- California Healthline Original Stories 1
- Hospitals Want To Cut Back On Free Care. Critics Say No Way.
- Hospital Roundup 1
- Workers At 32 Kaiser Permanente Hospitals Across State To Protest In Anticipation Of Wage Cuts
- Public Health and Education 2
- Californians Who Rely On Food Assistance Worried About Trump's Proposed 'Blue Apron' Approach
- Blood Test For Concussions Approved By FDA For First Time
- National Roundup 3
- Scathing IG Report Faults VA Secretary For European Trip That Included Wife's Airfare, Extensive Sightseeing
- Aging Population, High Prices Will Continue Fueling Rise In Health Care Spending Levels
- As Midterms Inch Closer, Republican Lawmakers Start To Take Softer Stance On Health Law
Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Hospitals Want To Cut Back On Free Care. Critics Say No Way.
Four California hospitals have asked the state attorney general to reduce the amount of free and discounted care they’re required to provide, arguing there’s less need for it under the Affordable Care Act. Critics say millions of people still can’t afford their hospital bills. (Pauline Bartolone, )
More News From Across The State
Calif. Lawmaker Introduces Bill Targeting Hospitals' 'Patient Dumping' Practices
The legislation is aimed at curbing the practice of hospitals discharging homeless patients who have nowhere to go.
Sacramento Bee:
New Bill Seeks To Put An End To 'Patient Dumping' In California
Hospitals would be required to get written confirmation from homeless shelters before discharging patients to those facilities under a bill introduced Wednesday in the California State Senate. The bill, carried by Sen. Ed Hernandez, D-Azusa, is designed to curb the practice known as hospital patient “dumping,” or discharging poor people to the streets, shelters or other agencies incapable of caring for them. (Hubert, 2/15)
In other news from Sacramento —
KQED:
State Senate Bill Would Triple Penalties For Refinery Air Violations
State Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, wants to triple some of the most serious penalties local air districts can levy against oil companies when their refineries violate emissions regulations. Dodd, who represents a district that’s home to refineries owned by Shell, Tesoro and Valero, introduced legislation on Wednesday that would raise the limits on certain fines for the first time in decades. (Goldberg, 2/15)
Workers At 32 Kaiser Permanente Hospitals Across State To Protest In Anticipation Of Wage Cuts
Kaiser plans to outsource 280 pharmacy warehouse jobs, layoff 700 employees at three call centers in Los Angeles and move some jobs to other areas of the state where workers will earn $2 per hour less, the SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West said.
Modern Healthcare:
Kaiser Employees Launch Weekslong Protest Over Expected Cuts
Thousands of Kaiser Permanente employees across California are expected to protest over the next few weeks in response to worries that there will be layoffs and wage cuts in the near future. The protests, which began Wednesday at four Kaiser facilities, are organized by the SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, which represents more than 55,000 Kaiser workers. The protests are expected to occur at 32 Kaiser Permanente hospitals across the state through March 9. Wednesday's protest was expected to draw hundreds of picketers. (Castellucci, 2/14)
Californians Who Rely On Food Assistance Worried About Trump's Proposed 'Blue Apron' Approach
In his budget plan, President Donald Trump proposed swapping out the debit-style benefits people receive now for a pre-packaged box of food, containing mostly canned meals.
San Francisco Chronicle:
Trump’s Food-Stamp Plan: Government Picks The Meals For Poor People
The way that what’s officially known as the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — SNAP — works now is that 42 million Americans like Summers buy whatever meat, fruit, vegetables and other foodstuffs they want at 260,000 grocery stores nationwide by using a debit card that stores their benefits. ...This week, the Trump administration proposed cutting the program by $260 billion over 10 years, or 30 percent. Half the savings would come by changing the way Summers and other recipients receive their food benefit. (Garofoli, 2/14)
In other public health news —
The Mercury News:
Suicide Prevention Group Shows Love At Golden Gate Bridge On Valentine’s Day
More than 100 volunteers gathered at the Golden Gate Bridge on Valentine’s Day to show love and compassion by watching for troubled people on the span. The group Bridgewatch Angels has been coming to the bridge since 2010, engaging in suicide prevention. (Prado, 2/15)
Blood Test For Concussions Approved By FDA For First Time
Currently, most patients with suspected traumatic brain injury are evaluated using a neurological exam, followed by a CT scan. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said that the blood test could save the health care system money by preventing unnecessary scans.
Stat:
FDA Approves First Blood Test To Help Diagnose Concussions
The Food and Drug Administration gave a green light Wednesday for the first time to a blood test that doctors can use to help rule out concussions. The Brain Trauma Indicator, marketed by Banyan Biomarkers Inc., measures the levels of two proteins — called UCH-L1 and GFAP — whose elevated presence suggests a certain type of brain damage normally only visible on a CT scan. The test takes three to four hours, and doctors could use it to determine which patients need a CT scan to confirm the damage and which patients can rest easy. (Swetlitz, 2/14)
San Francisco Chronicle:
First Blood Test To Detect Concussions Approved
Concussion-related brain damage has become a particularly worrisome public health issue in many sports, especially football, affecting the ranks of professional athletes on down to the young children in Pop Warner leagues. Those concerns have escalated so far that it has led to a decline in children participating in tackle sports. (Kaplan and Belson, 2/14)
Facing Down Growing Obesity Rates, Kern County Hires Full-Time Nutritionist
Kern County ranks second-highest among all California counties for obesity, public health officials said.
The Bakersfield Californian:
For First Time In A Decade, Public Health Department Hires Nutritionist To Battle Rising Obesity Rates
It’s been more than a decade since the Kern County Public Health Services Department has staffed a full-time nutritionist, but that changed recently. Recognizing a growing need, the department filled the position in December, hiring Aaron Stonelake, who graduated from California State University Fresno with a degree in dietetics before returning to his hometown of Bakersfield last year. He will earn about $57,000 annually. (Pierce, 2/12)
In other news from across the state —
East Bay Times:
Sutter Health Expands Urgent Care In The East Bay
Sutter Health’s Palo Alto Medical Foundation announced on Wednesday it has opened its latest Pediatric Urgent Care Clinic in Dublin. Located at 4050 Dublin Blvd., the clinic promises same-day medical attention for minor to moderate illnesses after hours and on holidays, open from 1 to 8 p.m. during the week and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and holidays. (Sciacca, 2/14)
Los Angeles Times:
Berkeley Declares Itself A Sanctuary City For Recreational Cannabis — And It May Be The First To Do So
The Berkeley City Council voted unanimously to declare the city a sanctuary for recreational marijuana, a move that may be the first of its kind. The resolution, adopted Tuesday, prohibits Berkeley's agencies and employees from using city resources to assist in enforcing federal marijuana laws or providing information on legal cannabis activities. (Parvini, 2/14)
The inspector general report also found that, among other "serious derelictions," Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin also improperly accepted tickets to Wimbledon. “This was time that should have been spent conducting official V.A. business and not providing personal travel concierge services to Secretary Shulkin and his wife,” Inspector General Michael J. Missal concluded in the report.
The New York Times:
Report Faults V.A. Secretary Shulkin Over Travel To Europe
A scathing report released Wednesday found “serious derelictions” in a 10-day, $122,000 business trip the secretary of veterans affairs took to Europe, which included airfare for his wife and extensive sightseeing. According to the report, Secretary David J. Shulkin traveled to Denmark and London for meetings about health care for veterans, accompanied by his wife, a small staff and a six-person security detail, but nearly half of his time was spent visiting castles and other tourist sites. (Philipps, 2/14)
USA Today:
VA Secretary David Shulkin Regrets Travel Errors, Pays Government For Wife's Airfare
The inspector general found Shulkin improperly accepted Wimbledon tickets and taxpayer-funded airfare for his wife for the 10-day trip in July, and he and his chief of staff misled VA ethics officials while seeking official approval for the tickets and flights. Investigators found the chief of staff, Viveca Wright Simpson, doctored an email to make it look like Shulkin was getting special recognition or an award during the trip in order to get approval for his wife’s flights. And they said Shulkin mischaracterized the woman who provided him with the Wimbledon tickets as a friend when they had only met three times at official events. (Slack, 2/14)
Reuters:
'Serious Derelictions' Found In U.S. Veteran Affairs Chief's Europe Trip: Report
The investigation of Shulkin's European trip found several other "serious derelictions," the Veterans Affairs inspector general said in a report on its website. The office opened the probe after receiving an anonymous complaint alleging the secretary had misused travel funds because the trip to Europe, which cost at least $122,344, was more personal than business. (Alexander, Heavey and Volcovici, 2/14)
The Wall Street Journal:
VA Chief Got Free Wimbledon Tickets, Wife’s Airfare On Trip, Watchdog Says
Dr. Shulkin’s response, submitted by his attorneys, said the trip was “immensely valuable” to the VA. They wrote that Dr. Shulkin violated no “ethical regulations” in accepting the Wimbledon tickets. They said Dr. Shulkin had no role in obtaining approval for his wife’s travel, and that the department employee, “on his own initiative,” had undertaken the “detailed planning of tourist activities.” Dr. Shulkin said that he has offered multiple times to reimburse the cost of the Wimbledon tickets, and that a British veterans official obtained them through a personal, not a professional, connection and gave them on a personal basis. (Kesling and Nicholas, 2/14)
Politico:
VA Audit: Aide Expensed Shulkin Wife’s European Travel Under False Pretense
Shulkin told POLITICO the IG report was inaccurate — wildly exaggerating the cost of the Wimbledon tickets, for example — and spurred by internal VA opponents of the sweeping changes he is trying to bring to the agency. Shulkin complained that he only had two business days to respond to accusations in the report before it was published.The most reliable politics newsletter. "There are people within my organization who are not happy with the progress we’re making and the direction of the organization, who are deliberately undermining me," he said. Shulkin has demanded more accountability from employees at the VA, which says it removed 1,300 staffers last year and suspended 500 others. "They are really killing me,” he said. (Allen, 2/14)
Aging Population, High Prices Will Continue Fueling Rise In Health Care Spending Levels
Prescription drugs account for the fastest increase -- 6.3 percent a year on average -- due to the high cost of advanced medications.
The Associated Press:
Gov't Says Health Costs To Keep Growing Faster Than Economy
U.S. health care spending will keep growing faster than the overall economy in the foreseeable future, squeezing public insurance programs and employers who provide coverage, the government said Wednesday. Annual projections from number crunchers at the Department of Health and Human Services cite an aging population and an uptick in prices for health care services and goods as factors behind the ongoing growth in costs. (2/14)
Los Angeles Times:
U.S. Healthcare Tab To Keep Rising, Led By Higher Costs For Drugs And Services, Government Report Says
"High and rising costs expose two often overlooked problems," Harvard economist David Cutler noted in an article accompanying the new spending projections, published in the journal Health Affairs. "First, spending is too high because many dollars are wasted. … Second, high medical costs combined with stagnant incomes for a large share of the population and the inability of governments at all levels to raise tax dollars leads to increased health and economic disparities," Cutler wrote. (Levey, 2/14)
As Midterms Inch Closer, Republican Lawmakers Start To Take Softer Stance On Health Law
Some of those who adamantly opposed any action to shore up the marketplaces have reversed course in a politically charged year.
The Wall Street Journal:
Republican Foes Of Health Law Try A Patch Job Ahead Of Midterms
Republicans opposed to the Affordable Care Act are showing interest in proposals to shore up the health law and lower premiums, driven partly by their concerns that any big jump in insurance costs may hurt them in the midterm elections. State and federal GOP lawmakers are backing or considering reinsurance proposals that aim to curb premiums by offsetting insurers’ costlier claims. That stance is a reversal from last year, when Republicans almost uniformly opposed measures to aid the health law they tried to repeal. (Armour, 2/15)
In other national health care news —
Politico:
How One Conservative State Is Flouting Obamacare
Idaho is going rogue on Obamacare. The Republican-led state has a maverick plan to flout the federal health care law, letting insurers sell plans that don’t meet Obamacare coverage rules and patient protections. And the brazen move — Gov. Butch Otter is plowing ahead on his own, without seeking federal waivers or permission — poses a test for the Trump administration. (Demko and Pradhan, 2/14)
The Hill:
HHS Head Says He Will Uphold ObamaCare As Law
The top federal health official on Wednesday said he will uphold ObamaCare as long as it remains the law. In response to a question about a controversial plan in Idaho to allow insurers to sell plans that don’t meet ObamaCare requirements, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told a congressional panel that he has a responsibility to enforce the law. (Weixel, 2/14)
Stat:
Trump Presses Key Republican To Move On 'Right To Try'
President Trump personally pressed a key House committee chairman to move quickly on right-to-try legislation, asking for a timeline on the bill’s delivery at a separate White House event on infrastructure Wednesday. Rep. Greg Walden, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said Trump’s question was “How close are you to getting this done?” “And I said we’re very close. And we are,” Walden told reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday, after the meeting. (Mershon, 2/14)
The Hill:
Drug Industry Scrambles After Rare Loss In Budget Deal
Pharmaceutical companies are pushing to repeal or roll back a provision in last week’s budget deal that delivered a rare loss to their industry, according to two lobbyists familiar with the situation. A provision included in the budget deal approved last week raised the share of costs that drug companies have to pick up as part of closing the “donut hole,” a gap in drug coverage for Medicare Part D beneficiaries. (Sullivan, 2/14)
The Washington Post:
‘We Would Literally Not Survive’: How Trump’s Plans For The Social Safety Net Would Affect America’s Poorest
Since the day in January 2010 when teenager Courtney Bias and her 1-week-old daughter were kicked out of her mother’s house, the young family has slept wherever they can: under bridges. On strangers’ floors. In city parks. Today, 25-year-old Bias, her boyfriend and their three young children are renting part of a friend’s apartment outside Baltimore. They scrape by on his wages from construction and landscaping jobs, relying on federal food stamps to help feed their children and Medicaid for doctor’s visits. Bias has also been on a wait list for subsidized housing for the past seven years and was told 2018 would be the year she could finally move into her own apartment. (Dewey and Jan, 2/14)
The Hill:
172 Dems Ask Trump Official To Reject Medicaid Work Requirements
More than 170 House Democrats asked Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar to reject requests from states to require Medicaid beneficiaries to work. "Such actions to tie health coverage to work are motivated purely on the basis of ideology and mistaken assumptions about what Medicaid is and who it covers," the Democrats wrote to Azar. (Hellmann, 2/14)
The Associated Press:
How Best To Treat Opioids' Youngest Sufferers? No One Knows
Two babies, born 15 months apart to the same young woman overcoming opioid addiction. Two very different treatments. Sarah Sherbert’s first child was whisked away to a hospital special-care nursery for two weeks of treatment for withdrawal from doctor-prescribed methadone that her mother continued to use during her pregnancy. Nurses hesitated to let Sherbert hold the girl and hovered nervously when she visited to breast-feed. (2/14)
The New York Times:
Lena Dunham Says She Had Hysterectomy After Endometriosis
The actress and writer Lena Dunham said in an essay published on Wednesday that she had a hysterectomy last fall at age 31 after living for many years with endometriosis, a painful medical condition affecting pelvic tissue. In the essay, in the March issue of Vogue, Ms. Dunham chronicled her decade-long struggle with the disease, her efforts to manage it without surgery and the choice she made to have her uterus removed after the pain left her “delirious.” (Stack, 2/14)
The Washington Post:
How A Transgender Woman Breast-Fed Her Baby
She told doctors that she wanted to breast-feed her baby. She explained that her partner was pregnant but was not planning to breast-feed when the child was born, so she wanted to take it on herself. The 30-year-old, who is transgender, was willing to accept the risks. Following months of hormone therapy last year, doctors say she might be the first reported transgender woman in academic literature to breast-feed, according to a case study published last month in the peer-reviewed journal Transgender Health. (Bever, 2/14)
Reuters:
McDonald's Plays 'Hide The Cheeseburger' In New Happy Meal Health Push
McDonald's Corp is removing cheeseburgers from U.S. Happy Meal menus and shrinking the french fry serving in one "Mighty Meal" as part of a new global plan to cut calories and make its food for children more healthy. The changes announced Thursday come as the world's biggest fast-food chain for the first time established global limits for calories, sodium, saturated fat and added sugar in Happy Meals, which consultants and franchisees say account for roughly 15 percent of sales in the United States. (Baertlein, 2/15)