Latest From California Healthline:
KFF Health News Original Stories
For California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, Resistance Is Personal
Xavier Becerra, the state’s first Latino attorney general, is one of President Donald Trump’s most relentless adversaries. He attributes his legal values — and his opposition to the current administration — to his upbringing as the son of Mexican immigrants. (Samantha Young, 2/4)
Good morning! President Donald Trump will be giving his State of the Union address tonight, and is expected to focus on the HIV epidemic, drug prices and the opioid crisis. Check out this handy guide for anything you need to know, and read more coverage below. But first, here are some of your top California health stories for the day.
The Price Tag For Fixing California’s Doctor Shortage? $3 Billion: Gov. Gavin Newsom has set ambitious health care goals for the state, but experts worry those plans will stretch thin a workforce that already has major gaps. A commission comprised of health care, education and business leaders has laid out 10 recommendations that the members say will eliminate physician shortages by 2030, but warned that it will take a lot of work. Those guidelines include: finding and supporting students in rural communities who want to become doctors; ensuring sufficient funding for scholarships; maximizing the role of nurse practitioners and psychiatric nurse practitioners; and more. While the $3 billion price tag for it all may sound like a lot, Janet Napolitano, the co-chair of the commission, says it is less than 1 percent of what Californians are projected to spend on health care in 2019 alone. Read more in the Los Angeles Times, the Sacramento Bee, and California Healthline.
Lawmakers Want To Send Message To Gun Owners: California Is ‘No Longer The Wild West’: California lawmakers announced they’ll be working with former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords to form a gun violence working group. The members of the all-Democratic group are already talking about introducing legislation to establish a prevention grant program and a measure to limit how many rifles or shotguns someone can buy in one month. Read more from Capitol Public Radio.
With Newsom Now In Office, Assembly Members Reintroduce S.F. Safe Injection Site Bill: The legislation setting up a safe injection site in San Francisco was vetoed in the fall by former Gov. Jerry Brown, who said he wouldn’t support a bill that didn’t include a mandate for users to seek treatment. But lawmakers are hopeful this time it will pass as Gov. Gavin Newsom has signaled that he is more receptive to the measure than his predecessor. The issue has created a national firestorm—with the federal government threatening “swift and aggressive action” against any city opening one of the sites. Advocates have long-maintained that the facilities can virtually eliminate overdose deaths, curb the spread of infectious diseases, and help get people into treatment. Read more in the San Francisco Chronicle.
When The Main Path To Treatment At A State Psychiatric Hospital Is Through Jail: Experts say that decades of failures in California to create policies expanding access to care for people with serious mental health illness has left a system in place where jails and prisons have become the state’s default mental institutions. Desperate families feel like they have no other recourse but to steer their loved ones into the court systems—just so they can get any help at all. “That is a sad state of affairs in our society, that only when you get locked up does it become a priority to get you treatment,” said Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey. In the past five years, the number of people in California who were deemed incompetent to stand trial after arrest—and sent to state hospitals for treatment—increased by 60 percent. Read more from CALmatters.
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. Media outlets report on news about dialysis legislation, surgery on children, gene-editing, the wildfires, Medi-Cal, drug prices and more.
More News From Across The State
Capital Public Radio:
California Lawmakers Wage New Battle With Dialysis Industry
A new bill from Democratic Assemblymember Jim Wood could limit how much profit dialysis companies make in reimbursement rates after treating patients. Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a similar bill last year. Wood says Maryland-based nonprofit American Kidney Fund is taking donations from dialysis providers, then steering patients to private plans. (Caiola, 2/4)
The Associated Press:
California Bill Would Limit Genitalia Surgery For Children
California doctors would be barred from treating or performing surgery on children born with genitals that don't fit a single gender or are otherwise atypical unless it's medically necessary or the child consents, under a bill unveiled Monday. It's the latest effort by state legislators to give minors more control over their bodies and gender identities. (2/4)
Capital Public Radio:
Sacramento County Partners With UC Davis Health To Serve Medi-Cal Enrollees
On Jan. 15, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors voted to approve the partnership to deliver primary care, behavioral health, and some specialty services to about 5,000 people at the federally qualified County Health Center on Broadway and Stockton Boulevard. The partnership went into effect on Feb. 1. (Ruyak, 2/4)
Capital Public Radio/KXJZ:
San Joaquin, Sacramento Counties To Receive Federal, State Funding To House Homeless
Sacramento and San Joaquin counties have some major funding coming their way to house the homeless. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is awarding $19 million to Sacramento and $4.3 million to San Joaquin in what’s called the Continuum of Care Program to end homelessness. (Ibarra, 2/4)
Los Angeles Times:
Costa Mesa Council To Consider Hiring Mercy House To Operate Local Homeless Shelter
Costa Mesa City Council members will discuss Tuesday whether to hire Mercy House Living Centers to operate the city’s planned homeless shelter. Under the proposed agreement, the city would pay the Santa Ana-based nonprofit up to $1.457 million annually to run the temporary 50-bed “bridge shelter” planned for Lighthouse Church of the Nazarene at 1885 Anaheim Ave. (Money, 2/4)
Los Angeles Times:
CRISPR Revolutionized Gene Editing. Now Its Toolbox Is Expanding
The gene-editing tool that has revolutionized biology is becoming even more powerful. CRISPR, as the system is known, allows scientists to target and snip a specific sequence of letters on a strand of DNA with unprecedented precision. That has opened up new possibilities for treating genetic diseases, helping plants adapt to global warming and even preventing mosquitoes from spreading malaria. (Netburn, 2/4)
The Associated Press:
Wildfire Victims Living In RVs Ordered To Leave Properties
Hundreds of Northern California wildfire victims desperate for housing and living in recreational vehicles on their burned-out lots were ordered off their properties Monday after federal authorities threatened to cut off funding for the state's biggest natural disaster cleanup. The Paradise Town Council unanimously rescinded a two-month-old law allowing residents to live in temporary shelters on their burned out properties before the lots are cleared and certified safe for habitation. The unanimous vote Monday occurred after an emotional and tense meeting that was the first in Paradise city hall since the Nov. 8 fire destroyed most of the city of 27,000 people. (2/4)
Modesto Bee:
Modesto CA Health Insurance Fix Costly To Workers
The City Council on Tuesday is expected to replace insurance broker Peter C. Foy & Associates with a new broker, Alliant Insurance Services, as well as Fortress Health Insurance with CSAC Excess Insurance Authority, a joint powers authority that provides insurance to local governments in California. City officials say Modesto has been scrambling to find new insurance after Fortress notified them recently that unless the city agreed to an 87 percent increase in premiums it would cancel coverage March 1. (Valine, 2/4)
The New York Times:
Trump Expected To Announce Plan To Stop Spread Of H.I.V. In The U.S. By 2030
President Trump is expected to announce in his State of the Union speech a national commitment to end transmission of the virus that causes AIDS, with a goal of stopping its spread in this country by 2030. A senior administration official with knowledge of Mr. Trump’s preparations confirmed the plan on Monday, in advance of the address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday evening. Government scientists have been working for months on the plan, which calls for an expanded effort to prevent infections and to treat those with H.I.V. (Pear and Rogers, 2/4)
The Washington Post:
Trump Is Planning Campaign To Halt Transmission Of HIV In U.S. By 2030
Few other details were available Monday, but any effort to eradicate new HIV diagnoses would almost certainly have to focus on black and Hispanic men who have sex with other men, people between the ages of 25 and 34 and residents of Southern states. Those groups have for years borne a disproportionate share of new HIV diagnoses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last year, there were 38,739 new HIV diagnoses in the United States, according to the CDC. An estimated 1.1 million people had the virus in 2015, the CDC said, with about 15 percent of them undiagnosed. (Bernstein, Sun and Goldstein, 2/4)
The Hill:
Five Things To Watch At Trump’s State Of The Union
Trump’s team has indicated the president may make overtures to Democrats by delivering a “unifying” message that contains proposals they could support, such as reforming prescription drug pricing, a commitment to end AIDS in the U.S. by 2030 and an infrastructure package. But it’s unclear how much of the speech will be dedicated to bipartisan themes compared with appeals to Trump’s base, typically the president’s go-to move in times of crisis. (Fabian, 2/5)
The New York Times:
Demand For Long-Acting Birth Control Rose After Trump’s Election Amid Insurance Concerns, Study Shows
In the days after President Trump was elected, some women saw his victory as reason to worry: Would he fulfill his campaign promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act? And if so, would it eventually become harder and costlier to obtain birth control? News organizations sounded the alarm: “Get an IUD Before It’s Too Late,” a Daily Beast headline warned. “Here’s Why Everyone Is Saying to Get an IUD Today,” said a New York Magazine piece. (Caron, 2/4)
The Hill:
Sanders Asks Why Once-Free Drug Now Costs $375,000 A Year
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Monday asked a pharmaceutical company why a drug that was once free for patients now costs as much as $375,000 annually. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals informed investors in December about the new pricing for Firdapse, which is used to treat the rare neuromuscular disorder Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome (LEMS), Sanders wrote in a letter to the company. (Daugherty, 2/4)
The Hill:
Bipartisan Senate Panel Leaders Ask 7 Major Drug Companies To Testify On Their Prices
The top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee on Monday invited seven major drug company CEOs to testify at a hearing later this month in what could become a tense confrontation over drug prices. Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) on Monday sent letters to the companies asking them to testify at a hearing on Feb. 26. (Sullivan, 2/4)
Bloomberg:
Vietnam War: Veterans Affairs To Digitize Combat Records
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is planning to digitize its Vietnam-era combat records in a bid to speed the verification of claims over mental health issues for aging vets. The agency issued a “request for information” for companies interested in converting the archival text files into Excel-type spreadsheets. Data filtering will then be used to quickly verify potentially traumatic events claimed by ex-military personnel, according to a notice from the department. (Norman, 2/2)
Bloomberg:
Ketamine Could Soon Be Used To Treat Suicidal Ideation
But there is, finally, a serious quest for a suicide cure. Ketamine is at the center, and crucially the pharmaceutical industry now sees a path. The first ketamine-based drug, from Johnson & Johnson, could be approved for treatment-resistant depression by March and suicidal thinking within two years. Allergan Plc is not far behind in developing its own fast-acting antidepressant that could help suicidal patients. How this happened is one of the most hopeful tales of scientific research in recent memory. (Koons and Langreth, 2/5)