Los Angeles Times: As Obamacare Enrollment Nears, Some Californians See Big Hikes In Health Premiums 
California has been lauded for creating its own online insurance market, which experts say helped to sharply reduce the share of people without coverage and kept rate hikes lower than elsewhere for the vast majority of policyholders. Almost 90% of Californians getting insurance from the exchange receive taxpayer-provided assistance to help them afford the premiums. But as Californians receive their premium rates for next year, some — including those who make too much to qualify for those government subsidies — are learning their hikes will be far higher than the average statewide increase of 13.2% announced by the state insurance exchange in July. (Petersen, 10/28)

California Healthline: Reduce Your Obamacare Sticker Shock
The past few weeks have been scary ones for consumers with Obamacare health plans. As if open enrollment weren’t stressful enough, they’ve also been bombarded with headlines about 2017 rate hikes of 25 percent, 50 percent or even more. But there’s some hope for Californians. Our rate increases, while high by our standards, are generally lower than in other states. And if you’re willing to be flexible, most of you can limit your premium increases to no more than 5 percent. (Bazar, 10/28)

KPCC: 3 Things To Know About Prop 61, California's Complex Prescription Drug Initiative
California’s Proposition 61, which seeks to provide more affordable prescription drug coverage, has become one of the most highly debated measures this election. According to a recent KPCC article, under the measure, specific state programs such as Medi-Cal fee-for service plans and CalPers, would not pay more than the Department of Veterans Affairs pays for prescription drugs...  And the Yes on 61 campaign accuses pharmaceutical companies opposing the proposition of “unconscionable profiteering.” (Dangelantonio, 10/27)

San Francisco Chronicle: Athenahealth Lays Off More Than 100 In San Francisco
Athenahealth has laid off more than 100 employees from its San Francisco offices, the health technology company confirmed this week. The company, which provides online services and mobile apps for hospitals and doctors, has decided to focus its research and development at its headquarters in Watertown, Mass., as well as in India and Austin, Texas. (Colliver, 10/27)

Ventura County Star: Docs Are Burning Out, Retiring, Oxnard Surgeon Says
As many as half of doctors are burning out — many  dreaming of early retirement — because of growing government influence on health care, an Oxnard doctor said at an election forum. Dr. Lee Wan, an eye surgeon and former president of the Ventura County Medical Association, cited government mandates to change the way doctors are paid, push them to spend hours documenting care on computers and keep up with ever-increasing regulations. “I’m not sure patients understand,” he said, arguing that growing pressures make it harder for doctors to do what made them enter medicine: help their patients get better. (Kisken, 10/27)

KPCC: LA County Changes Policy, Will Provide Hepatitis C Treatment To IV Drug Users
The Los Angeles Department of Health Services will start approving hepatitis C drugs for active IV drug users, the department's chief medical officer has told KPCC. Until now, the department had withheld approval for anyone who had not been drug-free for at least six months. The policy change comes after KPCC reported in August that L.A. County's guidelines regarding IV drug users were more restrictive than those of the state's Medi-Cal program. Most people become infected with hepatitis C by sharing needles or other IV drug equipment. (Plevin, 10/27)

For other public health news —

Modesto Bee: Sexually Transmitted Diseases On The Upswing In Stanislaus County; Higher Numbers Reported Statewide In California 
State health officials are concerned about a two-year increase in sexually transmitted disease cases that is possibly tied to changes in behavior. According to a California Department of Public Health report, cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis increased for the second straight year in 2015, with the number of reported STDs rising faster in California than in the rest of the country. The state data released this week did not include infections with the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. In 2015, there were almost 250,000 people in California infected with one of the three most common STDs, a 12 percent increase over the previous year. (Carlson, 10/27)

Capital Public Radio/KXJZ: California Regulators Examine Safety Of Food Irrigated With Oil Wastewater 
For more than 30 years, wastewater from oil and gas operations has been used to irrigate food crops in California. Regulators will re-examine the safety of that practice during a public hearing Friday. Four oil companies in the state currently send oil field wastewater to four irrigations districts. Once treated, it’s then recycled and used on food crops, primarily in Kern County. To date, no studies have shown that irrigating crops with oil wastewater poses any threat, says Carl Rodgers, with the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board. (Quinton, 10/27)

East Bay Times: East Bay EMT In Hot Water Over Instagram Post Of Mangled Leg 
A Bay Area couple is upset with an ambulance driver’s decision to post a picture of their adult son’s badly mangled leg onto Instagram, along with the hashtag “byebyeankle.” Earlier this month, the family filed a lawsuit against Falcon Critical Care Transport, as well as Jacob Uyeyama, who the suit says posted the picture while he worked at Falcon in March. The suit was filed on behalf of Keyano Fiel, who sustained life-threatening injuries during a motorcycle crash in Vallejo in March, including severe brain damage, and injury to an ankle that required amputation. (Gartrell, 10/28)

In other health care news from across the state —

East Bay Times: Supporters Rally For Eden Health District As Opponents Question Operations
Views on whether to keep or dissolve the Eden Health District were mixed during the first public meeting on a special study commissioned to determine its future and financial viability. Cherryland Elementary School Principal Itoco Garcia says his school is in an area where some health statistics such as childhood poverty and accidental deaths are among the worst in Alameda County. There, Eden Health District and its grant-funded organizations, including the Oakland-based East Bay Agency for Children, often step in to fill those gaps by connecting students and their families with direct health care services, Garcia said. (Moriki, 10/27)

Ventura County Star: Dental Hygienist Goes On The Road In Ventura County
With an insurance policy that doesn’t completely cover his dental needs, James Johnson was grateful for the teeth cleaning he received recently from a dental hygienist who provides free services at the Ventura County Adult Day Care Center in Oxnard. “I’ve got Medi-Cal, but it doesn’t cover everything,” said Johnson, 79, of Ventura. “It helps me a lot because I don’t have to pay for it. I wouldn’t be able to afford it otherwise.” Johnson and five others were able to get their teeth cleaned and receive a free oral cancer screening, thanks to the Free Clinic of Simi Valley's Dental Program and Justin Rodriguez Urbano, a registered dental hygienist in alternative practice. (Doyle, 10/27)

Ventura County Star: Camarillo Health Agency's Former Boss Sued Over Alleged Fraud
Jane Rozanski, the retired chief executive officer of the Camarillo Health Care District, has been sued by her former employer in a complaint alleging fraud and breach of duty. The public agency claims Rozanski and the district's legal counsel, Ralph Ferguson, carried out a scheme over three and a half years that led to the payment of "false, inflated and unnecessary legal bills" to the lawyer. His services were terminated early last year.The suit claims the two individuals were secretly involved in a romantic relationship that compromised Rozanski's loyalty to the district, which provides health programs and screenings to more than 25,000 people. (Wilson, 10/27)

The Associated Press: Lack Of Choice In Health Insurance Markets A Growing Problem
Americans in the health insurance markets created by President Barack Obama's law will have less choice next year than any time since the program started, a new county-level analysis for The Associated Press has found. The analysis by AP and consulting firm Avalere Health found that about one-third of U.S. counties will have only one health marketplace insurer next year. That's more than 1,000 counties in 26 states — roughly double the number of counties in 2014, the first year of coverage through the program. (10/28)

The Hill: Obama: Most Will Be ‘Pleasantly Surprised’ By Health Plan Costs
President Obama said Thursday that most people will be “pleasantly surprised” by the cost of their health insurance plans this year despite the deluge of negative headlines about rising premiums. In a national call with healthcare groups and activists, the president painted a sunny outlook of ObamaCare as he sought to combat the tide of negative attention on his healthcare law this week. “The bottom line is most people are going to be pleasantly surprised by just how affordable their options are, if we can just get them to see for themselves,” Obama said, adding the vast majority of people would find plans that cost less than $75 per month with the help of tax credits. (Ferris, 10/27)

Bloomberg: Democrats Face Difficult Obamacare Fight In 2017, Even If Clinton Wins 
After news broke Monday that premiums for the Affordable Care Act will rise an average of 22 percent next year, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton spent the week defending the healthcare law, saying its problems are fixable. She called for lowering the Medicare buy-in age and again advocated for a so called public option — a government-run competitor to private insurers. While polls show her leading Republican Donald Trump with just 10 days to go before the election, a Clinton administration likely would find itself caught between liberal lawmakers wedded to the politically unviable public option and Republicans who want to scrap the law entirely. (John, 10/28)

In other national health care news —

The Hill: Senators Unveil Bipartisan Medicare Reforms
A bipartisan group of senators on Thursday released a draft of legislation aimed at making Medicare more efficient and saving money in the long run. The proposal is the product of months of work by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and the panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), as well as Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.). The bill, referred to as the Chronic Care Act, would expand or create a range of Medicare programs to make treatment of chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes more coordinated and cost-efficient. (Sullivan, 10/27)

Reuters: EpiPen Price Hikes Add Millions To Pentagon Costs
Mylan NV's price hikes on EpiPens have added millions to U.S. Department of Defense spending since 2008 as the agency covered more prescriptions for the lifesaving allergy shot at near retail prices, government data provided to Reuters shows. Pentagon spending rose to $57 million over the past year from $9 million in 2008 - an increase driven both by volume and by price hikes that had a bigger bite on prescriptions filled at retail pharmacies, according to the previously unreported data. (10/28)

Reuters: Mylan EpiPen: One Piece Of A Complicated U.S. Pricing System
The complex U.S. system for drug pricing creates wide variation in what people pay for the same prescription medications, such as Mylan NV's EpiPen. A Reuters review of government data found that Mylan's price hikes on the lifesaving allergy shot have increased spending for the U.S. Defense Department, based on its arrangements for covering drug costs. Here's how drug pricing works for different constituencies. (10/28)

The Washington Post: She Didn’t Think A Flu Shot Was Necessary — Until Her Daughter Died
Piper Lowery had a fever that soared to 105 degrees. It hurt for her to walk, and she was breathing heavily, her mother said. She was also bleeding from her nose and vomiting blood. On Jan. 16, just four days after she got sick, Piper collapsed in the parking lot of a children's hospital in Tacoma, Wash. By then, the H1N1 flu had already attacked her kidneys.Piper died shortly before 12:30 p.m. that day. She was 12 years old. (Guerra, 10/27)

Los Angeles Times: Obamacare Premiums Are Spiking 25% Next Year. How Bad Is That?
You can almost set your watch by it: Every year, when new premium rates for the Affordable Care Act exchange plans are published by the government, critics proclaim that the law has failed Americans by failing to rein in prices. This year, the cries are sure to be even louder, because premium increases nationwide are averaging about 25%. (Michael Hiltzik, 10/25)

The New York Times: Mental Illness Is Not A Horror Show
A new virtual-reality attraction planned for Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, Calif., was announced last month in advance of the peak haunted-house season. The name, “Fear VR 5150,” was significant. The number 5150 is the California psychiatric involuntary commitment code, used for a mentally ill person who is deemed a danger to himself or others. (Andrew Solomon, 10/26)

KBAK: As Affordable Care Act Premiums Increase, Most Patients Shouldn't Expect To Pay More 
Monthly premiums in California's health insurance exchange will increase by 12.2 percent in Kern County next year. The move comes after two large insurance providers pushed for rate increases nationwide. Local health officials insist that despite the uptick, most patients shouldn't have to cough up more money. Bill Phelps is the chief of program services at Clinica Sierra Vista. He said a lot of "misinformation" has spread about the impact of the increase and how it can be reduced in the future. (Hanna Battah)

San Diego Union-Tribune: No On Prop. 60: Measure Will Hurt, Not Help Adult Performers 
What do adult film performers, the California Democratic Party and the California Republican Party all agree on? That California voters should oppose Proposition 60. They’ve been joined by the editorial boards of many of the state’s largest newspapers including the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle. More than 100 other groups have also opposed the measure, including HIV/AIDS organizations, political groups and civil rights advocates. Proposition 60 is downright dangerous, and widely opposed by the performers it seeks to regulate. I, and other adult performers, have tried to explain that the seemingly progressive measure would open us up to harassment, profiteering, and nearly unlimited lawsuits. (Mia Li, 10/27)

The New England Journal Of Medicine: Health Care In The 2016 Election — A View Through Voters’ Polarized Lenses
This article examines the potential effect of the 2016 election on the future of health policy in the United States. It brings together results from 14 national public opinion polls from various sources and as recently as September 2016 to address four broad questions: What is the mood of the country about health care issues as we approach the 2016 election? How do voters feel about the major health care policy issues likely to be debated after the election? How different are the health care policy views of Republican likely voters and Democratic likely voters? And what are the implications for future health care policy on the basis of the outcome of the presidential and congressional elections? (Robert J. Blendon, John M. Benson and Logan S. Casey, 10/27)

Los Angeles Times: Ensuring Access To Safe Drinking Water Ought To Come Before A Push For Soda Taxes
Tobacco executives must be thrilled that soda has become a prime target of public health activists. These days, it is seen as a slow-acting poison that contributes to type 2 diabetes, obesity and other health disorders. To some health officials, it is as threatening as cigarettes. (10/21)

Los Angeles Times: Who Oversees Data Brokers Selling Your Personal Info? No One 
You probably already know that you have precious little privacy, and that shadowy data brokers have built the buying and selling of people’s personal information into a multibillion-dollar industry. But did you know this: Nobody knows how many so-called list owners and list brokers are operating nationwide. The best guess is tens of thousands. Or this: These businesses operate largely unregulated, overseen day to day by no official authority. And if they get things wrong — that is, if there’s ever need to correct files as a result of a death, divorce or similarly life-changing event — there’s pretty much nothing you can do to hold these firms accountable. (David Lazarus, 10/28)