Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Planned Parenthood’s ‘Risky Strategy’ To Update Its Image
The nation’s largest reproductive health services provider is in the midst of a high-stakes effort to showcase what it considers its vital role in providing community health care. (Shefali Luthra and Anna Maria Barry-Jester, )
Good morning! Tuesday marked Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 100 days in office. A look at what he’s done in that time is below, but first, here are your top California health stories for the day.
Following Controversy Over Surprise Medical Bills, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital Overhauls Its Policies: Because the hospital was designed to mostly serve patients who were covered through government assistance, officials had made the rare decision not to form partnerships with private insurers. That means people who were treated at the hospital often faced sky-high surprise medical bills for simple procedures because their care, by default, was out of network. An investigation threw a national light on the issue, sparking pushback from city leaders and the public, alike. On Tuesday, the hospital announced that it will no longer charge those with private coverage “any more than they would have paid out of pocket for the same care at in-network facilities, based on their insurance coverage.” It will also create a new out-of-pocket maximum on what patients could end up owing for their treatment. The maximum is tethered to a patient’s income. Separately, the California legislature is currently considering legislation that would bar all state hospitals from pursuing charges beyond a patient’s regular co-payment or deductible. Read more from Vox.
Health Disparities In State, Childhood Trauma Top List Of Priorities for California Surgeon General: Dr. Nadine Burke Harris was tapped by Gov. Gavin Newsom to be the state’s first surgeon general. Burke Harris sat down in a recent interview to talk about what both she and Newsom see as the issues that need to be most urgently addressed. “The governor was really supportive of deepening and expanding the work around childhood trauma, early childhood health and also these issues of how we address the ways that early adversity manifests in affecting health throughout the life course,” Burke Harris said. She comes to the position with a specific expertise in how adverse childhood experiences can leave a lasting mark into adulthood. Read more from Capital Public Radio.
Sacramento City Council Approves A Ban On Flavored Tobacco Products Starting Next Year: The council members voted 7-1 on Tuesday to approve the flavor ban, which makes it illegal to sell flavored e-cigarette cartridges, menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products in Sacramento’s city limits. While public health advocates cheered the decision as teen vaping continues to grow in popularity. Since 2016, e-cigarette use has risen by 50 percent among eleventh-graders in Sacramento City Unified School District. Shop owners, however, were less than pleased. One owner estimated that the ban will cause him to lose 85 percent of his customers and force him into bankruptcy. Former smokers were also worried that the ban would make it harder for them to get a useful tool they used to help curb their addiction to traditional cigarettes. 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. And have a healthy weekend.
More News From Across The State
Capital Public Radio:
Timeline: Gavin Newsom’s First 100 Days As Governor Of California
Since taking office in January, Gov. Gavin Newsom has put forth sweeping proposals on issues like health care, housing and wildfire prevention, in hopes of legislative action later this year. He’s also made lots of splashy announcements — not all of which are as bold as they appeared. Here’s a look back at some of the key moments in his first 100 days as governor of California. You can also listen back to CapRadio’s interview with Newsom on Monday here. (4/16)
Sacramento Bee:
California Owes $7 Billion For Pensions Next Year
California state government’s bill for public employee pensions is set to rise by $676 million.CalPERS on Tuesday advanced a scheduled increase in employer contribution rates, bringing the state’s total bill for the 2019-2020 budget year to about $7 billion. That money comes out of taxes and fees collected by the state and is part of the compensation promised to state workers. (Venteicher, 4/17)
KQED:
Despite Warnings Of Contaminated Water, Some Paradise Residents Are Moving Back
The extent of the latest crisis unfolding in Paradise is yet unknown: The deadly fire may also have contaminated up to 173 miles of pipeline in the town's water system with cancer-causing benzene and other volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. Preliminary results have shown contamination in about a third of the lines tested, though only about 2 percent of the entire system has been sampled. (Siegler, 4/16)
Sacramento Bee:
New PG&E Chief To Be Paid Millions
Already facing criticism over a proposed bonus plan for thousands of employees, PG&E plans to pay its new chief executive at least $6 million a year to run the bankrupt utility. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, PG&E Corp. said Tuesday that new CEO Bill Johnson receive $6 million a year in base pay and stock awards. The stock awards will be based on a performance scale heavily weighted toward the utility’s safety record — an apparent nod to critics who have ripped PG&E over the deadly wildfires of 2017 and 2018. (Kasler, 4/16)
Los Angeles Times:
To Steer Her Child Away From Obesity, A Mother Turns Her Life Upside Down
Early childhood obesity is one of the most intractable health issues facing Los Angeles County, where about 20% of 3- and 4-year-olds are obese. Among school-age children, 45% are overweight or obese by the time they reach fifth grade — higher than the percentage of Californians as a whole. (Boyd-Barrett, 4/16)
The New York Times:
Stanford Clears Professor Of Helping With Gene-Edited Babies Experiment
Stanford University has cleared Stephen Quake, a bioengineering professor, of any wrongdoing in his interactions with a Chinese researcher who roiled the scientific world by creating the first gene-edited babies. “In evaluating evidence and witness statements, we found that Quake observed proper scientific protocol,” said a letter from the university to Dr. Quake, obtained by The New York Times on Tuesday. Referring to the Chinese scientist, He Jiankui, by his nickname, JK, the letter said that Stanford’s investigators concluded that Dr. Quake did not “directly participate in any way in JK’s research, including in the conception or performance of the work.” (Belluck, 4/16)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. Opens A Homeless Shelter In Hollywood. But Those Still Outside Are Facing A Crackdown
A new shelter has opened in Hollywood, sweeping 72 people off the aging entertainment district’s sidewalks. But the opening has triggered a crackdown on street camps that advocates warn is criminalizing homeless people. The $3-million Schrader shelter, between Sunset and Hollywood boulevards, is the second facility to open its doors under Mayor Eric Garcetti’s “A Bridge Home” initiative. (Holland, 4/16)
Los Angeles Times:
LAPD Records Drop In Shootings By Officers But Still Leads The Nation
The use of deadly force by Los Angeles police and the number of suspects killed in violent encounters dropped in 2018, officials reported Tuesday. Even with reductions, the LAPD led the nation in fatal police shootings last year, with 14, the report said. Los Angeles police officers fired their weapons 33 times last year compared with 44 shootings the previous year — a 25% decrease, according to the report presented to the Police Commission. It’s the second-fewest incidences of police shootings since 1989, the report said. (Puente, 4/16)
The New York Times:
Gun Research Is Suddenly Hot
In 1996, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stopped funding research into the causes of gun violence. And for decades the field suffered from neglect: low funding and a corresponding limited interest in academia. Then came a series of high-profile mass shootings. And donations from billionaires. A result has been a recent surge in state and private funding for gun research, and a revival in interest among journal editors and young academics beginning their careers. (Sanger-Katz, 4/17)
The Hill:
Largest Private Insurance Company Slams 'Medicare For All' Plans
The CEO of the nation's largest health insurer on Tuesday sharply criticized "Medicare for all" proposals being debated by Democratic lawmakers and presidential hopefuls, weighing in on a major political fight ahead of the 2020 election. Medicare for all would amount to a “wholesale disruption of American health care [that] would surely jeopardize the relationship people have with their doctors, destabilize the nation’s health system, and limit the ability of clinicians to practice medicine at their best,” UnitedHealth Group CEO David Wichmann said on a conference call. (Weixel, 4/16)
The Hill:
Sanders Courts GOP Voters With 'Medicare For All' Plan
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is trying to use “Medicare for All” to win over white working-class voters, many of whom supported President Trump in 2016. The 2020 candidate went on Fox News, Trump’s turf, on Monday night for a town hall, where audience members cheered when asked if they would support Medicare for All. Sanders shared the clip on social media several times the following day. (Sullivan, 4/16)
The Hill:
House Dems Unveil Legislation Aimed At Curbing Youth Tobacco Use
Two Democratic House lawmakers on Tuesday unveiled legislation aimed at tamping down the uptick of tobacco and e-cigarette use in young people. Under the Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act — spearheaded by House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Fla.), the former secretary of Health and Human Services under the Clinton administration — the government would raise the minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21 years of age. (Brufke, 4/16)
Politico:
Republicans Reject Democratic Attempts To Tighten Vaccine Laws
Most Republicans are rejecting Democrat-led state bills to tighten childhood immunization laws in the midst of the worst measles outbreak in two decades, alarming public health experts who fear the nation could become as divided over vaccines as it is over global warming. Democrats in six states — Colorado, Arizona, New Jersey, Washington, New York and Maine — have authored or co-sponsored bills to make it harder for parents to avoid vaccinating their school-age children, and mostly faced GOP opposition. Meanwhile in West Virginia and Mississippi, states with some of the nation’s strictest vaccination laws, Republican lawmakers have introduced measures to expand vaccine exemptions, although it’s not yet clear how much traction they have. (Allen, 4/16)
The New York Times:
F.D.A. Halts U.S. Sales Of Pelvic Mesh, Citing Safety Concerns For Women
The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday ordered the two remaining medical device companies selling surgical mesh for the repair of pelvic organ prolapse to stop all sales and distribution in the United States. It is the most stringent action the F.D.A. has taken in the lengthy legal and medical battles over vaginal mesh, a synthetic product that has been implanted in millions of women to strengthen weakened pelvic muscles that can cause the bladder, the uterus and other organs to sag into the vaginal area. (Kaplan and Goldstein, 4/16)
The Associated Press:
Judge Wants Faster Identification Of Separated Families
A judge said Tuesday it appeared the Trump administration could identify potentially thousands of children who were separated from their families at the border in much less time than the one to two years officials want to complete the work, though he was reluctant to impose a deadline. U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw asked lawyers for the administration and for the American Civil Liberties Union to reach an agreement before an April 24 hearing that will include Jonathan White, a U.S. Health and Human Services Department official who led a previous effort that reunited more than 2,700 children with their families. (4/16)