KQED: Bay Area Health Care Workers Protest Arms Sales To Israel
Bay Area health care workers rallied outside the San Leandro facility of military contractor L3Harris on Wednesday. About 200 nurses, pediatricians, psychiatrists and other doctors and activists gathered to protest what they call “war profiteering” by the company, which has provided surveillance technologies to Israel for years and whose components are used in missiles, warplanes and tanks. “We are here today in front of L3Harris because we know with certainty that they are complicit in mass civilian casualties,” said Dr. Nida Bajwa, a family medicine doctor at San Francisco General Hospital. (Altenberg, 1/24)

Sacramento Business Journal: Marshall Hospital Opens Medical Assisting School In Cameron Park 
An El Dorado County hospital has a new strategy to tackle its health care worker shortage. (Hamann, 1/23)

Modern Healthcare: One Year Later: How CMS' Rural Pay Model Has Helped Hospitals
Friend Community Healthcare System’s hospital was hours from closing its doors in July. The City of Friend, a community of about 900 people in southeast Nebraska, gave its local hospital, Warren Memorial Hospital, $250,000 to help administrators make payroll and fund operations. But that was only a temporary solution for the 15-bed critical access hospital, which has struggled against bigger competitors in Lincoln and Omaha as it treats an increasing number of Medicaid beneficiaries. (Kacik, 1/24)

Axios: Health Care Providers Want Hospitals To Fight Climate Change
Nearly 80% of health care providers say it's important for their hospital to minimize its environmental impact, according to a large new Commonwealth Fund survey of clinicians. Health care accounts for 8.5% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, with hospitals responsible for the largest portion of those emissions. (Goldman, 1/24)

Axios: Patients Are Drowning In Notifications
Got an upcoming doctor's appointment? Perhaps a prescription to refill or a dental cleaning? Odds are your phone has been pinging away with incessant reminders about it. It's not just you. There's a growing flood of emails, texts, phone calls and other prods to patients that — beyond just potentially becoming another digital annoyance — may make them tune out the important stuff. (Reed, 1/25)

The Hill: Pelosi Sounds Warning Over Trump’s Attacks On ObamaCare
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday sounded the alarm on former President Trump’s attacks on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as she made the case that the 2024 presidential election ought to be about more than Trump’s criminal indictments. In an interview on MSNBC on Tuesday, Pelosi took aim at Trump’s recent statement that “ObamaCare sucks” and his claim to replace it with something better, saying Democrats should emphasize to voters that their health care could be at risk. (1/24, Fortinsky)

Modern Healthcare: Open Enrollment Breaks 21M For 2024 
A record 21.3 million people signed up for health insurance in 2024 offered through the Affordable Care Act's marketplace, the Health and Human Services Department said Wednesday. The figures include more than 5 million new enrollees. Nearly 4.2 million people with incomes of less than 250% of the federal poverty level signed up for 2024 coverage, the agency said. (DeSilva, 1/24)

Axios: Obamacare Sign-Ups Surge, Especially In Red States
A record 21.3 million people signed up for health insurance on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces this year, with the largest enrollment increases tallied in red states. The 30.7% annual increase in ACA sign-ups comes as former President Trump's renewed calls for repeal have again raised doubts about the law's future. (Millman, 1/24)

CalMatters: What A GOP Fight Over Undocumented Health Care Says About California’s Changing Politics
A new California law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom offers Medi-Cal health insurance to lower-income undocumented immigrants. Some Republicans support it. (barra, 1/24)

The Hill: Black Medicaid Patients More Likely To Be Hospitalized For Preventable Conditions: Analysis
An analysis published Wednesday found that Black Medicaid patients are more likely to be hospitalized for preventable conditions. The new analysis by the Urban Institute found that Black Medicaid enrollees were “significantly more likely” to be hospitalized for preventable reasons than white patients. Preventable conditions included asthma/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes and heart failure. (Sforza, 1/24)

NBC News: 64K Women And Girls Became Pregnant Due To Rape In States With Abortion Bans, Study Estimates
More than 64,000 women and girls became pregnant because of rape in states that implemented abortion bans after Roe v. Wade was overruled, according to a new research estimate published online Wednesday. The research letter, published by JAMA Internal Medicine and headed up by the medical director at Planned Parenthood of Montana, estimated that nearly 520,000 rapes were associated with 64,565 pregnancies across 14 states, most of which had no exceptions that allowed for terminations of pregnancies that occurred as a result of rape. (Lebowitz, 1/24)

AP: Biden Extends State Of The Union Invitation To A Texas Woman Who Sued To Get An Abortion And Lost 
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden have extended an invitation to attend the State of the Union address to a Texas woman who sued her state and lost over the ability to get an abortion to end a wanted pregnancy. The Texas Supreme Court denied Katie Cox’s request. But by then, her lawyers said, she had already traveled out of state for an abortion. The Bidens spoke with Cox on Sunday and invited her to the annual address set for March 7 at the U.S. Capitol. Cox will sit with the first lady, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday. Cox accepted the invitation, she said. (Long, 1/24)

The 19th: WIC Program Shortfall Could Endanger Nutrition For Pregnant People And Babies
A federal program that provides nutritious foods for pregnant people and babies is facing a $1 billion budget shortfall — and advocates are worried that for the first time in its 50-year history, it could become a casualty of a dysfunctional congressional appropriations process. (Becker, 1/24)

San Francisco Chronicle: This Powerful Group Is Hurting California Addiction Research, Scientists Say. They Want To Kill It
Researchers across California are urging Gov. Gavin Newsom and other top state officials to kill a powerful but little-known state advisory panel that they say is hindering addiction research and hurting some of the state’s most vulnerable residents. A group of more than 70 leading addiction researchers and advocates penned a letter to Newsom, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and state lawmakers requesting a dissolution of the Research Advisory Panel of California, which they call a “nonviable obstruction to essential research and public health activities in California.” Dissolving the panel would require passage of state legislation. (Angst, 1/24)

Bay Area Reporter: Wiener Introduces Bill To Ensure Collection Of LGBTQ Health Data 
Gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) has introduced legislation to ensure that state health officials are meeting their requirements to ask about sexual orientation and gender identity demographics. It is in response to a scathing 2023 report from California's state auditor that found the statewide health department's SOGI data collection efforts were woefully inadequate. (Bajko, 1/23)

Stat: CDC Studies Causes Of Transgender Women's Higher HIV Rates 
Transgender women, in particular those belonging to marginalized racial and ethnic groups, have disproportionately high rates of HIV. Yet so far, no standardized surveillance system has collected data that could provide insight into the factors that put people at higher risk for contracting the virus. (Gaffney and Merelli, 1/25)

The Conversation: Transgender Regret? Research Challenges Narratives About Gender-Affirming Surgeries
You’ll often hear lawmakers, activists and pundits argue that many transgender people regret their decision to have gender-affirming surgeries – a belief that’s been fueling a wave of legislation that restricts access to gender-affirming health care. Gender-affirming care can include surgical procedures such as facial reconstruction, chest or “top” surgery, and genital or “bottom” surgery. But in an article we recently published in JAMA Surgery, we challenge the notion that transgender people often regret gender-affirming surgeries. Evidence suggests that less than 1% of transgender people who undergo gender-affirming surgery report regret. That proportion is even more striking when compared to the fact that 14.4% of the broader population reports regret after similar surgeries. (Barbee, Hassan and Liang, 1/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: Project Homekey Dodges A Bullet, But Long-Term Legal Threat Remains
A judge declined Wednesday to block San Mateo County from purchasing a hotel in Millbrae and converting it to low-priced rental housing, granting at least a short-term reprieve to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide plan to fund housing for the homeless. But San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Nancy Fineman said she would still consider Millbrae’s argument that the state Constitution requires approval from the city’s voters for the purchase of the La Quinta Inn. That claim, if upheld, could undermine a state law that is crucial to Newsom’s Project Homekey. (Egelko and Bollag, 1/24)

San Diego Union-Tribune: No New Illnesses At Homeless Camp Site Amid Ongoing Investigation, Officials Say 
San Diego County is still investigating what gave dozens of people diarrhea at one of the city’s designated camping areas for homeless residents, but officials said nobody was hospitalized and there were no new cases. (Nelson, 1/24)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento City And County Homelessness Agreement Progress
As a humanitarian crisis spiraled on Sacramento’s streets, city and county officials celebrated a “groundbreaking” homelessness agreement that went into effect one year ago. Through a binding contract, both the city and the county accepted certain obligations as they collaborated to address homelessness concentrated within the city of Sacramento. (Lange and Clift, 1/25)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego Settles Lawsuit Challenging Laws That Punished People Living In Cars And RVs 
Tickets issued to people living in vehicles will be forgiven, the laws against the practice will be suspended in some cases and homeless people will have more places to legally park their RVs overnight under a lawsuit settlement approved by the San Diego City Council. Attorney Ann Menasche filed the lawsuit on behalf of 11 homeless people six years ago to challenge city ordinances against living in vehicles and parking oversized vehicles such as RVs on city streets between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. (Warth, 1/24)

Times Of San Diego: Annual Point-In-Time Count Of Homeless In San Diego County Set For Thursday 
Hundreds of volunteers are set to fan out across San Diego County early Thursday morning to conduct a federally required, one-night “snapshot” of the region’s homeless population. The 2024 WeAllCount Point-in-Time Count, run by the Regional Task Force on Homelessness, is set to begin at 4 a.m. Thursday at dozens of sites throughout the county, with the aim of finding an accurate accounting of the number of people experiencing homelessness in the region. (Ireland, 1/24)

The Oaklandside: Volunteers Will Conduct Homeless Census This Week In Berkeley
Over 1,000 volunteers will conduct the annual Alameda County point-in-time homeless count early Thursday morning to generate a census of how many unsheltered people are living in Oakland, Berkeley, and the rest of the region. The final report is typically released in the spring and includes a census of sheltered residents as well as those living outside in tents and vehicles. Local jurisdictions use it to allocate resources and determine areas of need. (Yelimeli, 1/24)

The Hill: Robitussin Products Recalled Nationwide Due To Microbial Contamination
Robitussin manufacturer, Haleon, is voluntarily recalling eight lots of its cough syrup due to microbial contamination, the manufacturer announced Wednesday. There have been no reports of adverse events related to this recall, Haleon said in its statement. The recall includes six lots of Robitussin Honey CF Max Day Adult, 4 oz. and 8 oz., and two lots of Robitussin Honey CF Max Adult, in 8 oz. (Fortinsky, 1/24)

CBS News: Study: Flu Vaccination During Pregnancy Decreases Flu Hospitalizations And ER Visits In Young Infants
UPMC Children's Hospital took part in a new study that found that if pregnant women get the flu vaccine, it dramatically reduces the chance their newborn will go to the ER or be hospitalized for the flu. Children's was one of seven hospitals around the country that studied how the flu vaccine in pregnant moms protected newborns who can't get the flu vaccine until they're 6 months old. They found it reduced hospitalizations or ER visits in young babies by about a third, and for the youngest infants under 3 months old, it went down by half. (Sorensen, 1/24)

Stat: Immunocompromised Patients Offer Clues On Chronic Covid 
You’ve heard of long Covid, a condition in which the acute infection subsides but troubling symptoms persist. Less well known is chronic Covid: The virus just doesn’t leave, sometimes staying in patients’ bodies long enough to mutate into new variants. This happens to people whose immune systems are compromised, whether through disease or treatment, leaving them vulnerable to infections that last weeks, months, or, in one known case, a year. (Cooney, 1/24)

CIDRAP: Review Reveals Poor Outcomes For Diabetes Patients Amid COVID-19 Pandemic 
Rates of death, vision loss, and pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admissions among diabetes patients spiked during the pandemic, finds a systematic review of 138 studies from around the world. (Van Beusekom, 1/24)

CIDRAP: Chinese Study Suggests COVID Temporarily Affects Sperm Quality
A new small study of 85 men in China shows COVID-19 infections do impact semen quality, but only temporarily. The study is published in Virology Journal. (Soucheray, 1/24)

Los Angeles Times: Defying California Law, Shasta County Supervisors Vote To Allow Concealed Weapons In Local Government Buildings
In defiance of California law, the Shasta County Board of Supervisors this week voted to allow concealed weapons in local government buildings. The resolution, passed Tuesday in a 3-2 vote, seeks to defy Senate Bill 2, a new state gun law — currently tied up in court — that bans concealed carry permit holders from bringing guns into places that lawmakers deem “sensitive.” (Branson-Potts, 1/24)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. Officials Tout Double-Digit Drop In Violent Crime In 2023 
In the latest sign that violent crime in Los Angeles is receding from a surge during the COVID-19 pandemic, LAPD officials on Wednesday released statistics showing double-digit percentage declines in both homicides and nonfatal shootings in 2023. The decreases — killings and shootings were down 17% and 10%, respectively — contributed to a roughly overall 3% drop in reported violent crime, compared with the year before. Meanwhile, property crimes were up by about 3% during the same period, driven by a rise in auto theft. (Jany, 1/24)

Military.com: In Reversal, Defense Department Now Wants To Bring Tricare Beneficiaries Back To Military Health System
The Defense Department is doing an about-face on a major component of reforms it launched seven years ago to reduce medical care costs, abandoning a plan to push family members and military retirees to private-sector care. In a memo sent last month to senior Pentagon leaders, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks outlined an effort to "re-attract" beneficiaries to military hospitals and clinics -- at least 7% of those now receiving medical care through Tricare, the DoD's private health program, by Dec. 31, 2026. (Kime, 1/24)

The New York Times: San Francisco Tried To Build A $1.7 Million Toilet. It’s Still Not Done. 
An expensive public bathroom project has come to symbolize the city’s bureaucratic inefficiencies. (Knight, 1/24)

Capitol Weekly: Sex Trafficking: An NBA G Leaguer’s Arrest Provides Glimpse Into An Evil Subculture
In the slow days leading up to the end of the year, the shocking arrest of a Sacramento Kings G League player for murder in Las Vegas grabbed headlines nationwide for its sensational mix of murder and professional sports in America’s adult playground. But the Chance Comanche case provides a window into something more: America’s pimp-prostitute subculture, which is the arena for much of the sex trafficking that occurs in our nation today. Moreover, it illustrates why it can be so challenging for law enforcement and lawmakers to tell the difference between victims and victimizers. (Joseph, 1/24)