Modern Healthcare: ACA Enrollment, Eligibility Rule Partially Blocked By Court
A federal court in Maryland has blocked several parts of a health insurance exchange enrollment and eligibility rule days before they were set to take effect. The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland temporarily stayed seven provisions from a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rule issued June 20 and set to go live Monday. (Early, 8/22)

The Intersection: 22% Of Valley Residents Are On CalFresh. Here’s How Trump’s SNAP Cuts Will Affect Them
Hundreds of thousands of low-income households in the San Joaquin Valley are likely to face a reduction in benefits aimed at helping them feed their families – benefits that already fall short of covering the cost of a healthy meal. About 482,000 households amounting to more than 950,000 people across Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tulare counties receive assistance through CalFresh, as the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is known in California. (Sheehan, 8/22)

Modern Healthcare: Medicare Advantage, Site-Neutral Pay, 340B: The GOP's Next Goals
The passage last month of President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” represents the biggest overhaul of the nation’s health system since the passage of the Affordable Care Act and probably the greatest rollback of federal healthcare spending in history. But that doesn’t mean conservative groups who led the charge are done. Indeed, there are major items that fell out of the tax-and-spending law many would very much like to continue pursuing, either through further legislation or executive actions. (McAuliff, 8/22)

Los Angeles Times: ER Doctors Say We Need To Pay More Attention To Heat
Across Southern California, emergency room workers are primed for the wave of patients that pour in as heat waves like the current one drag into their second, third and fourth days. Heat takes an accumulating toll on the body, especially when people cannot cool down at night with air conditioning. Dr. Jennifer Roh, medical director of the adult emergency medicine department at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, said preparation means hydration supplies, ice packs and other cooling devices at the ready. (Magaña, 8/23)

Bloomberg: OB-GYNs Clash With RFK Jr. To Back Covid Shots During Pregnancy
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended Covid vaccines for pregnant women in its updated immunization schedule issued Friday, signaling another split between practicing doctors and the nation’s top health official. Women should get immunized when planning to become pregnant, during pregnancy or when lactating, according to the premier US organization for physicians who specialize in women’s health. (Nix, 8/22)

The Intersection: Valley Hospitals Receive Mixed Scores In Federal Rating System. See How Your Hospital Fared
Three San Joaquin Valley hospitals – one in Fresno, one in Modesto and one in Bakersfield – received the lowest scores among 20 hospitals in the region in annual ratings issued this month by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. No Valley hospitals received the top-level five-star rating. But five medical centers earned four stars, the second-highest tier. (Patton, Merced FOCUS, 8/22)

FiercePharma: For Now, CVS Declines To Cover Gilead's Long-Acting HIV PrEP Treatment Yeztugo 
The owner of the United States' largest pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) is declining to cover Gilead Sciences’ long-acting HIV prevention breakthrough, at least for now. CVS Health, the parent of PBM juggernaut CVS Caremark, won’t presently add Gilead’s twice-yearly pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drug Yeztugo to its commercial plans or Affordable Care Act formularies, a company spokesperson confirmed to Fierce Pharma. (Kansteiner, 8/21)

The Hill: New Side Effect Emerges From Weight Loss Drugs Use: 'Ozempic Teeth'
Patients using Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs are reporting a complication not listed among the drug’s most common side effects. We’re not talking about “Ozempic babies,” but that’s also a thing. Dentists warn they’re seeing cases of something nicknamed “Ozempic teeth.” Medications like Ozempic and Wegovy can lead to dry mouth because the active ingredient, semaglutide, affects the salivary glands, explains Adam Taylor, an anatomy professor at Lancaster University, in an article for The Conversation. The medications can also cause people to drink less water because they feel less thirsty. (Martichoux, 8/23)

San Francisco Chronicle: ‘Patient-Led Revolution’: With Menopause Medicine Booming, Here’s How To Find A Specialist
The past few years have seen an explosion in content and conversations on menopause and perimenopause, from news stories to books, documentaries, podcasts, celebrity advocacy and social media influencers. As a result, say some menopause specialists, patients are more informed and are demanding better care. (Ho, 8/24)

Berkeleyside: Sexual Assault Survivors In Berkeley: A Guide To Resources
When BRAVE [originally called Bay Area Women Against Rape] shuts down next month, rape survivors will have fewer options for support. ... Cityside contacted several local agencies to learn what resources they provide to survivors. Below is a list of services available to people in Berkeley and Alameda County, including legal aid, 24-hour crisis lines, bedside support, and more. Some services are bilingual (in English and Spanish) and available to people of any citizenship status. (Romero, 8/22)

AP: California Bill Would Require Restaurants To Disclose Food Allergens On Menus
California would become the first U.S. state to require restaurants to disclose common food allergens on their menus under legislation set for a vote in the state Legislature. But the restaurant industry opposes the bill. (Chea, 8/23)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Schools May Phase Out Ultra-Processed Foods: What To Know
Ultra-processed foods — a recent target of both U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and California Gov. Gavin Newsom — could soon be phased out of school meals in California if proposed legislation moves forward. Assembly Bill 1264, authored by Assembly Member Jesse Gabriel, D-Encino, is slated for a vote in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Friday. If it passes, it will go before the full Senate. It has already passed the Assembly. The last day for each house to pass bills is Sept. 12. (Ho, 8/25)

Los Angeles Times: Why A Cannabis Tax Cut Is Sending Some Child-Care Advocates Into Panic
A fight over taxes consumers pay for cannabis products has prompted a standoff between unusual adversaries: child-care advocates and the legal weed industry. On July 1, California’s cannabis excise tax increased from 15% to 19% as part of a political deal struck in 2022 to help stabilize the fledgling legal market. But the industry now says the increase is untenable as it faces a sharp decline in revenue and unfair competition from the growing illicit market. (Gold, 8/24)

San Francisco Chronicle: Detection Of West Nile Virus Brings Bay Area Health Advisory
West Nile virus has been detected in a bird found near Goodyear Road in Benicia, according to the Solano County Mosquito Abatement District, which has offered tips to prevent transmission to humans via mosquitoes. Although most people infected with West Nile virus have no symptoms, some may experience fever, headaches and body aches. In severe and rare cases, people have been hospitalized and died. Those with chronic conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, are more at risk. (Dizikes, 8/23)

Berkeleyside: Berkeley Unified Reports COVID-19 Cases At Some Schools
Just a week after Berkeley Unified students and educators went back to school, officials said Thursday that COVID-19 cases have been documented at “a few” local schools, including at Berkeley High where cases have occurred through contact with sick students. California is again experiencing an increase in COVID-19 cases at the same time students are returning to school. Over the last few years, the virus has shown a tendency to surge in the late summer. (Arredondo, 8/22)

Los Angeles Times: Air Pollution From Gas And Oil Hurts People Of Color Most, Study Finds
A new study from Europe offers fresh evidence of an injustice that [Iretha] Warmsley and many other people of color who live near polluting industries and traffic-clogged freeways in Los Angeles and across the U.S. have long suspected: Black, Latino, Indigenous and Asian Americans are more at risk than white Americans from air pollution generated at every stage in the life cycle of oil and gas — from exploration, drilling and refining all the way to “downstream” pollution that comes from the burning of fossil fuels in factories and vehicles. (Beason, 8/22)

Bay Area News Group: Does This Small City Have The Bay Area's Worst Homelessness Problem?
Gilroy has one of the largest homeless populations in the entire region. While it trails cities many times its size, when measured proportionally, the direness of Gilroy’s homelessness plight becomes clear. (Zambrano, 8/24)

Voice Of San Diego: Can We Get Ready For The Senior Population Boom?
The share of old people is growing much faster than other groups. In just a three-year period, between 2020 and 2023, San Diego’s 65-plus population grew by 9 percent, while every other groups shrank, as Axios reported. Very soon we’ll have more old people than young. American society has never been proportioned in such a way and the proportions are only going to get more and more lopsided. We are in the early days. (Huntsberry, 8/23)

San Francisco Chronicle: The Bay Area Is Aging Fast. Here's What Our Readers See In Their Communities
The Bay Area is aging fast and our readers are noticing. Though population aging is a nationwide — and global — trend, the San Francisco metro area, which includes San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and Marin counties, is aging faster than any other large U.S. metro area. It now ranks as the third-oldest among the 20 largest U.S. metros, behind only two retirement-focused ones in Florida. The Chronicle asked our readers about the changes they have seen in their communities. Here are twelve of the most interesting responses. (Zhu, 8/24)

San Francisco Chronicle: Families Of Transgender Kids Alarmed As California Clinics Halt Care
Calder Storm’s daughter had been treated at Stanford’s gender-care clinic for years when the family got word this summer that the center was halting surgical procedures for transgender kids. Stanford said its decision was a response to political pressure; the Trump administration had been hurling threats at providers of gender-affirming care since January.  (Allday, 8/24)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Facing Heightened Scrutiny, Sheriff Proposes Third-Party Review Of Jail Healthcare. But Its Model Has A Problem. 
Sheriff Kelly Martinez is asking county supervisors to consider a new model of jail oversight: hiring a third-party expert to oversee the doctors, nurses and mental health providers who staff San Diego’s seven jails. (Davis and McDonald, 8/24)

AP: HHS Moves To Strip Thousands Of Federal Health Workers Of Union Rights
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has moved to strip thousands of federal health agency employees of their collective bargaining rights, according to a union that called the effort illegal. HHS officials confirmed Friday that the department is ending its recognition of unions for a number of employees, and are reclaiming office space and equipment that had been used for union activities. It’s the latest move by the Trump administration to put an end to collective bargaining with unions that represent federal employees. (Stobbe, 8/22)

MedPage Today: RFK Jr. Warns Docs Of Liability If They Stray From CDC On Vaccines
The American Academy of Pediatrics' (AAP) recent pediatric COVID-19 vaccine recommendations, which differ from those of the CDC, have raised concerns from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who responded with an oblique warning to any physicians who might follow the AAP's advice. "AAP should ... be candid with doctors and hospitals that recommendations that diverge from the CDC's official list are not shielded from liability under the 1986 Vaccine Injury Act," Kennedy posted this week on X. (Frieden, 8/22)

The War Horse: Exodus At VA: 10,000 Employees Are Resigning In September. Here’s The List
It’s been six months since a now-infamous email presented millions of federal workers with a pivotal decision: They could reply “resign” to give up their job and receive full pay and benefits through the end of September. Or they could stay in their positions and hope they didn’t get laid off in the ensuing chaotic months of the second Trump administration. (Frankel, Rohan and Hansen-Dewar, 8/25)

The Wall Street Journal: The Words Scientists Are Changing To Scrub Diversity From Research Grants
Scientists are removing words like “diverse” and “disparities” from hundreds of federal grant renewals to avoid getting flagged in the Trump administration’s focus on eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs, a Wall Street Journal analysis shows. At least 600 research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health have been modified in the fiscal year starting in October to remove terms associated with diversity, equity and inclusion, the Journal analysis found. Nearly all of those projects were multiyear grants that had already been approved but were up for routine annual reviews. The modified grants were worth $480 million this cycle. (Randazzo, Ostroff and Shifflett, 8/23)