and Bernstein, 6/29)

Los Angeles Times: Less Coverage, More Uninsured: Here's What The Latest Republican Healthcare Plan Could Mean For Women
Women’s health advocates have assailed the plans put forward by congressional Republicans to replace the Affordable Care Act, saying they would cause disproportionate harm to half the adult population. “Both bills are nothing short of an all-out attack on women’s health,” said Janel George, director of federal reproductive rights and health at the National Women’s Law Center. (Zavis, 6/29)

The Wall Street Journal: How The Proposed Health-Care Bill Would Affect Your Taxes
There is no question your taxes will change if Republicans pass a new health-care bill. Earlier this week, Senate leaders delayed a vote on the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 until after July 4. The bill seeks to repeal or replace large swaths of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. (Saunders, 6/30)

The New York Times: Trump Nominates Indiana Health Commissioner As Surgeon General
President Trump has nominated Dr. Jerome M. Adams, the health commissioner for Indiana and a strong advocate of needle exchanges to avoid the spread of disease, to be the surgeon general of the United States. Dr. Adams, 42, was first appointed to the Indiana post in October 2014 when Vice President Mike Pence was governor. Shortly after Dr. Adams took office, there was an unusual H.I.V. outbreak in Scott County, a rural Indiana community near the Kentucky border. (Kaplan, 6/29)

Los Angeles Times: Federal Judge Blocks Law Requiring Californians To Dispose Of High-Capacity Magazines
A federal judge Thursday granted a request by attorneys for the National Rifle Assn. to block a law that requires Californians to dispose of large-capacity ammunition magazines by Saturday or face fines and possible jail time. U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez wrote in San Diego that the rights of voters who approved Proposition 63 in November have to be balanced against the rights of gun owners. (McGreevy, 6/29)

Sacramento Bee: Federal Judge Blocks California's High-Capacity Magazines Ban
“The State of California’s desire to criminalize simple possession of a firearm magazine able to hold more than 10 rounds is precisely the type of policy choice that the Constitution takes off the table,” the injunction read. (Yoon-Hendricks, 6/29)

Capital Public Radio: Three Northern CA Planned Parenthoods Closing 
California's recently approved budget includes tens of millions of dollars for community clinics, which could potentially go to Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California. However, CEO Kathy Kneer says that money won't be allocated until next year and they needed to cut costs this year. (Schilling, 6/29)

In other news from across the state —

The Bakersfield Californian: Clinica Sierra Vista Named Nonprofit Of The Year For 32nd Assembly District 
Clinica Sierra Vista, a large chain of clinics for low-income residents, was named Nonprofit of the Year for the 32nd Assembly District this week by Assemblyman Rudy Salas, D-Bakersfield. “Nonprofits like Clinica Sierra Vista fill a vital healthcare need in our community,” Salas said in a news release. “For a generation, Clinica Sierra Vista has demonstrated a commitment to delivering quality rural health care and providing hundreds of health-related jobs throughout the region." Clinica started out in 1970 as a small, rural health program and has since grown to be one of the largest, comprehensive migrant health center systems in the state, offering medical, dental and behavioral health care in Kern, Fresno and Inyo counties, the release said. (6/29)

East Bay Times: Sutter Health Walk-In Care Clinic Opens In Walnut Creek
Sutter Health opened a new Walk-in Care clinic at 2878 Ygnacio Valley Road in Walnut Creek on Thursday. Located in the Orchards shopping center, the clinic offers a new option for fast, convenient care for everyday illnesses and health needs in a stand-alone storefront that is easily accessible. The clinic is open seven days a week, from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m., with reduced hours on almost all major holidays, ensuring that patients can get same-day care close to where they live, work, shop or play. Staffed by nurse practitioners and physician assistants, the clinic can provide a range of medical services. They can treat common illnesses, conduct health screenings, provide vaccinations and perform routine and sports physicals. They can also approve refills for many common medications. (Tyska, 6/30)

Orange County Register: Cristianitos Fire: Smoke Advisory Issued For Orange County, Children Should Remain Indoors 
Air quality regulators will decide early Friday, June 30, whether to extend a smoke advisory for Orange County, after residents were urged to stay indoors Thursday as the Cristianitos fire spewed harmful particulates into the air. The advisory is in effect through Friday morning, when the South Coast Air Quality Management District will again assess weather conditions and fire containment, said district spokesman Sam Atwood. (Perkes, 6/29)

Ventura County Star: Shigella Illness Lawsuit Filed Against Souplantation
On Tuesday, the same day a Souplantation in Camarillo reopened after a voluntary closure brought by a surge of shigella cases, a lawsuit was filed over the illnesses. Ventura County Public Health officials said Wednesday they've found 11 cases of illnesses involving the shigella bacteria among customers who ate at the restaurant. An additional case involved a restaurant employee. Five of the 12 people had been hospitalized, said Ventura County Public Health Officer Dr. Robert Levin, adding that an exact source of the illnesses has not been identified. (Kisken, 6/29)

Los Angeles Times: In Blocking A Bad Single-Payer Healthcare Bill, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon Was Not ‘Cowardly’ – Quite The Opposite
California badly needs political heroes, and we just got one: Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon... He personally sent packing a so-called single-payer universal healthcare bill that was virtually all fluff with little substance. (George Skelton, 6/29)

Sacramento Bee: California Single Payer, Trumpcare. Why Rush?
Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon was absolutely correct to reject the aspirational universal health care legislation, and to tell the California Senate, in so many words, to get real. Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, and Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, should have known better than to push for a quick vote on their paper moon of a bill, which purported to quickly fix an issue that is fundamentally life-and-death. Their Senate Bill 562 holds out the hope of health care for all, but offered no method to pay for a program that would cost $400 billion a year, more than double the state budget signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday. (6/27)

Orange County Register: Single-Payer Health Care Is Dead — For Now. Californians Shouldn’t Let It Come Back 
Under SB562, the 92 percent of Californians covered by an employer-sponsored plan, an individual marketplace policy or a public program like Medicare or Medi-Cal would be forced to give up their insurance. Most state residents wouldn’t welcome that change. (Sally Pipes, 6/29)

Orange County Register: Why There’s Likely At Least 3-Year Wait For Single-Payer Health Coverage 
Single-payer health insurance that would cover every Californian has stalled, at least for now. Because Democratic Speaker Anthony Rendon shelved state Assembly consideration of the Senate-passed insurance outline at least until next year, a popular vote on the well-publicized, often criticized single-payer health insurance plan is probably at least three years away, and probably more. (Thomas D. Elias, 6/27)

Los Angeles Times: The GOP Healthcare Plan Will Devastate Los Angeles 
One in 20 of the nation’s Medicaid recipients lives in L.A. County and relies on the program for their healthcare... Many would be at grave risk of losing their health coverage, and consequently all but emergency medical treatment, under the Republicans' program. (6/27)

Orange County Register: GOP Not Where It Needs To Be On Health Bill 
Republicans owe their congressional majority to a simple promise: Repeal and replace Obamacare... Support for the overhaul is in the single digits among Democrats, but several polls show independents and Republicans also remarkably uneasy, with total support among all respondents languishing somewhere between about 12 and 27 percent. (6/30)

Los Angeles Times: How Many People Will Die From The Republicans' Obamacare Repeal Bills? Tens Of Thousands Per Year 
How many people would lose their lives if the Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act succeeds? Estimates of this inherently murky statistic vary, but the range is from about 28,000 to nearly 100,000 a year. (Michael Hiltzik, 6/26)

Los Angeles Times: As Depression, Anxiety And Suicide Skyrocket, The GOP Wants To Gut Our Mental Health Coverage
Since the Senate healthcare reform bill was released late last week, there’s been tons of conversation around what’s in the darn thing. Among the rotten provisions in the current iteration of Trumpcare — and there are many — arguably the least discussed are those affecting individuals with mental illness. Mental illness is an extraordinarily broad category, by the way; it includes everything from anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, ADHD, schizophrenia and more. To escape the bill’s clinical, impersonal language and get to the point: Folks living with mental illness are about to get completely screwed. (Melissa Batchelor Warnke, 6/29)

Los Angeles Times: Blood Money And The Death Party: Let's Tone Down The Trumpcare Rhetoric
Earlier this month a political zealot went to a baseball practice with the intention of killing as many Republican congressmen as he could. As often happens after such horrible events, various politicians and media figures suggested that we should tone down the rhetoric and not paint everything in apocalyptic terms, casting Republicans or Democrats as villains with traitorous or evil intent in their hearts. Words have consequences, they sagely said into the TV cameras. Two weeks later, many of the very same people are describing the Republicans as murderers for proposing changes to Medicaid. (Jonah Goldberg, 6/27)

Sacramento Bee: California Should Fear Republican Health Plan
I’ve got a slogan for the Republican health plan: “Make America Sick Again.” Put that on your baseball caps, you 14 California Congressional representatives – Calvert, Cook, Denham, Hunter, Issa, Knight, LaMalfa, McCarthy, McClintock, Nunes, Rohrabacher, Royce, Valadao, and Walters – who voted for the House plan. (Sheila Kuehl, 6/27)

Los Angeles Times: The Senate GOP Hid The Meanest Things Very Deeply In Its Obamacare Repeal Bill. We Found Them
The Affordable Care Act repeal bill unveiled Thursday by Senate Republicans has aptly drawn universal scorn from healthcare experts, hospital and physician groups and advocates for patients and the needy. That’s because the bill is a poorly-disguised massive tax cut for the wealthy, paid for by cutting Medicaid — which serves the middle class and the poor — to the bone. (Michael Hiltzik, 6/23)

Los Angeles Times: The GOP Says Its Healthcare Bill Will Protect Those With Preexisting Conditions. Um, No It Won't
Here’s the opening quote from a press release Thursday from Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, about the Senate GOP leadership’s healthcare bill: “To begin with, the draft Senate healthcare bill makes no change in the law protecting people with preexisting conditions, no change in Medicare benefits, and increases Medicaid funding — that’s TennCare — at the rate of inflation.” (Jon Healey, 6/23)

Sacramento Bee: Republican Health Bill Is A Disaster For Kids
Much of the debate on the Senate Republican health care bill and the similar House bill focuses on the Medicaid expansion for adults. But this proposal would be a disaster for America’s children. (Todd Suntrapak, 6/28)

Orange County Register: Dialysis Patients Can’t Live With This Union-Backed Bill
Doctors, nurses, clinics, hospitals and other experts warn that SB349 will significantly reduce access to care for dialysis patients. If SB349 passes, it will impose costly and unnecessary staff increases that may force clinics to reduce the number of patients they treat. (Melissa Wellman, 6/29)

Sacramento Bee: Why Planned Parenthood In California Persists
Though she has been an institution in Sacramento, Kathy Kneer is not a household name for most Californians... Pound for pound, Kneer has had as much as any politician to do with the extent to which California women can take family planning and good prenatal care for granted. (Shawn Hubler, 6/29)

Los Angeles Times: Adding Roundup To Prop. 65 List Is A Victory, But Will Californians Heed The Warning? 
The weed killer glyphosate, known by the brand name Roundup and used by backyard gardeners and farmers the world round, will be added on July 7 to California’s list of more than 850 chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects or reproductive harm. The listing won’t restrict sales or use of the world’s most popular herbicide, only require that businesses alert people when it is present in levels above what is considered safe. (Mariel Garza, 6/29)

Los Angeles Times: Fairview Site Could Be A Cornerstone For Addiction And Mental Health Services
You can’t talk about addressing the mental health crisis in this county without including the issues of homelessness and addiction. This is why a coalition of addiction and mental health experts from Hoag and St. Joseph hospitals, as well as local and state government officials, have been meeting to come up with a plan. No one facility or community can bear the burden, but networked campuses countywide just might. (Barbara Venezia, 6/28)

Orange County Register: Failed Environmental Law Puts Californians And Their Businesses At Risk
Although the overwhelming majority of research indicates glyphosate is safe, the International Agency for Research on Cancer went against the grain in 2016, deciding that glyphosate “probably” causes cancer in humans... But California didn’t know the researcher who led IARC’s glyphosate evaluation had concealed significant amounts of his own research that strongly upheld glyphosate’s safety. (Joseph Perrone, 6/30)