KQED: Rural Californians Want Price Relief From GOP Health Bill – But Most Won’t Get It
While Obamacare is largely viewed as a success in California – the state marketplace, Covered California, is one of the most financially stable in the country – it hasn’t worked as well for folks in this rural northeast corner of the state. There are two insurers selling plans in each county here, but residents say that hasn’t created enough competition to bring down prices. (Dembosky, 7/12)

In other news on the health law and Republicans' efforts to repeal it —

KPCC: Children's Hospitals Say GOP Health Bill Would Be A 'Catastrophe' For Kids
The original Senate bill's cuts to Medicaid would be "a catastrophe" for California children, says Anne Kuhns, president and CEO of the California Children’s Hospital Association. Some 5.7 million low-income children are on the program, called Medi-Cal in California. (Faust, 7/12)

Fresno Bee: Clovis Parents Say GOP Health Care Bill Could Hurt Son 
Medi-Cal, the California version of Medicaid, is jointly funded by the federal and state government and provides services to adults and children with low incomes, as well as for adults and children with disabilities. In the central San Joaquin Valley, it is the insurance plan for nearly 50 percent of the population. The proposed Senate bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act would change the federal government’s financing formula for Medi-Cal. Under the Better Care Reconciliation Act, a cap would be put on the amount of money the federal government would contribute to Medi-Cal. Currently, the federal government pays a share of the costs incurred to the program with no per capita limit. (Anderson, 7/12)

Sacramento Bee: California Wants To Save Your Family’s Clinic From A Republican Health Care Bill
On Monday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed the budget-related bill that included $20 million for 80 one-time emergency grants to help the clinics get by while they find long-term funding solutions so the more than 4 million Medi-Cal beneficiaries who get their care from community clinics still receive services. The grant program is an effort to preempt drastic changes to the nation’s longest-running health support system. (Svirnovskiy, 7/12)

Sacramento Bee: Why Two California Lawmakers Aren’t Giving Up On Universal Health Care
State Sen. Toni Atkins said they aren’t ready to give up. When the dust settles from the recent fight, she said, they hope to return to the Legislature. She said ultimately it may take a ballot measure to put a system in place. ... For both Atkins, and Sen. Ricardo Lara, it’s also personal. (Luna, 7/13)

Stat: Bin Chen: Cutting To The Chase With Computational Biology
The in silico approach to drug development just got a taste of validation, thanks to some intriguing new research from University of San Francisco, California. A drug cherry-picked with algorithms has behaved as expected: It’s helped shrink tumors in animal models. The UCSF researchers have created a computational method to delve through enormous amounts of open-access data to find novel drugs — and also discover new ways to repurpose existing drugs. The work was just published in Nature Communications. (Keshavan, 7/13)

In other news —

The New York Times: F.D.A. Panel Recommends Approval For Gene-Altering Leukemia Treatment
A Food and Drug Administration panel opened a new era in medicine on Wednesday, unanimously recommending that the agency approve the first-ever treatment that genetically alters a patient’s own cells to fight cancer, transforming them into what scientists call “a living drug” that powerfully bolsters the immune system to shut down the disease. (Grady, 7/12)

Los Angeles Times: Surgery For Early-Stage Prostate Cancer Does Not Lead To Longer Lives, Study Finds
A long-term study of men diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer has confirmed that patients who forgo immediate surgery have the same odds of living another decade or two as patients who have their tumors surgically removed. The results, published in Thursday’s edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, show that while each approach offers a different mix of benefits and risks, neither is likely to result in death due to prostate cancer. (Abed, 7/12)

In other public health news —

KPBS: This ‘Smart Glove’ Can Translate Sign Language
UC San Diego researchers have designed a "smart glove" that can turn sign language into text that can be wirelessly transmitted to mobile devices, all for less than $100. The glove is outfitted with cheaply printed sensors that stretch over the user's knuckles, detecting the different gestures that represent letters of the American Sign Language alphabet. (Wagner, 7/12)

The Mercury News: Patients Of Bankrupt West Contra Costa Hospital Have Limited Time To Claim Medical Records
Get your patient records from Doctors hospital before they are destroyed — that’s the message that went out Tuesday from Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia’s office to anyone ever treated at the former Brookside Hospital, which became Doctors Medical Center before it was declared insolvent and closed its doors to patients in April 2015. (Lochner, 7/12)

In other news from across the state —

East Bay Times: Dublin Walk-In Sutter Health Clinic Opens Its Doors
Sutter Health’s new walk-in clinic opens Thursday in Dublin, one of six in the Bay Area aimed at elevating pressure at emergency rooms and urgent care facilities. The clinic at the Fallon Gateway Shopping Center at 3919 Fallon Road is open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. with reduced hours on holidays. Staffed by nurses and physicians assistants, the clinic will provide medical services such as: treating the common cold or flu, conducting health screenings, weight loss and stop-smoking programs, provide vaccinations such as the flu shot and performing routine and sports physicals. (Ruggiero, 7/13)

Sacramento Bee: Judge Won’t Release Inmate In Vegetative State Because He Can’t Sign Paperwork
A convicted felon facing a 96-year prison sentence will remain at UC Davis Medical Center indefinitely, even though prosecutors want to set him free as fast as possible. Clifton Harris, 60, has been in a vegetative state since an assault at the Sacramento County Main Jail left him with traumatic brain injury. (Sangree, 7/12)

The Associated Press: McConnell Rolling Out New GOP Health Bill To Uncertain Fate
Senate Republican leaders are trotting out their new, but reeling, health care bill and angling toward a showdown vote next week amid signs that they have lots of work ahead to win over GOP lawmakers or face a resounding failure. (Fram, 7/13)

The New York Times: Senate Republicans, Preparing New Health Bill, Have No Votes To Spare
The likely defection of two Senate Republicans has left their leaders no margin for error as they move on Thursday to unveil another version of their bill to repeal much of the Affordable Care Act — without an assurance that they have the votes even to begin debate next week. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky flatly declared on Wednesday that he would not vote to take up the bill, which he said left too much of President Barack Obama’s health law in place. Senator Susan Collins of Maine has gone almost as far, saying that the bill cuts too much and that only major revisions could win her over. (Pear and Kaplan, 7/12)

The New York Times: A Risky Mix: Cutting Taxes For The Rich And Aid For The Poor
The tough lessons are piling up for Republicans as they struggle to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but one stands out as a harbinger of things to come: Tax cuts for the rich, paired with reduced services for the poor, are a politically unpalatable combination. Unable to get the first version of their health care bill off the ground, Senate Republicans are expected to release a revised bill on Thursday that would keep two of the taxes on the wealthy that were imposed by President Barack Obama’s health law: the 3.8 percent tax on investment income and the 0.9 percent surcharge on Medicare taxes, both imposed on high-income earners. (Rappeport, 7/12)

Los Angeles Times: Divided Senate Republicans Will Take Another Crack At An Obamacare Repeal Bill Today
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who has demanded that the bill further loosen requirements on health plans, remained optimistic of passage, even though he indicated he would not support opening the debate unless his proposed revision was included in the new text. “I believe we can get to yes and we can bring together 50 senators behind Obamcare repeal,” Cruz said. (Mascaro and Levey, 7/12)

Politico: Insurers Condemn Cruz-Lee Plan To Loosen Insurance Rules
Health insurers are blasting an effort by conservatives to modify the Senate Obamacare repeal bill and set up a two-tier market in which companies could sell plans that don’t meet Obamacare’s coverage requirements. Their big concern, according to documents obtained by POLITICO: The plan by Ted Cruz and Mike Lee would threaten access to coverage for individuals with costly medical conditions. (Demko, 7/12)

The Associated Press: Trump Says He'll Be 'Angry' If Senate Health Care Bill Flops
President Donald Trump said Wednesday he will be "very angry" if the Senate fails to pass a revamped Republican health care bill and said Majority Leader Mitch McConnell must "pull it off," intensifying pressure on party leaders laboring to win over unhappy GOP senators and preserve the teetering measure. (7/13)

USA Today: Senate Health Care Troubles Spawn Bipartisan Talks
Senate Republican leaders are plowing ahead with their goal to pass a GOP-only bill to repeal and replace Obamacare next week, but behind the scenes a bipartisan group of senators is discussing how to move forward if the bill fails. “We’ve had great conversations — a lot of Democrats and Republicans,” Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., told reporters Wednesday. Carper said he's been talking specifically with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and they have agreed on the need to draft a bill in public with opportunities for amendments and a full debate. (Collins and Greene, 7/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Will The GOP Health Bill Pass? Watch These Senators For Clues
Many Republican senators, from all wings of the party, are taking issue with the Senate GOP bill to replace most of the Affordable Care Act. The 12 below have been most outspoken, and each is flanked by like-minded senators behind the scenes. (McGill, Radnofsky and Zitner, 7/12)

The Washington Post: Republicans’ Obamacare Repeal Bill Would Bar Some Immigrants From Buying Insurance On The Exchanges
Hundreds of thousands of immigrants could be locked out of the health insurance marketplaces if the Senate’s new health-care bill becomes law. Buried among the bill’s provisions that roll back the Medicaid expansion and lower marketplace subsidies is a shift in eligibility requirements. Rather than all legal immigrants being able to receive tax credits and buy coverage in the marketplace like under the Affordable Care Act, the new bill — aside from a few, narrow exceptions — allows only permanent residents and people who immigrated for humanitarian reasons to participate. (Soffen, 7/12)

The Associated Press: Governors Gather To Discuss Challenges Facing Their States
More than half of U.S. governors are meeting this week to discuss the biggest challenges facing their states. Those include the possibility of major changes to Medicaid and states' health insurances marketplaces under the Republican health care plan in Congress, the ongoing opioid epidemic and the impact of climate change. (McDermott, 7/13)