San Francisco Chronicle: Health Insurance Signups For Covered California Up 25 Percent On first Day
The fifth open enrollment period under the Affordable Care Act is off to a strong start in California, with 5,900 people signing up for new health insurance plans on Nov. 1 — 25 percent higher than the first day of open enrollment in 2016, Covered California officials said. Open enrollment runs through Jan. 31, and it is too soon to tell whether the pace of signups will continue, but the initial numbers are one early signal that Covered California’s aggressive ramp-up in advertising, marketing and outreach efforts is paying off. (Ho, 11/9)

Sacramento Bee: Covered California Far Outspends Trump Administration Advertising Open Enrollment
As the federal government backed away from the Affordable Care Act, California increased its overall budget for marketing, advertising and sales by 11 percent to $111 million. It is spending $50 million on advertising alone to ensure consumers know that this year’s congressional attempts to repeal or replace the law failed and health coverage remains available. (Anderson, 11/10)

East Bay Times: Help Available To Enroll In Health Care
During the enrollment period for Covered California, the state-run health care plan, Axis Community Health is offering information sessions throughout the Tri-Valley. “Health insurance can be confusing. If you have questions or concerns about enrolling we can help,” said Carrie King, Axis’ community relations manager. Covered California offers plans from private insurance companies for U.S. citizens and documented immigrants. People can’t be denied coverage due to preexisting conditions and financial assistance is available. (Kilduff, 11/9)

The New York Times: Pace Of Sign-Ups Under Affordable Care Act Blows Past Prior Years
More than 600,000 people signed up last week for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, significantly beating the pace of prior years as consumers defied President Trump’s assertion that the marketplace was collapsing. (Pear, 11/9)

The Associated Press: Despite Trump's Scorn, Early 'Obamacare' Sign-Ups Top 600k
With only four days of data, experts said it's hard to discern a trend. But definitely the Affordable Care Act doesn't seem to be collapsing. If anything sign-ups for 2018 are on track with previous years. Figures from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services showed that 601,462 people signed up Nov. 1-4 in the 39 states served by the federal HealthCare.gov website. Of those consumers, about 77 percent were renewing their coverage, and about 23 percent were new customers, a split that mirrors previous years. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 11/9)

USA Today: Feds' Obamacare Site Does Biggest Business Yet, While About Half Of People Can Pay $0
Consumers are flocking to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges to buy insurance, setting a record in the first few days of open enrollment, federal numbers out Thursday show. Total daily sign-ups were up 79% for the first few days Healthcare.gov was open, compared to the equivalent period last year. Open enrollment started Nov. 1 and runs through Dec. 15. (O'Donnell, 11/9)

The Washington Post: More Than 600,000 Consumers Select ACA Plans At Start Of Enrollment, CMS Says
While CMS officials did not provide a direct comparison with any of the four previous enrollment periods, administration officials said that more than 200,000 consumers selected plans on the first day, more than double the number last year. The officials spoke about the first-day figure on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose it. The overall total for the initial four days compares with just over 1 million Americans who signed up on the federal exchange during the first 12 days of open enrollment in 2016. (Eilperin and Goldstein, 11/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Insurers See Jump in Sign-Ups for Affordable Care Act
Insurers suggested the early influx was partly sparked by the spotlight on the ACA amid Republican efforts to repeal or change it. “You couldn’t have paid for that kind of advertising,” said Steve Ringel, president of the Ohio market for CareSource, which sells ACA plans in four states. “It doesn’t matter what the story line is, it’s drawing attention to the marketplace.” (Wilde Mathews, 11/9)

Los Angeles Times: Signups For Obamacare Insurance Coverage Surge, Despite Trump Administration Attacks
The pace of signups cheered supporters of the healthcare law, many of whom feared that President Trump’s criticism of the law, coupled with major cuts in federal funding for advertising and outreach efforts, would depress enrollment. At six weeks, the enrollment period is also only half as long this year, running until Dec. 15. (Levey, 11/9)

KQED: What Vets Want at the End of Life Is Very Different From What Civilians Want
Symptoms of terminal illnesses, like pain or breathlessness, can trigger flashbacks, making vets feel as threatened as they did on the battlefield. ...Some vets see their pain or PTSD as retribution for their work in the line of duty. (Dembosky, 11/9)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Ramps Up Effort To Fight Hepatitis A As Cases Among Gay And Bisexual Men Surge
California health officials have stepped up their hepatitis A prevention efforts in recent days as new fronts emerge in the battle against the state’s massive outbreak. Most of the 20 people killed and more than 600 sickened in the outbreak that began in San Diego were homeless. (Karlamangla and Holland, 11/10)

In other public health news —

Desert Sun: Young Children Are Suffering From Alarmingly High Rates Of Asthma Near The Salton Sea, Study Finds
Teachers and administrators at schools near the Salton Sea have grown accustomed to helping students with asthma, often keeping inhalers on hand in case dusty air triggers an attack. A new survey of the families of first- and second-graders at four schools in the Imperial Valley confirms that the children are suffering from alarmingly high rates of asthma and other respiratory problems. The survey was carried out by researchers from the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, who are focusing on the health of children near the shrinking lake. (James, 11/6)

Orange County Register: Orange County’s First Flu Season Death Is A Toddler
A previously healthy male toddler is Orange County’s first flu-related death of the season, the Orange County Health Care Agency announced Thursday, Nov. 9. Lab testing this week confirmed the boy was infected with the influenza A virus. He was not vaccinated, officials said. (Smith and Bharath, 11/9)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Discovery May Show Earliest Stage Of Alzheimer's
A new way to detect Alzheimer’s disease at the earliest stages has been reported in a study led by researchers at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute. The researchers found a biological molecule, or biomarker, that’s associated with brain inflammation. This is believed to be a trigger for the Alzheimer’s process, which takes many years to produce symptoms. (Fikes, 11/10)

KPBS: Opioid Epidemic Prompting Changes In San Diego Emergency Rooms
For years, hospital emergency rooms have been seen as easy marks for people who are doctor shopping for opioids like Vicodin and Oxycontin. But that perception may be changing. An effort aimed at getting local emergency room physicians to change their prescribing practices appears to be bearing fruit. (Goldberg, 11/9)

In other news on the epidemic —

Capital Public Radio: California Health Officials Tackle Opioid Crisis With Help From Counties
President Donald Trump declared the opioid epidemic a national public health crisis last month, but didn’t specify any new funding to combat the problem. California health officials say their efforts to reduce overdose deaths are already in full swing. (Caiola, 11/9)

Desert Sun: For Many Palm Springs Homeless, Heroin Comes Before Food And Water. The Problem Is Getting Worse.
Much of the national epidemic has been concentrated in the Northeast and Midwest. California counted 1,966 opioid overdose deaths in 2015, few enough to have one of the lowest opioid death rates of any state, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. In Riverside County, a large stretch of Southern California that includes Palm Springs and more than 2.3 million people, overdose deaths involving heroin have risen over the past decade, according to a Desert Sun analysis of county data derived from death reports. In 2005, 21 death records mentioned heroin. In 2013, the count surpassed 50 for the first time and remained that high for at least two more years. (Newkirk, 11/9)

Los Angeles Times: San Diego's Big Hospitals Plan A Push Into Medical Tourism
A coalition of civic, tourism and business leaders, joined by San Diego’s four major hospitals, is launching a medical tourism initiative they hope will draw more well-heeled patients and their families to the region than any one hospital could attract on its own. (Weisberg, 11/9)

In other news from across the state —

Los Angeles Times: Months After Her Stroke, Glendale Woman Meets The Paramedics Who Helped Her
A Glendale woman wanted to personally give thanks to the first responders who helped her after she suffered a stroke three months ago. It was this past Wednesday afternoon when Silvana Shirvanian embraced each of the Glendale Fire Department’s paramedics who provided medical assistance to her. She hadn’t seen any of them since waking up the morning of Aug. 8, unable to get out of bed. (Nguyen, 11/9)

Modesto Bee: Dozens Of Marijuana Businesses Could Open In Stanislaus County, But Not By Jan. 1
Stanislaus County officials got what they expected when a three-week window was opened last month for initial applications from marijuana businesses. Almost 120 signed up with the county between Oct. 2 and Oct. 20, checking multiple boxes to express interest in seeking a total of 464 cannabis permits, said Keith Boggs, assistant executive officer for the county. (Carlson, 11/9)

The Hill: Initial Senate Tax Bill Does Not Repeal ObamaCare Mandate
The tax-reform bill that Senate Republicans are releasing Thursday does not repeal ObamaCare's individual insurance mandate, though the provision could be added down the line, GOP senators said. Senators leaving a briefing about the legislation said repealing the mandate is not in the initial text of the legislation, but cautioned that the issue is still under discussion. (Sullivan, 11/9)

The Hill: Senate Keeps Medical Expenses Deduction In Break With House
The Senate GOP tax bill will retain a key deduction for qualified medical expenses that was excluded from the House version, according to a Republican senator on the Senate Finance Committee. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) told reporters that the deduction will remain in the initial version of legislation the Senate is set to unveil today. (Weixel, 11/9)

Sacramento Bee: Veterans Are Waiting, And Waiting, For A Central Valley VA Clinic. What’s Taking So Long?
On Veterans Day 2017, many veterans in the Central Valley have a very good question: Why is it taking so darn long to open a badly needed outpatient health clinic? The planned 158,000-square-foot, four-floor VA facility just outside Stockton is supposed to offer top-notch, patient-focused services, including primary care, mental health, physical therapy, prosthetics and dental. But under the current schedule, construction won’t start until late 2018 or early 2019. The first patient won’t be treated until summer 2022. (Foon Rhee, 11/9)

Los Angeles Times: Anti-Vaxxers Have Found A Way Around California's Strict New Immunization Law. They Need To Be Stopped
Two years ago the state Legislature passed a law banning so-called personal belief exemptions that many parents were using to keep their children from being vaccinated because they believed — wrongly — that vaccines were linked to autism and other serious health problems. But even as the number of personal belief exemptions fell to zero, the number of medical exemptions has skyrocketed. That's fishy. (11/8)

Los Angeles Times: Trump's Medicaid Chief Attacks Her Own Program, On The Very Day It Scored A Huge Win At The Polls
Republicans who think the American public is clamoring to repeal or roll back the Affordable Care Act have another think coming. Voters in Maine overwhelmingly enacted Medicaid expansion for their state Tuesday, overturning a string of five successive vetoes by their right-wing governor, Paul LePage. The vote was roughly 60%-40%. Maine thus becomes the 33rd state (including the District of Columbia) to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, the first to do so during the Trump administration, and the first to do so by ballot initiative. (Michael Hiltzik, 11/8)

Los Angeles Times: Notre Dame, Reentering 21st Century, Restores Employees' Access To Birth Control
The University of Notre Dame, in an abrupt reversal, says it will continue to allow its employees access to contraception under their insurance policies. Only a week ago, the university said it would cancel all birth control coverage for students and employees next year. That includes contraception provided to those recipients for free, under government auspices and at government expense. (Michael Hiltzik, 11/8)

Los Angeles Times: Killing The Medical Expense Deduction Will Hit The Middle Class — And Hard
Republicans drafting their tax cut proposal have been awfully cavalier in particular about one deduction they’re proposing to repeal: the deduction for medical expenses. A fact sheet issued by House Ways and Means Committee Republicans when they unveiled their tax plan denigrated this deduction as one of "a myriad of provisions that many will never use and others may use only once in their lifetime." ... Tell that to Bill Storey. “This would be a massive hit,” Storey, 61, told me Tuesday. He and his wife, Joan, 64, had to retire from their jobs a few years ago as a technology professional and schoolteacher, respectively, at a St. Louis-area school district—he to take care of a sick parent, and she because a heart condition made it impossible to continue working. Now their medical expenses reach about $37,000 a year. (Michael Hiltzik, 11/7)

Sacramento Bee: The Children Of The Opioid Crisis And Immigration Crackdown
While there’s more awareness about the plight of foster children, we need to focus on two of the most vulnerable and fastest growing populations -- children of the opioid crisis and those whose undocumented parents who have been detained or deported. Both groups experience unique trauma and require more targeted care. (Andrea Zetlin, 11/3)

Los Angeles Times: Working Past 65? Beware Of This Medicare Trap That Could Cost You Thousands In Taxes
We can say two things for sure about the American workforce and its health insurance. First, more Americans are working past the traditional retirement age of 65. Second, more are taking advantage of employer insurance plans that include tax-exempt Health Savings Accounts. Add these two facts together, and you end up with a pitfall that could cost unwary American workers as much as $2,700 a year in tax exemptions if they exercise their right to enroll in Medicare at 65. That pitfall exists because of the confusing way HSAs interact with Medicare, and because many big employers fail to help their older employees deal with the potential complexities—or even to know about them. (Michael Hiltzik, 11/6)

Los Angeles Times: Antiabortion Pregnancy Counseling Centers Shouldn't Get To Hide Information From Women
A pregnant girl or woman who shows up at a pregnancy counseling center, often in crisis, needs to know the full range of her options. But before the Reproductive FACT Act became law in 2015, most were getting an antiabortion polemic, and nothing else. The FACT Act required state-licensed pregnancy counseling centers to do one more, relative minor thing: post or provide a specifically worded notice to patients informing them about public programs that provide free or low-cost access to family planning services, including prenatal care and abortion. (11/2)

San Jose Mercury News: Build A 36-Bed Psychiatric Care Center For Youth
If you’ve experienced the anguish of having a child with a serious mental illness, or helped friends or family cope with the challenge, you know there’s nothing like the heartbreak and sense of helplessness it can wreak. And you’ll understand why Santa Clara County should build a psychiatric facility for kids so they can be treated close to home — a huge advantage already available to families in counties such as San Mateo, Contra Costa and Alameda where, today, Santa Clara has to send many of its children for psychiatric care. (11/2)

Los Angeles Times: Orange County Hairstylists Can Help Cut Domestic Violence
or many clients, the close relationship with their hairstylist is like no other. ...Recognizing this unique relationship, Assemblyman Rudy Salas, who represents the 32nd California Assembly District, introduced legislation earlier this year to promote awareness among salon professionals on the issues of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking and elder abuse. (Maricela Rios-Faust, 11/6)