- California Healthline Original Stories 3
- Stoked! Weed May Light The Flame For A Roll In The Hay
- 4 Things To Know About ACA At Year 5
- Postcard From Canada: In The Land Of Single-Payer, Bernie Sanders Gets Hero’s Welcome
Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Stoked! Weed May Light The Flame For A Roll In The Hay
A new study of tens of thousands of Americans contradicts stereotypes that stoners have less sex. (Carrie Feibel, KQED, )
4 Things To Know About ACA At Year 5
This year’s Obamacare open enrollment will be marked by a number of changes. KHN helps you navigate them. (Julie Rovner and Julie Appleby, )
Postcard From Canada: In The Land Of Single-Payer, Bernie Sanders Gets Hero’s Welcome
The Vermont senator found a friendly audience when he took his “Medicare-for-all message” to Canada. (Shefali Luthra, )
More News From Across The State
Covered California & The Health Law
The Theme For Open Enrollment This Year? Rampant Confusion
Open enrollment for 2018 health coverage under the Affordable Care Act starts on Wednesday. But consumers across the country have been left scratching their heads -- if they know they even still need coverage at all.
Los Angeles Times:
Obamacare Insurance Markets Open This Week Amid Confusion And Uncertainty
Health insurance marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act begin accepting 2018 applications Wednesday amid mounting concern that the Trump administration’s repeated attacks on the law will dramatically depress enrollment. The marketplaces -- a centerpiece of the law commonly called Obamacare -- continue to provide coverage for some 10 million people. And they remain the only option for many low- and moderate-income Americans who don’t get health benefits through an employer or a government program such as Medicare or Medicaid. (Levey, 10/31)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Rising Premiums, Consumer Confusion As Covered California Enters 5th Year
As Covered California enters its fifth year, the health insurance exchange is facing challenges both old and new, from rising health premiums to widespread confusion among consumers over how their health plans may change next year — all while the president proclaims that the health law that created the exchange is collapsing. (Ho, 10/30)
KPBS:
Covered California Official Says Exchange Is Alive And Well
If President Trump had his way, Covered California would not even be in business. But despite the president's attacks on the Affordable Care Act, California's health insurance exchange is alive and well as it launches its fifth open enrollment period. (Goldberg, 10/31)
The Washington Post:
Fifth Year’s ACA Enrollment Season Opening With Daunting Obstacles
In Indianapolis, the director of the state’s largest organization helping people find Affordable Care Act insurance had to lay off nine of 13 staff members last month because the federal government had just taken away more than 80 percent of the grant that paid for their work. In Atlanta, festivalgoers at the annual Pride weekend in mid-October were mystified that members of Insure Georgia had a table set up, because they thought President Trump had gotten rid of the health-care law. (Goldstein and Eilperin, 10/30)
Premiums For Popular Plans To Spike, But That May Just Translate Into Government Paying More
The Trump administration released the report with the dire news on Monday. But most consumers are eligible for federal tax credits that help pay for premiums, and the value of a credit increases as the cost of premiums for one of the exchange’s most popular plans rises.
The Wall Street Journal:
Health Premiums To Rise, Trump Administration Says
Dozens of insurers are leaving the Affordable Care Act’s federal insurance exchange, and consumers who don’t get premium help will see some rates for popular plans jump by more than 30% next year, according to a Trump administration report released Monday. The data, which come just before Wednesday’s launch of open enrollment under the ACA, is likely to add to debate over whether the Obama-era law is failing, or whether it is being sabotaged by congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump. (Armour, 10/30)
The Hill:
HHS Report: ObamaCare Premiums Rise Significantly
Premiums for ObamaCare plans are rising significantly in many counties across the country according to a new government report, which experts have largely attributed to actions taken by the Trump administration. According to the report from the Department of Health and Human Services, premiums are increasing for the average "benchmark" plans by about 37 percent. But tax credit subsidies are also rising, meaning more people will be able to purchase insurance at lower rates. (Weixel, 10/30)
CNN:
Premiums For Popular Obamacare Plans To Soar 37% For 2018
In the annual landscape report, the Trump administration highlighted many of the negative developments that will plague Obamacare next year. In prior reports, the Obama administration focused on how the premium subsidies make Affordable Care Act policies more affordable. "This data demonstrates just how rapidly Obamacare's exchanges are deteriorating with skyrocketing premiums year after year, more than half of Americans with no more than two insurers to choose from, and the taxpayer burden exploding," said Caitlin Oakley, press secretary for the Department of Health & Human Services. (Luhby, 10/30)
The Hill:
House, Trump Admin Seek To Keep ObamaCare Payments On Hold
The House and the Trump administration are asking to keep a pause on a years-long court battle over the legality of crucial ObamaCare payments to insurers, while Democratic attorneys general are seeking for the case to proceed. In 2014, the House sued the Obama administration, arguing it was funding key payments to insurers illegally, alleging that there wasn’t a direct appropriation from Congress. The House won, and the Obama administration appealed the ruling. (Roubein, 10/30)
The Hill:
Hatch Doesn't Rule Out ObamaCare Mandate Repeal In Tax Reform
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) is not ruling out a push by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) to repeal ObamaCare's individual mandate in tax-reform legislation. Asked if he is open to repealing the mandate as part of a tax-reform bill, Hatch said Monday: "Sure, I didn't think it should be there to begin with.” (Sullivan, 10/30)
To Get Young People To Stop Smoking, Call Upon Their Peers
Experts say that the non-judgmental attitude used by peers can influence smokers to approach their habit differently.
Capital Public Radio:
Millennials Can Help Each Other Quit Smoking, New Study Shows
Young adults may be more likely to quit smoking if the push to do so comes from someone in their age group, new research shows. They found that 12.5 percent of the young people they'd talked to quit smoking later on. (Caiola, 10/30)
In other public health news —
Ventura County Star:
Domestic Violence Prompts Oxnard Vigil
Women, men and children stood in a circle outside an Oxnard church Friday night. Behind them, small aprons hung on a railing. Each one had a hand-drawn message about stopping domestic violence. The vigil was held "to create consciousness in the community that there needs to be a halt in domestic violence," said Arcelia Aguilera, a committee secretary for the Ventura County chapter for Lideres Campesinas. She spoke in Spanish. (Carlson, 10/30)
Los Angeles Times:
The 9 Worst Things You Can Do To Your Teeth
It’s that scary time of year — sugar season. You might know it as Halloween, when Americans are predicted to buy $2.7 billion worth of candy, according to the National Retail Federation. However, dentists and wary parents know the holiday is the unofficial launch of a sweets bacchanal that starts with trick-or-treat candy, and continues with Thanksgiving pie, Christmas cookies, Valentine’s chocolates and Easter jelly beans, and ends with an expensive trip to the dentist. (Herman, 10/30)
KPCC:
Can You Tell The Pot Edibles From The Regular Snacks?
Come January first, it will be legal to sell recreational pot to adults in California. Public health groups are trying to raise awareness about the dangers of edible marijuana products, especially with Halloween coming up. (Garrova, 10/30)
Former Lab Owner Sentenced To 8 Years For Felony Health Fraud Charges
Michael Mirando was also ordered to pay more than $3 million in restitution.
Orange County Register:
Former Orange County Lab Owner Sentenced To 8 Years For Healthcare Fraud
A former Aliso Viejo resident was sentenced to eight years in prison on Monday for submitting fraudulent bills to insurance companies for $8 million in medical tests and services that were never performed. Michael Mirando, 40, who now resides in Portland, Oregon, was found guilty on May of 15 felony counts of healthcare fraud. (Puente, 10/30)
In other news from across the state —
East Bay Times:
Homeless Campers Sue City, BART
A group of homeless campers has sued the city and BART, seeking injunctions against eviction and damages for what they claim were violations of their constitutional rights. The plaintiffs — Clark Sullivan, James Blair, Toan Nguyen, Arika Miles and Adam Bredenberg — belong to the “First They Came for the Homeless” camp, which they describe as “an intentional community of homeless Berkeley residents,” formed in 2015, that “publicly opposes Berkeley’s increasing efforts since 2015 to criminalize the condition of homelessness.” (Lochner, 10/30)
Oakland Tribune:
Water Run Dovetails Into Mt. Diablo School District’s Wellness Campaign
Brian Lawrence was on a 12-mile quest. The Mt. Diablo Unified School District board member took off running last Friday, traveling from high school to high school, in support of current measures to get more thirst-quenching water stations available at the various district school sites. Accustomed to the flat terrain of the Foothill Middle School track where he regularly runs pre-dawn, the downhill slopes of this route revealed “some muscles (he) hadn’t been using,” and Lawrence admitted subsequent soreness. (Shaw, 10/31)
More Than 150 Lawmakers Ask Congress To Pull Community Health Centers Back From Funding Cliff
The federal money for the centers expired in September, and the letter from the bipartisan group of lawmakers says about 2,800 health center sites would close, “endangering the health care of about 9 million patients," if the funding isn't renewed.
The Hill:
Bipartisan Lawmakers Urge Health Center Funding Reauthorization
A bipartisan group of more than 150 lawmakers is calling for Congress to reauthorize critical funding for community health centers, which care for some of the nation’s most vulnerable patients. A noncontroversial part of ObamaCare was the creation of a special trust fund for community health centers, which serve more than 25 million people regardless of their ability to pay for their medical services. The money accounts for 70 percent of federal grant funding for community health centers, and the dollars — reauthorized in 2015 — expired at the end of September. (Roubein, 10/30)
Stat gets an exclusive look at the plan that will be unveiled Wednesday. In other news, drugmakers are under pressure from a new coalition that's seeking information on how these companies are responding to the increased business risks caused by the opioid crisis.
Stat:
Trump Opioid Commission Will Recommend Nationwide Drug Courts
President Trump’s commission on combating the opioid epidemic plans to encourage the federal government to establish drug courts in every federal judicial district, adjust reimbursement rates for addiction treatment, and streamline federal funding used by state and local governments to implement drug treatment and prevention programs, according to a draft of the panel’s final report. Those steps are among the 53 recommendations laid out in the draft, a copy of which was obtained by STAT. The final report is set to be released on Wednesday. (Facher, 10/30)
Stat:
Investor Groups Pressure Drug Makers And Wholesalers Over Opioids
A coalition of 30 state treasurers, pension funds, and faith-based groups are filing shareholder proposals asking 10 drug makers and distributors to investigate how these companies are responding to the increased business risks caused by the opioid crisis. In announcing their plans, the coalition noted that drug makers are coming under increasing “legal and legislative scrutiny” for allegedly failing to disclose the addictive potential of opioid painkillers, and that distributors are being pressured to do a better job of reporting suspicious orders to state and federal authorities. (Silverman, 10/30)