Capital Public Radio: Gov. Brown's Budget Shows Support For Medi-Cal
Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed budget shows continued support for California's Medicaid program as talks of a repeal of the Affordable Care Act gain momentum. He has proposed an $18.9 billion budget for Medi-Cal, the state's insurance program for low-income individuals. Brown allotted $1.6 billion from California's General Fund for the health program. In last year's budget, $888 million came from the General Fund. Brown says repealing the ACA would be difficult and disruptive. (Johnson, 1/11)

Mercury News: $500 Million Game-Changer: UCSF Given Historic Gift
UC San Francisco announced Wednesday that it has received a stunning $500 million donation — the single largest gift in University of California history and one of the most generous gifts ever given to an American university. The gift, which comes at a time of dwindling financial support from the state, was pledged by the family foundation of the late Helen Diller, a San Francisco native and longtime champion of UCSF whose husband, Sanford, founded the Prometheus Real Estate Group, a San Mateo-based commercial real estate firm. (Krieger, 1/11)

San Francisco Chronicle: ‘Transformative’ Donation To UCSF: $500 Million 
The Helen Diller Foundation is pledging $500 million to UCSF — the biggest gift in campus history and among the largest to any public university in the United States — to recruit faculty and students and fund “high-risk, high-reward” research. The gift, to be announced Thursday, comes on top of a series of hefty donations to the school over the past decade, including a previous $35 million contribution to support cancer research from Diller, a philanthropist who died in 2015 at her home in Woodside, and two $100 million gifts from Salesforce founder Marc Benioff and his wife, Lynne Benioff, for the UCSF children’s hospital. (Allday, 1/11)

Sacramento Bee: Yolo County Reports First Flu Death; Officials Say It's Not Too Late For Flu Shot 
Yolo County reported its first flu-related death this season, prompting health officials to remind Californians there’s still time to get a flu shot. “It’s absolutely not too late,” said Dr. Stuart Cohen, chief of the infectious diseases division for the UC Davis Health System. Last week, he said, UC Davis lab technicians confirmed 32 new cases of flu, roughly double the number during the week between Christmas and New Year’s. (Buck, 1/11)

In other news from across the state —

KQED News: After 20 Years, California Man Leaves Foster Care On His Own Terms 
Walking into court for my very last time as a foster youth, I feel like I’m getting a divorce from a system that I’ve been in a relationship with almost my entire life. It’s bittersweet because I’m losing guaranteed stipends for food and housing, as well as access to my social workers and my lawyer. But on the other hand, I’m relieved to finally get away from a system that ultimately failed me on its biggest promise: that one day it would find me a family who would love me. (Anaya, 1/11)

Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Sonoma State Asbestos Lawsuit Trial Begins
Testimony began Wednesday in the case of a former Sonoma State University employee who claims he was forced to quit his job after reporting the school’s mishandling of asbestos and lead, including one incident in which a custodian was ordered to remove contaminants from a campus rooftop with a leaf blower. Thomas R. Sargent, 48, of Santa Rosa, seeks $15 million in damages in a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that retaliation from top-ranking officials ended his 24-year career at the Rohnert Park institution. The school denies his claims. In opening statements, his lawyer said trouble started in 2012 when Sargent, the school’s environmental health and safety inspector, discovered a chalky substance atop the three-story physical education building. (Payne, 1/11)

Orange County Register: Homeless Vets Get First Peek At New O.C. Cargo Container Housing 
The first of 15 homeless military veterans who will live in the innovative Potter’s Lane housing complex constructed from cargo containers surveyed their soon-to-be new homes on Wednesday. The three veterans, all baby boomers who served in the Army, were thrilled at their good fortune, even if the studio-size units are not complete. Painting, flooring, furnishing and landscaping must be finished before they can move in next month. Meanwhile, the veterans, all with health problems, are staying next door in the Jackson Street shelter run by American Family Housing, the nonprofit developing Potter’s Lane. (Walker, 1/11)

Sacramento Bee: UC Davis, Kaiser Push For More Latino Doctors For Spanish-Speaking Population 
As the state’s Latino population continues to expand and older Latino physicians move toward retirement, hospitals and medical schools are responding to the need by charging forward with plans to recruit the next generation of Spanish-speaking medical professionals. (Caiola, 1/12)

Los Angeles Times: California Is Friendly Territory, But A National Defunding Push Worries Planned Parenthood
At a recent breakfast gathering, Sue Dunlap, the president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, detailed the potential effects of a GOP-led effort to strip the group’s affiliates across the country of federal funding. It was a gloomy scenario for Planned Parenthood supporters, but attendees, according to Dunlap, were able to find some solace: The national outlook may be bleak, but surely in the Democratic bastion of California, the organization would be fine. Dunlap corrected them: Not only was Planned Parenthood in California not immune, it may have more to lose than its nationwide counterparts. (Mason, 1/12)

Sacramento Bee: Forced To Watch Child Porn For Their Job, Microsoft Employees Developed PTSD, They Say 
As part of their job, moderators for social websites have to view some of the most disturbing videos and photos on the internet. Once the employees have determined that the images violate the company’s community standards and the law, they delete the accounts of the people who posted them and report the incidents to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, per federal law. Unsurprisingly, having to watch upsetting content like that every day takes a toll on moderators. But two Microsoft employees say their company, one of the largest in the world, failed to provide them with proper support as their mental health deteriorated and they began showing symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. (Hadley, 1/11)

The New York Times: Senate Takes Major Step Toward Repealing Health Care Law
Senate Republicans took their first major step toward repealing the Affordable Care Act on Thursday, approving a budget blueprint that would allow them to gut the health care law without the threat of a Democratic filibuster. The vote was 51 to 48. During the roll call, Democrats staged a highly unusual protest on the Senate floor to express their dismay and anger at the prospect that millions of Americans could lose health insurance coverage. (Kaplan and Pear, 1/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Senate Takes First Step Toward Repeal Of Affordable Care Act
“The Senate just took an important step toward repealing and replacing Obamacare by passing the resolution that provides the legislative tools necessary to actually repeal this failed law while we move ahead with smarter health-care policies,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Kentucky) said in a statement after the resolution passed. (Peterson and Andrews, 1/12)

The Washington Post: Obamacare Is One Step Closer To Repeal After Senate Advances Budget Resolution
Senate Democrats made a late-night show of resistance against gutting the Affordable Care Act by forcing Republicans to take politically charged votes against protecting Medicare, Medicaid and other health-care programs. The measure narrowly passed without the support of any Democrats. The hours-long act of protest culminated in the early hours of Thursday when Democrats made a dramatic display of rising to speak out against the repeal measure as they cast their votes. The Democrats continued to record their opposition over their objections of Senate Republicans. (Snell and DeBonis, 1/12)

The Hill: Trump Says His Team Will Put Forward ObamaCare Plan 
President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday that his administration will put forward a plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare "essentially simultaneously." "We're going to be submitting, as soon as our secretary is approved, almost simultaneously, shortly thereafter, a plan," Trump said, referring to his pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.). "It will be repeal and replace." (Sullivan, 1/11)

Los Angeles Times: Musicians Rally To Defend The Affordable Care Act
The life of a musician can be economically precarious, and the club-gig circuit rarely comes with health insurance. Under the Affordable Care Act, many artists have been able to find and afford coverage for the first time. Now that the law is threatened by the incoming Trump administration, some musicians are speaking out about what that coverage has meant to their lives and livelihoods. (Brown, 1/11)

In other news —

Reuters: Trump Says Pharma 'Getting Away With Murder,' Stocks Slide
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday said pharmaceutical companies are "getting away with murder" in what they charge the government for medicines, and promised that would change, sending drugs stocks sharply lower. The benchmark S&P 500 index slipped into negative territory after his remarks at a news conference spooked investors. The iShares Nasdaq Biotech ETF dropped 4 percent at its session low and ended down 3 percent, its largest daily percentage drop in three months. (Humer and Campos, 1/11)

The New York Times: Head Of Veterans Health System Is Trump’s Pick To Lead Veterans Affairs
In a move that left many veterans groups breathing a sigh of relief, President-elect Donald J. Trump on Wednesday selected the current head of the nation’s sprawling veterans health care system, Dr. David J. Shulkin, an appointee of President Obama’s, to become secretary of veterans affairs. If confirmed, he will be the first secretary to lead the department who is not a veteran. (Philipps, 1/11)