- KFF Health News Original Stories 4
- Blue Shield Improperly Denied Mental Health, Drug Treatment Claims, Suit Alleges
- Should GOP Health Bill Prevail, Say Bye-Bye To Insurance Rebates
- Millions Of Kids Fall Outside Senate Plan To Shield Disabled From Medicaid Cuts
- Your Credit Score Soon Will Get A Buffer From Medical-Debt Wrecks
- Sacramento Watch 1
- Cigarette Sales Plummet As New Tax Goes Into Effect, But Are People Really Smoking Less?
- Public Health and Education 2
- Your Morning Cup Of Joe Is Actually Beneficial To Your Health, New Studies Find
- New Label Offers Some Flexibility For People Trying To Reduce Their Meat Consumption
Latest From California Healthline:
KFF Health News Original Stories
Blue Shield Improperly Denied Mental Health, Drug Treatment Claims, Suit Alleges
Blue Shield of California and Magellan, its mental health administrator, violated accepted professional standards in its criteria for residential treatment and intensive outpatient care, according to a class-action suit. The insurer disputes the allegations. (Elaine Korry, 7/11)
Should GOP Health Bill Prevail, Say Bye-Bye To Insurance Rebates
A little-noticed provision of the Senate GOP health plan would unwind an Affordable Care Act provision limiting insurer profits, administrative costs. (Julie Appleby, 7/11)
Millions Of Kids Fall Outside Senate Plan To Shield Disabled From Medicaid Cuts
The Republican plan to replace Obamacare would reduce federal funding for Medicaid, but senators want to keep current funding levels for children who are blind or have other disabilities. Their proposal, however, would not apply to the majority of those kids. (Jordan Rau, 7/10)
Your Credit Score Soon Will Get A Buffer From Medical-Debt Wrecks
Starting in September, the three main agencies will wait 180 days before including a medical debt on a credit report. (Michelle Andrews, 7/11)
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More News From Across The State
Cigarette Sales Plummet As New Tax Goes Into Effect, But Are People Really Smoking Less?
Another possible scenario is that people had stockpiled their supplies before the tax went into effect.
Sacramento Bee:
Cigarette Sales Fall In California After Tax
Cigarette purchases in California plummeted in the first weeks of a $2-a-pack tax hike after spiking in the months before the higher prices took effect. Are people smoking cigarettes they had bought months earlier? Or is the sticker shock causing people to try to kick the habit? (Miller, 7/10)
The Mercury News/CALMatters:
Early Returns Suggest Smoking Drop In Response To State Tax
“This is a big effect,” said Dr. Stanton Glantz, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco’s Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education. “I have felt for a long time where we’re getting to the point in California where smoking is so low that a couple of good shoves like this one, and we might be rid of it.” (Levin, 7/10)
Report Reveals Sacramento's Urgent Homelessness Crisis
“This is not just a sobering report, this is a damning report,” said Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg. “This report is a call to action, no excuses.”
Sacramento Bee:
Homeless Population Rises Sharply In Sacramento And Suburbs
The number of unsheltered homeless in the county skyrocketed by 85 percent in recent years, making up nearly half of the increase in overall numbers. About 800 of those are chronically homeless, meaning they have been homeless for more than a year or have had multiple bouts of homelessness in the past three years, and have a mental, physical or developmental disability that keeps them from working. (Chabria, Hubert, Lillis and Garrison, 7/10)
In other news from across the state —
KQED:
After Decades Of Pollution, State Details Cleanup From L.A.’s Exide Battery Plant
State regulators have released plans to clean up lead contamination from thousands of homes near the Exide Technologies battery recycling plant in Vernon, just east of downtown Los Angeles. Officials call it the biggest industrial waste cleanup project in California, and one of the largest in the country. (Richard, 7/10)
Your Morning Cup Of Joe Is Actually Beneficial To Your Health, New Studies Find
Two massive studies show that a few cups of coffee a day won't hurt you and, in fact, lowers risk for dying prematurely.
Los Angeles Times:
Two Big Studies Bolster The Claim That Coffee – Even Decaf – Is Good For You
If you’re the type of person who needs at least one cup of coffee to get out of the house in the morning and a few more to make it through the day, you might think the best thing about java is that it keeps you awake. But new research suggests that’s just a bonus. The best thing about your coffee habit might be that it extends your life by reducing your risk of death from heart disease, diabetes or even cancer. (Kaplan, 7/10)
New Label Offers Some Flexibility For People Trying To Reduce Their Meat Consumption
A new movement eschews perfection in favor of cheering progress no matter how small.
Sacramento Bee:
Trying To Eat Less Meat? You’re A Reducetarian
After giving up meat, Brian Kateman returned home to Staten Island, N.Y., for Thanksgiving dinner and under pressure from his family, he grabbed a piece of turkey. “In that moment, my sister, as siblings will do, took the opportunity to call me out on it and said, ‘I thought you were a vegetarian, Brian,’ ” Kateman recalled. “I had a similar experience when I went out to breakfast with some friends, and I took a piece of bacon.” He talked with his friend Tyler Alterman about the impact that these gotcha moments could have on people’s efforts to eat less meat. How could they provide affirmation and encouragement rather than holding people up to ridicule for their failures? (Anderson, 7/10)
Millions Of Tax Dollars In Jeopardy In Nevada As Injunction Blocks Marijuana Transportation
The Nevada Department of Taxation will meet Thursday to consider an emergency regulation to allow it to issue distribution licenses before the industry comes to a grinding halt.
Capital Public Radio:
Nevada Issues 'State Of Emergency' With Marijuana Industry In Danger Of Collapsing
The State of Nevada faces an "imminent and extreme" budget shortfall. The Nevada Department of Taxation has issued a Statement of Emergency as the marijuana industry is in danger of collapsing. ... The Independent Alcohol Distributors of Nevada successfully blocked marijuana transportation between growers and retailers with a court injunction and now dispensaries are running low. (Plaskon, 7/10)
'We Need To Start Voting': GOP Leaders Press For Progress Even As Divisions Grow Deeper
Senators are back from break after facing angry constituents at home, but they only have three weeks before the upcoming August recess to smooth out disagreements over the proposed health care bill.
Reuters:
Healthcare Disagreements Roil U.S. Senate Republicans
With only three weeks left before a summer recess scheduled to stretch until Sept. 5, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared determined to keep trying to find agreement on a partisan, all-Republican bill. If he cannot, he will be faced with giving up on a seven-year Republican promise to repeal the 2010 Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare - and possibly turning to Democrats for help in fixing problems with U.S. health insurance markets. (Cornwell and Becker, 7/10)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Senate Returns To Work As GOP Searches Again For Health Care Deal
“Too many seem to have forgotten that even more people will be hurt if the Obamacare status quo is allowed to continue,” Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said as he opened the Senate. “Today it sits on the edge of total meltdown,” McConnell said. “Unless we do something about that, even more Americans are going to get hurt.” (Dupree, 7/10)
The Associated Press:
Senate GOP Leaders Hope For Health Care Vote Next Week
"We need to start voting" on the GOP bill scuttling much of President Barack Obama's health care law, No. 2 Senate GOP leader John Cornyn of Texas told reporters Monday. Some Republicans said a revised version of the bill could be introduced Thursday, and Cornyn said the "goal" was for a vote next week. (Fram and Werner, 7/11)
The Wall Street Journal:
Senate Republicans Set Sights On Revised Health Bill
The biggest sticking point in recent days has centered on a provision supported by GOP Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah that would allow insurers that sell plans complying with ACA regulations to also sell health policies that don’t. Health analysts say that would likely lower premiums for younger, healthier people, who would buy more limited policies, while causing premiums to rise for people with pre-existing conditions, who would buy the more comprehensive plans that comply with the ACA.
(Peterson, 7/10)
Politico:
GOP Struggles To Revamp Ailing Obamacare Repeal Bill
New bill text could be unveiled to senators as soon as Thursday, according to sources familiar with the proposal. A Congressional Budget Office score is likely to follow as soon as next Monday. (Everett, Haberkorn and Dawsey, 7/10)
The Washington Post:
Senate Democrats Seek New Allies In Effort To Scuttle Obamacare Overhaul: Republican Governors
Senate Democrats have identified potential new allies in their effort to scuttle the current health-care proposal: Republican governors, particularly those who helped expand Medicaid in their states under the Affordable Care Act. Sen. Thomas R. Carper (Del.), who is leading the effort with the support of fellow Democrats, called “a couple dozen” senators and governors from both parties over the recess, he said in an interview, to say “this is a good time for us to hit the pause button in the Senate, and step back and have some good heart-to-heart conversations” about how to revise the 2010 law. (Eilperin, Sullivan and O'Keefe, 7/10)
The Washington Post Fact Checker:
McConnell’s Claim That Senate GOP Health Bill Would Not ’Cause Anyone Currently On Medicaid To Come Off It’
A reader asked us to fact-check this claim, reported in an article by the West Kentucky Star about a luncheon speech McConnell delivered in Kentucky during the Fourth of July recess. The impact of the Senate GOP health-care bill on Medicaid enrollees and financing is one of the major points of debate in the Senate. Previously, we awarded Three Pinocchios to President Trump’s claim that the Senate proposal, the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), actually increases Medicaid spending. (Lee, 7/11)
The Washington Post:
Obamacare Marketplaces Just Had Their Most Profitable First Quarter Ever
Insurers in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces earned an average of nearly $300 per member in the first quarter of 2017, more than double what they earned in a similar period in the marketplaces’ previous three years, according to new analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. That figure puts insurers on track to make a profit in the marketplaces after years of losses, according to Cynthia Cox, a researcher at the Kaiser Family Foundation who worked on the analysis. (Soffen, 7/10)
Morning Consult:
Senate Democrats Want McConnell To Work With Them On Health Care
Democratic leaders are urging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to work with them to bolster the nation’s health insurance marketplaces, as lingering disputes among Senate Republicans threaten to derail the GOP effort to overhaul the Affordable Care Act. In a letter sent Monday, as the Senate returned from a weeklong recess, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other top Democrats highlighted several Democratic bills to improve the exchanges created under Obamacare. (Reid, 7/10)