Times of San Diego: Scripps Health Now Out-Of-Network For Anthem Blue Cross Policyholders 
After months of negotiations to keep the health system in-network, the contract between Scripps Health and Anthem Blue Cross officially ended Jan. 1, it was announced Wednesday. (Ireland, 1/1)

CalMatters: Emergency Room Workers Are Facing More Attacks. A New California Law Increases Penalties
A new California law imposes harsher penalties for assaulting emergency room workers. It responds to rising attacks on health care workers, despite concerns from progressives and prison-reform advocates. (Sabalow, 12/30)

Modern Healthcare: Staffing Mandate's Shaky Future Impedes Industry Preparation
The latest piece of the nursing home staffing rule is set to take effect in 2025, but nursing homes are caught between preparing for a rule that may not remain on the books and finding solutions to their immediate workforce shortages. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in April finalized an unprecedented rule setting minimum staffing levels nursing homes must maintain. To comply, facilities will need to have enough staff to provide at least 3.48 hours of nursing care per resident per day, including at least 0.55 hours from a registered nurse. (Early, 12/30)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital Marks A Decade Of Adversity, Growth And Change 
Sonoma County’s newest hospital was only three years old when it faced an all-hands emergency amid a nearly unthinkable disaster. (Espinoza, 12/31)

San Diego Union-Tribune: This San Diego Biotech Is Moving Its HQ To North Carolina 
Local biotech Heron Therapeutics is relocating its headquarters from San Diego to North Carolina, where it says the area’s burgeoning biotech scene “provides ample space for growth and expansion.” (Rocha, 12/31)

KQED: 'The Medicine My Ancestors Prayed For': Medi-Cal Now Covers Native Healing Practices
Inside the Friendship House, a rhythmic drum beat fills the air as clients gather in a circle, chanting a Lakota battle song. For Priscilla Lenares, the sound transports her back 11 years to her own time as a patient at the Native-led recovery center in San Francisco. “I remember hearing the drum for the first time, and tears fell from my eyes,” she recalled. (McClurg, 1/2)

The Hill: New Medicare Drug Price Cap Kicks In Jan. 1
A key cost-saving provision of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) goes into effect in the new year, limiting annual out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs to $2,000 for Medicare beneficiaries. Starting on Jan. 1, 2025, an estimated 19 million Medicare beneficiaries will see their out-of-pocket Medicare Part D spending capped at $2,000 for the year. This annual cap will be indexed to the rate of inflation every year going forward. An interim spending cap of roughly $3,500 was put in place in 2024. (Choi, 12/31)

Reuters: Drugmakers To Raise US Prices On Over 250 Medicines Starting Jan. 1
Drugmakers plan to raise U.S. prices on at least 250 branded medications including Pfizer (PFE.N) COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid, Bristol Myers Squibb's (BMY.N) cancer cell therapies and vaccines from France's Sanofi (SASY.PA), opens new tab at the start of 2025, according to data analyzed by healthcare research firm 3 Axis Advisors. Nearly all of the drug price increases are below 10% - most well below. The median price increase of the drugs being hiked Jan. 1 is 4.5%, which is in line with the median for all price increases last year. (Erman, 12/31)

Stat: CMS Updates To Hospital Price Transparency Rules For 2025 
The new year ushered in a final slate of updates to the federal rules for how hospitals have to disclose their prices, and experts are optimistic the changes will make the data more helpful in identifying less expensive providers. (Bannow, 1/2)

CalMatters: Most Medical Debt Can No Longer Hurt Your Credit Score Under New California Law
A new state law will keep medical debt off your credit report, sparing a hit to your all-important credit score. This is a big deal for California where millions struggle with unpaid medical bills. It takes effect Jan. 1, 2025. (Ibarra, 12/26)

LAist: More Family Leave Pay In California Starting In January 
Starting in the new year, California will increase family leave payments for workers caring for a new child or sick family member. (Yu, 12/27)

San Francisco Chronicle: New K-12 Alcohol Education In California Inspired By Ex-Lawmaker’s DUI
California public school students will get additional coursework on the harms of alcohol in 2025, thanks to a new law from a former lawmaker whose drunken driving arrest inspired her legislation. ... California schools are already required to provide instruction about alcohol, narcotics and other dangerous drugs. This bill would require that schools also provide instruction about the short- and long-term harms of excessive drinking — including alcohol’s link to chronic diseases, mental health problems and deaths. (Sabalow, 1/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: New Year In California Starts With New Laws Affecting K-12 Education
New California state laws will protect the privacy of LGBTQ+ students, ensure that the history of Native Americans is accurately taught and make it more difficult to discriminate against people of color based on their hairstyles. (Lambert and Gallegos, 1/1)

Los Angeles Times: California Baby Food Labels Will Soon Reveal Levels Of Lead, Mercury
Beginning Wednesday, baby food makers that sell products in California will have to make a major shift toward transparency and provide a QR code on their packaging that takes consumers to test results for the presence in their product of four heavy metals: lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium. (Gold, 12/31)

CalMatters: CA Almost Legalized Psychedelics. Now It's Looking For A Test Case
Last year was supposed to mark a milestone in the psychedelic movement. Lawmakers and advocates were set to make California the next frontier in allowing the use of “magic mushrooms.” They were hopeful because Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2023 — after vetoing a bill that would have decriminalized the possession of psychedelics — asked legislators for a bill that would prioritize the therapeutic promise of these drugs. (Ibarra, 1/2)

KQED: Norovirus Spikes In Bay Area Wastewater Amid Nationwide Rise In Outbreaks
Norovirus levels in Bay Area wastewater are spiking as cases of the highly contagious stomach bug are on the rise this month, according to a Stanford-based monitoring system and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Kennedy, 12/31)

CNN: Norovirus Cases Are Surging. A Doctor Explains What To Look For 
A common stomach bug is surging, according to new data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the week of December 5, there were 91 outbreaks of norovirus reported, up from 69 the previous week. In the same period in recent years, there generally were 65 or less outbreaks per week. (It might not seem like a lot, but many more cases probably go unreported.) (Hetter, 12/31)

CIDRAP: More Avian Flu Confirmed In US Dairy Cattle And Poultry Flocks As Arizona Reports Wastewater Detections
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today confirmed 12 more H5N1 avian flu detections in dairy cattle, all from California, as more outbreaks were confirmed in poultry across four states. The newly confirmed detections in California’s dairy cattle, where outbreaks have been under way since late August, push the state’s total to 697 and the national total to 912 across 16 states. (Schnirring, 12/30)

VC Star: Bird Flu Depletes Egg Inventories In California, Sends Prices Skyward
Some markets across the state can't find eggs, said Bill Mattos, president of the California Poultry Federation. He blamed the shortage on the spread of H5N1 in chickens. When infections are found, flocks are euthanized. (Kisken, 1/2)

The Hill: FDA Begins Testing Raw Cow's Milk Cheese For Bird Flu
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will begin collecting samples of raw cow’s milk cheese from across the U.S. to test for the presence of bird flu, spurred on by the ongoing outbreaks of H5N1 in multiple states. In the announcement published Monday, the FDA said the goal of testing will be two-fold: detecting the H5N1 virus and taking the necessary follow-up actions to protect consumers. (Choi, 12/31)

Newsweek: Bird Flu Update: CDC Says It's Searching For These Pandemic Red Flags
The CDC told Newsweek Monday that while bird flu's current risk to the general public remains low, the agency is carefully monitoring for several red flags that could indicate that the virus could be on the verge of becoming a pandemic. Those red flags include any outbreaks of bird flu that are spread from person-to-person, as well as evidence that the virus has mutated, making it easier for it to spread between humans. (Parry, 12/30)

Fortune Well: COVID Winter Wave Hits U.S. During 2024–25 Holiday Season
A winter wave of COVID infections is cresting as 2025 begins, one that started to swell before Christmas cookies were left out for Santa Claus and Hanukkah menorahs and Kwanzaa kinaras were lit. Nationwide test positivity was projected to be 7.5% the week ended Dec. 21, according to Dec. 30 estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Infections have ticked up consistently since the agency recorded a rate of 4.1% the week ended Nov. 16. (Leake, 12/31)

The Hill: Listeria Risk Prompts Recall Of Marketside Broccoli Florets Sold At Walmart
Broccoli sold at Walmart stores in 20 states has been recalled. Braga Fresh last week issued a voluntary and precautionary advisory for 12-ounce bags of Marketside Broccoli Florets that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which posted the advisory Tuesday, the pathogen can cause “serious and sometimes fatal infections” in young children, elderly people and others with weakened immune systems. (Lee, 1/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Homelessness Grew Only 3%, Less Than U.S. Overall
California’s homeless population rose 3% from early 2023 to early 2024, according to a new national report released Friday, which showed the Golden State was doing a better job than most states at stemming the tide of homelessness. ... The report found that across the country more than 770,000 people were experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 2024, marking an 18% increase from 2023. As the nation’s most populous state, California also has the biggest homeless population. The Golden State counted 187,000 unhoused people in January, or 24% of those homeless across the U.S. (Angst, 12/27)

San Francisco Chronicle: Study Finds Bay Area Foods Contain High Levels Of Plastic Chemicals
Your favorite milkshake, steak or bubble tea may contain extremely high levels of plastic chemicals. Those were the findings of a new report from research group PlasticList, which tested 312 Bay Area foods for endocrine-disrupting chemicals, which affect hormones and pose health risks, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. (Cortez, 12/30)

Stat: Study: More Action Needed To Ensure Pulse Oximeters Work Well For All
Work by device manufacturers to improve the performance of pulse oximeters on people with darker skin has progressed little since the Food and Drug Administration asked manufacturers in 2013 to voluntarily test the devices on more diverse skin tones, according to a study published Monday in JAMA. The study and a related editorial suggest clearer guidance, enforcement, and possibly legal action may be necessary to ensure the devices work well on all skin tones. (McFarling, Lawrence and Oza, 12/30)

Stat: Top Medical Advances Of 2024: Game-Changing Medicines And Procedures
It’s easy to forget that we live in an age of medical wonders. Cancer tumors can be slowed or shrunk in ways previous generations couldn’t imagine, with everything from pills to genetically engineered white blood cells. Surgeons can transplant a face, or replace a heart valve without cracking a chest. These are outcomes that would not have been possible 20 years ago. So what changed this year? (Herper, 12/30)

Newsweek: Coffee May Reduce Risk Of Some Cancers
Drinking coffee and tea might reduce the risk of developing head and neck cancers, including cancers of the mouth and throat, according to recent research. Scientists at the University of Utah's Huntsman Cancer Institute analyzed the results of 14 studies by scientists all over the world associated with the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology consortium. In total, their analysis included information from nearly 10,000 patients with head and neck cancers, and nearly 16,000 controls who did not have the disease. (Willmoth, 12/31)

Stateline.org: Junk Food, Drug Use Cut Into US Life Expectancy Gains
After large drops during the pandemic, life expectancy in the United States should recover to 2019 levels this year nationally and in 26 states — but not as fast as it should compared with similar countries, according to a new study. Bad habits such as junk food, smoking and illicit drug use are preventing longer lifespans, even as technology brings major progress in diseases such as cancer and heart disease, according to a new study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. (Henderson, 1/1)

The New York Times: Evidence Against Drinking Has Grown. Will Federal Advice Change?
A report that is intended to shape the next edition of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines has broken sharply with an emerging scientific consensus that alcohol has no health benefits. The evidence review, by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in December, revived a once-dominant hypothesis that moderate drinking is linked to fewer heart attack and stroke deaths, and fewer deaths overall, compared with never drinking. Many scientists now take issue with that view. (Caryn Rabin, 1/1)