- California Healthline Original Stories 3
- 'Not Turning Back': California Governor Vows To Protect State's Health Care
- How To Make A Home Much More Friendly To Seniors Using Wheelchairs Or Walkers
- Athlete-Turned-Trucker Works To Improve Truckers' Health
- Sacramento Watch 2
- In Fiery Speech, Brown Vows To 'Protect The Health Care Of Our People'
- State's Health Care Liability Jumps By $2.5B
Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
'Not Turning Back': California Governor Vows To Protect State's Health Care
Gov. Jerry Brown said he will work with other governors and lawmakers to prevent a loss of federal health dollars that could “devastate” the state’s budget. (Pauline Bartolone, )
How To Make A Home Much More Friendly To Seniors Using Wheelchairs Or Walkers
Experts say key steps can make a home much more accessible to seniors who can have trouble getting around in wheelchairs or walkers. (Judith Graham, )
Athlete-Turned-Trucker Works To Improve Truckers' Health
Once an elite swimmer and a Yale grad, Siphiwe Baleka now coaches 3,000 fellow truckers on the best ways to work out, eat right and stay connected on the road. Drivers say his wellness plan works. (Alex Smith, KCUR, )
More News From Across The State
In Fiery Speech, Brown Vows To 'Protect The Health Care Of Our People'
Gov. Jerry Brown in his annual State of the State said that California will not "turn back" on progress made through former President Barack Obama's health law.
WBUR:
Gov. Jerry Brown: 'California Is Not Turning Back'
In the first week of the Trump administration, California Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown is sending out a defiant message that his state will continue to defend its ideals, particularly when it comes to immigration, health care and climate change. Brown expressed his thoughts loud and clear Tuesday during his State of the State address. (Hobson, 1/25)
California Healthline:
‘Not Turning Back’: California Governor Vows To Protect State’s Health Care
“More than any other state, California has embraced the Affordable Care Act,” Brown told state legislators and appointees in his annual State of the State address at California’s Capitol. “I intend to join with other Governors and Senators, and with you, to do everything we can to protect the health care of our people.” (Bartolone, 1/25)
State's Health Care Liability Jumps By $2.5B
“One of the greatest fiscal challenges facing California is the mounting cost of providing health care benefits to public sector workers,” state Controller Betty Yee said.
Sacramento Bee:
California's State Retiree Healthcare Liability Increases To $76.68 Billion
California faces a $76.67 billion cost to provide healthcare and dental benefits to retired state employees, state Controller Betty Yee reported Wednesday, an increase of $2.49 billion over the previous year’s estimate. The unfunded liability – what it would cost to provide health and dental benefits that had been earned as of June 30, 2016 – would be about $1.45 billion more but for slower-than-expected growth in health care claims and lower costs, the report said. (Miller, 1/25)
Covered California & The Health Law
15% Of Primary Care Doctors Favor Repeal
The post-election survey shows little support among primary care doctors for the Republicans' plans to dismantle the health law, although many physicians want changes in the current law.
Los Angeles Times:
Here's What Primary Care Doctors Really Think About Obamacare
A post-election survey of primary care physicians reveals that majorities of the doctors that first treat most Americans do not support some of the GOP’s most widely circulated plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Conducted in December and January and published online Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, the new survey shows that nearly three-quarters of general practitioners favored making changes to the Obama administration’s signature healthcare reform measure. (Healy, 1/25)
In other health law news —
Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
SRJC Affordable Care Act Outreach Was Recognized By Obama
In the past nine years, the number of uninsured students on the Santa Rosa Junior College campus has decreased dramatically, going from nearly a third of students in 2007 to less than 8 percent of them in 2016, something Susan Quinn, director of the college’s student health services, attributes directly to the passage of the Affordable Care Act. “It’s had a profound impact,” she said. Earlier this month, Quinn and SRJC were honored for their enrollment efforts during a ceremony at the White House. (Warren, 1/25)
Tobacco Report Slams San Diego's Control Efforts
The area received a "D" in the rankings in stark contrast to the state at whole, which is a leader in anti-tobacco efforts. Meanwhile, Laguna Beach mulls expanding smoking ban to all public places.
KPBS Public Media:
San Diego Gets Poor Marks In Tobacco Control Report
The latest State of Tobacco Control report from the American Lung Association grades cities in three separate areas of tobacco policy: smoke-free outdoor areas, smoke-free multifamily housing and reducing sales of tobacco products. San Diego got a D grade for failing to ban smoking in apartment houses and condominiums, and for not having adequate restrictions on smoking on patios and other outdoor areas in restaurants. (Goldberg, 1/25)
Los Angeles Times:
Laguna Beach Looks At Banning Smoking In All Public Places
The list of places where Laguna Beach bans smoking is apparently getting longer. The city currently bans smoking at public parks and beaches and in restaurants, the Act V lot, elevators, public transportation vehicles, hospitals and other healthcare facilities. On Tuesday, the City Council supported extending the list to all public places — including alleys, bike paths, sidewalks, parking lots and plazas — as well as common areas of multi-unit residences. In a unanimous vote, the council directed staff to return with a draft ordinance. Electronic cigarettes and vaporizers would be treated as tobacco products under the new rules and be similarly banned in those areas. (Alderton, 1/25)
Health Leaders Push To Get Naloxone Into Hands Of Those Who Use Opioids
"They are the ones most likely to save someone,” Savannah O’Neill, a coordinator of an Overdose Prevention Education and Naloxone Distribution Project in California.
San Jose Mercury News:
Opioid Epidemic Fuels Demand For Overdose Drug
Naloxone — often referred to as Narcan — blocks opioid receptors in the brain to counteract the effects of an overdose. It comes in a spray and injectable form, and has long been used successfully by paramedics and hospital emergency room staff to treat overdoses. Despite evidence that training opioid users and those close to them to use the drug saves lives, the organizations that provide it say they haven’t been able to get the funding to purchase enough of the drug to keep up with demand. Yet as opioid-related deaths continue to mount, there are efforts in some areas to make the drug more widely available. (Drummond, 1/25)
Flu Death Toll Inches Higher, But Officials Think Season May Have Peaked
Although there are indicators that the flu might be on the downswing, officials are still urging people to vaccinated.
San Diego Union-Tribune:
County Flu Death Toll Reaches 21
San Diego County reported seven more flu-related deaths Wednesday, pushing the total this flu season to 21 — nearly three times the number tallied by the same time last year. While that grim statistic might worry anyone fighting an influenza infection, public health experts say there are reasons to think flu activity may have already peaked in the region. Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county’s chief public health officer, said the number of flu patients in local intensive care units last week was only one-third as many as the week before. (Sisson, 1/25)
In other public health news —
Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento State Shuts Down Water Fountains, Sinks After Finding High Lead Levels
Students at Sacramento State returned to school after winter break this week to find drinking fountains, bottle-filling stations and sinks in six classroom buildings and two dormitories shut down after elevated lead levels were discovered in the water. The high lead levels were found by students and professors working on a research project during their tests of 449 sinks and fountains on the campus over a three-day period earlier this month. The testing revealed 27 water sources had lead levels above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s allowable limit of 15 parts per billion, according to California State University, Sacramento, officials. (Lambert and Chavez, 1/25)
KPCC:
'Dramatic Increase' In Sexually Transmitted Diseases In Orange County
While the number of Californians infected with sexually transmitted diseases has risen in recent years, increases in Orange County have been more dramatic. In the past five years, cases of syphilis in the county have increased by more than 400 percent, gonorrhea by more than 200 percent and chlamydia by more than 50 percent. According to provisional data, in 2016 there were 12,597 cases of chlamydia, 2,973 cases of gonorrhea and 553 cases of early stage syphilis. Statewide, the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections are found among young people, African-Americans, and gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, according to the California Department of Public Health. (Lavender, 1/25)
Hospital Staff Preaches Kindness -- And Healthy Habits -- To School Kids
A doctor and nurse from Dignity Health Glendale Memorial Hospital took part in an anti-bullying initiative put on by the nonprofit Kids for Peace and sponsored by Dignity Health.
In other news from across the state —
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Padres Switch Healthcare Providers After 36 Years
The organization’s contract with Scripps Clinic expired at the end of 2016. UC San Diego Health, led by new head team physician Catherine Robertson, has become the Padres’ medical arm. Scripps had partnered with the Padres for well over three decades. Through the years, the clinic’s physicians treated such franchise luminaries as Gwynn, Trevor Hoffman, Ken Caminiti and Jake Peavy. (Lin, 1/25)
San Jose Mercury News:
Palo Alto Teens Ask City For Vapor Intrusion Policy
Students from Gunn High School’s Investigative Medicine Club are again petitioning Palo Alto city officials to deal with toxins seeping from plumes into buildings. Brent Han asked the City Council on Monday to adopt a citywide vapor intrusion policy that requires testing when buildings are constructed or situated over toxic plumes. (Lee, 1/25)
Republicans Promise To Tackle Repeal And Replace By End Of March
Congressional Republicans are meeting with the president in Philadelphia to discuss plans to dismantle the health law. They've set an aggressive timetable, after admitting they're going to miss the previous one -- Jan. 27 -- that they for themselves.
The Associated Press:
Congressional Republicans Sketch Ambitious Agenda
Congressional Republicans laid plans Wednesday to act on a health care repeal bill by the end of March and rewrite the tax code by August as they sketched out an ambitious agenda for their first 200 days under President Donald Trump. Meeting in Philadelphia for their annual policy retreat, they also discussed action to raise the nation's borrowing limit, write an infrastructure package sought by Trump and push funding for defense and border priorities. (1/25)
The Washington Post:
Republicans Set Aggressive Agenda On Health Care, Regulations And Tax Reform
In an afternoon session at an annual GOP policy retreat, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) unveiled plans that put repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act as the first order of business, with the target date for action within the next three months. Lawmakers also plan to move quickly on a broad rewrite of the tax code that is expected to include deep cuts in tax rates. The agenda sets a vigorous pace in an attempt to make good on key campaign promises made by President Trump. (Snell and DeBonis, 1/25)
The Wall Street Journal:
GOP Acknowledges It Won’t Meet Self-Imposed Deadline To Repeal Obamacare
Two days before Republicans’ self-imposed deadline for producing legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act, GOP lawmakers acknowledged they were unlikely to meet it. Both the GOP-controlled House and Senate passed budgets this month requiring four committees to deliver proposals by Jan. 27 to roll back major tenets of the 2010 health-care law. (Peterson, 1/25)
Reuters:
Health Insurers Quietly Shape Obamacare Replacement With Fewer Risks
U.S. health insurers are making their case to Republican lawmakers over how Americans sign up for individual insurance and pushing for other changes to shape the replacement of former President Barack Obama's national healthcare law. The health insurers, including Independence Blue Cross and Molina Healthcare Inc, are also recommending ways to put more control over insurance in the hands of states as the federal oversight of Obamacare is dismantled. They emphasize that it is crucial to keep government subsidies for low income people. (Humer, 1/25)
In other national health care news —
Politico:
Trump’s Flashy Executive Actions Could Run Aground
President Donald Trump’s team made little effort to consult with federal agency lawyers or lawmakers as they churned out executive actions this week, stoking fears the White House is creating the appearance of real momentum with flawed orders that might be unworkable, unenforceable or even illegal. ... Just a small circle of officials at the Department of Health and Human Services knew about the executive action starting to unwind Obamacare, and they got a heads-up only the night before it was released. Key members of Congress weren’t consulted either, according to several members. And at a conference in Philadelphia, GOP legislators say they had no idea whether some of the executive orders would contrast with existing laws — because they hadn't reviewed them. (Arnsdorf, Dawsey and Kim, 1/25)
The Wall Street Journal:
Opponents Say Trump’s ‘Mexico City’ Abortion Policy Could Have Broader Reach
Opponents of the so-called Mexico City policy that prevents foreign aid organizations from receiving U.S. funds if they provide or offer information about abortions say the directive President Donald Trump issued this week could affect 15 times more funding than the policy did under previous Republican presidents. Previous versions of the rule applied to family planning programs funded by the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, which comprise roughly $600 million in spending. (Schwartz, 1/25)
USA Today:
Congress To Challenge Gun Ban For Some Mentally Impaired
As part of an effort to roll back Obama-era regulations, Congress is expected to take up legislation as early as next week that would prevent the government from declaring some Social Security recipients unfit to own guns after they’ve been deemed mentally incapable of managing their financial affairs. (Gaudiano, 1/25)
The Associated Press:
Trump Intends To Announce His Supreme Court Pick On Feb. 2
President Donald Trump said Wednesday he intends to announce his nominee for the Supreme Court on Feb. 2, and three federal appeals court judges are said to be the front-runners to fill the lifetime seat held by the late Justice Antonin Scalia, a conservative icon. The leading contenders, who have met with Trump, are William Pryor, Neil Gorsuch and Thomas Hardiman, according to a person familiar with the process who was not authorized to speak publicly about internal decisions and discussed the search on condition of anonymity. (1/25)