Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
California Surprise-Billing Law Protects Patients But Aggravates Many Doctors
A California law, which took effect in July 2017, protects consumers who use an in-network hospital or other facility from surprise bills when cared for by an out-of-network doctor. But physicians say the law has allowed insurers to shrink networks, limiting access to those doctors who have contracted with the patients’ insurance plans. (Michelle Andrews, )
Good morning! Here are some of your top California health stories for the day.
Consultant Who’s Urged Cities To Stop ‘Enabling’ Homeless By Handing Out Food To Lead Federal Coordination Efforts: Robert Marbut, who has worked with several cities, including Fresno and several other California cities and counties, would succeed Matthew Doherty as executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. Marbut, a Texas-based consultant sought after by communities looking for ways to address homelessness, has long encouraged elected officials to stop coddling people on the streets. In 2012, he pushed the Florida city of Clearwater to stop “renegade food” donations from churches and other charitable organizations. At the time, he characterized Clearwater as the second-most enabling city in America. “No one has got out of homelessness just because they got fed,” he told the Tampa Bay Times. “That has never happened.” The shift in leadership comes as President Trump has repeatedly vowed to crack down on street encampments in Los Angeles, San Francisco and elsewhere in California. Read more from Benjamin Oreskes of the Los Angeles Times.
Big Sonoma Hospitals Donate $625,000 Toward New Facility In Hopes Of Alleviating Bottleneck From Patients With Mental Health Issues: On average, psychiatric patients stay in emergency departments for two to three days, compared to two to six hours for patients being treated for a physical condition. What’s more is that emergency departments are not ideal for taking care of people going through acute psychiatric episodes. At the heart of that emergency care bottleneck at area hospitals is the lack of inpatient psychiatric centers in Sonoma County where people can be admitted for lengthy periods. The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors on Monday accepted a contribution of $624,999 from the three health care companies that operate the county’s largest hospitals: Kaiser Permanente, Sutter Santa Rosa Medical Center and Memorial hospital. Read more from Martin Espinoza of The Press Democrat.
Sacramento Hotels May Be Required To Provide Panic Buttons To Certain Employees As Safety Measure: The panic buttons would allow an employee to call for help when confronted with a physical or sexual assault or other emergency. According to a study by the union Unite Here Local 1 out of Chicago, 49 percent of housekeepers have seen hotel guests intentionally expose themselves. Sacramento Council member Eric Guerra says hotel owners actually recommended a tougher law. “Even when we were pushing for this to be only for the large hotels, they said, no, we believe everyone in the industry should be part of this,” Guerra said. “I think that goes to show that we all want a safe place not only for our guests, but for our workers." Read more from Steve Milne of Capital Public Radio.
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
San Francisco Chronicle:
SF’s Public Toilets A Big Relief And The 24-Hour Variety Come At A Big Cost
San Francisco officials have declared the recent test run of keeping the city’s Pit Stop public toilets open all night a success — and at about $28.50 per flush, it ought to be. “This is not complicated. When people have access to a clean, safe restroom, they will use it,” Mayor London Breed said last week when she announced the city would continue to keep three Pit Stops used in the test open all night until July while officials consider expanding the program to other locations. (Matier, 12/4)
East Bay Times:
Stanford Partnering With County To Expand Sexual Assault Exam Site To New Hospital
A day after Stanford University released its latest report of sexual misconduct on campus, Santa Clara County is set to expand access to sexual assault exams at the university’s new hospital. Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian announced Tuesday that Stanford Health Care intends to host the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center sexual assault forensic exam team along with rape crisis advocates to respond to sexual assault survivors starting as early as next February.
The new center will operate 24-hours a day at the newly opened Stanford Hospital’s emergency room with specially trained nurses on-call to perform the exams. (Toledo, 12/3)
LAist:
An LA Doula Program For Black Moms Derails After Accusations Of Racial Insensitivity
A promising local program that provided doula services for African American women in Los Angeles County is no longer taking clients after a number of contentious staff departures. Some of the women were fired, and at least one other left in solidarity. (Dale, 12/3)
Sacramento Bee:
How To Stop Deadly Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention videos show how to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning in the home. (Caraccio, 12/3)
Modesto Bee:
Marijuana Legalization Gets Important Congressional Backing
An historic House bill to decriminalize marijuana is moving in Congress with support from both Democrats and Republicans —legislation that would have a dramatic impact on people convicted of using or possessing the drug. The bill, approved by the House Judiciary Committee last month on a vote that attracted both Democratic and Republican support, would allow marijuana convictions to be erased while allocating federal funds to help people whose lives were profoundly affected. (Lightman and Sheeler, 12/4)
Modesto Bee:
Tough Fines Await Illegal Cannabis Operators In Stanislaus
Stanislaus County authorities have been cracking down on illegal marijuana cultivation sites and operations. But the criminal penalties under the state’s more lenient cannabis laws today are not deterring the illegal operations, officials say. The county is now adding a stick to its enforcement campaign in the form of administrative penalties — potentially huge penalties — against illegal growers. (Carlson, 12/4)
Capital Public Radio:
Sacramento Tries To Crack Down On Illegal Marijuana Grows
The city of Sacramento has issued nearly $100 million dollars in fines against homeowners for illegal cannabis grows in the past two years. Many are rental property owners who claim rogue tenants operated the grows without their knowledge. Dozens have taken legal action to challenge the city, but some attorneys call the process "a kangaroo court." (Ruyak, 12/3)
The San Francisco Chronicle:
‘I Couldn’t Pay The Bills’: Son’s Epilepsy Upends Napa Family’s Finances
When her husband called unexpectedly in the middle of a workday in April, Eva Espinosa didn’t know what she would hear on the other line. Within seconds, her life was changed. Her 18-year-old son had suffered a seizure and had fallen and hit his head on the floor, Espinosa said. It was the first time her son, Miguel Angel Torres, had had one. Espinosa dropped her head into her hands. (Ravani, 12/4)
LAist:
LA County Will Add 500 Badly Needed Mental Health Treatment Beds
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to add 500 mental health treatment beds over the next two years, as part of a larger effort to increase services for Angelenos who need psychiatric help. The supervisors approved recommendations in a report from the County Department of Mental Health, which said there's a serious shortage of psychiatric treatment beds. Emergency rooms are overloaded and about one-quarter of the county's adult homeless people have a serious mental illness, according to the report. (Garrova, 12/3)
Sacramento Bee:
White House Delays New Agent Orange Benefits For Veterans
The Trump administration should stop blocking Vietnam veterans with bladder cancer and three other diseases the government does not recognize as tied to Agent Orange from getting the benefits they deserve, two California congressmen said in a letter to the White House on Monday. House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano, D-Riverside, and Rep. Josh Harder, D-Turlock, sent a letter to White House Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney saying his decision to block bladder cancer, Parkinson’s-like symptoms, hypothyroidsism and hypertension from being added to a list of conditions that are tied to Agent Orange was “despicable.” (Ibry, Copp and Chambers, 12/3)
The Associated Press:
Biden Steps Up Hits On Buttigieg, Warren Over Health Care
Joe Biden is taking aim at Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren during an eight-day tour of Iowa that the former vice president hopes will help him gain ground in the state that holds the first presidential caucus. Biden argued Tuesday that Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is riding his coattails in pushing for a “public option” government-insurance plan to be sold alongside private insurance. He argued that Warren, meanwhile, is out of step with the Democratic Party and the general electorate with her call for a single-payer “Medicare for All” system that would supplant the private insurance market altogether. (12/3)
The Hill:
Biden: Majority Of Democratic Enthusiasm Isn't Around 'Medicare For All'
Former Vice President Joe Biden downplayed enthusiasm for "Medicare for All" within the Democratic Party on Thursday, saying the majority of the party was not behind the policy idea. "I don’t think the bulk of the enthusiasm in the Democratic Party is for Medicare for All," Biden said in Iowa, according to NBC News. (Manchester, 12/3)
The Hill:
Buttigieg Responds To Biden's Accusation He 'Stole' Health Care Proposal
South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg on Tuesday responded to fellow Democratic White House contender Joe Biden’s allegations that he “stole” the former vice president’s health care proposal. “Well, first of all, I’ve been talking about ‘Medicare for all who want it’ since at least February, and also the plans are not exactly the same,” Buttigieg told CNN. (Campisi, 12/3)
The New York Times:
200,000 Uninsured Americans To Get Free H.I.V.-Prevention Drugs
With donated drugs and services provided by major pharmacy chains, 200,000 uninsured Americans will gain access to H.I.V.-preventive medicines at no cost, the Trump administration announced on Tuesday. The announcement, by Alex M. Azar II, the health and human services secretary, essentially explained how the government plans to distribute the drugs for pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, that were promised in May by the drugmaker Gilead Sciences. (McNeil, 12/3)
The Washington Post:
Trump Administration Pushes Efforts To Wipe Out HIV Amid Stalled Progress
Only 40 percent of U.S. adults have ever been tested for HIV, and fewer than a fifth of the people at high risk for developing the infection are receiving the medication that prevents it, the government reported Tuesday. Dramatic improvement in testing and prevention, and better treatment of people who already have HIV, are urgently needed if the government is to reach President Trump’s goal of virtually wiping out transmission of the infection by 2030, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. (Bernstein, 12/3)
The New York Times:
Labor Unions Team Up With Drug Makers To Defeat Drug-Price Proposals
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s bill to lower drug prices has the backing of many of the nation’s biggest labor groups, including the United Auto Workers, the A.F.L.-C.I.O., and unions representing teachers and other government workers. But a wave of Facebook ads that ran this fall appeared to suggest otherwise. The ads, featuring a dejected-looking man in a hard hat, warned that the bill “threatens thousands of good-paying jobs and restricts access to lifesaving medication.” (Thomas, 12/3)
The Associated Press:
Senate Panel Backs Trump's Pick To Run FDA
Senate lawmakers on Tuesday moved one step closer to confirming President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration, the agency responsible for combating a recent wave of underage vaping. The Senate’s health committee voted 18-5 to advance the nomination of Dr. Stephen Hahn, a cancer specialist and medical executive at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Several Democrats opposed Hahn for the role, worrying he would not be tough enough tackling the vaping problem among teenagers. (12/3)
Reuters:
Special Report-Powder Keg: FDA Bowed To Industry For Decades As Alarms Were Sounded Over Talc
At an invitation-only gathering late last year, U.S. regulators and their guests huddled at a hotel near Washington, D.C., to discuss the best way to detect cancer-causing asbestos in talc powders and cosmetics. The “Asbestos in Talc Symposium,” sponsored by the Food and Drug Administration, was dominated by industry hands: Most of the 21 non-government participants had done work for talc companies, such as testing and serving as expert witnesses and consultants, symposium documents and other records show. (12/3)
The New York Times:
They Pushed Hard This Year To Curtail Abortion. Wait For 2020.
Months after state lawmakers around the country approved some of the most restrictive limits on abortion seen in decades, some states want to push still further. Leading the way is Ohio, where Republicans are contemplating banning nearly all abortions from the time of conception, with no exceptions for rape or incest, and the highly unusual step of allowing women who have abortions to be prosecuted for murder. Especially contentious in the Ohio proposal is a provision that would direct doctors treating women with a sometimes life-threatening condition when a fertilized egg implants outside of the uterus to try to “reimplant an ectopic pregnancy into the woman’s uterus.” (Williams, 12/4)
The Hill:
Survey: 37 Percent Of Americans Plan To Skip Flu Vaccine This Season
Thirty-seven percent of American adults don't plan to get flu shots this season, according to a poll released Tuesday. A survey conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago found those who don't plan to get shots have concerns about the side effects of the vaccine or think it doesn't work very well. (Hellmann, 12/3)