Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Military Doctors In Crosshairs Of A Budget Battle
Details of the reductions have not yet been announced, but in 2017 Congress ordered mandated changes to make the military health system more efficient. (Jordan Rau, )
Good morning! Kaiser Permanente is in the hot seat after a doctor allegedly told a patient he was close to death over video. The family of the patient was appalled at receiving such dire information from a “robot doctor.” More on that below, but first here are your top California stories for the day.
They ‘Failed At Every Turn’: How One Teenager’s Struggle To Get Mental Health Help Reflects A Disturbingly Flawed System: Elizabeth Brown’s story of struggling to get proper care for her mental health issues is shared by many across California. The thread running through all the anecdotes: Despite policy advances with parity laws that require insurance companies to provide patients with equivalent levels of care for physical and mental illnesses, the reality looks far from equal. Industry representatives say insurers are doing their best to comply with these laws, but face a shortage of mental health providers, especially in rural areas. Experts and advocates, however, say the companies are dodging the rules on purpose. Families, meanwhile, are left hurting. “The whole system is set up as just one big battle,” said Jill Williams, a special education teacher from Granite Bay. “You’re just sad and exhausted from dealing with a family member with mental illness. And then you have to battle everybody else.” Read more from CALmatters.
It Can Often Be Like The Wild, Wild West When It Comes To Regulating Sober Living Homes, But Lawmakers Want To Change That: In the midst of the opioid epidemic, sober living homes are a booming industry. But policies designed to protect residents--such as the Americans With Disabilities Act, which prohibits police or zoning officials from treating sober homes differently than other family residences—end up limiting the safeguards that can be put into place to regulate the industry. A new proposal, from Assemblymember Tom Daly (D-Anaheim) would establish the first ever minimum operating standards for sober homes that get public money to accept patients from the courts or public health systems. Read more from the Orange County Register.
CommonSpirit Health Expected To Garner More Than $500 Million In Savings Over Next Three Years, But Investor Call Highlights Obstacles Ahead: Leaders of the new health system, which emerged from the merger between California-based Dignity Health and Catholic Health Initiatives, talked with investors about the challenges they’re facing, as well as their projections for savings. CommonSpirit has nearly $21 billion in combined investment assets from the legacy organizations and a strong infrastructure to manage those assets, said Dan Morissette, CommonSpirit's chief financial officer. One of the major tasks currently underway is bringing the organizations under a single credit group and debt structure. Read more from Modern Healthcare.
It’s Been Two Years Since California Raised Taxes To Pay Doctors More To See Low-Income Patients, But Success So Far Is Muted: One of the reasons there hasn't been much change from the increased taxes, is because it has taken awhile for the money to actually get to the doctors. As of now, it’s unclear if the higher reimbursements are actually working as incentives to get more providers to take low-income patients. The increases range from $5 to $107 per visit, treatment or procedure, depending on patient complexity and provider. Jeffrey Miller, senior vice-president of Western Dental, up to 70 percent of whose patients are covered by Medi-Cal, said it could be another year before data show more providers because more outreach is needed. Read more from CALmatters.
Below, check out the full round-up of California Healthline original stories, state coverage and the best of the rest of the national news for the day.
More News From Across The State
The California Health Report:
Proposed Law Would Require Low-Cost Nutritious Meals At Day Care Centers And Preschools
Throughout California, low-income public-school students in grades kindergarten through 12 are guaranteed at least one free or low-cost healthy meal each school day. That same law doesn’t apply to public preschools or to child care programs operated by school districts or county offices of education that serve low-income children. But that could soon change. Late last month Assembly members Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara) and Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton) introduced AB 842, legislation that would expand the law to public schools operating child care, and preschool programs that serve low-income children, as well as provide some additional funding. (Kritz, 3/8)
The Bakersfield Californian:
New Medi-Cal System Expands Access, Services For Substance Use Treatment In Kern County
Kern County has implemented a new system to provide a wider range of services to residents seeking substance abuse treatment. Medi-Cal is expanding services to its patients through its new Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System, which gives those seeking treatment easier access to services, medications and resources, including their own case manager. Kern Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, which runs the county's mental health and addiction services, began using the new system on March 1. (Luiz, 3/10)
East Bay Times:
Fremont Family Upset That Kaiser Let ‘Robot’ Deliver Bad News
It’s never easy to hear bad news about a family member in the hospital. For the family of Ernest Quintana, hearing it from a robot video device that rolled into his room made it worse. ...Michelle Gaskill-Hames, senior vice president and area manager for Kaiser Permanente Greater Southern Alameda County, said in a statement that “we offer our sincere condolences” and that “we take this very seriously and have reached out to the family to discuss their concerns.” (Woolfolk, 3/8)
San Francisco Chronicle:
‘Robot Doctor’ Informed Kaiser Patient That He Would Die, Family Says
Kaiser Permanente is facing criticism this week after a woman posted on social media that her grandfather was told he was going to die by a doctor who was speaking with the family on a video screen that had been wheeled to the patient’s bedside. Receiving such dire news from a “robot doctor” was “horrible for me and him,” said Annalisia Wilharm, the man’s granddaughter, in a post on Facebook. (Allday, 3/8)
East Bay Times:
Measles Vaccination Rates Increase In Bay Area Children
Despite concern over recent measles cases, the deadly virus is confronting high vaccination rates in Bay Area children due to a 2016 law that ended most options for parents to avoid immunizing their kids. ...Health officials confirmed this week at least three Bay Area residents contracted measles in February following an international flight. A sick Santa Cruz County adult inadvertently infected two other passengers — one from Santa Clara County and the other from San Francisco — who were on the plane. And in Washington State, a measles outbreak has sickened at least 70 people and forced hundreds of students to stay home from school. (Krieger, 3/8)
Washington Post:
2019 Is Shaping Up To Be The Worst Year For Measles Since ’90s, CDC Data Show
More than 200 cases of measles were confirmed in the United States in the first two months of the year, with outbreaks occurring in 11 states, according to new figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 206 cases in January and February represent the highest year-to-date number going back more than a quarter-century. (Ingraham, 3/8)
The New York Times:
An Unvaccinated Boy Got Tetanus. His Oregon Hospital Stay: 57 Days And $800,000.
A 6-year-old boy was playing on a farm when he cut his forehead, a laceration that was simple enough to tend to at home. But six days later, his parents realized something was seriously wrong: He was clenching his jaw, having trouble breathing and experiencing involuntary muscle spasms. (Mervosh, 3/9)
Los Angeles Times:
For These California Fire Survivors, Hope Grows Amid The Ashes Of Paradise
Months after California’s most devastating wildfire killed 85 people and leveled the town of Paradise, many former residents find the thought of returning here unbearable. But others, whose homes escaped destruction, have come back to a life of surreal contrasts. (Newberry, 3/10)
Los Angeles Times:
Firefighter Suicides Reflect Toll Of Longer Fire Seasons And Increased Stress
Capt. Ryan Mitchell had just finished three punishing weeks of firefighting. He had deployed to fires far from home, then returned only to dash out to another one. Mitchell’s parents and 16-month-old son came to visit him at the station. “He didn’t look good. He was tired, he was thin, his eyes were shallow. He wasn’t his usual self,” Mitchell’s father, Will, recalled. (Agrawal, 3/1)
Sacramento Bee:
UCSF Photo Reveals Site To Launch Assault On Parkinson’s
On Thursday, a team at the University of California, San Francisco, reported that they have photographs that show a way inside Nurr1 and a place where drugmakers could launch an assault on Parkinson’s. Their research is ongoing, but the latest findings appeared in Cell Chemical Biology. (Anderson, 3/8)
North Bay Business Journal:
Kaiser Permanente Names Salaway New Marin-Sonoma Leader As Coffey Retires
Tarek Salaway has been named senior vice president and area manager for Kaiser Permanente’s Marin-Sonoma service area, according to a March 8 announcement from Kaiser Permanente Northern California. Salaway started on Feb. 14, allowing time to transition into the role vacated by Judy Coffey, who retired on March 1. Salaway, who has more than 22 years of leadership experience in multiple health systems, comes to Kaiser from south Orange County, where he spent nearly four years with Providence-St. Joseph Health serving as CEO of its Mission Hospital campuses in Mission Viejo and Laguna Beach.The Southern California native previously served in key leadership roles at Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Southern California. (Sarfaty, 3/8)
LAist:
Why Is LA County Sheriff Villanueva Fighting So Hard To Keep A Deputy Accused Of Domestic Abuse?
The controversy keeps growing over Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva's rehiring of a deputy who was fired for alleged domestic abuse. It's landed him in a legal standoff with the Board of Supervisors, and stirred anger among members of the sheriff's civilian oversight commission. (Stoltze, 3/8)
The New York Times:
On Disability And On Facebook? Uncle Sam Wants To Watch What You Post
If you’re on federal disability payments and on social media, be careful what you post. Uncle Sam wants to watch. The Trump administration has been quietly working on a proposal to use social media like Facebook and Twitter to help identify people who claim Social Security disability benefits without actually being disabled. If, for example, a person claimed benefits because of a back injury but was shown playing golf in a photograph posted on Facebook, that could be used as evidence that the injury was not disabling. (Pear, 3/10)
The Associated Press:
Sanders' 'Medicare For All' Expands Long-Term Care Benefits
Sen. Bernie Sanders is raising the stakes of the "Medicare for All" debate by expanding his proposal to include long-term care, a move that is forcing other Democratic presidential candidates to take a stand on addressing one of the biggest gaps in the U.S. health care system. Medicare for All is unlikely to advance in the GOP-controlled Senate, but it's a defining issue in the early days of the Democratic primary and candidates have pointed to their support of Sanders' legislation as proof of their progressive bona fides. (3/8)
The New York Times:
Bernie Sanders-Style Politics Are Defining 2020 Race, Unnerving Moderates
The sharp left turn in the Democratic Party and the rise of progressive presidential candidates are unnerving moderate Democrats who increasingly fear that the party could fritter away its chances of beating President Trump in 2020 by careening over a liberal cliff. Two months into the presidential campaign, the leading Democratic contenders have largely broken with consensus-driven politics and embraced leftist ideas on health care, taxes, the environment and Middle East policy that would fundamentally alter the economy, elements of foreign policy and ultimately remake American life. (Martin and Ember, 3/9)
The Hill:
Over 2,000 Migrants Quarantined In US Detention Centers Amid Mumps Outbreaks: Report
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill. The reported quarantines within migrant detention facilities comes during a surge in outbreaks in communicable infections such as measles and mumps. A recent spate of measles infected 159 mostly unvaccinated people in 10 states as of late last month, leading some states to reconsider vaccine exemptions. (Samuels, 3/10)
The New York Times:
U.S. Continues To Separate Migrant Families Despite Rollback Of Policy
Nearly nine months after the Trump administration officially rescinded its policy of separating migrant families who have illegally crossed the border, more than 200 migrant children have been taken from parents and other relatives and placed in institutional care, with some spending months in shelters and foster homes thousands of miles away from their parents. The latest data reported to the federal judge monitoring one of the most controversial of President Trump’s immigration policies shows that 245 children have been removed from their families since the court ordered the government to halt routine separations under last spring’s “zero tolerance” border enforcement policy. (Jordan and Dickerson, 3/9)
Reuters:
U.S. Judge May Force Trump Administration To Reunite More Families Separated At Mexico Border
In a blow to the Trump administration's U.S.-Mexico border strategy, a federal court judge in California has expanded the number of migrant families separated at the border that the government may be required to reunite. San Diego-based U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw late on Friday issued a preliminary ruling that would potentially expand by thousands the number of migrants included in a class-action lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union. (3/9)
The Wall Street Journal:
Rural Sheriffs Defy New Gun Measures
In swaths of rural America, county sheriffs, prosecutors and other local officials are mounting resistance to gun-control measures moving through legislatures in Democratic-led states. The “Second Amendment sanctuary” movement has taken hold in more than 100 counties in several states, including New Mexico and Illinois, where local law-enforcement and county leaders are saying they won’t enforce new legislation that infringes on the constitutional right to bear arms. (Gershman and Frosch, 3/10)
The Wall Street Journal:
I Gave My Kidney To A Stranger To Save My Brother’s Life
In August, I became part of an exercise in market economics to save my older brother’s life. We participated in an innovative program that creates exchanges of goods with immeasurable value—healthy kidneys—among strangers who never would have connected otherwise. A little over a year earlier, my brother had rushed to the intensive-care unit of the Alfred Hospital while on a work trip in Melbourne, Australia, after experiencing extreme difficulty breathing. (Patel, 3/9)
The Washington Post:
Springing Forward To Daylight Saving Time Is Obsolete, Confusing And Unhealthy, Critics Say
This weekend, Americans will once again navigate their complex relationship with the chronically confusing and arguably misnamed daylight saving time. In most of the United States, the clocks spring forward early Sunday when 2 a.m. suddenly becomes 3 a.m. People are advised to avoid scheduling anything important for 2:30 a.m. Sunday, since, by law, such a moment does not exist. But the law may change. The national policy of switching from standard time to daylight saving time and back again is under legislative challenge from coast to coast. (Achenbach, 3/8)