Reuters: New California Governor Tackles Drug Prices In First Act
Hours into his new job, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on Monday that could dramatically reshape the way prescription drugs are paid for and acquired in the most populous U.S. state. The order, along with another naming the state's first-ever surgeon general, marks a fast start for a governor who has vowed to combat inequity and position California as a counterweight to the conservative Trump administration in Washington. (1/7)

Bloomberg: California Businesses, Government Would Join In Drug Buying Pact 
“No state has more at stake on the issue of health care,” Newsom said in a statement announcing the order. “We will use our market power and our moral power to demand fairer prices for prescription drugs.” (Armstrong, Tozzi and Griffin, 1/7)

The New York Times: Newsom Pledges Fight For Equality As He Takes Over As California Governor
Mr. Newsom signaled the tone of his new administration moments after the ceremony concluded, as his office announced that he would sign an executive order to change how prescription drugs are purchased, consolidating Medi-Cal drug purchases and negotiations under the Department of Health Care Services. The administration said the intended goal was to give the state more bargaining power on behalf of Medi-Cal users. (Nagourney and Del Real, 1/7)

The Wall Street Journal: California To Flex Drug Purchasing Power
Mr.  Newsom also said Monday he would propose increasing coverage in California under the Affordable Care Act and lobby the federal government to allow the nation’s largest state to move toward a state-run single-payer health system. “In our home, every person should have access to quality, affordable health care,” Mr. Newsom said in his inauguration speech. “We will use both our market power and our moral power to demand fairer prices for prescription drugs.” An executive order by Mr. Newsom directs the state’s Department of Health Care Services to negotiate prescription drug prices on behalf of the 13 million people using Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program for low-income people. (Lazo, 1/7)

Sacramento Bee: Gavin Newsom CA Health Plan Includes Individual Mandate
Peter Lee, director of the state’s health insurance marketplace, cheered Newsom’s plan, saying it would help keep California’s health care system stable and encourage people to enroll in coverage. “At a time of ongoing uncertainty from Washington, the governor is not only embracing policies that will lower the cost of coverage for millions in the individual market, he is also offering increased help to those who are struggling with rising costs,” Lee said. (Bollag, 1/7)

CNN: California Governor Takes Step To Provide Health Care Coverage To Undocumented Young Adults
Newly sworn-in California Gov. Gavin Newsom took a step on Monday to provide health care coverage to eligible undocumented young adults in the state. Amid a partial federal government shutdown, Newsom proposed a budget on his first day in office that would make California the only state in the nation to provide coverage to undocumented young adults through a state Medicaid program. (Sullivan, 1/7)

KQED: Newsom's First Act As Governor? Expanding Health Coverage
Gov. Gavin Newsom rolled out a package of health care proposals and policies a few hours after his inauguration, including an executive order to create a new California surgeon general, and another that would consolidate the state's prescription drug negotiating power. ...The new governor also wants to expand subsidies to help people buy medical coverage through Covered California — the Affordable Care Act marketplace — by both increasing the amount of financial assistance given to current eligible families and expanding access to middle-income families. (Lagos and Dembosky, 1/7)

The San Diego Union-Tribune: Gov. Gavin Newsom Proposes Healthcare Mandate, Medi-Cal Expansion To More Immigrants Without Legal Status 
Newsom campaigned on a universal healthcare platform and has said the issue would be among his top priorities. His announcement on Monday stopped short of the single-payer system demanded by activists that would cover all residents’ healthcare costs, but was characterized as the first step down that path. (Gutierrez, 1/7)

San Francisco Chronicle: Gov. Gavin Newsom Throws California Into Battle Against Health Care Costs
Newsom offered little detail about how much the proposals would cost or what other changes would be needed to pay for them. Aides said more details would be available when the governor unveils his first budget Thursday. But leaders in the Democratic-dominated Legislature say there is general support for the ideas. (Garofoli, 1/7)

Los Angeles Times: Gov. Gavin Newsom Proposes Healthcare Mandate, Medi-Cal Expansion To More Immigrants Without Legal Status
Some of the new healthcare proposals will be included in Newsom’s state budget that will be released Thursday and vetted in the coming months by the Legislature, when the details and costs of the plan will be reviewed. “These complex proposals require a lot of scrutiny to fully understand the consequences — both good and bad,” said Assemblyman Chad Mayes (R-Yucca Valley), the vice chairman of the Assembly Health Committee. “We agree on the goals of reduced costs, increased competition and better quality healthcare for all Californians. Government has an important role to play in holding the healthcare industry accountable; however it must be balanced and not overreach or hinder innovation.” (Gutierrez, 1/7)

California Healthline: Newsom Comes Out Swinging On Day One For Single-Payer, Immigrant Coverage 
U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who is working with Newsom, said Congress needs to pass a bill that gives states permission to create their own health care programs and still receive federal funding. While that request seems like a long shot in the Republican-controlled Senate, Khanna said he and other Democratic lawmakers want to start hearings in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives — in preparation for when there is a Democrat in the White House. (Young, Gorman and Ibarra, 1/8)

East Bay Times: Gavin Newsom Sworn In As California Governor, Lays Out Hard Line On Trump Administration
Gavin Newsom laid out a hard line against the Trump administration and vowed to push forward progressive policies as he was sworn in as California’s 40th governor on Monday, marking a generational shift in state politics. ...And he announced on Monday a plan to seek a waiver from the federal government to explore a single-payer health care system, pool California’s resources to bring down prescription drug costs and expand Medi-Cal coverage to all undocumented immigrants younger than 26. (Tolan, 1/8)

Capital Public Radio: ‘One House For One California’: Governor Gavin Newsom Talks Growth, Unification At Inauguration Speech
He nodded to the work of predecessor Brown, who took the governorship with California facing a $27 billion deficit and left it with a projected $16 billion in reserves. Newsom says it’s time to put that funding to use. “For eight years, California has built a foundation of rock,” he said. “Our job now is not to rest on that foundation. It’s to build our house upon it.” (Caiola, 1/7)

KQED: Here's What California Interest Groups Want To See In Gavin Newsom's Budget
After Gavin Newsom took the oath of office Monday — becoming California's 40th governor — attention in the capital is turning to the state budget, Newsom's first opportunity to officially lay out his administration's policy priorities. As the most progressive Democrat elected to the state's highest office in decades, groups on the left have high expectations for funding on issues like child care, housing and health care.(Marzorati, 1/8)

KPBS: Gov. Newsom Previews Policy Priorities In Inaugural Speech
Capital Public Radio Capitol bureau chief Ben Adler covered the changing of the guard in Sacramento Monday as Governor-elect Gavin Newsom was sworn into office. He also covered all of Gov. Jerry Brown’s second term. He joined KPBS Evening Edition anchor Ebone Monet to talk about Newsom’s speech and what Adler would miss about Brown’s second term. (Monet and Colbert, 1/7)

Modern Healthcare: On The Ground At J.P. Morgan's Health Conference 
Kent Thiry, CEO of the dialysis provider DaVita, told a breakout session audience on Monday evening that the company is working to close on the sale of its medical group to UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter of 2019. He said the federal government shutdown could complicate the deal. ... Last month, DaVita announced it had agreed to lower the price on its medical group, DaVita Medical Holdings, to $4.34 billion, from $4.9 billion. (Bannow, 1/7)

CNBC: J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference Comes With Focus On Trump, Amazon
Health care's biggest annual gathering — the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference — starts Monday in San Francisco as the industry grapples with threats from Washington to Silicon Valley. More than 485 companies from biotech, pharma, insurance, hospital systems and more will give investor presentations to more than 9,000 attendees at the Westin St. Francis hotel this year. Even more consulting companies and law firms will flood hotel suites and conference rooms near Union Square to host meetings that executives compare to speed dating for investors. (LaVito, 1/7)

KPBS: Advocates Say San Diego County Leaders Neglecting Migrant Children
A group of migrant advocates wants San Diego County leaders held accountable for asylum-seeking children who suffer abuse during immigration detention. ...The league is demanding county supervisors declare a state of emergency. In addition, the group is planning to file child abuse charges against Chair Supervisor Kristin Gaspar and the 2018 Board of Supervisors. (Murphy, 1/7)

In other public health news —

KQED: Paradise Wants To Help People Move Back, But Is It Safe?
After almost entirely burning to the ground in November's Camp Fire, the town of Paradise is trying to accelerate repopulation — but there are potential health concerns about people moving back into a burn area. Hazardous waste removal is almost halfway done, and debris removal is set to begin later this month. (Hutson, 1/8)

Sacramento Bee: California Regulators Fine Folsom’s Vibra Hospital In Patient Death
The California Department of Public Health said Vibra Hospital of Sacramento gave the wrong dosage of medication to a patient, resulting in his death, and required the long-term acute-care facility to pay the maximum fine of $75,000. Public Health documents did not name either the patient or the employees involved. Neither the hospital’s chief executive, Kimberly Horton, nor a spokesperson for its parent company, Vibra Healthcare, returned calls for comment. (Anderson, 1/8)

In other news from across the state —

Medpage Today: Trina Founder G. Ford Gilbert Pleads Guilty In Bribery Case
G. Ford Gilbert, founder of a chain of controversial diabetes treatment clinics, pleaded guilty in federal court to one charge of conspiring to commit bribery, according to the U.S. Attorney's office in Alabama. He had previously faced seven counts of federal health care fraud, bribery, and other charges in Alabama federal district court related to an alleged "pyramid scheme" with his network of diabetes insulin infusion clinics. The other six are to be dismissed as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. (Clark, 1/7)

Fresno Bee: Two Corcoran Inmates Suspected Of Attempted Murder In Knife Attack On Guard
Two inmates are being investigated for attempted murder after a guard at Corcoran Substance Abuse Treatment Facility was stabbed with an inmate-made knife. The attack at the state prison happened about noon Sunday, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Monday. (Griswold, 1/7)

Politico: POLITICO/Harvard Poll: Many Democrats Back A Taxpayer-Funded Health Care Plan Like Medicare For All
More than 4 in 5 Democrats want Congress to enact a taxpayer-funded, national health care plan such as Medicare for All, according to a new Harvard/POLITICO poll gauging the public’s health and education priorities for 2019. Some 42 percent of Democratic respondents to the poll supported repealing and replacing Obamacare — mostly in the interest of building on the health law's coverage gains and creating a new system so that more Americans have health insurance. (Roubein, 1/7)

In other national health care news —

The Hill: DOJ Asks For Extension In ObamaCare Lawsuit Due To Shutdown
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is asking a federal judge to pause all briefings related to a motion filed by House Democrats in an ongoing ObamaCare lawsuit, saying they cannot complete their work properly due to the government shutdown. Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt said DOJ lawyers “are unable to prepare their opposition at this time due to the lapse in appropriations.” The motion was filed on Friday but appeared in the docket on Monday. (Weixel, 1/7)

Stat: SCOTUS Seems Unlikely To Overhaul Popular Drug Industry Legal Strategy
Several Supreme Court justices seemed to side with the drug industry in a case that examined a popular defense that companies use to ward off patient lawsuits. They heard oral arguments Monday in a case that has high stakes for pharmaceutical companies, which often wriggle out of patient lawsuits by arguing that the Food and Drug Administration limits their ability to warn patients about the side effects of their medicines, therefore absolving them of responsibility to do anything other than exactly what the FDA mandates. Patients, on the other hand, want drug makers to be more explicit about the potential risks of their medicines and argue that state law supports them. (Swetlitz, 1/7)

Stat: FDA Plans To Create A New Office To Leverage Cutting-Edge Science 
The Food and Drug Administration plans to create a new office to improve the review of new medicines — one that will develop a standardized approach to using personalized medicine, digital data, and patients’ own reports, according to Commissioner Scott Gottlieb. Gottlieb will outline the plan for the new 52-person group, called the Office of Drug Evaluation Science (ODES), as part of a talk at the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Tuesday. Because of the government shutdown, he will deliver the talk via videoconference. (Herper, 1/7)

The New York Times: When The Illness Is A Mystery, Patients Turn To These Detectives
They are patients with diseases that mystify doctors, people whose symptoms are dismissed as psychosomatic, who have been given misdiagnosis upon misdiagnosis. They have confounded experts and have exhausted every hope save one. And so they wind up in the Undiagnosed Diseases Network, a federally funded project that now includes 12 clinical centers, including one at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. (Kolata, 1/7)

Stat: New Study Shows AI Can Diagnose Some Gene Mutations From A Photo
Some people’s faces — or even just a photo of them — hint at the genes they carry. And now, an algorithm can predict not only whether they carry a genetic mutation, but which genes were mutated. The study, published Monday in Nature Medicine, is the latest from a Boston-based company called FDNA, one of a few organizations creating software that can help physicians diagnose genetic syndromes based just on a face — and may serve an important validation of the company’s technology, said Yaron Gurovich, the company’s chief technology officer. (Sheridan, 1/7)

Los Angeles Times: Smoking Is At A Record Low In The U.S., But The Benefits Aren't Shared Equally
Cigarette smoking is at an all-time low in the United States, but the benefits of this public health achievement are not being shared equally by all Americans. A new analysis of health data from the nation’s 500 largest cities shows that the people who live in neighborhoods with the highest smoking rates are more likely to be poor, less likely to be white, and more likely to have chronic heart or lung diseases. (Kaplan, 1/7)