Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Price Of A Brace Brings Soccer Player To His Knees
After a sports injury, Esteban Serrano owed $829.41 for a knee brace purchased with insurance through his doctor’s office. The same kind of braces sell for less than $250 online. (Paula Andalo, )
Good morning! In a risky move for 2020, the Trump administration has told the courts that the entirety of the health law should be invalidated, when previously it had only argued that parts of it should. The move came the day before Democrats are set to unveil a sweeping measure that embraces the incremental approach to improving the country’s health system. More on those stories below, but first, here is your top California health news from the day.
Assemblyman Introduces Bill Aimed At Protecting Special Needs Students At Public Schools: Nonpublic schools are generally private, nonreligious schools that contract with local school districts or the county office of education to serve students with special needs. The new legislation, introduced by Assemblyman Jim Frazier (D-Discovery Bay), would, among other things, amend the California Education Code and allow the state to immediately suspend or revoke a nonpublic school’s certification if the state finds that a student’s health or safety has been compromised; require nonpublic schools to report any incident involving law enforcement or child protective services to the state and its local educational agencies; and require local educational agencies to visit the school at least once a year, and mandate that a qualified behavior analyst be on-site. The legislation is in response to the November 2018 death of a student who was restrained at his El Dorado Hills school. Read more from the Sacramento Bee.
California Would Ban Cosmetic Surgeries On Intersex Children’s Genitals: Advocates for intersex children have been leading a movement against such surgeries, saying they do more harm than good. Surgeries in extreme cases in which the gender of the child is unclear can result in female genitalia being constructed on someone who later identifies as male or vice versa. Pediatric urologists who perform the surgeries called SB 201 “extraordinary overreach” that would strip parents of their ability to make medical decisions for their children. Patients who have the surgeries heal better if they are young, said Dr. Lane Palmer, president of the Societies for Pediatric Urology. The legislation would require doctors to wait until patients can give informed consent, meaning they are mature enough to understand the benefits and potential risks of surgery, and not even advocates can agree what age that looks like. The California Medical Association opposes the bill—which does not apply to genital surgeries that are medically necessary—saying parents and physicians should determine what is in the best interest of a child. Read more from the Los Angeles Times.
Sacramento Police Review Commission Seeks Answers About Shootings And Mental Illness: Sacramento Community Police Review Commission Chair Karin Savage-Sangwan says her group wants public information released about the victims of police shootings so trends can be identified, such as if force being used more frequently on mentally ill people or people whose first language is not English. It’s been previously reported that nearly 40 percent of officer shootings in Santa Clara County between 2013 and 2017 involved someone who was mentally ill. Read more from the Sacramento Bee.
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.
More News From Across The State
Los Angeles Times:
Newsom Seeks To Halt Parole For Some Murderers And Serious Offenders. What Does That Signal?
Newsom’s active role in opposing releases might point to a growing political problem for him within the state’s parole system: rising numbers of offenders eligible for release because of criminal justice reforms, including Proposition 57, a measure championed by Brown. More so than any of his predecessors, California’s new governor likely will be responsible for overseeing tough decisions on whether certain sex offenders and criminals with multiple felonies should be freed. (Chabria and Luna, 3/26)
Capital Public Radio:
Victims' Families Speak Out On Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Decision To Halt California's Death Penalty
Newsom’s freeze on executions, along with his statement last week that he’d would like the justice system in California to no longer hand out death sentences, has angered some victim’s families. Others supported the move. (Nichols, 3/25)
Sacramento Bee:
UC Davis Resident, Fellowship Physicians Authorize Labor Union
Less than a week after some unionized employees of the hospital took to the picket lines over stalled contract negotiations, a majority of roughly 800 medical residents, interns and fellows at UC Davis Medical Center have signed up to join a labor union, the Committee of Interns and Residents, the union announced Monday. Those employees will soon ask the state’s Public Employment Relations Board to certify the union to bargain on their behalf. (Anderson, 3/26)
East Bay Times:
Measles Outbreak In Chico Part Of A ‘Cluster,’ Officials Say
Two cases of measles have been reported in Chico, according to local public health officials. The cases are now considered part of a “cluster” outbreak in Butte, Tehama and Shasta counties within the past week, and officials believe they are all connected. Measles is a highly contagious virus that is spread through coughing and sneezing. ...An investigation by the Tehama County Health Services Agency is also underway, after one of the people with a confirmed case of measles made multiple stops last week in Red Bluff before being isolated due to the disease. (Hutchinson, 3/25)
The Mercury News:
Fentanyl Scare For Alameda County Sheriff's Office
A sergeant and deputy from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office needed a dose of Naloxone to offset the symptoms they both showed after being exposed to fentanyl in the booking center at the Santa Rita Jail, authorities said.Both were expected to be OK after the scare, which happened Sunday morning around 11:45 a.m., sheriff’s office spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly said. The exposure happened when authorities booked an Oakland woman into the jail. A deputy conducted the search and found a dark substance rolled into a piece of tissue, Kelly said. She then contacted her sergeant, because the substance did not appear consistent with illicit narcotics normally seen by jail staff. (Hurd, 3/5)
The New York Times:
Trump Officials Broaden Attack On Health Law, Arguing Courts Should Reject All Of It
The Trump administration broadened its attack on the Affordable Care Act on Monday, telling a federal appeals court that it now believed the entire law should be invalidated. The administration had previously said that the law’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions should be struck down, but that the rest of the law, including the expansion of Medicaid, should survive. If the appeals court accepts the Trump administration’s new arguments, millions of people could lose health insurance, including those who gained coverage through the expansion of Medicaid and those who have private coverage subsidized by the federal government. (Pear, 3/25)
The Washington Post:
Trump Administration Backs Full Repeal Of Affordable Care Act In Legal Reversal
[The Justice Department] divulged its position in a legal filing Monday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans, where an appeal is pending in a case challenging the measure’s constitutionality. A federal judge in Texas ruled in December that the law’s individual mandate "can no longer be sustained as an exercise of Congress’s tax power” and further found that the remaining portions of the law are invalid. He based his judgment on changes to the nation’s tax laws made by congressional Republicans the previous year. (Stanley-Becker, 3/26)
Reuters:
Obamacare Enrollments Drop Marginally For 2019
The agency also said it was issuing guidance to allow issuers to continue certain health plans, often referred to as "grandmothered" plans, by one year. Such plans do not meet all the rules under the Obamacare laws. "Not extending the grandmothered plan policy would ... force people to decide between buying coverage they cannot afford on the individual market or going uninsured," CMS Administrator Seema Verma said. (3/25)
The Wall Street Journal:
Affordable Care Act Sign-Ups Total 11.4 Million For This Year
Average rates for popular health plans sold on the exchanges fell about 1.5% this year, according to the Trump administration, the first such drop and a sign that the insurance markets are gaining firmer traction despite tumult in the past two years. The majority of people who obtain coverage on the exchanges get tax credits to reduce premium costs. Headed into the 2020 campaign, Democrats are divided over pursuing legislation now to shore up the exchanges or pushing for Medicare for All, a government-run health system. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office said Democrats will release health-care legislation Tuesday focused on curbing costs and protecting people with pre-existing conditions. (Armour, 3/25)
The New York Times:
House Democrats To Unveil Plan To Expand Health Coverage
Democrats won control of the House in large part on the strength of their argument that Congress needs to protect people with pre-existing medical conditions and to lower the cost of health care. On Tuesday, Democratic leaders, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, will put aside, at least for now, the liberal quest for a government-run “Medicare for all” single-payer system and unveil a more incremental approach toward fulfilling those campaign promises. Building on the Affordable Care Act, they would offer more generous subsidies for the purchase of private health insurance offered through the health law’s insurance exchanges while financing new efforts to increase enrollment. (Pear, 3/25)
The Washington Post:
Obama Cautions Freshman House Democrats About The Price Tag Of Liberal Policies
Former president Barack Obama gently warned a group of freshman House Democrats Monday evening about the costs associated with some liberal ideas popular in their ranks, encouraging members to look at price tags, according to people in the room. Obama didn’t name specific policies. And to be sure, he encouraged the lawmakers — about half-dozen of whom worked in his own administration — to continue to pursue “bold” ideas as they shaped legislation during their first year in the House. But some people in the room took his words as a cautionary note about Medicare-for-All and the ambitious Green New Deal, two liberal ideas popularized by a few of the more famous House freshmen, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). (Bade, 3/26)
The New York Times:
Women At Breast Implant Hearing Call For Disclosure Of Safety Risks
Women with illnesses linked to breast implants challenged plastic surgeons, regulators and implant makers at an emotionally charged meeting on Monday at the Food and Drug Administration, demanding more information about the risks of the implants and calling for a ban on one that is associated with an unusual type of cancer. They asked implant makers to disclose the materials used in the devices and also called for a “black box” warning — a label that the F.D.A. can require, noting heightened problems with a drug or device. (Grady and Rabin, 3/25)
The New York Times:
Two Top Medical Groups Call For Soda Taxes And Advertising Curbs On Sugary Drinks
Two of the country’s leading medical groups on Monday issued a call to arms against the soda industry, urging legislators and policymakers to embrace taxes, warning labels and advertising restrictions to deter young people from consuming the sugary beverages that are increasingly linked to the nation’s crisis of obesity and chronic disease. Describing sweetened drinks as “a grave health threat to children and adolescents,” the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Heart Association issued a set of bold policy recommendations they say are necessary to stem the epidemic of Type 2 diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease and other diet-related illnesses responsible for tens of thousands of premature deaths and billions of dollars in annual health care costs. (Jacobs, 3/25)
Politico:
Flood Of Products Containing Marijuana Extract Puts FDA In A Bind
Even by the superhyped standard of internet cures, the marijuana and hemp extract cannabidiol is unique, touted as everything from a hair conditioner to a sleep aid and a way to help manage diabetes and fight cancer. The CBD boom is also giving regulators fits, blurring the line between a drug and a dietary supplement and testing how much the government can police health claims. (Owermohle, 3/26)
The Wall Street Journal:
The Autism Diagnosis That Isn’t Always Permanent
A growing body of evidence demonstrates that some children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, can outgrow their diagnosis. This isn’t unqualified good news: Experts caution that those children often continue struggling with other conditions. The latest evidence was published this month in the Journal of Child Neurology. It demonstrated that among 569 children diagnosed with autism between 2003 and 2013, 38 children—or about 7%—no longer met the diagnostic criteria. (Reddy, 3/25)