Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Despite Obamacare Ruling, Local Health Care Advocates Encourage Enrollment In Covered California
Despite a federal judge in Texas invalidating the Affordable Care Act, county officials and local health care professionals are reminding tens of thousands of Sonoma County residents the ruling last Friday has no immediate impact on the health care program. Officials said people can still sign up for coverage through Covered California, the state’s health exchange program under the Affordable Care Act, during the current open enrollment period. Consumers have until midnight Dec. 21 to sign up for health coverage that begins Jan. 1. The federal deadline was last Friday. (Espinoza, 12/17)

Ventura County Star: Covered California Extends Enrollment Deadline After Obamacare Ruling
After a federal court ruling that leaves the future of the Affordable Care Act in limbo though coverage continues, for now, Covered California leaders are urging people to enroll in the insurance program and are giving them more time to do it. Californians who enroll in the insurance program created by the ACA through Friday will have coverage that kicks in or continues on Jan. 1. That deadline was pushed back from Dec. 15. (12/17)

Sacramento Bee: Kaiser Permanente Accused Of Not Negotiating Contracts
Health care giant Kaiser Permanente has been dinged by federal labor regulators, the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions announced Monday. But Kaiser disputes the conclusion reached by the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, representing 85,000 employees, including some 1,300 in Fresno, who are seeking a new contract. The coalition also represents more than 2,000 workers based at Kaiser South Sacramento. (Amaro, 12/17)

In other news on health care personnel —

East Bay Times: Patient Claims Pasadena Plastic Surgeon ‘Experimented’ On Her And Altered Medical Records To Hide It
If money was her only goal, Wendy Knecht could have walked away when she settled her lawsuit against a Pasadena plastic surgeon for $1 million. Instead, the Studio City woman is taking her case to the state, encouraging authorities to prosecute Dr. Max Lehfeldt’s for altering her medical records after she sued the physician for using an experimental device in her breast reconstruction. Knecht claimed in her 2016 suit that she was left disfigured and forced to undergo three additional surgeries to remove the device, called a SERI Scaffold, and repair damage caused by its failure. (Henry, 12/17)

Los Angeles Times: State Utility Regulators Delayed Implementing Law Aimed At Preventing Wildfires
Long before the Camp fire raced through Northern California, claiming at least 86 lives and all but erasing the Gold Rush town of Paradise, state law required the three big power monopolies to file detailed strategies to prevent wildfires. Under Senate Bill 1028, San Diego Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric were supposed to prepare annual wildfire mitigation plans for reducing fire threats and identify who specifically would be responsible for implementing them. (McDonald, 12/17)

Los Angeles Times: Police Investigate 'Reprehensible' Behavior Of Camp Fire Cleanup Workers Who Posted Offensive Photos 
One photo from the wreckage of the Camp fire’s devastating march through Paradise, Calif., shows the remains of a charred cat with a glass bottle sticking out of its mouth. In another, two workers pretend to go on a drive to “unknown destinations” in someone’s burned-out recreational vehicle. Some of the captions, including one that accompanied a photo of a man mimicking jumping on what’s left of a scorched trampoline in someone’s yard, included jokes: “Trampolines are stupid. BTW, it used to be called a Jumpoline until your mom got on it.” (Fry, 12/17)

Capital Public Radio: California Restaurants Must Make Milk Or Water The Default Kids Meal Drink Starting In 2019 
Restaurants in California that offer kids meal combos will be required to promote water or unflavored milk as the default drink option starting Jan. 1, under a new law that aims to discourage the consumption of soda, juice and other sugary beverages among young people. SB 1192, by Sen. Bill Monning, D-Carmel, also prohibits the display of sugary drinks on kids meal menus and advertisements. (Nichols, 12/17)

Los Angeles Times: A 2-Year-Old Is On Life Support In Oakland. Trump's Travel Ban Could Keep His Yemeni Mother From Saying Goodbye
The mother of a 2-year-old boy on life support in an Oakland hospital may not receive a travel ban waiver in time to say goodbye to her son, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said Monday. At a news conference in Sacramento, members of CAIR, community activists and faith leaders stood alongside the boy’s father and demanded that the Trump administration expedite the woman’s application for a waiver. (Parvini, 12/17)

In other news from across the state —

San Jose Mercury News: Bay Area County To Vote On 1,000 Homes For Poorest Residents
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors is expected to approve funding for construction of six new affordable rental projects and the rehabilitation of three existing buildings, using money from the $950 million housing bond that county voters narrowly passed two years ago. If the latest units are approved, the Measure A bond will have funded 19 projects over the past year and a half — putting the county ahead of schedule in allocating the money and meeting its housing goals. (Kendall, 12/18)

Orange County Register: Marijuana Startups Trading Equity Stakes For Legal Help, Real Estate 
Some attorneys, landlords and other service providers in California are quietly taking equity stakes in cannabis startups in lieu of cash fees — a practice that many say comes with ethical and legal risks. Equity payouts can solve two problems at once. They can lower the initial costs and other barriers to entry for entrepreneurs struggling to join California’s emerging cannabis market. (Staggs, 12/17)

LAist: Lockheed Martin Polluted LA's Water For Years. Now It's Stepping Up Its Cleanup Efforts 
The city of Los Angeles gets about 12 percent of its water from underground sources. A big gulp of that groundwater comes from the San Fernando basin. But for decades, parts of this basin have been polluted with toxic contaminants released by manufacturing industries, including aerospace company Lockheed Martin. (McNary, 12/17)

San Francisco Chronicle: Report: Berkeley Hospital Closure Would Mean Longer ER Waits, Ambulance Rides
The planned closure of Berkeley’s Alta Bates Summit Medical Center would severely restrict health care access for poor, elderly and minority East Bay residents, increase wait times for emergency care, and result in a loss of jobs, according to a new report by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Urban and Regional Development. Sutter Health, which owns Alta Bates, said in 2015 it would close the 347-bed hospital on Ashby Avenue by 2030, the year that California hospitals must comply with new seismic retrofitting standards or be decommissioned. (Ho, 12/17)

The New York Times: States Ask Judge To Declare Health Law Still In Effect While Ruling Is Appealed
California and 15 other states asked a federal judge on Monday to protect current health care coverage for millions of Americans while courts sort out the implications of his ruling that the Affordable Care Act was invalid in its entirety. The states, which support the health care law, said the ruling on Friday, by Judge Reed O’Connor of the Federal District Court in Fort Worth, had caused immense confusion about whether the law was still in effect, and whether consumers were still entitled to its benefits and protections. The states asked Judge O’Connor to clarify whether he meant his decision to have “any immediate legal effect.” (Pear, 12/17)

The Wall Street Journal: States Ask For Clarity On Judge’s Ruling On Affordable Care Act
The states filed a motion that asks U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Texas to either clarify his ruling or grant a stay of his decision during litigation. The states also asked for permission to appeal it right away. The judge cast a cloud over the ACA’s future in a sweeping ruling that declared the ACA unconstitutional without a penalty on people forgoing health coverage. Congressional Republicans have eliminated the penalty starting for next year. Because the insurance mandate was central to the law, the whole law must be invalidated, the judge ruled. (Armour, 12/17)

The Hill: Dem AGs Begin Process Of Appealing Court Ruling That Struck Down ObamaCare
The state officials noted in their filing Monday that O'Connor's opinion created confusion about whether ObamaCare will be unenforceable once the repeal of the individual mandate takes effect Jan. 1. They also asked that he certify his opinion so it can be appealed to the Fifth Circuit. They asked for a response by Friday. “The district court’s ruling poses a dangerous threat to the healthcare of millions of Americans. We’re asking the court to make clear that the ACA is still the law and ensure that all Americans can continue to access affordable healthcare under it,” Becerra said in a statement. (Hellmann, 12/17)

The Hill: Incoming Dem Chairman Vows Hearings On ObamaCare Lawsuit 'Right Away'
Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), the next chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, vowed Monday to hold oversight hearings "right away" on the Trump administration's involvement in a court case over the weekend that ruled that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often called ObamaCare, was unconstitutional. Pallone will take over the chairmanship of the panel when Democrats assume the House majority next year. He said they will "get to the bottom" of the administration's decision not to defend the health-care law against a lawsuit filed by Republican attorneys general. (Hellmann, 12/17)

The Hill: GOP Lawmakers Distance Themselves From ObamaCare Ruling
Republicans are keeping their distance from a recent court ruling that struck down ObamaCare, as GOP lawmakers are wary of the political backlash that could ensue from scrapping the law. Many congressional Republicans remain silent after a federal judge on Friday struck down the Affordable Care Act in its entirety. And those who have spoken out largely steered clear of embracing the decision. (Sullivan, 12/17)

The Washington Post: Trump Suggests A Supreme Court Ruling Invalidating Affordable Care Act Would Lead To Better Health Care
President Trump on Monday suggested that the Supreme Court should affirm a ruling by a federal judge in Texas that the entire Affordable Care Act is invalid, writing on Twitter that doing so “will lead to GREAT HealthCare results for Americans!” The president weighed in on the judicial process as the ruling on Friday cast great uncertainty over the U.S. health-care system, with the expectation that the case would ultimately make its way to the Supreme Court. In his tweet, Trump sought to make the case, as he first did over the weekend, that the ruling presented an opportunity for his Republican administration to work with Democrats to craft a better law than President Barack Obama’s signature achievement, which Trump continued to criticize. (Wagner, 12/17)

Politico: Why Trump Still Needs Obamacare
A Texas judge’s stunning declaration that Obamacare is unconstitutional not only kneecaps the health care law, it would also cripple President Donald Trump’s entire health care agenda. Trump wants lower drug prices, drastic action on the opioid crisis and protection for people with pre-existing conditions. Those are the parts of the law many Republicans do want to keep, but with the entire law invalidated — pending appeal — Trump and Republicans are trying to figure out how to live with a judicial ruling they kind of wanted, but didn’t want in such a big way. (Karlin-Smith, Roubein and Ehley, 12/17)

Reuters: U.S. Healthcare Stocks Drop After Judge Rules Obamacare Unconstitutional
Shares of U.S. health insurers, hospitals and healthcare companies fell on Monday in the aftermath of a ruling by a federal judge in Texas that the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly called Obamacare, was unconstitutional. Many legal experts predicted U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor's decision on Friday eventually will be reversed on appeal considering that the law has been upheld by the Supreme Court, but the uncertainty created by the ruling drove down healthcare stocks on Monday. (12/17)

Politico: Warren Bill Would Get Feds Into Generic Drug Manufacturing
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a likely 2020 presidential candidate, will release a bill on Tuesday that would effectively create a government-run pharmaceutical manufacturer to mass-produce generic drugs and bring down prices, several sources in her office told POLITICO on Monday in an exclusive preview of the legislation. The bill, dubbed the Affordable Drug Manufacturing Act, is unlikely to pass the Republican-led Senate, but it signals that a future Warren White House could try to radically revamp the federal government’s role in the pharmaceutical market in order try to lower prices. (Thompson and Karlin-Smith, 12/17)

NPR: Sen. Cory Booker Seeks Increased Transparency In Medicaid's Drug Decisions
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., says he will introduce federal legislation this week that would require more transparency surrounding states' Medicaid drug decisions. The bill comes in response to a recent investigation by the Center for Public Integrity and NPR. The measure, known as the "Medicaid Drug Decisions Transparency Act," would require pharmaceutical companies to disclose their payments to pharmacists and others who serve on state Medicaid drug boards. These boards help decide which drugs Medicaid patients will be able to access easily. Currently drugmakers must only disclose perks given to doctors, such as free dinners, speaking fees and consulting gigs. In addition, the bill would increase penalties for companies that fail to comply with reporting requirements. (Whyte, 12/17)

In other national health care news —

Stat: Sen. Alexander, Leading Republican On Health Care, Will Not Seek Reelection
One of Washington’s most influential health policymakers, Sen. Lamar Alexander, will not seek reelection in 2020, he announced Monday. The Tennessee Republican has chaired the powerful Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee since 2015, where he presided over a number of high-profile health care bills, including the 21st Century Cures Act, and the Republican party’s eventually abandoned effort to repeal Obamacare. (Florko, 12/17)

Reuters: J&J Moves To Limit Impact Of Reuters Report On Asbestos In Baby Powder
Johnson & Johnson on Monday scrambled to contain fallout from a Reuters report that the healthcare conglomerate knew for decades that cancer-causing asbestos lurked in its Baby Powder, taking out full-page newspaper ads defending its product and practices, and readying its chief executive for his first television interview since investors erased tens of billions of dollars from the company’s market value. (12/18)

The Washington Post: After Migrant Girl’s Death, Democrats Seek To Question Border Patrol Agents Who Detained Her
Democrats with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus say they will tour a Border Patrol station in New Mexico on Tuesday to “investigate” the circumstances leading up to the death of a Guatemalan girl who collapsed hours after she and her father were taken into U.S. custody on Dec. 6. The congressional delegation, led by Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.), plans to visit the border crossing at Antelope Wells, where Jakelin Caal, 7, and her father, Nery Caal, entered the United States illegally as part of a group of 163 migrants. The caucus members will then visit the Lordsburg Border Patrol station, 90 miles north, where they will be joined by Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan. (Miroff, 12/17)

The Associated Press: Child Abuse Climbs After Friday Report Cards, Study Says
Child abuse increases the day after school report cards are released — but only when kids get their grades on a Friday, a study in Florida suggests. The curious finding startled researchers, who had figured abuse might go up regardless of the specific day kids got their grades. But their study of reports to a child abuse hotline that included broken bones, burns and other confirmed abuse found otherwise. An increase only occurred on Saturdays after a report-card Friday. (12/17)

The Hill: Dems To Reframe Gun Violence As Public Health Issue
House Democrats are planning to vote next year on bills that address gun violence as a public health concern, marking the party's first steps back into a divisive debate after being in the minority for eight years. Energized by their midterm victories and a focus on gunshot victims highlighted by a growing chorus of medical professionals, Democrats say they will push for legislation to fund research on gun injuries and deaths. (Weixel, 12/14)