Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Coping With (Power) Loss: California's Hospitals, Clinics, Patients Face New Reality
How are critical medical services interrupted by the loss of power and what can hospitals and clinics do to minimize the impact? This Q&A will give you some answers. (Mark Kreidler, )
Good morning! Here are your top California health stories of the day.
LA Mayor Abandons Long-Stated Goal Of Having City Employees Pitch In On Their Health Care: Under contracts signed this year that were supported by the mayor, many of City Hall’s largest unions will continue to contribute nothing toward their healthcare premiums, despite Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s goal of having them pay some of the costs. Garcetti also backed agreements with several smaller unions, allowing those employees who had been contributing 10% of their premiums to stop paying in January. The decision is an about-face from what Garcetti told voters while first running for mayor. “You get elected talking tough,” said Christopher Thornberg, founder of consulting firm Beacon Economics. “Then you get into office and roll over.” Read more from Dakota Smith of the Los Angeles Times.
California Goes Full Tilt In Trying To Fix Physician Shortage: Students are being lured by full-ride scholarships to medical schools. New grads are specifically recruited for training residencies. And full-fledged doctors are being offered loan repayment programs to serve low-income residents or work in underserved areas. These efforts are intended to ease or stave off the physician shortage expected to peak within the next decade in California. By 2030, the state will be short some 4,000 physicians, according to a study from the HealthForce Center at UC San Francisco. “In California in particular, what’s unique is that the total number of physicians isn’t as big of a problem as where they are located,” said Mark Henderson, professor of internal medicine and associate dean of admissions at the UC Davis School of Medicine. “It’s really a maldistribution problem.” Read more from Elizabeth Aguilera of CalMatters.
In Lawsuit, Generic Drug Group Says California's Ban On Pay-To-Delay Deals Would Hurt Competition: The pharmaceutical industry has contended the deals are not only legal, but actually allow lower-cost generic drugs to reach consumers faster than if patent litigation drags on for years. And this is the overriding point raised in the lawsuit filed by the Association for Accessible Medicines, which argued the new California law is “not just bad policy, (but) it is also unconstitutional.” But the Federal Trade Commission, which has gone to court several times to protest such agreements, has claimed the agreements cost U.S. consumers an estimated $3.5 billion annually. California was the first state in the nation to adopt a law that outlaws pay-to-delay deals. The move has particular significance for the pharmaceutical industry, not only because it is the first such law to ban these patent settlements, but also because California is generally seen as a bellwether state. Read more from Ed Silverman of Stat.
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
Modern Healthcare:
Sutter Health Postpones Financial Filing
Sutter Health announced Monday it's postponing the release of its third quarter financial results until the court allows it to share the terms of a recently announced settlement agreement in a high-profile antitrust lawsuit. The not-for-profit health system last month reached a tentative settlement in a class action lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court alleging anticompetitive contracting practices. In the notice on Monday, Sutter said it is bound by court-ordered confidentiality requirements and will delay the financial disclosure until the court allows it to share the terms of the settlement. (Bannow, 11/25)
Ventura County Star:
Jobs Shuffled To Avert Local Dignity Health Notices
Nearly all of the at least 31 St. John's hospital employees in Oxnard and Camarillo told a month ago their jobs were being eliminated will remain employed, according to union and hospital officials. The 30-day job elimination notices were issued in late October as part of what a St. John's spokeswoman called a restructuring and not a reduction. Union leaders linked the eliminated positions to the merger of Dignity Health and Catholic Health Initiatives into CommonSpirit Health, citing budget shortfalls and job eliminations at other hospitals in the system. (Kisken, 11/25)
Modesto Bee:
Nurses At Modesto, Turlock Hospitals Ratify Labor Contract
Registered nurses at Doctors Medical Center in Modesto and Emanuel in Turlock will receive pay raises under a master employment agreement ratified by staff at eight hospitals in the state, the California Nurses Association said. According to a union press release, wage increases will average 13.5 percent over the first 18 months of the multiyear contract. The union explained that annual cost-of-living and salary step increases for eligible nurses are included in the 13.5 percent. (Carlson, 11/25)
Politico Pro:
Liberal California Looks To Get Tougher On Homelessness
California has had enough with its homeless problem.The liberal stronghold is losing patience with the sprawling homeless encampments, the growing ranks of people with mental illnesses and substance abuse on the streets, and the deteriorating quality of life that comes with it — human waste, trash and open-air drug dealing. (Colliver, 11/26)
NPR:
Program Offers TLC To Older Adults And Their Homes So They Can Stay Put
Sometimes it gets hard for older people to do the things that make independent living possible, such as cook a meal or get in and out of the bath. So CAPABLE targets these obstacles, not just with therapy for the individual, but with some TLC for the home. (Jaffe, 11/26)
Fresno Bee:
Fresno’s Poor Face Lower Life Expectancy, More Health Issues
An analysis of Fresno County census tract-level data on life expectancy from the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems and poverty information from the U.S. Census Bureau shows a general correlation between the two — and not in a good way. Some of the census tracts with the highest rates of poverty in the county also have the lowest overall average life expectancy compared with more affluent neighborhoods. (Sheehan, 11/25)
San Francisco Chronicle:
As Group Home Closes, Mentally Ill May End Up In Shelter
South Van Ness Manor, a board-and-care home for 27 mentally ill and homeless residents, can no longer sustain its expenses and plans to close Sunday. The city has found another long-term placement for only about half of the residents around the Bay Area, said Jennifer Esteen, a member of the Department of Public Health’s Transitions Division, which identifies shelter and treatment placements for those in need. (Thadani, 11/25)
The Wall Street Journal:
Inside The Mass-Tort Machine That Powers Thousands Of Roundup Lawsuits
In late 2016, a group of plaintiffs’ lawyers took the stage at the year’s largest gathering of their colleagues to talk up a promising new target. For 30 minutes, they laid out arguments linking the popular weedkiller Roundup to cancer. An arm of the World Health Organization had pegged Roundup’s main chemical ingredient as a probable carcinogen the year before, and it was quickly becoming a focus of the plaintiffs’ bar. Some product-liability lawyers in the audience in Las Vegas were skeptical. Tying exposure from everyday products like Roundup to cancer often is less straightforward than linking illness to medications or medical devices, said Chase Givens, a lawyer with the Cochran Firm who attended the event. (Randazzo and Bunge, 11/25)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Various Partners Come Together To Address Central Valley's Health, Education Needs
More than 80 educational leaders, health care professionals and policymakers came together Friday to create community-engaged research and a policy center focused on advancing health equity and well-being in the Central Valley. The Rural Health Equity and Learning Collaborative held at BC's Delano campus featured panels on a variety of health and educational issues prevalent across the Central Valley — air quality, valley fever, substance use and educational attainment. (Sasic, 11/25)
Los Angeles Times:
A New Fight Erupts Over California Marijuana Home Deliveries
Escalating a legal battle with California cities and counties over where marijuana can be sold, state officials are intervening in a new court fight over home delivery of cannabis in communities that have banned or restricted pot shops. Earlier this month, Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra filed a motion on behalf of the California Bureau of Cannabis Control to join a lawsuit by Salinas-based East of Eden Cannabis Co. against Santa Cruz County, which has banned deliveries by companies it has not licensed. (McGreevy, 11/26)
Los Angeles Times:
Plans For Migrant Shelter In Mexicali Sidelined After Neighbors Protest
Plans to open a federal shelter for migrants in Mexicali have stalled after neighbors vehemently protested and successfully convinced Baja California’s new governor to shelve it. According to human rights workers on both sides of the border, the change calls into question what Mexico is actually doing to protect asylum seekers returned to border regions under a program called the Migrant Protection Protocols. (Fry, 11/25)
The New York Times:
Democrats Increasingly Vocal In Calling ‘Medicare For All’ A Political Liability
Prominent Democratic leaders are sounding increasingly vocal alarms to try to halt political momentum for “Medicare for all,” opting to risk alienating liberals and deepening the divide in the party rather than enter an election year with a sweeping health care proposal that many see as a liability for candidates up and down the ballot. From Michigan to Georgia, North Dakota to Texas, Democratic elected officials, strategists and pollsters are warning that the party’s commitment to the Obama-era Affordable Care Act — widely seen as critical to electoral gains in 2018 and 2019 — could slip away as a political advantage in 2020 if Republicans seize on Medicare for all and try to paint Democrats as socialists on health care. (Lerer and Glueck, 11/26)
The Wall Street Journal:
Democratic Hopefuls Face Growing Scrutiny Over Health Plans
With public support for Medicare for All slipping, opponents are ramping up attacks on more moderate alternatives from former Vice President Joe Biden and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Those Democratic presidential hopefuls are up against industry groups, Republicans and Democratic challengers criticizing their proposals to let people buy coverage in a government-run health plan. The Partnership for America’s Health Care Future, an industry group that includes hospitals and insurers, recently released a study that found a public option would increase the number of people without health coverage. (Armour, 11/25)
Politico:
Medicare For All’s Jobs Problem
Deanna Mazur, the daughter of a retired steel mill worker who works as a medical billing manager, finds some things to like about the “Medicare for All” policy that she’s been hearing politicians talk about. She likes the notion that all Americans would have health insurance. And it would simplify her own job quite a bit if there were only one place to send medical bills, instead of the web of private companies and government programs that she deals with now. “It would definitely be easier,” Mazur says. Then again, if it were that easy, her job might not exist at all. (Pradhan, 11/25)
The Associated Press:
Harris To Propose Doubling Mental Health Treatment Beds
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris wants to double the number of mental health treatment beds available across the country and increase access to virtual mental health counseling. Harris will roll out her mental health platform Monday at a South Carolina event with radio host Charlamagne Tha God, who has spoken about his own mental health struggles. (11/25)
Politico:
How Kamala Harris Will Address The Mental Health Crisis
Harris says her Medicare for All plan will provide direct access to mental health professionals without deductibles or copays, and it would expand access to telemedicine services, especially in rural areas. Her plan will ensure home or community-based comprehensive long-term services are available for patients who need them. Mental health providers would also get a pay increase. The plan would eliminate the decades-old Medicaid restriction on funding care for patients staying at large mental health institutions. (Ehley, 11/25)
The Wall Street Journal:
New Drugs Emerge To Treat Sickle Cell Disease
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a new drug for sickle cell disease Monday, adding to a new wave of treatments that promise relief from the life-threatening blood disorder that largely afflicts African-Americans. Oxbryta, a once-daily pill from Global Blood Therapeutics Inc., GBT 6.79% blocks a process in blood cells that can lead to anemia and organ damage, hallmarks of sickle cell disease. It is the second treatment to get FDA approval in recent weeks, after the agency approved Novartis AG ’s Adakveo to reduce the frequency of bouts of pain that sickle cell patients can suffer. (Loftus, 11/25)
Politico:
PhRMA Ends Funding For High-Profile Addiction Treatment Group
A nonprofit that made ambitious promises to help people addicted to opioids is losing its biggest financial backer — the drug lobby. PhRMA, which has provided the Addiction Policy Forum with about 90 percent of its funding, cut its donation from $8.1 million to $6 million this year. The lobby will end all support in 2020, PhRMA and the forum’s CEO, Jessica Hulsey Nickel, confirmed. (Owemohle,11/25)
Stat:
How A Billionaire Couple Greased The Skids For Pelosi’s Drug Pricing Bill
When House Democrats pass legislation next month that would slash prescription drug spending to the tune of $1 trillion, they’ll have John and Laura Arnold to thank. The Texas billionaires, who in recent years have used their wealth to turbocharge America’s drug pricing debate, have brought their advocacy to a peak as Congress edges closer to enacting drug-price reforms. (Facher, 11/26)
The Associated Press:
Stop! Washing Your Thanksgiving Turkey Could Spread Germs
Go ahead and rinse your cranberries, potatoes and green beans. But food experts say don’t — repeat don’t — wash the turkey before popping it in the oven on Thanksgiving Day. They say that could spread the germs lurking on your turkey in the kitchen sink or nearby food. But it’s been a challenge trying to convince cooks to stop rinsing off raw poultry. (11/25)
The Washington Post:
CDC Recommended That Migrants Receive Flu Vaccine, But CBP Rejected The Idea
As influenza spread through migrant detention facilities last winter, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that U.S. Customs and Border Protection vaccinate detained migrants against the virus, a push that CBP rejected, according to a newly released letter to Congress. The CDC recommendation was revealed in a letter from the agency to Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn.), chair of the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees funding for the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes CDC. (Moore, 11/25)
The Washington Post:
CDC’s Vaping Investigation: Vitamin E Acetate, Smoking Machines And Aerosol Tests
Scientists were ecstatic. The test results were in. For the first time, the lab team at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had direct evidence that a chemical compound, vitamin E acetate, was a likely culprit in the disease that has sickened nearly 2,300 people and killed 47. Officials set a date to share the news. But as the lab team raced to test a last batch of lung fluid samples, the tool needed for the chemical analysis suddenly crashed. Scientists feared their precious samples would be destroyed. (Sun, 11/25)