NBC News: Millions At Risk Of Losing Health Insurance After Trump's Victory
Millions of Americans risk losing subsidies next year that help them pay for health insurance following President-elect Donald Trump’s election win and Republicans’ victory in the Senate. The subsidies — which expire at the end of 2025 — came out of the 2021 American Rescue Plan, and increased the amount of assistance available to people who want to buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. The American Rescue Plan also broadened the number of people eligible for subsidies, extending them to many in the middle class. (Lovelace Jr., 11/7)

The New York Times: Will Trump Have A New Opening To Repeal The ACA? 
The fact that Republicans have gained control of the Senate — and possibly the House — could give Mr. Trump an opening to try and transform the 2010 health law and remake the nation’s health care system. Key to that strategy, health policy experts said, is simple inaction. Major subsidies that lawmakers approved during President Biden’s term that have lowered the cost of plans are set to expire next year. Republicans could allow them to sunset, a move that could deprive roughly 20 million Americans of extra financial help for coverage on the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces. (Weiland, 11/7)

The New York Times: Trump Names Susie Wiles As His White House Chief Of Staff 
President-elect Donald J. Trump on Thursday named Susie Wiles, the Florida strategist who has run his political operation for nearly four years, as his White House chief of staff for his incoming administration. It is the first job announcement Mr. Trump has made since winning the election on Tuesday. His decision to choose someone in his inner circle is a sharp contrast to his choice after first winning the presidency in 2016. Her appointment will help move along the transition process. In the coming days, Mr. Trump is set to begin reviewing names for the most important jobs in government, including cabinet posts. (Haberman and Swan, 11/7)

Common Dreams: Trump's Chief Of Staff Pick Worked As A Tobacco Lobbyist While Running 2024 Campaign 
Trump's team didn't mention in its announcement that Wiles worked as a lobbyist for the tobacco company Swisher International while running the former president's 2024 bid. Citing disclosure forms filed earlier this year, the investigative outlet Sludge reported Thursday that Wiles "worked to influence Congress on 'FDA regulations.' ""Wiles has not filed a termination report for her work with Swisher, but she has not reported lobbying for the company since the first quarter of the year, when the company paid her firm Mercury Public Affairs $30,000 in fees," Sludge noted. The outlet pointed out that Mercury—which lists Wiles as a co-chair on its website—has "large lobbying contracts with several junk food companies that will be working to oppose" Trump's stated objective to "Make America Healthy Again" by, among other changes, working to remove processed foods from school meals. (Johnson, 11/8)

Sludge: Trump Selects Corporate Lobbyist Susie Wiles As Chief Of Staff
One of the Trump campaign’s consistent messages to voters was that a Trump administration would “Make America Healthy Again,” with campaign figures like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledging to get ultra-processed foods removed from school lunches. Mercury has large lobbying contracts with several junk food companies that will be working to oppose that objective. It lobbies for sugar cereal company Kellogg’s, high fructose corn syrup sauce maker Kraft-Heinz, and Nestlé SA, the Swiss company whose brands include KitKat, Hot Pockets, and Nestea. Some of Mercury’s other clients, highlighted on its website, include Gilead Sciences, Pfizer, Tesla, Uber, Kaiser Permanente, AT&T, NBC Universal, Gavi: The Vaccine Alliance, and the nation of Qatar. (Shaw, 11/7)

Roll Call: A Look At Those Who Could Be On Trump’s Health Team Short List 
President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to involve anti-vaccine activist and conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in his next administration in some capacity, but whoever else he picks to run the major health agencies will have a major impact on the GOP health agenda of the next four years. Top posts require Senate confirmation, meaning Trump will need Senate buy-in too. Positions include Health and Human Services secretary, which requires Senate confirmation; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, which will require Senate confirmation beginning in January 2025; Food and Drug Administration commissioner and National Institutes of Health director, which also require Senate confirmation. (Cohen, 11/7)

Voice of America: Long List Of Potential Cabinet Appointees Awaits Trump Team's Vetting 
There are doubts that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could survive a Senate confirmation vote for any Cabinet-level position. A former environmental lawyer, he has in recent decades become a prominent vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist, and lawmakers might be reluctant to place him in charge of the country's public health infrastructure. (Garver, 11/7)

Los Angeles Times: How The Next Trump Administration Could Affect Health In California
Donald Trump’s return to the White House stands to significantly shape the health of Californians — the foods they eat, the medicines they take, the costs they face and more. Trump has said he’ll grant a prominent health role to supporter Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has made discredited claims about vaccines and bucked the advice of pediatricians and dentists by advocating an end to water fluoridation. Policy analysts expect cuts to Medicaid. (Kaplan, Purtill and Alpert Reyes, 11/8)

Los Angeles Times: How A Trump Term Could Impact California’s LGBTQ+ Students, Financial Aid
California’s schools, colleges and universities are girding for potentially sweeping changes under a new Trump administration, based on his starkly different vision for education gleaned from campaign pledges, the GOP platform and his past actions. Trump and conservative allies could ... revise, again, enforcement of the Title IX civil rights law to eliminate protections for LGBTQ+ students and strengthen rights for those accused of sexual misconduct. (Kaleem, Watanabe and Gold, 11/8)

Los Angeles Times: For Transgender Americans, Trump's Win Is Terrifying
Avery Poznanski was excited for a new chapter. The nonbinary transgender senior at UCLA had decided last month, after years of personal discovery and long discussions with their family and doctors, to start testosterone therapy. The first few weeks felt exciting, fulfilling. Then Donald Trump, after running a virulently anti-transgender campaign, won the presidential election Tuesday — which felt “really frightening” and “disheartening,” Poznanski said. (Rector, 11/8)

Stat: Trump Policies On Health, Science: Some Scientists Fear 'All-Out War'
STAT asked experts in heart disease, health equity, epidemiology, and more about their thoughts on how the new administration may affect the future of health and scientific research. (Cooney, Cueto, McFarling, Oza and Wosen, 11/8)

Healthcare Dive: How The Healthcare Industry Is Reacting To A Second Trump Term 
Major trade associations for the hospital industry congratulated Trump on his win this week, while reiterating their priorities for lawmakers in Washington. Insurer groups were quieter. AHIP, the largest lobby representing payers, told Healthcare Dive it had no statement to share. Other associations, including the Alliance of Community Health Plans, which represents nonprofit insurers, didn’t issue official statements on the election but posted blogs outlining their priorities for the incoming administration. (Pifer, 11/7)

Stat: How Trump And RFK Jr. Might Undermine Vaccines
After Donald Trump’s victory on Tuesday, longtime vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is poised to have tremendous influence over the way the United States regulates and distributes its vaccines. (Lawrence and Broderick, 11/8)

San Francisco Chronicle: Fluoride In Water: An S.F. Judge Has Already Ruled On Removing It
Opponents of adding fluoride to drinking water, where it can protect teeth but may also pose a threat to the mental health of newborn children, scored a recent victory in a San Francisco federal court. Now they may have gained a pair of unlikely allies — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and President-elect Donald Trump. Speaking at a rally Oct. 28, at Madison Square Garden in New York, Trump said that if elected, he would give Kennedy — the late New York senator’s son, who ran as an independent presidential candidate before endorsing Trump — broad power over federal health policy. (Egelko, 11/7)

Stat: Trump Policy On Health Care AI Likely To Diverge From Biden’s
A lot has happened with artificial intelligence since President-elect Donald Trump was last in the White House. Nudged into action by the advent of generative AI, the Biden administration has spent the past year rushing to set up guardrails for the technology’s use in health care. It reorganized its health agencies, launched a task force to consider regulatory changes, and promised to set up mechanisms to monitor safety risks and potential bias. (Ross and Aguilar, 11/8)

Roll Call: A Look At The Health Priorities Of Incoming Senate Democrats 
Republicans took control of the Senate with Tuesday’s elections, but a handful of new Democrats will also be going to the Senate in January. The tight races between Republican Kari Lake and Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego in Arizona and between Democrat Jacky Rosen and Republican Sam Brown in Nevada had not yet been called by Thursday evening. Here’s a look at the health care portfolios of incoming Democratic senators so far. (Hellmann, 11/7)

BBC Washington: Who Will Win Control Of The House? The Outstanding Races To Watch
The party that will control the US House of Representatives for the next two years is not yet decided - but the Republicans look to be inching towards a majority that would hand them full control of the US government. On Friday morning, the party was a handful of seats short of the 218 needed to take control of the lower chamber of Congress. (Looker, 11/8)

Fox News: Shutdown Standoff Looms In Congress' Final Weeks Before Trump's Return To White House 
The tumultuous two years of the 118th Congress are likely to be capped by one more standoff over government spending. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., signaled to Fox News Digital that it was unlikely Republicans will move to kick fiscal 2025 federal funding discussions into the new year. But he reiterated vows that House Republicans would fight against rolling all 12 annual appropriations bills into one large "omnibus" package, setting up a possible showdown with Senate Democrats. (Elkind, 11/8)

Los Angeles Times: Trump's Win May Extend Conservative Control Of Supreme Court For Decades 
President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory, combined with the Republican takeover of the Senate, may extend conservative control of the Supreme Court for two more decades. For much of the last four years, progressives focused on proposals to expand the court to more than nine justices or to impose limited terms on the current justices. These ideas depended on Democrats winning sweeping power in the White House and the Senate. Instead, Republicans will be in charge and positioned to preserve the conservative grip on the high court long after Trump leaves Washington. (Savage, 11/7)

Becker's Hospital Review: 340B Spending Restrictions On Track For Passage In California
California vote tabulations are currently backing a state ballot measure that would impose new restrictions on health systems' 340B drug spending. ... [Proposition 34] would require certain healthcare providers to spend 98% of 340B revenue on direct patient care activities. The requirements would apply to organizations that spent more than $100 million over a 10-year period on anything other than patient care and operated housing complexes with more than 500 health and safety violations. (Bean, 11/7)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Attorney General Approves Rady Children’s-CHOC Merger 
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has approved the merger of Rady Children’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Orange County, clearing the way for the pair to operate jointly under the name Rady Children’s Health, an organization that, pulling resources in San Diego and Orange counties together, would span a region home to more than 1.3 million children. (Sisson, 11/7)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Union Questions Patient Care Quality As Kaiser Strike Enters Third Week 
As Kaiser Permanente mental health care workers enter the third week of an open-ended strike, the union that represents them says the health care giant still has not provided a key state regulator with the details of how it will continue treating patients with so many workers holding picket signs. (Sisson, 11/7)

Bay Area News Group: Good Samaritan Warns Of Impacts From Delays To Hospital Project
While Good Samaritan cautions San Jose officials about delaying the approval of its new hospital, a newly released construction timeline revealed that the facility may not open in time to replace the current hospital — which will no longer meet the state’s seismic requirements in 2030 — potentially placing greater strain on local health services. (Patel, 11/8)

Becker's Hospital Review: Voters OK Desert Healthcare District, Tenet Lease: 6 Things To Know
The 30-year lease purchase agreement between Desert Healthcare District and Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare for Palm Springs, Calif.-based Desert Regional Medical Center was approved by voters Nov. 5. (Ashley, 11/7)

Becker's Hospital Review: Hospital-At-Home, Telehealth Coverage To End: 5 Updates
Hospital-at-home and telehealth reimbursement from CMS will expire at the end of 2024 without congressional action. ... CMS allowed flexibility for hospitals and health systems to provide acute hospital care at home and additional telehealth services during the pandemic. The rules were since extended but expire Dec. 31. (Bruce, 11/7)

Becker's Hospital Review: 89 Hospitals With 5+ Magnet Designations
Of the 613 hospitals with a Magnet designation, 14.5% have achieved the Magnet status at least five times [including three in California], according to data from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. The Magnet recognition program designates hospitals worldwide where nursing excellence is strategically tied to patient outcomes, according to the ANCC. (Twenter, 11/7)

CIDRAP: CDC: US Hospitals Saw Declines In Healthcare-Associated Infections Last Year 
A progress report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that rates of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) at US hospitals fell in 2023. The declines, primarily seen in acute-care hospitals, reflect a continuing downward trend in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with some HAIs falling below pre-pandemic levels. (Dall, 11/7)

CBS News: FDA To Pull Common But Ineffective Cold Medicine From Market
The Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday that it would seek to pull a widely used ingredient in cough and cold medicines from the market, after the agency's scientists concluded that the oral version of the drug is ineffective as a nasal decongestant. The FDA's proposal comes more than a year after the agency's outside advisers voted against continued use of the ingredient, called oral phenylephrine, citing concerns with the initial data used to support its approval and new data questioning its effectiveness. (Tin, 11/7)

CNN: Bird Flu Infections In Dairy Workers Went Undetected, New Study Shows 
Seven percent of tested workers on dairy farms where cows were infected with bird flu caught the virus themselves, according to a new study. The study proved that more workers were catching bird flu after contact with infected animals than the numbers reflected in official counts, something veterinarians working these farms had warned about since the outbreak began in March. The research was led by disease detectives at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in partnership with state health departments in Colorado and Michigan. It was published Thursday in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. (Goodman, 11/7)

AP: CDC Calls For Expanded Testing For Bird Flu After Blood Tests Reveal More Farmworker Infections 
Federal health officials on Thursday called for more testing of employees on farms with bird flu after a new study showed that some dairy workers had signs of infection, even when they didn’t report feeling sick. Farmworkers in close contact with infected animals should be tested and offered treatment even if they show no symptoms, said Dr. Nirav Shah, principal director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Aleccia, 11/7)

CBS News: UC Davis Study Finds Narcan Improves Survival Rates Of Overdose Patients In Cardiac Arrest
A study into Narcan could shape how first responders treat overdose patients. First responders across America, and in Northern California, continue to deal with a deluge of opioid overdose cases. How to treat some of them is still evolving. "Opiate overdose usually leads to a problem with your breathing, so you don't breathe as well," Dr. David Dillon with UC Davis Health said. "And if you can catch it where your heart is still beating but you're not breathing, Narcan is the antidote." (11/7)

The Mercury News: A Day In The Life Of San Francisco's Poison Control Center
At the California Poison Control System in San Francisco, a call has just come in from a mother whose toddler accidentally drank a stain remover called “Grandma’s Secret.” ... It’s all in a day’s work for the poison center’s operators, the specially trained physicians, pharmacists and nurses at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. Somebody comes into contact with something they shouldn’t, and a cry for help comes into the center’s 24/7 hotline (1-800-222-1222). (Metcalfe, 11/7)

Los Angeles Times: Trump Would Allow RFK Jr. To Infect The Body Politic With Crackpot Theories
The empowering of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. by Donald Trump will be one of the sorriest legacies of the 2024 election cycle. I had hoped that Trump was merely humoring Kennedy to get the votes of his supporters. As a third-party candidate, Kennedy may not have had a very big slice of the pie, but in a squeaky tight race, every crumb counts. (Robin Abcarian, 11/5)

Los Angeles Times: What Americans Chose In Trump — And The Hope For Those Who Didn't
Much will be studied, analyzed and written for years to come about why Americans voted an openly authoritarian leader back into power in apparently greater margins than they did eight years ago. What’s clearer and more important at this moment is what millions of our fellow citizens did by putting Donald Trump back in the White House. (11/6)

San Francisco Chronicle: Californians Just Voted To Keep Slavery In Their Constitution. Why?
How did Californians, who pride themselves on being progressive, just vote to keep slavery in their state Constitution? (Justin Ray, 11/7)

Bay Area Reporter: Rough Times Ahead For LGBTQs
The shock is still all too real. Americans elected a convicted felon as their next president. Of course, the new president-elect, Donald Trump, is the same former president who unleashed chaos the last time he was in office. Get ready for more of the same, as this time there will be little to stop him. He's already packed the U.S. Supreme Court with a 6-3 Trump-friendly supermajority. On Tuesday, he received another gift when the U.S. Senate flipped to Republican control. Critically, that will result in a flood of Trump-nominated conservative federal judges being confirmed. LGBTQ legal advocates once relied on federal courts — and still do in many instances — to right wrongs and maintain or expand our rights; that will be sharply curtailed once the new administration takes over in January. (11/6)

San Francisco Chronicle: Why, For Trans People, A Visit To The Doctor Can Be A Dilemma 
The expectation of rejection and the cost of self-policing has profound effects on transgender lives, including exhaustion and devastating health consequences. In a 2020 survey from the Center for American Progress, 28% of transgender respondents said they had postponed or avoided necessary medical care in the past year out of fear of discrimination. (Natalie Yeh, 11/6)

East Bay Times: California Needs More Than Medical Schools To Solve Doctor Shortage
California doesn’t have enough doctors. This year, the state met just 54% of its primary care needs. It would take 881 more physicians to eliminate all the state’s designated primary care shortage areas, where more than 5.8 million Californians currently reside. (Sally C. Pipes, 11/6)

Voice of OC: Every Orange County High School Needs A Mike Darnold To Fight Drug Abuse 
If you meet with Mike Darnold to talk about what he does – expect distractions. Interrupting phone calls; a call he has to make to order five pizzas; students and staff poking their heads in his Dana Hill High School office with questions for the drug intervention specialist. But if you are a student, and need help, have a problem or need someone to talk to, you will have Darnold’s focused attention. (Paul Danison, 11/3)