Los Angeles Times: California's COVID-19 Hospitalizations Are Near Historic Lows. Will The Lull Last?
COVID-19 hospitalizations are close to record lows in California, an optimistic sign as the state attempts to navigate its first surge-free summer of the coronavirus era. (Lin II, 7/15)

Stat: Blue Cross Blue Shield Plans In California Evaded $170 Million In Taxes, Whistleblower Says
Two dominant Blue Cross Blue Shield companies in California intentionally underreported premiums of certain health plans so they could avoid paying Affordable Care Act taxes, according to new federal whistleblower complaints. These claims renew concerns about whether health insurance companies have skirted the tax code and to what extent tax fraud could exist in the industry. (Herman, 7/17)

The New York Times: Millions Of Californians Are Expected To Lose Medi-Cal Coverage
A big change is underway for one of California’s most popular safety net programs. More than 15 million Californians, or 40 percent of the state’s population, are enrolled in Medi-Cal, the state’s version of Medicaid, which offers free health care coverage to low-income residents. But federal health care protections enacted during the Covid-19 pandemic expired in March, and this month California began verifying the eligibility of residents currently on Medi-Cal’s rolls. (Karlamangla, 7/17)

Fresno Bee: Madera Community Hospital Seeks An $80 Million Loan To Reopen
The Madera Community Hospital is one of 16 across the state seeking loans from California’s newly created program for distressed hospitals, officials told The Bee this week. The hospitals are seeking more money than what’s available. The funding being sought across the 16 preliminary loan applications is more than the $300 million that is available through the new program. Thus far, the total amount combined across all the applications that have been submitted to the state is $385.3 million, said Scott Christman, chief deputy director at the California Department of Health Care Access and Information, which is administering the program. (Amaro, 7/14)

CIDRAP: Report: Hospitals May Have Received Too Much COVID Relief
A cohort study today shows that 75% of US hospitals had a positive net operating income in 2020 and 2021, with many seeing operating margins reach all-time highs, suggesting COVID-19 relief funds may have been larger than what was necessary during the first years of the pandemic. The study is published in JAMA Health Forum. (Soucheray, 7/14)

The Desert Sun: Lawsuit Takes On California Rules On Who Can Call Themselves ‘Doctor’
Who gets to call themselves "Doctor"? It's a question that goes to the heart of trust in the medical profession, given the weight the title carries. And now it's the subject of a federal lawsuit, as several nurse practitioners — one from the Coachella Valley — challenge a state law that bars them from using "Dr." because they're not physicians. (Sasic, 7/17)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Rady Children's Hospital Seeing An Alarming Number Of Children 5 And Under With Cannabis Poisoning 
San Diego County’s only children’s hospital reports that it continues to see elevated numbers of young patients arriving in its emergency department with cannabis poisoning, echoing findings from a new analysis released last week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Sisson, 7/16)

Stat: Google And Epic Fight Stronger Regulation Of AI In Health Care
Big businesses poised to profit from the advance of artificial intelligence in health care are pushing back against newly proposed federal rules meant to increase oversight and fairness of AI tools used to help make decisions about patient care. (Ross, 7/17)

Bay Area News Group: AI Is Already Changing Health Care -- Here's What Could Come Next
A majority of Americans would feel “uncomfortable” with their doctor relying on AI in their medical care, according to recent polling, but despite those misgivings it is likely you have already encountered the results of artificial intelligence in your doctor’s office or local pharmacy. The true extent of its use “is a bit dependent on how one defines AI,” said Lloyd B. Minor, dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine, but he said some uses have been around for years. (Rowan, 7/17)

KQED: Oakland’s Eviction Moratorium Just Ended. What's Next For Renters And Landlords?
After months of debate, Oakland’s eviction moratorium expired on Saturday, July 15. The move comes after Alameda County ended its public health emergency and its own eviction moratorium back in April. Oakland had been one of the last remaining cities in the country with this type of protection for tenants, along with San Francisco and Berkeley. In the rest of Alameda County, evictions spiked after the county’s moratorium was lifted, rising above pre-pandemic highs. With the majority of Oakland residents renting their homes, and the city having a higher percentage of renters compared to the county as a whole, many advocates fear that this change will lead to an even greater wave of evictions. (Pelit and O'Mara, 7/15)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Shipping Containers To House Homeless People In San Diego Neighborhood 
With construction of a ground-floor medical clinic and parking garage still underway, crews are placing 21 shipping containers each day on the site at El Cajon Boulevard and 55th Street. By the end of the year, 137 shipping containers will have been converted into 40 housing units for homeless people, plus one for a manager, at a cost of $23.3 million. (Warth, 7/17)

Bay Area News Group: Milpitas Man Charged With Insider Trading Relating To The Results Of Pfizer's Trial For Paxlovid
A 45-year-old Milpitas man was one of two people charged last month with insider trading relating to clinical trial results for the COVID-19 drug Paxlovid, officials said. (Hase, 7/16)

The Atlantic: Birth Control Isn’t The Only Thing That Just Went Over-The-Counter
The FDA announced yesterday that it had for the first time approved a daily birth-control pill for over-the-counter sales. ... That’s historic news, but hidden underneath it is another set of firsts: In the coming months, Americans will also be able to grab an over-the-counter treatment for their heavy periods, cramps, headaches, and even migraines; they’ll have prescription-free access to a drug for endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome; and they’ll be able to buy a medication that can mitigate the symptoms of menopause. It’s all in the same, progestin-based pill. (Gutman-Wei, 7/14)

Los Angeles Times: Firefighters Get Handle On 7,600-Acre Wildfire As California Swelters 
Firefighters in Riverside County made progress in battling four wildfires Sunday as a heat wave broke records across the state and sent residents scrambling for relief. (Garrison, Zahniser and Miller, 7/16)

The Desert Sun: How I-10 And Air Conditioning Fueled Growth And Health Care Services In Desert
William Bone, a prolific developer of many of the gated communities in the desert and founder and chairman of the Sunrise Company in Palm Desert, reflected on the tremendous growth in the valley: “The inflection point was 1960. Two things happened: Interstate 10 and air conditioning.” (Conrad, 7/16)

CNN: CDC Facing Major Funding Cuts, With Direct Impact On State And Local Health Departments
But the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is poised to lose about $1.3 billion in funds as a result of last month’s federal debt ceiling negotiation that were initially allocated through Covid-19 supplemental funding, the agency shared with CNN. An earlier estimate from the Congressional Budget Office estimated the impact on CDC to be closer to $1.5 billion, but there is ongoing analysis about exactly which dollars could be rescinded. The grant that funded those disease intervention specialists across the country was one of the first things to be rescinded. The last two years of the five-year grant were slashed across the board, a more than $400 million blow. (McPhillips and Goodman, 7/14)

Politico: GOP-Backed Defense Bill Won't Pass, National Security Adviser Says
National security adviser Jake Sullivan was emphatic that the version of the National Defense Authorization Act that passed the House last week will never make it to President Joe Biden. “This legislation is never getting to the president’s desk,“ Sullivan said on CNN’s “State of the Union.“ “Because what you have seen from an extreme group of Republicans is to put forward a set of amendments that try to mix domestic social debates with the needs, the security needs of our nation.“ (Cohen, 7/16)

EdSource: Families With Young Children Face Increased Hardship After Pandemic Relief Policies End
Pandemic-era policies like eviction moratoriums, the expanded child tax credit, increased food stamp benefits and free school meals helped decrease hardship for families with young children. (Stavely, 7/17)

Los Angeles Daily News: Does Having A Pet Help Those With Alzheimer’s Disease? Let’s Take A Look 
The Alzheimer’s Association cites several studies that evaluate the impact of regular engagements with both living and robotic animals. Mood was found to improve as well as interaction with others. Engagement with the pet had a calming effect on dementia-related behaviors and also helped to increase physical activity. (Dennis, 7/16)

California Healthline: In Older Adults, A Little Excess Weight Isn’t Such A Bad Thing
Researchers have found that while obesity at any age risks harming health, a few extra pounds in later life isn’t cause for concern. (Graham, 7/17)

California Healthline: Readers And Tweeters See Ways To Shore Up Primary Care
California Healthline gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories. (7/17)