Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Surge In Enrollment As Californians Avoid Penalty, Receive State Aid
Although a new state tax penalty and state financial aid motivated people to sign up for health insurance this year, Covered California is reopening enrollment for those who said they weren’t aware of them. (Rachel Bluth and Samantha Young, )
Good morning! Here are your top California health stories of the day.
Covered California Sign-Ups Skyrocket In Sharp Contrast To Health Exchanges' National Numbers: New numbers released Tuesday show many more Californians signed up for health insurance this year than last year, even as state officials are extending the deadline for people to enroll in coverage. California’s marketplace saw a 41 percent jump in new sign-ups from last year, from nearly 300,000 to more than 418,000. In total, over 1.5 million people signed up for or renewed insurance plans through the marketplace, known as Covered California. “This has proven the case that the Affordable Care Act, as designed and not kneecapped, works and works well,” said Covered California Executive Director Peter Lee. Open enrollment ended Jan. 31, but Covered California is creating a special enrollment period to allow people who didn’t know about the new policies to sign up for coverage through the end of April. Read more from Sophia Bollag of the Sacramento Bee, Melody Gutierrez of the Los Angeles Times, and Catherine Ho of the San Francisco Chronicle.
California Jails May Get More Scrutiny, Harsher Consequences As Part Of Push To Improve Dangerous Conditions: The Board of State and Community Corrections plans to publicize details about uncorrected violations in jails and summon elected county sheriffs who delay reforms or rebuff the oversight agency. The changes are in response to a yearlong investigation that exposed dangerous conditions in county jails and lagging enforcement of the state’s standards. The community corrections board was created to help oversee changes brought on by 2011’s prison realignment, which diverted thousands of offenders from unconstitutionally overcrowded state prisons to county jails. While board officials have no legal authority to force jails into compliance, officials say increased transparency about the inspections and the ability to force sheriffs to publicly explain decisions are steps they can take immediately. Read more from Jason Pohl of the Sacramento Bee and Ryan Gabrielson of ProPublica.
LA Models New Strategy To Get Homeless People Into Housing On Federal Government’s Natural Disaster Plan: The creation of a “Housing Central Command” marks an overhaul of how agencies work together in addressing the growing number of people living on the street. Previously the system was slowed by red tape and gaps in information showing what housing units were available and who is eligible to move into them, officials said. The new initiative uses a “war room model” inspired by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s approach to finding homes for people suddenly displaced by hurricanes. Read more from Christopher Weber of The Associated Press.
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:
Coronavirus Patient Under Isolation In Napa Hospital
A person diagnosed with the new coronavirus has been isolated in a Napa County hospital, public health officials said Tuesday. The individual tested positive for coronavirus in Japan, where he or she was quarantined on the Diamond Princess cruise ship before being flown to Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, according to a news release from Napa County officials. The patient, who has not experienced symptoms, is under isolation in Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa. (Bauman, 2/18)
San Jose Mercury News:
New Coronavirus Case Reported In Napa County
Two passengers from the ill-fated Diamond Princess cruise ship are in isolation at a Napa hospital, including one who tested positive for coronavirus and the other who has exhibited symptoms of the disease. (Sulek, 2/18)
Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
Napa County Hospital Treats First Coronavirus Patient, Testing Another For The Virus
“There is minimal risk for Napa County residents from the arrival of these two patients at the Queen of the Valley,” said Napa County Public Health Officer Karen Relucio in the news release. “They are in isolation, and are receiving medical care and undergoing testing.” Both patients are under federal quarantine. Their cities of residence are not yet known. The first patient tested positive for the virus in Japan, but has not experienced any symptoms associated with the virus, the news release said. The other tested negative in Japan but is experiencing symptoms, which are similar to the flu and include a runny nose, cough and fever. (Lee, 2/18)
NPR:
Coronavirus Update: 346 Americans Emerge From Quarantine At 2 California Military Bases
Some 346 Americans who were evacuated from Wuhan, China, amid the deadly coronavirus outbreak emerged from their quarantine at two military bases in California on Tuesday, U.S. officials say.The group includes 180 Americans who have been living under a mandatory quarantine order at Travis Air Force Base, on the outskirts of the Bay Area, roughly 40 miles southwest of Sacramento, and 166 U.S. citizens who have been living at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar near San Diego. (Chappell, 2/18)
The Wall Street Journal:
Coronavirus Has U.S. Cities Stretching To Monitor Self-Quarantined Americans
Public-health officials in the U.S. are striving to keep tabs on thousands of Americans who have quarantined themselves at home after returning from mainland China to curtail the new coronavirus, adding to an epidemic response that is straining already-stretched local departments. More than 5,400 people had been asked to self-quarantine in California alone as of Feb. 14, according to the California Department of Public Health. Hundreds more are self-quarantining in Georgia, Washington state, Illinois, New York and other states. (Abbott, 2/19)
Los Angeles Times:
SARS Killed Hundreds And Then Disappeared. Could This Coronavirus Die Out?
The mysterious virus first emerged in the winter in eastern China, a never-before-seen pathogen that would rattle the world’s sense of safety and ignite a global panic. In the months that followed, hundreds of people began seeking medical treatment because they were coughing, struggling to breathe and, in some cases, approaching death. Scientists racing to quell the outbreak determined the source was a novel strain of coronavirus. The World Health Organization called for immediate action to prevent the global health threat from sweeping across multiple continents and killing thousands. (Karlamangla, 2/18)
The New York Times:
Coronavirus Epidemic Keeps Growing, But Spread In China Slows
Chinese officials hailed recent figures as evidence that the spread of the coronavirus epidemic has slowed, and World Health Organization officials said on Tuesday that China’s strict limits on its people’s movements have helped. But the outbreak and its death toll continue to grow. The picture outside China has grown steadily more alarming. And experts caution against excessive optimism about the crisis peaking. “It could be unwise for anybody in China, or outside China, to be complacent that this is coming under control at this point in time,” said Prof. Malik Peiris, chief of virology at the University of Hong Kong. (Wang, 2/18)
The New York Times:
In Coronavirus Fight, China Sidelines An Ally: Its Own People
Hospitals in Wuhan and surrounding Hubei Province have been making urgent pleas to the Chinese people for three weeks as the new coronavirus ripples through the country: Send more protective gear. Supplies are close — and yet frustratingly out of reach. Medical supplies donated to the Red Cross Society of China’s Wuhan branch sit in warehouses. Individuals who try to organize relief supplies face violating the country’s strict charity law. (Yuan, 2/18)
San Francisco Business Times:
Kaiser Permanente Donates $3 Million To S.F. General Hospital For Addressing Root Cause Of Addiction
A small but effective team that is addressing the root causes of addiction at San Francisco’s safety net hospital just got a $3 million donation from Kaiser Permanente. Started one year ago with $900,000 from Medicaid, the Addiction Care Team— comprising just a half-time physician, full time patient navigator and a part-time addiction fellow — coordinates care for patients at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital who have a substance use disorder, the medical term for people who have problems with drugs or alcohol. (Rinker, 2/18)
San Gabriel Valley Tribune:
Nurses To Protest Over Wages, Inadequate Staffing
More than 200 of the nearly 400 registered nurses at Southern California Hospital at Culver City plan to stage an informational picket Wednesday, Feb. 19 to protest what they allege are inadequate wages and staffing. The RNs, represented by the California Nurses Association, have been in labor negotiations with the hospital since August. Their contract expired in April 2019. (Smith, 2/18)
Los Angeles Times:
Local Healthcare Provider Receives Grant To Expand Child Dental Care
A healthcare provider with a Glendale location has received a $150,000 grant to expand its dental services to more underserved children.Comprehensive Community Health Centers, which also operates facilities with dental care in Eagle Rock and Sunland, will use the grant to partially fund the salaries of a pediatric dentist and general dentist. (Seidman, 2/18)
Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento CA Approves Cabins To Shelter Homeless Youth
A facility with two dozen cabin-style shelters and services for homeless young people will open next month in north Sacramento, the City Council approved Tuesday. The temporary development, called Emergency Bridge Housing at Grove Avenue, will be located at a vacant lot next to St. Paul Church of God In Christ, near the corner of Las Palmas and Grove avenues. The cabins will house 48 “transitional age youth,” ages 18 to 24, and also provide them with job training, financial literacy, rehousing services and mental health services as needed. (Clift, 2/18)
Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
Homeless Camp Forming, Dismantling Cycle Continues, This Time At A Place To Play Park In Santa Rosa
A week-old encampment at A Place to Play Community Park on West Third Street in Santa Rosa has become the latest focal point for ongoing frustration and conflict over how best to address Sonoma County’s seemingly intractable homeless problem. Between 10 and 15 people have taken up residence since Feb. 11 at the westernmost entrance to the 77-acre park and sports complex, drawing the ire of neighbors and the scrutiny of police amid growing fatigue over a repetitive cycle of homeless camps going up and then being cleared, only to have them reappear somewhere else. (Callahan, 2/18)
LA Daily News:
City Seeks More Money For Tarzana Program That Takes Homeless From The ER Into Housing
Leaders of the Los Angeles City Council will vote Wednesday to request additional funding for a San Fernando Valley program which has helped move more than 200 homeless individuals from hospital emergency departments into housing and social services. The Homeless Housing and Recovery Project was launched late 2018 as a collaboration between the Providence Tarzana Medical Center and Tarzana Treatment Centers, a nonprofit health care organization focusing on mental health and drug treatment. (Plachta, 2/18)
Sacramento Bee:
CA Inmate Asks Court To Limit Noise, Let Him Get Sleep
All Christopher Lipsey Jr. wants is a fighting chance at a good night’s sleep. But the 34-year-old Corcoran State Prison inmate says he and hundreds of other prisoners have been subjected to virtual “torture” through the use of nightly welfare checks in the security housing unit, or SHU, conducted every half hour with pipe-like electronic devices that cause loud clanging noises and increase the possibility of suicide and mental degradation. (Stanton, 2/19)
San Francisco Business Times:
Gene Therapy Company Audentes Picks North Carolina For 200-Job Manufacturing Facility
Gene therapy company Audentes Therapeutics, which last month completed a $3 billion buyout by Astellas Pharma, picked a North Carolina site over competing locations in California, Massachusetts and Colorado for a 209-job manufacturing facility, the company said Tuesday... The facility will be San Francisco-based Audentes' first outside South San Francisco for making its one-shot-and-done gene therapies with the potential to cure rare diseases in young children. It is expected to offer average wages of $83,900 in a county where the average wage is about $41,800 and the December unemployment rate was 3.8%. (Ohnesorge and Leuty, 2/18)
The Desert Sun:
McFarland Denies GEO Plan To Convert Prisons Into Immigration Detention Centers
Facing outcry from the city's farmworker community, McFarland city planners have denied a multi-billion-dollar private prison company's bid to convert two prison facilities in the Central Valley city into federal immigration detention centers. After four hours of public comment in both English and Spanish, the city’s Planning Commission voted 2-2 on the GEO Group’s proposal to turn its two 700-bed facilities — Central Valley and Golden State modified community correctional facilities — into annexes for its 400-bed immigration detention facility in Bakersfield, the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center. (Plevin, 2/19)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Fourth Flu Death Confirmed In Kern County
Kern County Public Health Services Department officials on Tuesday confirmed a fourth flu death in Kern County. No other details on the death were provided. Spokeswoman Michelle Corson said "we’re still in the thick of flu season," and the department does not know how long flu season will last this year. (2/18)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Worker, Student Visa Renewals Add Questions About Using Public Benefits
People seeking to renew or switch temporary visas, such as those for workers and students, have to jump through new hoops starting Feb. 24, answering questions about their use of public benefits during their time in the U.S. — even though they are not eligible for benefits such as Medicare and food stamps, and so could not have used them. But the new policy has already sowed fear and confusion, leading some people on temporary visas to eschew services they are entitled to, such as campus health care for students. (Said, 2/18)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Lawsuit Challenges State Ruling Over Charitable Assets Of Nonprofit Health Providers
Health plan regulators say nonprofit providers are not subject to tighter scrutiny. (2/16)
Politico:
Trump's Next Health Care Move: Giving Silicon Valley Your Medical Data
The Trump administration's push to give patients more control over their health records could turn over a massive trove of very personal data to giant tech companies, app designers and data brokers. If proposed policy changes go through, patients would be able to download their health records on to their smartphones and direct it to apps of their choice. But there’s a major privacy pitfall: As soon as those records leave the software system of the doctor or hospital, they are no longer protected by HIPAA, the landmark medical privacy law. (Tahir and Cancryn, 2/19)
Politico:
Labor's Civil War Over 'Medicare For All' Threatens Its 2020 Clout
"Medicare for All" is roiling labor unions across the country, threatening to divide a critical part of the Democratic base ahead of several major presidential primaries. In union-heavy primary states like California, New York, and Michigan, the fight over single-payer health care is fracturing organized labor, sometimes pitting unions against Democratic candidates that vie for their support. (Kullgren and Ollstein, 2/18)
The Washington Post:
Sanders Rejects Ocasio-Cortez’s Suggestion On Health-Care Compromise
Sen. Bernie Sanders distanced himself Tuesday from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's recent suggestion that compromising on health care would be acceptable, arguing that his Medicare-for-all plan is "already a compromise." The comments, coming in a televised town hall hosted by CNN, highlighted a rare difference between the senator and the congresswoman (D-N.Y.), one of his most prominent supporters — notably, over one of the central planks of his presidential campaign platform. (Sullivan, 2/18)
The New York Times:
Fact-Checking Pete Buttigieg Before The Nevada Caucuses
Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., has had strong showings in the first two Democratic presidential nominating contests. As he seeks to build support ahead of Nevada’s vote on Saturday, Mr. Buttigieg has sought to explain his record with black residents of South Bend, distinguish himself from his competitors on health care, and parry attacks on the issue of campaign finance. Here’s a fact check. (Qiu, 2/18)
The Associated Press:
McConnell Takes Aim At Democratic Presidential Candidates
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that health insurance proposals from the Democratic candidates for president would hurt business owners. During a speech in Louisville at a conference for the Distilled Spirits Council, McConnell said he's “never seen a Democratic party like we’re confronted with today.” He said even the centrist Democrat candidates who propose a public option for health insurance over Medicare for all are supporting government-based insurance. (2/18)
Politico:
POLITICO-Harvard Poll: Health Care Costs Are Top Priority Heading Into Elections
Americans have a clear message for President Donald Trump and the Democratic candidates vying to replace him: Lower health care costs. The vast majority of Americans rank cutting health care and prescription drug costs as their top priorities heading into election season, regardless of party affiliation, according to a new POLITICO-Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health survey. (Cancryn, 2/19)