- California Healthline Original Stories 2
- Your Grandma's Guide To Grass: State Rolls Out Website To Cut Through Cannabis Haze
- Hepatitis C Drug’s Lower Cost Paves Way For Medicaid, Prisons To Expand Treatment
- Covered California & The Health Law 1
- Officials Don't Sugarcoat It: Turmoil In Washington Has Roiled Covered California Exchanges
Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Your Grandma's Guide To Grass: State Rolls Out Website To Cut Through Cannabis Haze
Many Californians have been using pot for years, legally and illegally. But newbies, even Grandma, might benefit from a website that contains warnings about the risks. (Ana B. Ibarra, )
Hepatitis C Drug’s Lower Cost Paves Way For Medicaid, Prisons To Expand Treatment
The drug, sold under the name Mavyret, can cure all six genetic types of the liver disease in eight weeks at a cost of $26,400, well below other options. (Michelle Andrews, )
More News From Across The State
Covered California & The Health Law
Officials Don't Sugarcoat It: Turmoil In Washington Has Roiled Covered California Exchanges
“This has been the most unstable and challenged health insurance market in my tenure as a public servant,” said Dave Jones, California’s health insurance commissioner.
The San Diego Union-Tribune:
Turmoil In Washington Colors 2017 Open Enrollment
Usually, the annual ritual of selecting the right health plan for the coming year is quite predictable. The options are there on the table, and there is usually little thought that things might change dramatically after you make a decision. Not this year. ...Dave Jones, California’s health insurance commissioner, does not attempt to sugarcoat the effect that so much heated rhetoric has had on the task of getting insurance companies to offer affordable rates to consumers, especially in the private health insurance market now dominated by the Covered California health insurance exchange. (Sisson, 10/2)
The San Diego Union-Tribune:
How To Choose A Doctor Right For You
There are more than 10,000 physicians licensed to practice medicine in San Diego County, according to the Medical Board of California. But knowing which M.D. to pick, whether it’s finding a specialist for a knee replacement or a general practitioner for a checkup, is seldom an easy task. Open enrollment, a time when you may be changing health plans due to premium hikes or a change of options, is a good time to think about your relationship with your doctor and the larger medical group she or he works within. (Sisson, 10/2)
The San Diego Union-Tribune:
San Marcos Couple Chooses Faith-Based Option For Health Coverage
In 2009, shortly after an early retirement, Lisa and Wes Pratte of San Marcos signed up for a Kaiser health plan that cost about $400 a month with manageable deductibles and copays. But that plan went away in 2014 with the Affordable Care Act’s new health insurance mandate, and they were forced to buy a similar, but not exactly the same, plan on the Covered California health insurance exchange. ...Today, the couple pays only $300 per month for what the ministry calls its “gold program,” an arrangement which covers up to $125,000 per medical incident after members pay the first $500. The couple also buys a $40-per-year “Brother’s Keeper” plan which will provide them with unlimited payments for expenses that exceed the $125,000 threshold. (Sisson, 10/2)
Foster System Particularly Hard For LGBT Youth
LGBT foster youth were twice as likely as straight youth to report being treated poorly by the foster system, and more than three times as likely to have been hospitalized for emotional reasons.
Capital Public Radio:
Out Of The Closet, Onto The Street: Foster System A 'Pathway To Homelessness' For LGBT Youth
Half of all foster youth who age out of the system statewide end up homeless or incarcerated. Advocates say that number is probably higher for LGBT kids, who are less likely to find a permanent home, more frequently abused while in foster care, and more likely to run away from foster families. (Caiola, 10/2)
In other public health news —
Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
With Flu Season About To Start, Health Officials Advise Early Vaccinations
Flu season is here and local health officials say it’s a good time to get vaccinated against an illness that’s a temporary annoyance for most, but can be deadly for seniors, infants and those with compromised immune systems. Official flu surveillance begins this month and local health care providers have already begun reporting a “tiny trickle” of flu activity in recent weeks. But health officials say North Coast residents should get vaccinated against the flu sooner rather than later. (Espinoza, 10/2)
Modesto Bee:
Man Dies From West Nile Virus In Stanislaus County
A 74-year-old man has died from the West Nile virus, Stanislaus County health officials announced Monday morning. ...The news comes less than a week after a human services professor at Modesto Junior College died following a prolonged battle with complications from West Nile. (Ahumada, 10/2)
Contra Costa To Host Forums To Discuss How To Spend $51.6M In Mental Health Funds
More than 80 mental health programs are the current recipients of the funds.
East Bay Times:
Mental Health Services Are Focus Of Contra Costa County Forums
Contra Costa County will host a series of community forums in the fall on local public mental health services, starting with one at the Richmond Memorial Auditorium, 403 Civic Center Plaza, from 2:30 to 5 p.m. Oct. 5. ...The forums will be an opportunity to meet with service providers to discuss issues related to mental health care in the community, Contra Costa Health Services Department said in a release. (Lochner, 10/2)
In other news from across the state —
Orange County Register:
Sovereign Rehab Sues Federal Agents Claiming Abuses In June Raids
Workers and clients of Sovereign Health of California rehab centers filed a civil rights lawsuit Monday, Oct. 2 accusing federal agents of overstepping their authority in a series of raids in June looking for evidence of insurance fraud. The suit said six properties were raided by an “aggressive and disorganized mob” of more than 150 agents wearing flak jackets, carrying guns and using “SWAT-like tactics.” (Saavedra, 10/2)
KPBS:
Carlsbad Bans Commercial Marijuana Ahead Of Recreational Pot Sales
A new ordinance passed in Carlsbad is set to go into effect at the end of October, expressly prohibiting commercial cannabis activity, including the sale of recreational and medical cannabis. But personal use and cultivation will still be allowed under Proposition 64. (Hoffman, 10/2)
The creation of the position was triggered in the first place because of allegations involving the health plan's workplace environment.
Ventura County Star:
Medi-Cal Plan Seeks Chief Diversity Officer, Again
The man hired to serve as chief diversity officer for the Gold Coast Health Plan in a search process that took more than a year resigned after five months on the job. Announced in March, Douglas C. Freeman's hiring filled a position mandated in an ordinance passed in 2015 by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors. The ordinance was triggered by allegations involving the health plan's workplace environment, including allegedly racist posters displayed at Gold Coast's main offices. (Kisken, 10/2)
For Hospitals Tending To Onslaught Of Shooting Victims It Was 'Worst Moment And Proudest Moment'
Las Vegas-area hospitals are prepared and well equipped to deal with traumas, but Sunday's mass shooting was unlike any they'd seen before.
The New York Times:
Controlled Chaos At Las Vegas Hospital Trauma Center After Attack
On Sunday night, Toni Mullan drove 110 miles an hour on side streets from home to get back to University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, where she had just worked a 12-hour shift as a clinical supervisor in the trauma resuscitation department. Her car was smoking as she pulled into a three-hour parking spot close to the trauma center. Ms. Mullan, 54, left her hazard lights blinking as she shut the car door and raced inside. (Fink, 10/2)
The Wall Street Journal:
Las Vegas Hospitals Face Range Of Serious Traumas
Hospitals in Las Vegas are grappling with a range of patient injuries that reflect the chaos of Sunday evening’s mass shooting, including horrific gunshot wounds and traumas inflicted as victims tried to flee. Local hospitals called in extra staff as well as medical personnel from a nearby Air Force base to cope with the onslaught, as authorities on Monday reported at least 59 deaths and more than 527 wounded from the tragedy outside the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Whalen and Caldwell, 10/2)
NPR:
Las Vegas Hospitals Call In Reinforcements To Care For Shooting Victims
Hospitals across the Las Vegas area were inundated Sunday evening when hundreds of people injured in the mass shooting at a country music festival on the Strip arrived at their doors by ambulances and private car. And hundreds of doctors, nurses, and support personnel were called into work to help handle the patients that were lined up in ambulance bays and hallways, officials say. (Kodjak, 10/2)
The Hill:
Leading Doctors Group Calls For Automatic Weapons Ban After Las Vegas Shooting
The American College of Physicians issued a statement Monday labeling mass shootings a “serious public health issue” and calling for a ban on automatic and semiautomatic weapons in the wake of the mass shooting in Las Vegas. “We must acknowledge that lack of a U.S. policy to address gun violence is the reason we have much higher rates of injuries and deaths from firearms violence than other countries,” the group said in a statement. Specifically, we call for a ban on the sale and ownership of automatic and semiautomatic weapons." (Carter, 10/2)
Reuters:
After Las Vegas Massacre, Democrats Urge Gun Laws; Republicans Silent
Sunday's massacre in Las Vegas spurred a ritual-like response from U.S. politicians following the mass shootings that have left a trail of victims across the country: Democrats renewed demands for tougher gun laws while Republicans offered up prayers but showed no signs of supporting such legislation. (Cowan, Cornwell, Holland and Tuppper, 10/2)
Los Angeles Times:
GOP Still Plans To Vote On NRA-Backed Legislation That Eases Gun Restrictions
Congress has been unable, or unwilling, to approve gun control legislation after recent mass shootings — including one targeting lawmakers playing baseball — and it is unlikely to consider new bills after the attack in Las Vegas. To the contrary, House Republicans are on track to advance legislation easing firearms rules, including a package of bills backed by the National Rifle Assn. that would make it easier to purchase silencers. (Mascaro, 10/2)
Orange County Register:
San Bernardino County Employee Killed, 5 Others Injured, In Las Vegas Mass Shooting
A longtime employee of the San Bernardino County Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk’s office was among those killed in Sunday night’s mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, where the death toll now stands at 59, officials said Monday. (Nelson, 10/2)