- California Healthline Original Stories 2
- Bridging The Gap Between Medical And Mental Health Care
- Fight Looms Over Medi-Cal For Adult Immigrants Without Papers
Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Bridging The Gap Between Medical And Mental Health Care
Recognizing the strong link between psychiatric and physical illnesses, providers across the country are integrating primary care into mental health clinics with the help of federal funding. (Anna Gorman, 2/23)
Fight Looms Over Medi-Cal For Adult Immigrants Without Papers
With undocumented immigrant children able to get full Medi-Cal benefits starting in May, the state legislature will turn its attention to the more controversial idea of offering the same coverage to their adult counterparts. (David Gorn, 2/23)
More News From Across The State
Lawmakers Move Closer To Approving Health Plan Tax
A vote on the measure is expected Thursday.
The Sacramento Bee:
California Health Plan Tax Moves Closer To Approval
California lawmakers are poised to act on legislation that would expand a tax on health care plans while spending hundreds of millions of dollars on services for the developmentally disabled. No formal agreement has been announced, with a vote expected Thursday. (Miller, 2/22)
The Associated Press:
California Legislature To Advance Health-Plan Tax
A California legislative panel on Monday advanced a compromise plan to restructure taxes on health plans and increase funding for developmental disability services — the first legislative action in a months-long effort to prevent a massive hole in the state health care budget. (Cooper 2/22)
The Fresno Bee:
California GOP Ready To Support A New Tax
Opposition to new taxes has been a bedrock stance for Republican legislators, one they can enforce because taxes require two-thirds legislative votes. However, Assembly Republicans appear poised to bless a hefty tax on “managed care organizations” that Gov. Jerry Brown wants, because it would secure more federal support of health care for the poor. (Walters, 2/22)
In other news from the assembly —
Reuters:
California Lawmaker Aims To Reduce Eating Disorders Among Fashion Models
Fashion models who want to work in California would need a doctor to attest that they are of healthy weight and not suffering from an eating disorder under a proposal announced by a state lawmaker on Monday. The bill proposed by California state Assembly member Marc Levine follows efforts in several countries to fight anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders among models, who are relentlessly pressured to lose weight or lose work. (Bernstein, 2/22)
Patients Pay The Price As Public Health Consortium Battles Insurance Carriers
Alameda Health System has not reached payment agreements with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California, so some of the county's residents are not able to use the hospitals because they're out of network. In other news, Zenefits' new leader is trying to rein in the rambunctious culture at the startup.
Bay Area News Group:
Alameda Health System, Insurance Carriers At Odds
As Alameda County's public health consortium battles it out with major insurance carriers over reimbursements, many patients find themselves having to pay higher out-of-network costs. (Parr, 2/22)
The Wall Street Journal:
Zenefits Once Told Employees: No Sex In Stairwells
Zenefits’s new chief executive, David Sacks, last week banned alcohol in the office of the health-insurance brokerage startup as he tries to reverse its rambunctious culture, especially among sales staff. But it wasn’t just drinking booze that gave the San Francisco headquarters a frat-house feel. (Winkler, 2/22)
San Fernando Valley To Benefit From LA Homelessness Plans
In the county, 13 percent of those who identify as homeless are from the San Fernando Valley. In other news, a panel of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 3-0 to approve an ordinance raising the legal age to buy tobacco products. The full board will consider it next Tuesday.
The Los Angeles Daily News:
San Fernando Valley To See Some Impact From City, County Homeless Plans
Prevention, mental health services, and rapid rehousing are at the top of Los Angeles County’s plan, a $150 million initiative, which includes 47 recommended strategies. Of those, a dozen are flagged as priorities that would have the greatest impact in the short-term and will be implemented by the end of the June. (Abram, 2/22)
KQED:
San Francisco Supervisors One Step Closer To Raising Tobacco Age To 21
A San Francisco Board of Supervisors committee voted Monday to raise the legal age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21. The vote of the Land Use Committee was 3-0 to prohibit retailers from selling tobacco products — including smokeless tobacco and e-cigarettes — to those under age 21. (Aliferis, 2/22)
Elsewhere, dogs -- and their owners -- walk for cancer, and Scripps Green Hospital is offering free HIV and hepatitis C testing to more than 500 patients —
The San Diego Union-Tribune:
Humans, Dogs Walk For Cancer
Pet lovers may tell you not much can match the unconditional love that comes from the slobbery kiss and wet-nosed nudges of man’s best friend. This can be true especially when it comes to the emotional and psychological support they provide to humans facing the harsh reality of a cancer diagnosis. (Sampite-Montecalvo, 2/22)
The San Diego Union-Tribune:
Reacting To Colo. Arrest, Scripps Offers Testing At 518
The Colorado arrest of a former surgical technician trainee who briefly worked at Scripps Green Hospital in 2013 has prompted the facility offer free hepatitis and HIV testing to more than 500 patients. Scripps said Monday that it contacting patients who underwent surgical procedures during shifts worked by Rocky Allen, 28, during a 20-day period from May 9 to June 7 of 2013, to offer them the testing. (Sisson, 2/22)
C-Section Rates Dip At California Hospitals
But the state's medical facilities still fall short of national targets, according to data released Monday. In other news, a joint study from Duke and Peking universities concludes that smog and air pollution contribute to childhood obesity.
KPCC:
California Sees Slight Dip In C-Section Rates, But Challenges Remain
California's hospitals have scored modest gains in their efforts to minimize the number of Cesarean sections performed on women at low risk of complications, according to data released Monday. But the data also show that as a group, the state's medical facilities still have not hit a national target and many remain far from reaching the goal. (Plevin, 2/22)
Modern Healthcare:
In California, Where Moms Deliver Affects Whether They Have C-Section
For a low-risk, first-time mom, one of the biggest factors in whether she'll have a cesarean birth is the hospital in which she delivers. In California, C-section rates can vary widely, even for healthy women carrying a single, full-term baby who isn't breech. In hospitals across the state, C-section rates in 2014 swung as low as 12% to as high as 70%. (Kutscher, 2/22)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Smog And Air Pollution Contribute To Childhood Obesity
Finally, folks from Bakersfield have a viable, scientifically backed excuse for being one of the fattest cities in America. Smog and air pollution contributes to childhood obesity rates, a new joint study conducted by Duke and Peking universities shows. (2/22)
Meanwhile, a new study identifies health risks in Sacramento -
The Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento Outpaces Other Cities In Heart Disease, Cancer Deaths
Sacramento residents are dying more frequently from cancer and heart disease than residents of other major cities, according to data from the Big Cities Health Inventory released this month. (Caiola, 2/22)
Health Care At Fourth California Prison Gets Failing Grade
Valley State Prison in Chowchilla fared poorly in nine of the 14 benchmarks used by inspectors.
The Associated Press:
Fourth California Prison Fails Health Review; 7 Passed Test
California's inspector general gave a failing grade to medical care at a fourth prison Monday as the state tries to regain responsibility for health treatment after a decade of federal control. Valley State Prison in Chowchilla received a failing grade in nine of the 14 benchmarks used by inspectors. Medical records often were missing, misfiled, incomplete or illegible. Medicine often was not provided as needed. Essential supplies and basic equipment were missing from many examination rooms. (Thompson, 2/22)
Orange County Launches Clean-Needle Program
These programs stem from the idea that, if drug use can't be halted, substituting clean needles for dirty ones might reduce the harms -- such as exposure to diseases and infections -- that users face. Also, in Kern Country, sheriff's department deputies will be trained in how to administer a life-saving drug to people who overdose on opioids.
Los Angeles Times:
Orange County Just Launched Its First Clean-Needle Exchange
A year ago, a group of UC Irvine medical students realized that Orange County was missing what they considered an important public health service that every major city in California had access to: a clean-needle exchange program. So they decided to do something about it. The students organized with partners across the region and submitted a plan to the California Department of Public Health. The agency rejected the plan last summer, noting a lack of community support and funding for a program. (Kandil, 2/23)
KGET:
Local Deputies To Be trained To Administer Drug To Reverse Overdoses
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in our country and statistics show opioid addiction is driving this epidemic. The Kern County Sherifff's Department will become one of just a handful in California training its deputies to administer a life-saving drug to people who overdose on opioids. (Price, 2/22)
Zika Outbreak Highlights Vulnerabilities Of The Public Health System
With diminished public health funding following budget cuts, state and local officials across the country say they've been lucky to have been able to handle outbreaks such as Zika at all. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama has officially asked Congress for $1.9 billion in emergency spending to combat the virus.
Stateline:
Zika Virus Exposes Weaknesses In Public Health
State health officials were heartened when President Barack Obama this month asked Congress for $1.8 billion to combat the spread of the Zika virus because they fear they don’t have the resources to fight the potentially debilitating disease on their own. Budget cuts have left state and local health departments seriously understaffed and, officials say, in a precariously dangerous situation if the country has to face outbreaks of two or more infectious diseases — such as Zika, new strains of flu, or the West Nile and Ebola viruses — at the same time. (Ollove, 2/22)
STAT:
Obama Urges Congress To Act Quickly To Approve Zika Funding
President Obama on Monday formally requested $1.9 billion in emergency funding for the US response to the Zika virus outbreak and urged Congress to take action “expeditiously.” (Scott, 2/22)
Investigators: HHS Officials Overlooked Warnings About Healthcare.gov's Early Troubles
Also in the news, a national bipartisan group is urging universal long-term care, the U.S. Senate is moving toward confirmation of the Obama administration's pick to head the Food and Drug Administration and the Supreme Court next week will hear arguments in a major abortion case.
The Washington Post:
HHS Failed To Heed Many Warnings That HealthCare.gov Was In Trouble
During the two years before the disastrous opening of HealthCare.gov, federal officials in charge of creating the online insurance marketplace received 18 written warnings that the mammoth project was mismanaged and off course but never considered postponing its launch, according to government investigators. The warnings included a series of 11 scathing reviews from an outside consultant — among them a top-10 list of risks drawn up in the spring of 2013 that cited inadequate planning for the website’s capacity and deviations from usual IT standards. ... he long trail of unheeded warnings is among the findings from an exhaustive two-year inquiry by HHS’s Office of Inspector General into the failings of HealthCare.gov, which crashed within two hours of its launch on Oct. 1, 2013. (Goldstein, 2/23)
USA Today:
Bipartisan Group Calls For Universal Long-Term Care Insurance Plans
The long-term care costs for our aging population are growing so fast and can be so financially overwhelming for families that the United States needs a universal catastrophic insurance program similar to Medicare, a bipartisan policy group announced Monday. The Long Term Care Financing Collaborative, which includes former state Medicaid directors, and members from the Brookings Institution, and the trade group America's Health Insurance Plans, is the third recent policy group to cite universal long-term care insurance as a possible solution — and the one that goes the farthest in recommending it. (O'Donnell, 2/22)
The Associated Press:
Senate Clears Way For Approval Of New FDA Commissioner
The Senate has cleared the way for approval of President Barack Obama’s nominee for commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Senators voted 80-6 Monday to end a Democratic filibuster of Obama’s pick to head the agency. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Ed Markey of Massachusetts had held up the nomination of Dr. Robert Califf in an effort to force the agency to be tougher on prescription drug prices and the abuse of opioid painkillers. (Jalonick, 2/22)
The Washington Post:
Abortion Foes’ Strategy Faces A Key Test At The Supreme Court
When the Supreme Court meets next week to hear its first abortion-related case in nearly a decade, the justices will consider the most significant challenge to an argument that has become central to the antiabortion cause: that abortion hurts not just a fetus but also its mother. That idea wasn’t always at the heart of the movement, which for years spent more time highlighting what it considered the plight of the unborn child. (Somashekhar, 2/22)
For Bernie Sanders And Hillary Clinton, Health Policies Now 'Wedge' Issues
Health proposals — including buzz words such as "universal coverage" or the "public option" — are proving to be divisive issues this election season. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is endorsed by former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
The Associated Press:
Health Care Issue, Longtime Uniter Of Democrats, Now Divides
Health care for all. It's a goal that tugs at the heartstrings of Democrats, but pursuing it usually invites political peril. Now Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are clashing over this core question for liberals, making it a wedge issue in the party's presidential primary. It's a choice between his conviction that a government-run system would be fairer and more affordable, and her preference for step-by-step change at a time of widespread skepticism about federal power. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 2/22)
NPR:
Sanders Health Plan Renews Debate On Universal Coverage
When Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders stumps for health care for everyone, it always gets huge applause. "I believe that the U.S. should do what every other major country on earth is doing," he told a crowd at Eastern Michigan University on Feb. 15. "And that is, guarantee health care to all people as a right." The Democratic presidential hopeful basically wants to nationalize the U.S. health insurance industry, and have Uncle Sam foot the bill for medical bills, office visits and prescriptions. (Kodjak, 2/23)
Politico:
Clinton Revives Support For Health Care 'Public Option'
Hillary Clinton wants to bring back the public option, offering a competing vision to Bernie Sanders’ support for a more progressive health care system. Clinton's campaign has updated its website to note her continued support for the government-run health plan that was dropped from Obamacare during the law's drafting. The idea was popular among progressives who prefer a single-payer plan -- like the one Bernie Sanders is touting. (Diamond and Pradhan, 2/22)
Politico:
Former HHS Secretary Sebelius Endorses Clinton
Hillary Clinton picked up the support of former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Monday. "I just feel that she's the only person, frankly, in the field of candidates who has the experience and background that prepares her nationally and internationally to be the leader of the country," the former governor of Kansas told the Topeka Capital-Journal. "As a mother, a grandmother and a former public servant, who had the privilege of serving with Hillary in the president's Cabinet, I can think of nothing more important than ensuring our next president is someone who will protect and build upon the progress made by President Obama over the past eight years." (Gass, 2/22)