- California Healthline Original Stories 2
- Anthem Calls On Eye Surgeons To Monitor Anesthesia During Cataract Surgery
- Trump Administration Proposes Rule To Loosen Curbs On Short-Term Health Plans
- Marketplace 1
- Tracking Life Cycle Of A Medical Bill Reveals Astronomical Price Tag Just For Collecting Payments
- Public Health and Education 1
- Marijuana Legalization Raises Questions About Dangers Of Secondhand Smoke
Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Anthem Calls On Eye Surgeons To Monitor Anesthesia During Cataract Surgery
The insurer says it is not usually medically necessary to have an anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist on hand during the common surgery. Many opthalmologists and anesthesiologists disagree. In California, the state's doctor lobby has complained to regulators about the new Anthem policy. (Michelle Andrews, )
Trump Administration Proposes Rule To Loosen Curbs On Short-Term Health Plans
The policy change is likely to entice younger and healthier people from the general insurance pool by allowing a range of lower-cost options that don’t include all the benefits required by the federal health law. (Julie Appleby, )
More News From Across The State
A Look At What Health Bills Are On California Lawmakers' Docket
Although single-payer legislation is in the headlines, there are other health care measures that are more likely to see movement.
KPCC:
These 5 Bills Before California Lawmakers Seek To Expand Health Coverage, Lower Costs
Many of the presenters at the final hearing expressed support for the concept of single-payer, but didn’t agree that the single-payer bill (SB562) shelved in the Assembly last year has enough detail to get California there in the next few years. Some key groups and lawmakers are looking at a more gradual, incremental approach. (Faust, 2/20)
Tracking Life Cycle Of A Medical Bill Reveals Astronomical Price Tag Just For Collecting Payments
Researchers broke down the expensive steps that go into processing a medical bill.
Los Angeles Times:
The U.S. Healthcare System Needs More Skills For Paying Bills, Study Shows
Healthcare in the United States is really expensive, and one of the reasons is that managing healthcare bills is really, really expensive. Just how expensive? At one large academic medical center, the cost of collecting payments for a single primary-care doctor is upward of $99,000 a year. And billing for primary-care visits is a bargain compared with billing for trips to the emergency room, a hospital stay or a surgical procedure, according to a report published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. (Kaplan, 2/20)
Workers March Outside Local Hospitals In Part Of Weeks-Long Protest Of Merger
The merger would combine Dignity and Colorado-based Catholic Health Initiatives into one nonprofit system.
Ventura County Star:
Union Members Worry About Massive Hospital Merger
Union workers marched in front of St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo on Tuesday, airing concerns about contract negotiations, staffing issues they say can impact patient care and the planned merger of Dignity Health with another company. (Kisken, 2/20)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Local Hospital Workers Demand Better Wages As Part Of Two Planned Protests
Union healthcare workers protested outside of two local hospitals Tuesday as they demand better wages, benefits and pathways to improving patient care ahead of a merger between two healthcare giants that would be worth billions. The protests taking place outside of Mercy Hospital Southwest Tuesday and Bakersfield Memorial Hospital Feb. 28 are part of a statewide demonstration this week, with employees at 27 hospitals taking part. Dignity Health, which oversees both hospitals, will be merging with Colorado-based Catholic Health Initiatives. (2/20)
Marijuana Legalization Raises Questions About Dangers Of Secondhand Smoke
A scientist finds that it can take the body three times as long to recover from inhaling secondhand marijuana smoke as it does from cigarettes.
KQED:
Now That Pot Is Legal, Should You Worry About Secondhand Smoke? California Scientist Says Yes
Commercial sales of cannabis to recreational users began Jan. 1 in California. It hasn’t been even two months in this brave new world, but new questions about marijuana’s health impacts are already popping up. Is smoking cannabis bad for your health? (Ortega-Welch, 2/20)
In other public health news —
KPBS:
UC Health Study Hopes To End Confusion Over Mammogram Screenings
According to the American Cancer Society's breast cancer screening guidelines women should begin annual mammograms by age 45 and can reduce that to every other year starting at age 55. Not everyone agrees with those guidelines and women get a lot of conflicting advice, even from health care professionals, on when to start and how often to have mammograms. (Cabrera and Cavanaugh, 2/20)
LA Officials Fear Growing Homeless Encampments Could Lead To Public Health Crises
But steps taken by health officials to alleviate the threat of disease outbreaks have led local residents to worry the encampments are permanent.
Los Angeles Times:
As Homeless Camps Explode In L.A. Suburbs, Residents Fear They Will Become Permanent
As Southern California's homeless population has exploded in recent years, the South Bay and Harbor areas have seen their own surge, with an estimated 6,145 people calling the camps home, according to the 2017 homeless count — a 4% increase from 2016. The situation has alarmed Los Angeles County health officials, who fear the growing encampments are ripe for public health outbreaks, notably hepatitis A, which caused numerous deaths in San Diego's homeless community. (Etehad, 2/21)
Short-term policies are intended for people who are between jobs, and are generally cheaper than insurance that meets the law’s requirements. But they offer significantly less protection to consumers. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said people buying these plans could be “one diagnosis away from disaster, discovering they have been paying for coverage that may not cover basic care such as cancer treatment.”
The New York Times:
Trump Moves To Relax Rules On Cheaper Health Insurance
The Trump administration took another swipe at the Affordable Care Act on Tuesday, proposing new rules that would make it much easier for consumers to buy less expensive health insurance policies that do not comply with coverage requirements of the law. Under current rules, such “short-term, limited-duration insurance” cannot last for more than three months. Under the proposal, the limit would be 364 days. (Pear, 2/20)
The Associated Press:
Trump Plan: Less Health Insurance For Lower Premiums
The proposed regulations would expand an alternative to the comprehensive medical plans required under former President Barack Obama's health law. Individuals could buy so-called "short-term" policies for up to 12 months. But the coverage would omit key consumer protections and offer fewer benefits, making it unattractive for older people or those with health problems. The plans would come with a disclaimer that they don't meet the Affordable Care Act's safeguards, such as guaranteed coverage, ten broad classes of benefits, and limits on how much older adults have to pay. Insurers could also charge more if a consumer's medical history discloses health problems. (2/20)
The Washington Post:
Short-Term Health Plans Skirting ACA-Required Benefits And Protections To Be Expanded
“It’s one step in the direction of providing Americans with health insurance options that are both more affordable and more individualized for families’ circumstances,” Azar said in a conference call with reporters to announce the proposed rule. Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, echoed that portrayal of the rewrite as health reform. “While in the past these plans have been a bridge, now they can be a lifeline,” she said. (Goldstein, 2/20)
The Wall Street Journal:
Health Proposal Would Loosen Limits On Short-Term Insurance
Republicans say allowing the extension of short-term plans would lower premiums by fostering competition and giving consumers more choices. Critics say it would allow for the sale of “junk” plans that have limited benefits and have been subject to fraud in the past, returning the market to the days before the ACA. “Bottom line: This is a green light to discriminate against Americans with pre-existing conditions that’s going to make quality health insurance more expensive and less accessible,” said Oregon’s Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees many health-care issues. (Armour, 2/20)
Los Angeles Times:
Trump Administration Takes New Steps To Loosen Health Insurance Rules
Among the other leading patient groups that condemned the proposed new rules are the American Heart Assn., the American Lung Assn., the Arthritis Foundation, Consumers Union, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the March of Dimes. The administration is already under fire for proposing last month to make it easier for self-employed Americans, small businesses and others to band together to get health insurance through what are called association health plans. Association plans do not have to offer a comprehensive set of so-called essential health benefits, a key requirement of the 2010 health law. (Levey, 2/20)
The Hill:
Dems Decry ObamaCare Change As New Attempt At 'Sabotage'
Three high-ranking Democrats blasted the Trump administration’s move Tuesday to expand access to plans that don’t meet ObamaCare’s requirements, calling it the “latest step” in the White House’s “effort to sabotage our nation’s healthcare system.” The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a proposed rule Tuesday that would increase the maximum length of short-term health plans from less than three months to nearly a year. The three-month limit had been set by the Obama administration. (Roubein, 2/20)
Fall In Line Or Get Out: Shulkin Taking Steps To Rout Rebellious Political Foes In VA Department
Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, following a scandal over travel expenses, says he has the support of President Donald Trump and intends to keep his position. Shulkin is also taking steps to purge the department of those who he thinks are trying to undermine him.
The Associated Press:
Shulkin Intends To Stay In VA Post With White House Support
Campaigning to keep his job, Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin said Tuesday he had no intention of quitting despite blistering findings of travel abuses connected to his 11-day trip to Europe. He issued an extraordinary warning to VA staff rebelling against him: Get back in line or get out. Speaking after a Tuesday meeting at the White House, Shulkin told The Associated Press that White House chief of staff John Kelly affirmed he still had the trust of President Donald Trump. (2/20)
In other national health care news —
The New York Times:
Trump Moves To Regulate ‘Bump Stock’ Devices
President Trump — under pressure from angry, grieving students from a Florida high school where a gunman killed 17 people last week — ordered the Justice Department on Tuesday to issue regulations banning so-called bump stocks, which convert semiautomatic guns into automatic weapons like those used last year in the massacre of concertgoers in Las Vegas. (Shear, 2/20)
The Washington Post:
‘I Would Rather Not Be Alone.’ Behind Their Anger, Florida Students Are Still Teens Struggling With Trauma.
She was tired of catching herself staring blankly at the wall, so Hannah Karcinell sent a group text to her friends: “Hi, I’m thinking of having a thing at my house.” Those friends invited their friends, and now she was waiting for everyone on her back patio, wearing a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School cheerleading tank top. She heard a thud. Her whole body tensed. “Should I put the food out now?” her mom called from the house. Hannah turned. The sound, she realized, had just been Jodi Karcinell pushing open the back door, which sticks. (Contrera, 2/20)
The Hill:
New HHS Office That Enforces Health Workers' Religious Rights Received 300 Complaints In A Month
More than 300 health workers have complained to the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department over the last month, saying that their religious or conscience rights have been violated by their employer. The complaints follow the creation of a new division within HHS that focuses on enforcing those rights and investigating complaints from employees who say their rights have been violated. (Hellmann, 2/20)
The Hill:
Dems Seek Reversal Of Nursing Home Regulatory Rollback
A group of Democratic senators want the Trump administration to reverse its steady rollback of regulations on nursing homes. In a letter sent to Alex Azar, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Democrats allege that the regulatory rollback “will inevitably weaken the safety of our nation’s nursing homes and put patients, many of whom are elderly and wholly reliant on this care, at greater risk.” (Weixel, 2/20)
USA Today:
Albertsons, Rite Aid Deal Creates U.S. Supermarket And Healthcare Giant
Supermarket giant Albertsons is buying part of Rite Aid, the nation's third-largest pharmacy chain, as the companies try to navigate sweeping shifts in the food and health care industries. Rite Aid (RAD) and Albertsons, the private-equity backed company that operates Safeway and several other grocery chains, said the deal would create a company with expected 2018 revenue of $83 billion and potential annual earnings of $3.7 billion before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The deal is aimed at sparking Rite Aid's expansion as the company competes with retailing giant Amazon, which is eyeing a potential entry into health care, as well as Walmart. (McCoy, 2/20)
The Washington Post:
CDC Warns About Salmonella Infections Traced To Kratom
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and several states are investigating an outbreak of salmonella illness linked to kratom, an unregulated herbal supplement that is sometimes used for pain, anxiety and opioid-withdrawal symptoms, the CDC said Tuesday. The agency, which urged consumers to not use kratom in any form because of the possibility of contamination, said the infections started in October and have affected 20 states. Eleven people have been hospitalized, and no one has died. Most of the people sickened have reported consuming kratom in pills, powder or tea, according to the CDC, which didn't name any specific brands or suppliers. (McGinley, 2/20)