Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Despite Quick Fixes, Kaiser Permanente Mental Health Care Still Lags
Interviews with dozens of Kaiser Permanente therapists, patients and industry experts reveal superficial changes that look good on paper but do not translate into more effective and accessible care. (Jenny Gold, )
Good morning! Gov. Gavin Newsom has announced that the deadline to get health care coverage that starts Jan. 1 through Covered California has been extended to Friday. Californians can still sign-up for coverage that starts in February until Jan. 31. More on that below, but here are some of your other top California health stories of the day.
Thousands Of Kaiser Permanente Mental Health Clinicians Kick Off Five-Day Strike Over Wait Times: While industry best practice is to see clients every one to two weeks, the majority of Kaiser clinicians say their patients with anxiety and depression are forced to wait four to eight weeks between appointments. “That is substandard care, that is unethical care and that is dangerous care,” said Mickey Fitzpatrick, a clinical psychologist at Kaiser in Pleasanton. “That increases the risk of suicide and, indeed, people have taken their lives.” They also want higher wages and more time to complete administrative tasks. Kaiser has said it has hired more mental health clinicians and invested millions of dollars to help people enter the profession. But workers say this has done little to relieve their workload.
Read more from April Demosky of KQED; Kevin Smith of East Bay Times; and Catherine Ho of The San Francisco Chronicle.
Supreme Court Lets Decision Stand That Decriminalizes Sleeping On Street For Homeless People: The Supreme Court said on Monday that it would not hear a closely watched case on whether cities can make it a crime for homeless people to sleep outdoors. California police and sheriff’s deputies will continue to be barred from issuing citations to homeless people sleeping in public places for “unlawful camping” unless a shelter bed is available – for now. “Some would argue it’s very broad and would be difficult for a local county or jurisdiction to balance the needs of homeless residents and other residents,” Sacramento county counsel Lisa Travis said. One way to achieve that balance might be to approve a new policy outlining the specific locations and times of day a homeless person could sleep on public property. The Boise decision does not explicitly ban making these kinds of restrictions. Read more from Theresa Clift and Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks of the Sacramento Bee and Bob Moffit 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
Modesto Bee:
CA Consumers Still Can Get Health Care In Place For Jan. 1
After seeing a strong surge in enrollment last week, Covered California has extended the deadline until Friday for state residents to sign up for a health insurance policy that would begin covering them on Jan. 1. The original deadline was Sunday. (Anderson, 12/17)
Sacramento Bee:
Californians Without Health Insurance Blame High Costs
Even with access to health insurance at a historic high in the state, a growing number of uninsured Californians say they struggle to afford coverage, according to new results from UCLA’s California Health Interview Survey. Nearly four out of every 10 uninsured residents, or 37 percent of those surveyed, said the price of insurance was the leading reason for not having coverage in 2018. About 17 percent of people said they didn’t believe in or need health insurance. (Finch, 12/17)
Reveal:
Dozens Of Senior Care Homes That Broke Labor Laws Continue To Get Medicaid Funds
Medicaid funding has continued to flow to dozens of senior care-home operators in four states cited for stealing workers’ wages or breaking other labor laws, an investigation by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting has found. Earlier this fall, Medicaid funding went to at least 45 care homes previously cited for labor violations in California, Florida, Oregon and Wisconsin. The bulk of those cases occurred in California, where at least 35 facilities continued to receive Medicaid reimbursements in October after being penalized by state or federal labor regulators. That number dropped to 18 facilities as of Nov. 21, when the state released the most recent data. Medicaid reimbursements can fluctuate month to month, depending on the number of Medicaid-eligible residents in a facility at any one time. (Gallon, 12/14)
The Washington Post:
Three People Infected With Measles Traveled Through LAX Last Week, Officials Confirm
Three people with measles passed through Los Angeles International Airport last week, Los Angeles County health officials said Monday — and it is unclear how many people were exposed to one of the most contagious viruses in the world. The infected people, who were not Los Angeles County residents, were at the airport and could have exposed other travelers on Wednesday within Terminals 4 and 5 between 6:50 a.m. and noon. (Brice-Saddler, 12/16)
Los Angeles Times:
Health Officials Warn Of Another Measles Exposure At LAX
Anyone who was in those terminals during that time may be at risk of developing measles within the next 21 days, according to public health officials. They advised that people check if they are immunized against measles and to monitor themselves for symptoms. There is no known risk of contracting measles at LAX currently, officials said. (Karlamangla, 12/16)
San Francisco Chronicle:
‘The City Needs To Be Pushed’: SF Supe Wants Law To Open More Homeless Shelters
As San Francisco prepares to open 200 Navigation Center beds on the Embarcadero, Supervisor Matt Haney is trying — again — to force the city to open shelters in every part of the city, even those without large numbers of homeless people. Haney wants to encourage the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing to open a Navigation Center within 30 months in every supervisorial district that doesn’t have one. The point of his legislation is to spread homeless services beyond neighborhoods where they are now concentrated — SoMa, the Mission and the Bayview. (Thadani, 12/17)
San Francisco Chronicle:
SF Mayor Orders Budget Cuts As City Takes On Homelessness, Mental Illness
Slowing revenue growth and rising costs have prompted San Francisco Mayor London Breed to mandate belt-tightening in an effort to stave off a budget deficit as the city steps up spending on homelessness and mental health. Breed issued instructions Monday calling on city departments to find ways to shrink their budgets by 3.5% in each of the next two fiscal years to deal with a projected $420 million budget shortfall over those fiscal years. (Fracassa, 12/17)
Los Angeles Times:
After Fatal School Shootings, Antidepressant Use Spikes Among Student Survivors
The children who experience a school shooting but live to see their parents and friends again are often called survivors. But by at least one measure of mental health, they too are among a gunman’s victims, new research finds. In the two years after a fatal school shooting, the rate at which antidepressants were prescribed to children and teens rose by 21% within a tight ring around the affected school. The increase in antidepressants prescribed to kids grew more — to nearly 25% — three years after a school shooting, suggesting that survivors’ depression lingers long after the incident has begun to fade from a community’s memory. (Healy, 12/16)
Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
Climate Change Could Affect Pregnancies And Newborns' Health, Study Shows
A new study that rising temperatures brought on by climate change could be shortening pregnancies by as many as two weeks suggests worrisome implications for babies’ health and children’s later development. The study by University of California, Los Angeles, found that births on hot days 90 degrees and higher were happening much earlier than expected – as many as 14 days sooner. Pregnancies generally last 40 weeks. “That’s enough to take somebody from what’s considered to be a pretty healthy pregnancy into a ‘we are somewhat worried’ pregnancy,” the study’s lead author, UCLA professor and environmental economist Alan Barreca, said in a story on the findings this month for the UC system. (Smith, 12/16)
KPBS:
Meth Is Easy To Get In San Diego, But Addiction Is Hard To Treat
San Diego is struggling to curtail its meth problem. Recently released data show meth-related deaths and use are at record highs despite an increase in border seizures and arrests. The government reports highlight methamphetamine’s continued grip on the region at a time when the opioid crisis is the nationwide focus. (Mento, 12/17)
San Jose Mercury News:
Why Doctors In This Bay Area County Are Prescribing Food
When she went to La Clinica de la Raza health center in Oakland for a routine checkup, the 54-year-old immigrant told her doctor she was under a lot of stress. Work had begun to dry up for her husband, a day laborer, and money was tight. Marta, who asked to be identified by a first name only, has chronic diabetes, and the doctor noted her high blood pressure. So the physician gave her an unexpected prescription: a $10 voucher for locally sourced produce, which Marta could redeem at La Clinica’s monthly food distribution. (Hellerstein, 12/17)
The New York Times:
Spending Deal To Avert Shutdown Carries Key Priorities For Both Parties
Lawmakers on Monday unveiled a dozen bills that would allocate $1.4 trillion in federal spending for the remainder of the fiscal year to prevent the government from shutting down at midnight on Friday. The legislation, divided into two packages, provides funding for all federal agencies and departments and for extending a number of community and health programs. The measures drew bipartisan support after months of gridlock, and gave members of each party something to brag about. (Cochrane, 12/16)
Reuters:
U.S. Spending Deal Would Raise Tobacco Age, Deny Some Trump Border Wall Money
Congress would raise the U.S. tobacco purchasing age to 21 and permanently repeal several of the Affordable Care Act's taxes under a massive government spending bill unveiled on Monday. ... The crackdown on youth smoking, by changing the minimum age for cigarette and other tobacco purchases to 21 from the current 18, would give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration six months to develop regulations. The agency would then have three years to work with states on implementing the change. (12/16)
The Associated Press:
Budget Deal Puts Access To Health Care Above Curbing Costs
The deal would repeal a cost-control measure in “Obamacare” known as the Cadillac Tax, an unpopular levy on benefit-rich health insurance plans scheduled to take effect in 2022. That means Congress is upsetting the balance between expanding access and controlling costs that former President Barack Obama tried to strike in his signature law, said Kathleen Sebelius, who served as his health secretary. “President Obama thought it was very important to have additional access paid for,” said Sebelius. “This just takes a big step backwards.” (12/16)
The Associated Press:
Spending Deal Would End Two-Decade Freeze On Gun Research
A bipartisan deal on a government spending bill would for the first time in two decades provide money for federal research on gun safety. A law adopted in the 1990's has effectively blocked such research and prohibits federal agencies from engaging in advocacy on gun-related issues. The spending bill, set for a House vote as soon as Tuesday, would provide $25 million for gun violence research, divided evenly between the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (12/16)
Politico:
Congress To Repeal 3 Major Health Taxes, Fund Gun Violence Research In Year-End Spending Deal
It is also expected to extend expiring health care programs through May 22, and notably, it doesn’t include a last-ditch effort from key committee leaders to pass legislation protecting consumers from getting slapped with “surprise” medical bills. The short-term extension could give surprise billing a vehicle to ride on next year, according to a senior House Democratic aide. And Congress is also aiming to ban the sale of tobacco products to people under 21. (Luthi and Emma, 12/16)