Sacramento Bee: Covered California To Cut Co-Pays, End Deductibles On Some Health Plans
More than 600,000 Californians will be able to go for surgery at a hospital without paying a deductible under new health plans that Covered California will offer in this fall’s open enrollment. (Anderson, 7/24)

California Healthline: Hospitals Ask Congress To Delay ACA Medicaid Funding Cuts — For The 14th Time
Congress has until October to avert cuts to a Medicaid program intended to support safety-net hospitals that, in practice, improves the bottom lines of other hospitals, too. Hospital leaders say now is not a good time for the cuts — which lawmakers have so far postponed 13 times. (Galewitz, 7/25)

Los Angeles Daily News: High Heat To Continue This Week For Much Of Southern California 
Another week of triple-digit heat is expected to continue in the Inland Empire this week while lingering clouds along the coastal communities will keep temperatures there relatively cool, meteorologists said Monday. (Lee, 7/24)

Reuters: Congressional Democrats Call On Biden For Workplace Heat Safety Steps
A group of 112 Democratic members of Congress on Monday called on U.S. President Joe Biden's administration to establish heat safety regulations for indoor and outdoor workplaces as a persistent and deadly heatwave spreads across the country. The group asked the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue new standards on adequate water and sheltered rest breaks, medical training to identify heat-related illness and a plan for workplaces to adjust their operations during times of dangerously high heat. (Walker, 7/25)

CBS News: Risk Of Fatal Heart Attack May Double In Extreme Heat With Air Pollution, Study Finds
Risk of a fatal heart attack was 18% higher during ­2-day heat waves with heat indexes at or above the 90th percentile, ranging from 82.6 to 97.9 degrees Fahrenheit, the study found. The risk was 74% higher during 4-day heat waves with heat indexes at or above the 97.5th percentile, ranging from 94.8 to 109.4 degrees. (Moniuszko, 7/24)

inewsource: El Centro Regional Pursuing $40 Million Loan To Stay Afloat
Imperial County’s largest hospital is seeking a $40 million state loan in its latest attempt to keep doors open. But the El Centro Regional Medical Center will be forced to compete with other facilities across California that are also grappling with shaky finances: Requests to the $300 million emergency loan program already exceed the available funding. Sixteen facilities have applied so far for the newly created Distressed Hospital Loan Program, which is offering the interest-free and potentially forgivable loans. (Bowman, 7/25)

Forbes: Cigna Sued Over Algorithm Allegedly Used To Deny Coverage To Patients
Cigna, the healthcare and insurance giant, was hit with a lawsuit on Monday that alleges the company systematically rejects claims in a matter of seconds, thanks to an algorithmic system put in place to help automate the process—further raising questions about how technology could harm patients as more healthcare organizations look to embrace AI and other new tools. The suit, which was filed in California and is seeking class action status, was brought forth by a pair of plaintiffs who were denied coverage by Cigna. (Nieva, 7/24)

Modern Healthcare: CMS' 340B Remedy Favors Hospitals That Provide Less Charity Care
Hospitals that would receive the biggest 340B remedy payments under a new proposal to correct unlawful reimbursement cuts tended to provide proportionally less uncompensated care than other 340B-eligible hospitals. (Kacik and Broderick, 7/24)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Diagnosed With A Tumor Just Before Going To Jail, La Mesa Man Fights For Long-Delayed Surgery
Clarence Hightower was weeks away from surgery to remove the cancerous tumor blocking his airway when he appeared in court for his criminal sentencing late last year. His defense attorney told him to expect probation, he said. He expected his January operation would proceed as scheduled. But Hightower was instead handed one year in jail. (McDonald, 7/23)

Bay Area News Group: Gavin Newsom Signs Bill That Will Place Incarcerated Parents Close To Children
Incarcerated parents housed in more than 30 state prisons around California could be moved closer to their children, now that the “Keep Families Close” bill was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday and will take effect in January. (Stein, 7/24)

Pasadena Star News: Early Troubles Plague Newly Reopened Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall 
Los Angeles County beat expectations when it managed to move 274 youth to the newly renovated Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey on a narrow two-month schedule, but now the county has an even more momentous task before it: keeping Los Padrinos from getting shut down, too. (Henry, 7/24)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego Biotech Heron Therapeutics Cuts 25% Of Workers, Second Corporate Restructuring In A Year 
Heron Therapeutics, a San Diego biotechnology company that makes cancer and pain-management therapies, is cutting a quarter of its workforce and taking measures to save money. (Rocha, 7/24)

AP: Gene Therapy Eyedrops Restored A Boy's Sight. Similar Treatments Could Help Millions
Dr. Alfonso Sabater pulled up two photos of Antonio Vento Carvajal’s eyes. One showed cloudy scars covering both eyeballs. The other, taken after months of gene therapy given through eyedrops, revealed no scarring on either eye. Antonio, who’s been legally blind for much of his 14 years, can see again. (Ungar and Frisaro, 7/24)

Los Angeles Times: California Leads U.S. In Gun Violence Research. The Field Is At Risk
Last summer, the California Department of Justice accidentally published the personal information of roughly 192,000 firearm owners to the open internet. Gun owners protested; Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta apologized and launched an investigation. But perhaps the most surprising aspect of the leak is that the data existed in the first place. California is the epicenter of American gun violence research, largely because it has kept detailed records on its gun owners since 1996. (Tucker-Smith, 7/25)

CalMatters: California’s Opioid Deaths Increased By 121% In 3 Years. What’s Driving The Crisis?
It is nearly impossible to escape reminders of today’s boiling opioid epidemic — the billboard advertising Narcan on your commute, a local news story of a teen’s accidental overdose, or the ever-growing public debate over how to best address it. In just three years, between 2019 and 2021, California’s opioid-related deaths spiked 121%, according to the state’s health department. The vast majority of these deaths were linked to fentanyl, an extremely potent synthetic opioid. (Ibarra, Yee and Duara)

Fresno Bee: Fentanyl, Climate Change, Housing: California Wants To Solve These Issues By Borrowing Billions
Housing for homeless residents living with mental illness. Defenses against wildfires, droughts and floods. New and renovated school campuses. Treatment centers for fentanyl users. California voters can expect to be asked to approve billions of dollars in bonds in 2024 to help the state address a myriad of pressing issues. (Angst, 7/24)

Axios: San Francisco's 988 Crisis Line Sees Calls Spike 30% In First Year - Axios San Francisco
San Francisco Suicide Prevention (SFSP) has seen about a 30% increase in call volume since a new helpline went live last year, the organization told Axios. That 30% increase in San Francisco call volume is consistent with the increases seen in other Bay Area crisis centers that answer 988 calls, an indication that the new hotline is working as intended, Van Hedwall, SFSP's director of programs, said via email. (Dickey and Moreno, 7/24)

AP: The Biden Administration Proposes New Rules To Push Insurers To Boost Mental Health Coverage
President Joe Biden’s administration on Tuesday is announcing new rules meant to push insurance companies to increase their coverage of mental health treatments. The new regulations, which still need to go through a public comment period, would require insurers to study whether their customers have equal access to medical and mental health benefits and to take remedial action, if necessary. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act requires that insurers provide the same level of coverage for both mental and physical health care — though the administration and advocates argue insurers’ policies restrict patient access. (7/25)

CNN: Adults With Depression Are At A Greater Risk Of Developing Dementia, Study Shows
A diagnosis of depression in adulthood could more than double your risk of developing dementia in older age, according to a new study. The study, published Monday in the journal JAMA Neurology, used data from more than 1.4 million Danish citizens who were followed from 1977 to 2018, said lead study author Dr. Holly Elser, epidemiologist and resident physician in neurology at the University of Pennsylvania. (Holcombe, 7/24)

Los Angeles Daily News: New Interim Housing For Homeless Is Coming To LA’s Westside 
A new interim housing project that will provide approximately 30 beds is slated to open next year on the city’s bustling Westside, Los Angeles City Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky announced Monday, July 24. (Tat, 7/24)

Military Times: Biden Threatens VA Budget Bill Veto Over Limits On Abortion, LGBT Care
White House officials on Monday threatened to veto House Republicans’ plan for funding the Veterans Affairs programs next fiscal year, saying the appropriations outline as written contains too many partisan attacks on controversial social issues. The $320 billion spending plan expected to be voted on this week by House lawmakers roughly matches funding levels requested by President Joe Biden in his federal budget proposal released last spring. But administration officials said amendments added onto the plan by GOP lawmakers on the House Appropriations have made the proposal unacceptable. (Shane III, 7/24)

Military Times: Nonprofit Trains Service Dogs For Veterans Battling PTSD
Shannon Walker had worked with hundreds of dogs and their owners during 30 years as a professional dog trainer. But of all the training jobs she’s taken on during her award-winning career, this request was unique. Little did she know at the time it would also be life-changing. (Lubach, 7/23)

Military Times: VA To Review Link Between Military Toxin And Additional Cancers
Veterans Affairs officials will review whether three more types of cancer should be added to the list of conditions presumed to be caused by exposure to toxic smoke from military burn pits and poor air quality throughout combat zones in the recent wars, potentially paving the way for thousands more veterans to receive expedited disability benefits. On Tuesday, department leaders announced they are conducting new scientific studies to determine whether acute leukemias, chronic leukemias, and multiple myeloma outside of the head and neck in veterans are likely connected to military service in Iraq, Afghanistan and much of Southwest Asia. (Shane III, 7/25)

Bay Area News Group: A Regular Visit With Your Doctor Is Quickly Becoming A Thing Of The Past
Dr. Chris Hakim lives in a version of the not-so-distant past. He practices modern medicine and spends as much time as he likes with patients without issue — a departure from the growing trend in health care. “The patient is now seeing a physician who doesn’t decide how much time he spends with a given patient,” Hakim said. “Those things are dictated by someone else. There are guidelines to everything and they come from administration.” (Munro, 7/24)

NPR: Kratom At The Center Of A Spate Of Wrongful Death Lawsuits
Kavasutra is a dimly lit bar in Lantana, Florida, with a rotating cast of characters: the magician, the repo man, the metalhead picking Slipknot on his unplugged Stratocaster. On a recent Friday night, there's about a dozen other patrons drinking, flirting, swiping at their phones. What's not here is booze. The bar serves only nonalcoholic botanical drinks. And tonight, like most nights, one drink is clearly winning out: jumbo plastic cups filled with icy kratom tea. (Haden, 7/24)

California Healthline: New Weight Loss Drugs Carry High Price Tags And Lots Of Questions For Seniors
Although nearly 40% of Americans 60 and older are obese, Medicare doesn’t cover weight loss medications. Meanwhile, studies haven’t thoroughly examined new drugs’ impact on older adults. (Andrews, 7/25)