- California Healthline Original Stories 2
- ‘Like A Ghost Town’: Erratic Nursing Home Staffing Revealed Through New Records
- Look-Up: How Nursing Home Staffing Fluctuates In California
- Covered California & The Health Law 1
- U.S. Returning To Pre-ACA Days Where How Much You Pay For Insurance Is All About Location, Location, Location
- Quality 1
- Immigrant Detainees Receiving Insufficient Medical Care And Being Kept In Poor Conditions, Attorneys Say
Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
‘Like A Ghost Town’: Erratic Nursing Home Staffing Revealed Through New Records
Daily nursing home payroll records just released by the federal government show the number of nurses and aides dips far below average on some days and consistently plummets on weekends. A new California law increases minimum staffing standards at nursing homes, but critics say it doesn't go far enough. (Jordan Rau, )
Look-Up: How Nursing Home Staffing Fluctuates In California
Use this tool to see staffing levels at skilled nursing homes in California. ( )
More News From Across The State
Covered California & The Health Law
States are taking on more power as the Trump administration and Republicans chip away at federal regulations, leaving the landscape bumpy and uneven. Meanwhile, the National Federation of Independent Business, after lobbying for years, said it won't set up an association health plan because the new rules laid out by President Donald Trump are unworkable.
The Wall Street Journal:
Health-Care Coverage Is Increasingly Determined By Where You Live
Robert Kingsland will have to pay hundreds of dollars if he goes without insurance next year, even though Congress recently repealed the Affordable Care Act’s penalty for not having coverage. That is because his home state of New Jersey just imposed a fine of its own for letting insurance lapse. In California, Aaron Brown’s small business association likely won’t be able to provide the cheaper health policies promoted by the Trump administration. California banned the creation of many associations that offer such policies. (Armour, 7/18)
Politico:
Trump Promised Them Better, Cheaper Health Care. It’s Not Happening.
President Donald Trump handed an influential business advocacy group what should have been a historic lobbying victory when he recently rolled out new rules encouraging small businesses to band together to offer health insurance. Trump, who’s touted the expansion of so-called association health plans as a key plank in his strategy to tear down Obamacare, even announced the rules at the 75th anniversary party of the National Federation of Independent Business last month, claiming the group’s members will save “massive amounts of money” and have better care if they join forces to offer coverage to workers. (Cancryn, 7/19)
And in other news —
The Associated Press:
US Judge Throws Out Suit Over Health Subsidy Cuts
A U.S. judge in San Francisco has thrown out a lawsuit over the Trump administration's decision to cut Affordable Care Act subsidies. The ruling by Judge Vince Chhabria on Wednesday came after California and other states that sued said a workaround was largely succeeding in protecting consumers from higher costs. (7/18)
Medical staff at the federal prison in Victorville, in California's Mojave Desert, was stretched thin after dealing with an infectious outbreak.
The Desert Sun:
Immigrant Detainees Held At Victorville Prison Face Hunger, Disease
At the federal prison in Victorville, in California's Mojave Desert, hundreds of asylum seekers and migrants who entered the country without authorization are hungry and receiving insufficient medical care, according to immigration attorneys. Meanwhile, prison medical staff are stretched thin and, after already having to deal with an infectious disease outbreak, employees are working overtime and some support staff are filling in as correctional officers as they struggle to meet the needs of the growing inmate population, according to the president of the prison employees' union. (Plevin, 7/18)
Meanwhile —
KQED:
Migrants Allege They Were Subjected To Dirty Detention Facilities, Bad Food And Water
Documents filed Monday in U.S. District Court in California and viewed by NPR late Tuesday contain interviews with some 200 individuals detained under the Trump administration's zero tolerance policy, many of whom related poor conditions at the centers. The documents are part of a long-running lawsuit that resulted in the 1997 Flores Settlement Agreement. They were filed on the migrants' behalf by the Los Angeles-based Center for Human Rights & Constitutional Law, which is demanding that the government meet minimum standard conditions as laid out in the Flores agreement. The Department of Justice could not immediately be reached for comment. (Neuman, 7/18)
Graying Of LA's Homeless Population Adds New Complications To How City Is Managing Crisis
And even as L.A. struggles to help its oldest homeless people, an additional 8,000 people in their mid-50s to early 60s are living on the county’s streets and in shelters. And many of them have the same disabilities and health problems as their elders. Meanwhile, San Diego has approved an apartment complex for formerly homeless senior citizens.
Los Angeles Times:
22% Surge In Number Of Older Homeless People Catches L.A. Officials Off Guard
While L.A.’s overall homeless population dipped slightly, Colucci’s age group, 62 and up, shot up 22%, to nearly 5,000 people. The city and county have been slow to respond to the graying of the homeless population, advocates said. While some homeless people are aging in place, L.A.’s spiraling housing costs increasingly are driving people into homelessness for the first time at advanced ages, advocates said. A fall, a job loss or a medical crisis pushes them over the edge. (Holland, 7/19)
In other news from across the state —
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Imperial Beach Approves Marijuana Ordinance
Imperial Beach on Wednesday approved an ordinance to allow one recreational marijuana dispensary in the city. The 3-2 vote came after nearly two hours of public comment and council deliberations. The city’s regulation places a strict vetting process on prospective pot shops. Applicants must pay a $10,000 application fee, show they have $300,000 in liquid assets, have a detailed security plan, pass background checks, have at least one manager with previous marijuana industry experience, and find a location that is not within 900 feet of a school, park or daycare center. (Solis, 7/18)
Modesto Bee:
‘We Can Do Better.’ Staff Members Ask County To Keep Low-Income Health Services
Stanislaus County supervisors approved a recommendation Tuesday night to explore possible outsourcing of health care services for low-income residents. Speakers at the meeting said employees who run the county-owned clinics in Modesto, Ceres, Turlock and Hughson should have a chance to fix the problems with medical staff shortages and declining patient volume. (Carlson, 7/18)
Capital Public Radio:
Parents Call Travis Air Force Base Daycare Negligent After Daughter Was Touched Inappropriately By Classmates
The parents of a 5-year-old girl have filed a claim of negligence with Travis Air Force Base after they say their daughter was touched inappropriately by classmates twice in three weeks. Marcus Robinson and Tanisha Porter said their daughter was touched inappropriately last week, after employees had been notified of an earlier incident and had received requests to increase supervision. (Moffitt, 7/18)
Simi Valley Earns Quality Award For Its Commitment To Stroke Patients
Novartis Becomes Second Pharma Company To Pull Back On Price Increases
Recently, Pfizer was lambasted by President Donald Trump over its price hikes and announced it would roll them back. Novartis, which is dealing with a public relations crisis from its contact with Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen, said it is following suit: “We thought that was prudent, given the dynamic environment we’re currently in," said Chief Executive Vas Narasimhan.
Stat:
Novartis Hits The Brakes On Price Hikes As Political Pressure Builds
In response to the heated political rhetoric over the cost of prescription drugs, Novartis has decided not to raise prices on its medicines in the U.S. for the rest of 2018. “When I looked at the policy environment in the U.S. with our team, we thought the prudent thing to do was to pull back on any further price increases in 2018 and evaluate as the environment evolves,” Novartis chief executive Vas Narasimhan told Bloomberg Television, shortly after the drug maker first disclosed its decision as part of its latest earnings report on Wednesday. (Silverman, 7/18)
The New York Times:
Bowing To Trump, Novartis Joins Pfizer In Freezing Drug Prices
Novartis’s chief executive, Vas Narasimhan, said during an earnings call with investors that the company had made the decision in June, amid escalating outrage over high drug prices. “We thought that was prudent, given the dynamic environment we’re currently in,” he said. A spokesman for Novartis said the company notified the state of California, which has a new drug-price transparency law, of its decision in June but the news was not widely known. (Thomas, 7/18)
The Hill:
Novartis Pulls Back On Planned Drug Price Increases
Trump has pressured drug companies to keep prices low, and met with Pfizer after it announced price increases for more than 100 drugs. After the meeting, Pfizer said it would hold off on increasing prices until the administration releases its drug pricing plan or the end of the year, whichever comes first. (7/18)
The Wall Street Journal:
Novartis Won’t Raise U.S. Drug Prices This Year
Mr. Narasimhan didn’t speak directly with Mr. Trump about pricing, the company said, adding it had been in contact with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the context of the administration’s blueprint to curb drug prices that was unveiled in May. (Mancini and Blackstone, 7/18)
The reshuffling is just the latest sign of upheaval at the troubled Veterans Affairs agency, which has been roiled with scandal after scandal.
The Washington Post:
Trump Loyalists At VA Shuffling, Purging Employees Before New Secretary Takes Over
Ahead of Robert Wilkie’s likely confirmation to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, Trump loyalists at the agency are taking aggressive steps to purge or reassign staff members perceived to be disloyal to President Trump and his agenda for veterans, according to multiple people familiar with the moves. The transfers include more than a dozen career civil servants who have been moved from the leadership suite at VA headquarters and reassigned to lower-visibility roles. The employees served agency leaders, some dating back more than two decades, in crucial support roles that help a new secretary. (Rein, 7/18)
The New York Times:
Critics Of Trump’s Veterans Affairs Dept. Raise Concerns About Departures
Amid high-level turnover at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Trump administration critics are expressing alarm over whether politics is playing a role in the recent wave of removals, reassignments and retirements. The department is currently run by Acting Secretary Peter O’Rourke and has been without a Senate-confirmed leader for months. Robert Wilkie, a former acting secretary who also served as the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, has been nominated for the top job by President Trump. If confirmed, Mr. Wilkie would take over the second-largest department in the federal government, overseeing a 360,000-person work force. (Fortin, 7/19)
In other national health care news —
The Wall Street Journal:
HHS Secretary Tries To Reset Agenda Amid Family-Separations Furor
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, whose department has recently become entangled in the fight over separating undocumented children from their families, is pushing to keep focus on his agenda. Mr. Azar took office in January with a set of explicit goals after his predecessor, Dr. Tom Price, resigned under an ethics cloud. Since HHS is charged with caring for underage illegal immigrants, the agency has been pulled into the immigration debate. Now Mr. Azar is trying to keep his agenda moving ahead by relying on a close-knit team of top policy advisers. (Armour, 7/18)
The Hill:
House Dems Launching Medicare For All Caucus
House Democrats are launching an official Medicare for All Caucus in an effort to promote a single-payer health-care bill. The caucus, which will officially be announced Thursday, comes as an increasingly larger number of Democrats warm to the idea. The idea, championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), is now favored by many potential 2020 Democratic presidential contenders. (Weixel, 7/18)
Stat:
Atul Gawande's First Task As Health CEO: A Listening Tour
Dr. Atul Gawande is hitting the road. In one of his first actions as a CEO, Gawande is planning to travel across the country to meet with the employees he will serve through the health care venture being formed by Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, and Berkshire Hathaway. (Ross and Farber, 7/19)
The New York Times:
Before Roe, New York Was America’s ‘Abortion Capital.’ Where Will Women Turn If Access Shrinks?
In 1971, Pamela Mason was a college freshman living in Ohio when she got pregnant. She knew immediately that she wanted an abortion, but the procedure was heavily restricted in her state. Still, she wanted to find a way. The clinic near her university’s campus referred her to an abortion clinic in Manhattan, and when she was about 10 weeks along, Ms. Mason and her boyfriend scraped together enough money to drive to New York City. (Jacobs, 7/19)
The New York Times:
More Americans Are Dying Of Cirrhosis And Liver Cancer
Deaths from cirrhosis and liver cancer are rising dramatically in the United States. From 1999 to 2016, annual cirrhosis deaths increased by 65 percent, to 34,174, according to a study published in the journal BMJ. The largest increases were related to alcoholic cirrhosis among people ages 25 to 34 years old. (Bakalar, 7/18)