KPCC: CA Lawmaker To Try Again To Block 'Surprise' Medical Bills
A state assemblyman is trying again to win passage of a bill that would eliminate unexpectedly high medical bills, the kind that hit patients who have received care at a medical facility outside of their insurance network without knowing about it. (O'Neill, 3/21)

In other news —

The Sacramento Bee: California Ballot Proposal To Require Parental Notification For Abortion Fizzles
The campaign to qualify a November constitutional amendment requiring parental notification for abortions ended last week, the latest in a string of ballot failures for the effort’s sponsors. (Miller, 3/21)

The San Jose Mercury News: Right-To-Die Law Debated At Morgan Hill Town Hall Meeting
They know California's landmark right-to-die law, set to kick in June 9, is for the terminally ill. And they support that effort. But what most of the dozen people at a town hall meeting on Monday in Morgan Hill wanted to know is why their friends and relatives suffering from Alzheimer's or dementia cannot take advantage of the law. (Seipel, 3/21)

The Los Angeles Times: Kaiser Nurses End Strike Over Contract At Its L.A. Medical Center
Nurses at Kaiser Permanente's Los Angeles Medical Center will go back to work Tuesday after a weeklong strike aimed at securing a contract with higher staffing levels and better pay. Negotiations began in September and the last session was on March 10, said Patti Clausen, chief nurse executive at Los Angeles Medical Center. She said there is not a set date for bargaining, but that Kaiser is "open to bargain any time they ask us." The union represents about 75% of the nurses at the Kaiser hospital.(Masunaga, 3/21)

The Sacramento Bee: Got A Health Care Grievance? There’s A Place To Complain
Your health insurance company denied your treatment. Or it won’t provide the prescription drug you need. Or you’ve got a billing dispute. Or your longtime doctor was dropped from your health plan. When you’ve got a complaint about health care, where are you gonna go? The MyPatientRights.org site is one starting point. (Buck, 3/21)

The Ventura County Star: Medical License Revoked For Thousand Oaks Doctor Convicted Of Sexual Abuse
A Thousand Oaks doctor convicted of sexual assaulting a patient lost his bid to keep his medical license. Dr. Barry Lefkovitch's license to practice medicine in California was revoked on Thursday, according to documents from the Medical Board of California. Lefkovitch, 61, was sentenced in 2013 to eight years in prison for charges including three counts of forcible sexual penetration of a patient and one count of sexual exploitation of multiple patients. (Kisken, 3/21)

Elsewhere in the state —

The San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego Is Growing Medical Evac Hub
On a recent Sunday, a Mexican ambulance arrived at the Tijuana border and made a hand-off. The paramedics passed their patient, Barry Lomove, to a San Diego medical transport team that then loaded him aboard another ambulance for the short trip north to Sharp Memorial Hospital in Kearny Mesa. (Sisson, 3/20)

The Press Democrat: Report Deems Sonoma County 6th Healthiest In State
Improvements in the rates of premature death, childhood poverty and unemployment are among the trends that helped Sonoma County earn recognition in a new nationwide report as the sixth-healthiest county in California. The current results mark the third consecutive year the county has shown improvement in annual health rankings compiled by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. Previously, the county ranked eighth in 2015 and 12th in 2014. (Espinoza, 3/21)

Tehachapi News: Tehachapi City Council Tables Medical Marijuana Ordinance, Looks At Possible Regulation
The Tehachapi City Council voted unanimously Monday night to send a medical marijuana ordinance under consideration back to staff to address concerns about banning the legal use of marijuana and to look at possible regulation instead. The vote came after 14 community members — three in favor of a ban on dispensaries and 11 supporting them — spoke before the council. Each council member commented before the vote; no timetable was given for when the council would again take up the issue. (Budge, 3/21)

The Sacramento Business Journal: Two UC Davis Efforts Get State Regenerative-Medicine Grants
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine has approved more than $3.2 million in funding for two research efforts at the UC Davis Health System and School of Medicine in Sacramento. The larger award, $2.3 million, went to a team using stem cells to kill cancer cells in patients with aggressive malignancies. (Anderson, 3/22)

The Associated Press: Health Insurance Gains Due To Obama's Law, Not Economy
There's growing evidence that most of the dramatic gain in the number of Americans with health care coverage is due to President Barack Obama's law, and not the gradual recovery of the nation's economy. That could pose a political risk for Republicans running against "Obamacare" in the GOP primaries as they shift to the general election later this year. While the health care law remains highly unpopular in the party, the prospect of taking away health care coverage from millions of people could trigger a backlash if the eventual GOP nominee's plan to replace it is seen as coming up short. (3/21)

In other national health care news —

The Associated Press: Disputed Health Law Rule Would Broaden Transgender Rights
Big companies are pushing back against proposed federal rules they say would require their medical plans to cover gender transition and other services under the nondiscrimination mandate of President Barack Obama's health care law. Civil rights advocates representing transgender people say the regulation, now being finalized by the Health and Human Services Department, would be a major step forward for a marginalized community beginning to gain acceptance as celebrities like Caitlyn Jenner tell their stories. (3/22)

USA Today: Secret Deals May Mean Consumers Pay More For Drugs
Secret deals often prompt drug benefit companies to cover brand-name prescriptions when equally effective generic or even over-the-counter medications are available, several drug pricing experts say. These companies, known as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), negotiate deals with drug makers that include rebates and other compensation to encourage certain drugs and come up with lists of drugs that their insurance plans will cover. Employers and insurance companies then determine which drugs to encourage on these formularies. (O'Donnell, 3/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Valeant Starts CEO Search, Alleges Improper Financial Conduct
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. moved to replace its longtime chief executive, part of a series of steps to regain credibility and show investors it is committed to a fresh start after months of failed attempts. Valeant’s decision to look for a successor to CEO Michael Pearson comes just three weeks after it decided to take him back following an extended medical leave to treat severe pneumonia that he began around Christmas, a stretch during which the drugmaker’s woes mounted. (McNish, Hoffman and Benoit, 3/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Anthem Sues Express Scripts Over Drug Pricing
Health insurer Anthem Inc. sued Express Scripts Holding Co. for about $15 billion in damages, alleging that the pharmacy-benefit manager violated their contract through excessive charges and failures in its operations. The lawsuit, filed on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeks damages tied to what Anthem said was Express Scripts’ unduly high pricing for drugs. Anthem also asked for a judgment that it could terminate its deal with Express Scripts, which stretches to 2019, but the insurer said it hasn’t determined if it would actually end the contract. (Wilde Mathews, 3/21)

Modern Healthcare: MitraClip Recall Shines Spotlight On Surgeon Training, Testing Concerns
Abbott's recent recall of its new $30,000 heart valve repair device called the MitraClip led to an intensive educational campaign to retrain surgeons in proper implantation techniques. The speedy action will likely prevent thousands of injuries. But the voluntary action has also renewed concerns by patient safety advocates that some new devices are being thrown on the market without sufficient clinical testing or adequate training. (Rubenfire and Rice, 3/21)