Times of San Diego: Kaiser Workers Optimistic After Accreditation Org Changes Standards
More than 1,500 local healthcare workers and their families lined the sidewalks along Clairemont Mesa Boulevard last week during statewide strikes. Now, community support is continuing on after strikes have ended, with both sides agreeing to return to the bargaining table – with renewed optimism after medical accreditation organization The Joint Commission released updated standards on staffing during the strike. (Hernandez, 10/20)

The Modesto Bee: Stanislaus Attempts To Expand Behavioral Health Workforce
Partner organizations in San Joaquin County are highlighting progress with a behavioral health workforce expansion project and are bringing the model to Stanislaus County. California has a shortage of mental health professionals and job vacancy rates are a crisis in the Northern San Joaquin Valley, according to San Joaquin County Behavioral Health Services and the nonprofit HealthForce Partners California. (Carlson, 10/20)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Narrows Who Pays $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
President Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee will only apply to new visa applicants outside the country, the government confirmed in new guidance on Monday. That means that under the new policy, employers won’t need to pay the fee for anyone already living in the U.S., such as international students. (Hackman, 10/20)

MedPage Today: Physician Exits From Medicare Increased In Vulnerable Areas
The number of physicians serving Medicare patients grew from 2013 to 2023, but program exit rates in rural and underserved areas increased, according to an analysis of Medicare claims data.While the proportion of physicians in the Medicare program grew by 6.3% from 2013 to 2023, physicians living in nonmetropolitan counties were more likely to exit the program compared with those in metropolitan counties (2.71% vs 2.58%). (Firth, 10/20)

MedPage Today: Primary Care Docs Spend This Many Hours Per Week Caring For Patients
Primary care physicians (PCPs) clocked more than 60 hours a week caring for their patient panel, a cross-sectional study suggested. ... The finding translated to a median of 1.7 hours per patient per year, they wrote in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Patient panel characteristics and patient message volume also were associated with physician time expenditure. (Henderson, 10/20)

Stat: Kaiser Nears Medicare Advantage Fraud Settlement With DOJ 
The Justice Department and Kaiser Permanente are nearing a deal in their behind-the-scenes negotiations over the government’s claim that the California health care giant bilked Medicare out of $1 billion. (Bannow, 10/20)

Becker's Hospital Review: Stanford Health Care Taps Atropos, Microsoft For AI-Powered EHR Support
Stanford Health Care in Palo Alto, Calif., is integrating a new AI tool from Atropos Health into its EHR system to deliver personalized, real-world clinical evidence directly at the point of care. The Atropos Evidence Agent, announced in an Oct. 20 news release, draws from patient-level data in ChatEHR, Stanford’s AI platform that translates clinical records into plain language. The tool automatically generates evidence-based insights tailored to each patient, giving clinicians access to relevant data for treatment decisions without leaving the EHR workflow. (Diaz, 10/20)

Fierce Healthcare: WeightWatchers Teams With Amazon Pharmacy
WeightWatchers is joining forces with Amazon Pharmacy to make it easier for members to access weight management medications. The company announced Monday that through the partnership its members will be able to access information on real-time medication availability, automated coupon savings and home delivery for key medications they use to manage their weight. (Minemyer, 10/20)

Axios: Walmart To Sell Abbott Lingo OTC Glucose Monitor In Retail First
Walmart will become the first U.S. retailer to sell an over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor in physical stores, as Abbott's Lingo rolls out to more than 3,500 locations and online, the health care company told Axios exclusively Tuesday. (Tyko, 10/21)

Politico: ICE Is Hiring Dozens Of Health Workers As Lawsuits, Deaths In Custody Mount
The Trump administration is expanding its ranks of health care providers who work in immigration detention centers around the country as deaths in custody mount and federal oversight is weakened by layoffs. The push by the Department of Homeland Security to hire more than 40 doctors, nurses, psychiatrists, pharmacists and health administrators follows the revelation that nearly as many immigrants have died in custody so far this year than over the course of the Biden administration, according to government records. (Ollstein and Reader, 10/20)

The 19th: ICE Keeps Detaining Pregnant Immigrants — Against Federal Policy
Cary López Alvarado, of Hawthorne, California, was nine months pregnant when she was arrested by immigration officials alongside her husband, an immigrant from Guatemala. Alvarado was held overnight but was never sent to a detention facility: After taking her into custody, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) learned she was a U.S. citizen. Immediately after her release, she began to experience sharp pains in her stomach, according to a claim she filed against the federal government. She gave birth a few days later. (Luthra and Barclay, 10/20)

The Hill: Local Health Leaders Rebuke Federal Vaccine Policy
A group of two dozen public health leaders for major U.S. municipalities signed a letter published Monday, stating their united stance on supporting vaccinations and denouncing “repeated false claims” coming from federal officials. Published by the Big Cities Health Coalition, the letter was signed by the public health directors, commissioners and chief public health officers of places including Chicago, Los Angeles County, Boston, Seattle, Baltimore and Cleveland. (Choi, 10/20)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Napa Festival Gives Teens Space To Connect And Talk About Mental Health 
With stress and mental health challenges top of mind for many teens, a Napa nonprofit is creating space for them to slow down, connect and talk openly about well-being. Mentis — Napa County’s longtime nonprofit mental health agency — will host its third Youth Mental Health Festival on Saturday, offering an afternoon of creativity, community and self-care for teens ages 12 to 19. (Cavazos, 10/20)

Los Angeles Times: California Youths Are Struggling With Anxiety And Stress, Study Finds
About 94% of young people in California said they experience regular mental health challenges, with one-third reporting their mental health as “fair” or “poor,” according to a new report by Blue Shield of California and Children Now. Yet, young people also expressed hope about the future and said addressing their mental health issues and taking action on issues they care about helps them cope, the report said. (Sanganeria, 10/21)

Los Angeles Times: Why Some Parents Don't Want To Send Sick Children To School, Despite District Pleas
During the pandemic, the rules for school attendance with the sniffles were clear, if a bit draconian: Keep a child home from school at any sign of illness. Since then, school policies have softened significantly. At L.A. Unified, for example, parents are directed to send their children to school if they have a mild cold or cough. ... But the rules aren’t catching on among families. (Gold, 10/21)

Bay Area News Group: Thousands In Bay Area To See Health Care Costs Spike As Democrats Blast Trump And GOP
As the partial federal government shutdown reached its 20th day Monday, local Democrats in Congress aren’t backing down from demands that Republicans extend a hefty health care subsidy that’s currently lowering the cost of care for 1.7 million Californians and tens of thousands of Bay Area residents. (Stringer, 10/21)

The Modesto Bee: How California Health Care Premiums Could Skyrocket If Shutdown Continues
Covered California, which manages the health care marketplace in the state, estimates premiums will increase an average of 10.3% statewide. Without the credits, the organization estimates, the increase should average about 97%. (Lightman, 10/20)

AP: CDC Experts Skip Infectious Disease Meeting In Atlanta
CDC researchers are being forced to skip a pivotal conference on infectious disease this week due to the government shutdown, missing out on high-level discussions not long after surges in measles and whooping cough hit the U.S. IDWeek, the largest annual meeting of infectious disease experts in the nation, is the leading venue for experts to trade information about diagnosing, treating and preventing threats including bird flu, superbugs and HIV, among many other topics. (Stobbe, 10/20)

AP: Head Start Centers Face Funding Cutoff Under Shutdown
Head Start programs that serve tens of thousands of the nation’s neediest preschoolers are facing a cutoff of federal funding at the end of the month because of the government shutdown, leaving many scrambling to figure out how to keep their doors open. The early education initiative is funded almost entirely by the federal government, making it particularly vulnerable to funding disruptions. The programs — which are run by schools, local governments and nonprofits — receive new grants annually and are not allowed to carry over unspent money. (Balingit, 10/20)

AP: Nuclear Security Agency Starts Furloughing Workers
The federal agency tasked with overseeing the U.S. nuclear stockpile has begun furloughing employees as part of the ongoing federal government shutdown, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Monday. In a visit to Nevada, Wright said the National Nuclear Security Administration is furloughing 1,400 federal workers as part of the shutdown, which began Oct. 1. Nearly 400 federal workers will remain on the job, along with thousands of NNSA contractors, the Energy Department said. The NNSA, a semi-autonomous branch of the Energy Department, also works to secure nuclear materials around the world. (Daly, 10/20)

Becker's Hospital Review: Healthcare Disruptions Mount As Shutdown Enters Day 20
The Senate on Oct. 20 again voted against reopening the federal government, marking the 11th failed attempt to pass a House-approved funding measure. The move extends the shutdown into its 20th day — now the third-longest in modern U.S. history — with mounting consequences for the healthcare sector, including rising insurance premiums, stalled federal programs, delayed paychecks and growing data blind spots amid virus season. (Condon, 10/20)

AP: Supreme Court Considers Gun Ownership For Marijuana Smokers
The Supreme Court said on Monday that it will consider whether people who regularly smoke marijuana can legally own guns, the latest firearm case to come before the court since its 2022 decision expanding gun rights. President Donald Trump’s administration asked the justices to revive a case against a Texas man charged with a felony because he allegedly had a gun in his home and acknowledged being a regular pot user. The Justice Department appealed after a lower court largely struck down a law that bars people who use any illegal drugs from having guns. (Whitehurst, 10/20)