Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Flavor Bans Multiply, But Menthol Continues to Divide
As states and communities ban the sale of flavored tobacco products linked to vaping, anti-smoking activists are piggybacking on the momentum to target menthol cigarettes. But some African Americans say menthol cigarette bans will lead to discrimination. (Ana B. Ibarra, )
Good morning! Here are your top California health stories for the day.
Apple Just The Latest Tech Giant To Throw Money At Homeless Crisis. But This Problem Won’t Be Solved By Their Donations: Apple’s $2.5 billion pledge to help the California housing crisis came weeks after Facebook announced $1 billion for a similar program, and months after Google did the same. Earlier, in January, Microsoft committed $500 million for affordable housing in the Seattle area. But a few billion dollars doesn’t buy a lot in California’s punitively expensive market. And even if it did, the companies’ announcements were accompanied by crucial yet mostly unanswered questions like where, how and when this money will be spent. Then there’s one of the biggest questions of all, which is the one California has long wrestled with: how to get much-needed housing built when local governments and homeowners do everything they can to prevent it. Read more from Conor Dougherty of The New York Times.
In related news from the Sacramento Bee: ‘Homeless Courts’ Are Meant To Get People Off The Street. But Is It Working In Sacramento?
California’s New Use-Of-Force Legislation Gave Advocates Hope. But Seattle’s Attempts To Implement Similar Policy Highlight Pitfalls As Well: Seattle’s experience revamping its use of force policies can teach important lessons for California. The state is adapting to new laws meant to reduce police shootings that require officers be better trained in how to de-escalate tense situations, and place new limits on when police can use deadly force. As California lawmakers debated both bills earlier this year, civil rights advocates pointed to Seattle as a place that had benefited from a similar policy. Although Seattle police have reduced their use of moderate and lethal levels of force by 60%, no officer has faced criminal prosecution in the seven years since the city changed its policy, and police remain more likely to use force on people of color than on white residents. Read more from Laurel Rosenhall and Brian Howey of CalMatters.
Meanwhile, two years after the federal program, Project Safe Neighborhoods, was reborn U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California McGregor Scott says annual firearms-related homicides and assaults in the district have decreased by about a quarter compared to the average of the previous 10 years. The number of firearms-related indictments have increased by about a third over that time. Read more from Bob Moffitt of Capital Public Radio.
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
Sacramento Bee:
Interpretation An Issue At Cal MediConnect, Surveys Show
Half of the non-English speaking people enrolled in a California healthcare plan reported they could never get a medical interpreter when they needed one, according to a survey conducted by San Francisco State University. The program, Cal MediConnect, is an all-in-one pilot managed care plan that serves people who are eligible for both Medicare and Medi-Cal. (Yu, 11/6)
Sacramento Bee:
California State Worker Health Insurance Perk Q&A
About 102,000 California state workers are eligible for a unique new health insurance benefit worth about $3,100 per year. While most of those eligible will receive the money automatically, about 20,000 won’t. First negotiated by the state’s largest public employee union, SEIU Local 1000, the benefit comes in the form of a $260 monthly stipend. The stipend is loosely based on the amount workers represented by the union pay toward their health insurance each month. (Venteicher, 11/7)
Capital Public Radio:
As California Fire Seasons Worsen, First Responders And Their Loved Ones Navigate Difficult Terrain
As California fire seasons worsen, organizations serving first responders are trying to spread the word about the need for mental health services. And they’re encouraging family members and loved ones of firefighters to seek help, too. (Caiola, 11/6)
KQED:
How PG&E's Power Shutoffs Sparked An East Bay Disability Rights Campaign
Among the nearly 1 million Northern California households and businesses that went dark during the outage that began Oct. 26 — just one of several PG&E shutoffs in October — more than 35,000 were registered medical baseline customers with health conditions requiring special energy needs, the utility said. In addition to providing discounted rates, the utility is also required by law to individually notify those customers in advance of shutoffs.In the Bay Area, where about 447,000 customers went dark for at least one night, there were more than 11,500 medical baseline households. (Green, 11/6)
Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento To Temporarily Ban Pot Dispensary Ownership Changes
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg has proposed a moratorium on marijuana dispensaries from making ownership changes and limiting the number of storefronts a single person can own, a response to an investigation by The Sacramento Bee that revealed the city’s lax oversight of the lucrative marijuana industry.Steinberg is also proposing the city hire a compliance officer to oversee the cannabis department, and allow five new dispensaries to open that would be owned by residents most affected by the “War on Drugs.” (Clift, 11/7)
Modesto Bee:
CA School HVAC Systems ‘Silently Undermining’ Student Success
Even when California schools install new heating and ventilation systems, the contractors aren’t properly adjusting or programming the units to provide enough ventilation to protect the health and welfare of students or their teachers, according to a study released this week by researchers at the University of California, Davis. (Anderson, 11/6)
Los Angeles Times:
Costa Mesa Council Denies Permit For Eastside Group Home
Costa Mesa City Council members Tuesday unanimously rejected an Eastside group home’s push for a permit, citing its proximity to other communal housing facilities. The council’s vote upheld a Planning Commission decision in August to deny Nsight Psychology & Addiction the conditional use permit it sought to continue providing therapeutic housing for up to 30 patients in a six-unit complex at 2641 Santa Ana Ave. (Money, 11/6)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. Losing Homeless Housing In Closed Board And Care Homes
The news came in September: Long Beach Residential, a 49-bed home for adults who are mentally ill, was being sold. The residents of the converted apartment building, some of whom had lived there for decades, would have 60 days to move. It’s a scenario that is becoming increasingly common across California, brought on by a combination of an inadequate state funding system and California’s red hot real estate market. (Smith, 11/6)
Capital Public Radio:
Sacramento County Eviction Protection Ordinance Falls One Vote Shy
Landlords can still evict tenants without giving a reason in Sacramento County after an attempt to give renters temporary protection failed Tuesday. The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 for a temporary prohibition against evicting tenants without cause. But four votes were needed to pass the emergency ordinance.
(Moffitt, 11/6)
The Hill:
Sanders Vows To End Trump's Policies As He Unveils Immigration Proposal
Presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) pledged to undo all of President Trump's executive actions on immigration on day one of his presidency, as part of his detailed immigration policy plan released Thursday. Sanders, currently polling among the top three candidates vying for the Democratic nomination, vowed to move quickly on changes that don't require congressional action, starting with a moratorium on all deportations until an audit of U.S. immigration enforcement policies is conducted. (Bernal, 11/7)
CNN:
Bernie Sanders' Immigration Plan Would Put Moratorium On Deportations, End ICE Raids
Under his "A Welcoming and Safe America for All" plan, the Vermont independent indicated for the first time that he will reverse guidance from the Trump administration's Department of Justice and permit asylum claims from those fleeing domestic or gang violence. Sanders would also overturn Trump's so-called "public charge" rule and ensure that immigrants are not discriminated against based on income or disability, while extending temporary protected status until more permanent resolutions are in place, invalidating Trump's efforts to end those designations. (Grayer, 11/7)
Politico:
Why Democrats Keep Winning On Health Care
Voters in Virginia and Kentucky sent a clear message on health care Tuesday night: Medicaid expansion and preexisting conditions are winning issues for Democrats, even as President Donald Trump and his allies try to undercut Obamacare. And strident GOP attacks on abortion weren’t enough to stave off Republican losses. Democrat Andy Beshear, who claimed victory in Kentucky’s tight gubernatorial race, and Virginia Democrats who took back control of the state legislature promised to defend Obamacare’s popular insurance protections for preexisting conditions, and they railed against Republican plans to contract the law’s expansion of Medicaid to millions of poor adults. (Pradhan, 11/6)
The New York Times:
Judge Voids Trump-Backed ‘Conscience Rule’ For Health Workers
A federal judge on Wednesday voided the Trump administration’s “conscience rule,” which would have made it easier for health care workers to avoid assisting with abortion or other medical procedures on religious or moral grounds. Hospitals, insurance companies or local governments that violated their employees’ rights under the rule could have faced a loss of federal funds. (Weiser and Sanger-Katz, 11/6)
The New York Times:
U.S. Must Provide Mental Health Services To Families Separated At Border
A federal judge has ruled that the government must provide mental health services to thousands of migrant parents and children who experienced psychological harm as a result of the Trump administration’s practice of separating families. The decision, issued late Tuesday, marks a rare instance of the government being held legally accountable for mental trauma brought about by its policies — in this case, border security measures that locked thousands of migrant parents in detention while their children were placed in government shelters or foster homes. (Jordan, 11/6)
The New York Times:
Trump Administration Sues Gilead, Maker Of H.I.V.-Prevention Drugs
The Trump administration on Wednesday sued Gilead Sciences, a pharmaceutical company that sells H.I.V.-prevention drugs that can cost patients up to $20,000 a year, accusing the company of earning billions from research funded by taxpayers without paying taxpayers back. The government said the company infringed upon patents owned by the Department of Health and Human Services, and had refused attempts by the department to license its patents and collect royalties. The company sells two drugs, Truvada and Descovy, that can be taken once daily to prevent H.I.V. infection, a strategy called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP. (Victor, 11/7)
The New York Times:
Early Problems As Trump’s Signature Veterans’ Health Plan Rolls Out
A health program for veterans that President Trump heralds as a triumphant success is struggling to make its network of doctors as large as required to meet an aggressive expansion of care outside the Department of Veterans Affairs health facilities, officials said. The company managing the new program in a majority of the states said it would probably need millions of dollars more to meet the plan’s coverage goals. Under a new law, known as the Mission Act, veterans who need to drive for at least 30 minutes to a government-operated veterans hospital — rather than 40 miles under old standards — can receive primary care and mental health services outside the department’s traditional system. (Steinhauer, 11/6)
The Hill:
ObamaCare Enrollment Reaches 177,000 In First Two Days Of Enrollment Period
More than 177,000 people signed up for ObamaCare plans during the first two days of open enrollment, according to numbers released Wednesday by the Trump administration. Nov. 1 marked the first day of open enrollment on healthcare.gov, the federal government’s enrollment platform used by 38 states. Of the 177,082 people who selected plans on healthcare.gov Friday and Saturday, nearly 49,000 were new customers. (Hellmann, 11/6)
Reuters:
Apple Rolls Out Health Records On IPhones For U.S. Military Veterans
Apple Inc on Wednesday said that U.S. military veterans who use its iOS devices and get medical care from the Veterans Health Administration will be able to access their health records on the devices. The Department of Veterans Affairs runs the largest integrated healthcare system in the United States, with 9 million veterans enrolled and more than 1,200 facilities. Apple began working with the department this summer to allow access to health records from the system on iPhones and other Apple mobile devices running its iOS operating system. (11/6)