Latest California Healthline Stories
Daily Edition for Friday, March 6, 2020
California Orders Insurers To Waive Out-Of-Pocket Costs For Coronavirus Testing Amid Concerns Price Would Deter People: The California Department of Insurance and Department of Managed Health Care ordered all full-service commercial and Medi-Cal plans to “immediately reduce cost-sharing — including, but not limited to, co-pays, deductibles or coinsurance — to zero for all medically necessary screening and testing for COVID-19, including hospital, emergency department, urgent care and provider office visits where the purpose of the visit is to be screened and/or tested for COVID-19.” About 9% of the U.S. population, and 7% in California, lacked health insurance in 2018, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. However, many people with private insurance have large deductibles. “If you have a $7,000 deductible and don’t have $7,000, you are essentially uninsured,” said Jennifer Tolbert, the foundation’s director of state health reform. “That’s a problem when you are trying to address a crisis like this.” Read more from Kathleen Pender of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Daily Edition for Thursday, March 5, 2020
Newsom Declares State Of Emergency, Will Fly Test Kits To Cruise Ship After Passenger Becomes California’s First Coronavirus Death: Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a coronavirus state of emergency Wednesday, hours after California announced its first death, involving a person who got sick on a cruise ship possibly more than half-filled with passengers from the state. By the time public health authorities made the connection between the two ill former passengers and the ship, the Grand Princess was at sea again with a new group of about 2,500 passengers.
Daily Edition for Wednesday, March 4, 2020
More Coronavirus Cases Confirmed In California: Los Angeles recorded a new coronavirus case on Tuesday, with Kaiser Permanente announcing it was treating a patient. Hours earlier, Orange County officials announced two presumptive coronavirus cases, both of whom had recently been in countries where the virus has spread. On Tuesday, the city of Berkeley reported its first case after an individual visited a country with an outbreak, and Contra Costa County officials Wednesday morning said a person was admitted to a local hospital on Sunday with respiratory flu-like illness. “While the risk of infection remains low, the expanded presence of the virus in our community is a reality we should all prepare for,” said Berkeley Public Health Officer Dr. Lisa Hernandez. “There are steps that all of us in the community can take now to improve basic hygiene and also prepare for a wider spread in the future.” Read more from Rong-Gong Lin and Colleen Shalby of the Los Angeles Times.
Daily Edition for Tuesday, March 3, 2020
Officials Across California Brace For Community Spread Of Coronavirus: “For San Francisco, it is not a matter of if, but when,” said Dr. Grant Colfax, director of San Francisco’s health department. “We expect to have confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in San Francisco and are preparing for community spread of the virus.” In California, at least 40 cases have been reported. Twenty-four cases were people who caught the virus either on the Diamond Princess cruise ship or in Wuhan, China, where the outbreak was first reported, and were then repatriated to the U.S. and quarantined at California military bases. An additional 19 cases were in returning travelers or, in at least five instances, people who contracted the virus in their community. “It’s important that we don’t panic,” said San Francisco Mayor London Breed. “It’s important that we get the right information, and that we work with the public to address this situation. We are focused on trying to make sure that we contain any situation that would occur, and that we protect public health — that’s first and foremost.”
Daily Edition for Monday, March 2, 2020
California Confirms At Least 5 New Coronavirus Cases As U.S. Reports 2 Deaths: Bay Area health officials announced five new coronavirus cases Sunday, reinforcing warnings from the Centers for Disease Control that the outbreak may become a pandemic. The diagnoses include two East Bay health care workers who probably have the virus, public health officials in Alameda and Solano counties said. In Santa Clara County, officials with the Public Health Department identified three new cases Sunday, bringing the county’s total number to seven. One case is an adult woman with chronic health conditions who is hospitalized, the county said in a statement. The other two are a husband and wife who recently traveled to Egypt. Both individuals are hospitalized, and the husband has chronic health issues. Meanwhile, since a COVID-19 patient was admitted to UC Davis Medical Center on Feb. 19, 124 nurses and health care workers who were at high risk of having been exposed to the coronavirus were told by the hospital to quarantine themselves at home. The workers are being paid during this period. Read more from Tatiana Sanchez of the San Francisco Chronicle, Ariana Remmel of KQED, and Soumya Karlamangla of the Los Angeles Times.
Daily Edition for Friday, February 28, 2020
California Coronavirus Case With No Travel Link Shines Light On Deep Flaws In CDC's Early Testing Strategy: A woman in Solano County, California, who hadn’t traveled abroad or had contact with another known patient with the illness was diagnosed with the virus Wednesday, raising concerns that cases are going undetected because of the federal government’s narrow testing protocols. Eventually, more than 10 days after she went into hospital, the CDC agreed she could be tested. Dozens of health workers who may have come into contact with her at NorthBay VacaValley Hospital, in Vacaville, Calif., are now being monitored. Even before the announcement on Wednesday, frustration had been mounting among health providers and medical experts that the agency was testing too few Americans, which may slow preparations for an outbreak and may obscure the scope of infections.
Daily Edition for Thursday, February 27, 2020
New California Coronavirus Case Could Be First In U.S. Not Linked To Travel Abroad: A person in California who was not exposed to anyone known to be infected with the coronavirus, and had not traveled to countries in which the virus is circulating, has tested positive for the infection. It may be the first case of community spread in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday. The patient arrived at UC Davis Medical Center from another hospital on Feb. 19. The staff requested COVID-19 testing by the CDC, but because the patient didn’t fit the CDC’s existing criteria for the virus, a test wasn’t immediately administered. “We have been anticipating the potential for such a case in the U.S., and given our close familial, social and business relationships with China, it is not unexpected that the first case in the U.S. would be in California," said Dr. Sonia Angell, director of the California Department of Public Health.
Daily Edition for Wednesday, February 26, 2020
San Francisco Declares State Of Emergency Despite Lack Of Any Coronavirus Cases In City: Mayor London Breed declared a state of emergency for San Francisco Tuesday, which will ramp up the city’s efforts to prepare for and confront potential cases. There have been no confirmed coronavirus cases in San Francisco to date, but as infections continue to rise across the world, “we need to allocate more resources to make sure we are prepared,” Breed said at a press conference announcing the emergency declaration. “To be clear, this declaration of emergency is all about preparedness. By declaring a state of emergency we are prioritizing the safety of our communities by being prepared.” Read more from Dominic Fracassa of the San Francisco Chronicle and Colleen Shalby of the Los Angeles Times.
Daily Edition for Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Good morning! Here are your top California health stories for the day.
Daily Edition for Monday, February 24, 2020
California Defends Authority To Require Insurers To Cover Abortion As Protecting Women's Rights: California disputed a Trump administration assertion that the state is violating U.S. law by requiring insurers to cover abortion, after federal officials threatened to withhold funding if it doesn’t change its policy. California Democratic Attorney General Xavier Becerra wrote in a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services that the state’s abortion-coverage requirement wasn’t in violation of federal law. It also noted that California provided a religious exemption in 2015 to the mandate. “California has the sovereign right to protect women’s reproductive rights. Political grandstanding should never interfere with that,” Mr. Becerra said in a statement before the letter was sent. “The Trump Administration’s threats not only put women’s health on the line, but illegally threaten crucial public health funding that Californians rely on.” Read more from Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal and Noam N. Levey of the Los Angeles Times.