Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Affordable Mental Health Care? It’s Getting Even Tougher to Access
More than a decade after Congress passed a law mandating equal access for mental and physical health care, Americans struggle to find affordable, in-network mental health providers. (Jenny Gold, )
Good morning! Unlike in past Democratic primary debates, “Medicare for All” didn’t dominate the night yesterday. But the candidates still got in some of their talking points. Read more about that below, but first here are some of your top California health stories for the day.
California Projected To Have $7B Surplus In Next Budget Year, But Some Of That Depends On A Federal Medicaid Decision: California is expected to have a $7 billion budget surplus next year, but lawmakers were urged Wednesday not to spend all of it because a sizable chunk depends on an upcoming decision by the Trump administration as it feuds with state Democratic leaders. However, nearly $2 billion of the initial $7 billion projected surplus depends on whether the Trump administration lets California tax organizations that manage the state’s Medicaid plans. California needs permission from the federal government to continue the tax. But the federal government recently proposed new rules that likely would not allow it. Last year, lawmakers approved a $215 billion budget boosted by record surpluses that accommodated new spending on health care, early childhood programs and housing construction. Read more from Adam Beam of The Associated Press, Sophia Bollag of the Sacramento Bee, and John Myers of the Los Angeles Times.
Californians With Employer-Sponsored Plans Are Still Finding Coverage Unaffordable As Out-Of-Pocket Expenses Rise: According to a new report from the Commonwealth Fund, California workers went from spending 8% of their income on health insurance premiums and deductibles in 2008, about $4,100, to nearly 12% of their income on premiums and deductibles in 2018, about $6,900. That is a 68% jump in employees’ health care spending over the past decade — which far outpaces wage growth during the same period. Between 2008 and 2018, median household income in the state grew just 16%, from about $52,000 to $60,000, according to the report. California’s figures largely mirror the national trend. Read more from Catherine Ho of The San Francisco Chronicle.
Calif. Lawmakers Urge U.S. House Leadership Not Jeopardize Care By Cutting Off Supplemental Medicaid Payments: The supplemental payments, known as disproportionate share allotments, provide “an essential funding source helping safety-net hospitals serve the uninsured and underinsured residents of their communities,” a group of 47 legislators stated in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. “They help offset the cost of uncompensated care these hospitals provide.” If the planned cuts are not stopped, California hospitals stand to lose as much as $500 million in the current fiscal year and as much as $950 million from fiscal 2021-25, the representatives said. Read more from Cathie Anderson of the Sacramento Bee.
Below, check out the full round-up of California Healthline original stories, state coverage and the best of the rest of the national news for the day.
More News From Across The State
San Francisco Chronicle:
California Supreme Court Turns Down Abortion Challenge By Missionary Group
The state Supreme Court rejected a challenge by a Catholic missionary organization Wednesday to decisions by state health regulators and an appeals court that voluntary abortions are “medically necessary” procedures that must be provided by health care service plans in California. Regulations requiring the coverage, adopted by the California Department of Managed Health Care in 2014, were upheld in August by a state appeals court in Sacramento. The court said the choice a pregnant woman makes — to give birth or have an abortion — must be considered “medically necessary.” (Egelko, 11/20)
LAist:
LA Has More Vacant Homes Than Homeless People, Report Finds
At least 36,000 homeless people live in the city of Los Angeles, but L.A. simultaneously has more than 41,000 empty housing units, according to a report released Tuesday by UCLA law students and a coalition of economic justice organizations. Researchers from the UCLA School of Law and nonprofit groups Strategic Actions for a Just Economy and the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, who authored the report, found many of these units were purchased or built as long-term financial investments, and that allowing them to sit unoccupied worsens the region's housing shortage. (Tinoco, 11/20)
Capital Public Radio:
With Cannabis Legal In California, Some Cities And Health Groups (And Neighbors) Are Asking Questions About Secondhand Smoke
Though California already forbids smoking in public places, many cities and counties are passing local ordinances to make it clear that marijuana is forbidden anywhere tobacco is. Just last week, the city of San Ramon approved a cannabis ban in all public spaces. California landlords can also prohibit marijuana use on rental properties. (Caiola, 11/20)
Sacramento Bee:
Northern CA Blackouts: PG&E Cancels Shutoffs In 6 Counties
Thousands of parents across Northern California rearranged their lives early Wednesday morning in anticipation of yet another round of canceled classes because of a massive intentional PG&E power outage. They scrambled to find child care. They stayed home from work to care for their children.Yet the lights stayed on in most of the north state, as PG&E significantly dialed back power outages Wednesday. (McGough and Sabalow, 11/20)
Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
Petaluma Valley Hospital Workers Strike For 1 Day
Dozens of union medical technicians and other support staff spent Wednesday picketing in front of Petaluma Valley Hospital on North McDowell Boulevard as part of a one-day strike to demand better wages and benefits. The strike comes after stalled negotiations with St. Joseph Health, which operates both Petaluma Valley and Santa Rosa Memorial hospitals. Contract talks between St. Joseph Health and the National Union of Healthcare Workers, which represents about 160 workers at Petaluma Valley Hospital, started in May. The union said the system is offering its membership — which includes nearly all staff at the hospital except for physicians, nurses and administration staff — inadequate wages and benefits. (Lee, 11/20)
The Associated Press:
Democrats Spar At Debate Over Health Care, How To Beat Trump
Democratic presidential candidates clashed Wednesday in a debate over the future of health care in America, racial inequality and their ability to build a winning coalition to take on President Donald Trump next year. The faceoff came after hours of testimony in the impeachment inquiry of Trump and at a critical juncture in the Democratic race to run against him in 2020. With less than three months before the first voting contests, big questions hang over the front-runners, time is running out for lower tier candidates to make their move and new Democrats are launching improbable last-minute bids for the nomination. (11/20)
The New York Times:
5 Takeaways From The November Democratic Debate
The story of the debate was more of punches pulled than landed. A month after her rivals hammered Ms. Warren for a lack of “Medicare for all” specifics, her fresh $20.5 trillion package to remake the health care system received surprisingly little scrutiny. (Goldmacher, Epstein and Lerer, 11/20)
The Associated Press:
Takeaways From The Democratic Presidential Debate
So it was again. Within minutes of the start, Warren found herself on the defensive as she explained she still supports a single-payer government run insurance system — “Medicare for All” — despite her recent modified proposal to get there in phases. Not to be outdone, Sanders reminded people that he’s the original Senate sponsor of the “Medicare for All” bill that animates progressives. “I wrote the damn bill,” he quipped. Again. Biden jumped in to remind his more liberal rivals that their ideas would not pass in Congress. The former vice president touted his commitment to adding a government insurance plan to existing Affordable Care Act exchanges that now sell private insurance policies. (11/20)
Los Angeles Times:
Democratic Debate: Key Takeaways From Atlanta
Wednesday night, she leaned into more popular aspects of her healthcare plan, saying “on day one as president” she would act to bring down the cost of prescription drugs and vowing to “defend the Affordable Care Act from the sabotage of the Trump administration.” She soft-pedaled Medicare for all, which would force millions of Americans off their private insurance plans, by saying she would move in that direction only after people “have had a chance to feel it and taste it and live with it.” (Barabak, 11/20)
The Washington Post Fact Checker:
Fact-Checking The Fifth Democratic Presidential Debate
“Five hundred thousand people go bankrupt because of medically related issues. They come down with cancer, and that’s a reason to go bankrupt?” — Sanders. Sanders often repeats this talking point, asserting that 500,000 people go bankrupt every year from medical issues. That’s approximately two-thirds of the 750,000 total bankruptcies per year. For this debate, however, the senator modified the wording of his claim. Sanders previously said 500,000 people a year go bankrupt from medical debt, but now he says “medically related issues.” This formulation more accurately reflects the study he’s quoting. (Kessler, Rizzo and Kelly, 11/21)
The Washington Post:
Transcript: The November Democratic Debate
Democratic presidential candidates squared off in Atlanta on Wednesday in a debate hosted by The Washington Post and MSNBC. Below is a transcript of the debate. (11/21)
The Associated Press:
Trump To Meet On Teen Vaping As Plans For Flavor Ban Fade
President Donald Trump will meet with medical experts, health advocates and industry representatives on the problem of underage vaping later this week, White House officials said Wednesday. Electronic cigarette use by teenagers has surged, but federal authorities have not yet finalized a plan for regulating e-cigarettes. At the White House meeting set for Friday, administration officials said Trump will hear from representatives from “all sides” of the vaping issue as he weighs “responsible guidelines.” (11/20)
The New York Times:
Trump’s F.D.A. Nominee Sidesteps Questions About Banning Flavored Vaping Products
President Trump’s nominee for Food and Drug Administration commissioner, Dr. Stephen M. Hahn, declined to answer questions from senators in both parties about whether he would push for a ban on flavored vaping products at a confirmation hearing Wednesday. The questions placed Dr. Hahn, a cancer executive without any Washington or governing experience, at the center of a political battle over the surge in teen vaping and the emergence of mysterious vaping-related illnesses that have killed at least 44 people and sickened more than 2,000. (Thomas, 11/20)
The Washington Post:
Critics Say ‘Junk Plans’ Are Being Pushed On ACA Exchanges
The Trump administration is encouraging consumers on the Obamacare individual market to seek help from private brokers, who are permitted to sell short-term health plans that critics deride as “junk” because they don’t protect people with preexisting conditions, or cover costly services such as hospital care, in many cases. Consumers looking at their health insurance options on the website for the federal marketplace, called healthcare.gov, may be redirected to other enrollment sites, some of which allow consumers to click a tab entitled “short-term plans” and see a list of those plans, often with significantly cheaper premiums. (Abutaleb, 11/20)
Reuters:
U.S. Lawmakers Question Google About Collection Of Health Records
U.S. Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren along with fellow Senators Richard Blumenthal and Bill Cassidy wrote a letter to Alphabet's Google on Wednesday to raise questions about its access to the health records of tens of millions of Americans. Warren and Blumenthal, who are Democrats, along with Cassidy, a Republican, were focused on a business partnership that Google formed with Ascension Health. (11/20)