KPBS: Deep Partisan Divide Remains Over Affordable Care Act In California 
A new poll reveals support for the Affordable Care Act has hit a new record in California, but the law continues to be seen through a partisan lens. The poll, from the UC Berkeley Institute for Governmental Studies, finds 65 percent of Californians now support the ACA. (Goldberg, 6/20)

And in other news —

Los Angeles Times: Fears Mount That Obamacare Repeal Will Put Life-Saving Treatments For Opioid Epidemic Out Of Reach 
President Trump and Republican congressional leaders insist their push to repeal and replace Obamacare won’t pull the rug out from Americans who rely on the law for vital health protections. ... But along the front lines of the drug epidemic, there is growing fear that the rush to scrap Obamacare could deepen a crisis that last year claimed more than 50,000 lives. (Levey, 6/21)

Los Angeles Times: Hospitalization Rate For Opioid Abuse Doubled In 10 Years, Report Says
The opioid epidemic continues to devastate Americans, and a new report shows that it has only gotten worse in recent years. In 2014, abuse of prescription painkillers such as OxyContin and street drugs such as heroin sent users to hospitals at record rates. That is true in emergency rooms, and even more true in rooms for patients who have been admitted to the hospital. (Netburn and Kaplan, 6/20)

In other public health news —

KVPR: Survivors Of Childhood Diseases Struggle To Find Care As Adults 
Today there are more adults than kids living with some of these diseases, and medical training lags behind. Young adults who can't find suitable doctors may drop out of care, and their conditions may worsen. (Klein, 6/21)

Modesto Bee: ‘Super Lice’ Are A Vexing Problem For Parents In Central Valley
Gene mutations are making lice resistant to common over-the-counter drugs that have been used for years to fight them. According to a 2016 study, it appears that lice in at least 42 states, including California, have developed resistance to the products, becoming what some now call “super lice.” (Anderson and Carlson, 6/20)

Los Angeles Times: Here's Why Experts Say All Kids Ages 6 And Up Should Be Screened For Obesity
With obesity still rising among certain groups of kids, a government panel is renewing its advice that all children and adolescents ages 6 to 18 be screened for obesity. Screening is just the first step. Kids who are obese should then be referred to treatment programs that use a variety of approaches to change their behavior and help them slim down. (Kaplan, 6/20)

Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Sonoma County Advances Sale Of Former Hospital Complex To Housing Developer 
Sonoma County is moving ahead with the proposed sale of its sprawling former Santa Rosa hospital complex to a housing developer, advancing on Tuesday a landmark deal backed by several high-profile housing and homeless advocates but criticized by residents who wanted more time to evaluate potential impacts on their neighborhoods. The Board of Supervisors unanimously granted initial approval to a sale agreement for the 82-acre site off Chanate Road, where developer Bill Gallaher could pay as much as $11.5 million to build a mixed-use community with a maximum of 800 rental units plus another 50 to 60 units for veterans, among other amenities. (Morris, 6/20)

Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Lawsuit Seeks To Halt Sale Of Chanate Road Hospital Complex 
A community activist has filed a lawsuit against the County of Sonoma seeking to halt the sale of the county’s old Chanate Road hospital complex. The complaint, filed Monday in Sonoma County Superior Court by Roseland neighborhood advocate Duane De Witt, claims the sale of the property would benefit developer Bill Gallaher at the expense of the indigent and homeless.An attorney for the county said there was no legal basis for the lawsuit. The complaint seeks a court order to bar the sale of the 82-acre site, which is home to the county’s public health lab, morgue, a county mental health clinic, a women’s shelter, a mental health wellness center and a bird rescue center. (Espinoza, 6/20)

San Francisco Chronicle: SF Supervisors OK Ban On Sale Of Flavored Tobacco 
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a citywide ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products Tuesday, saying the candy tinctures and bright-colored wrapping help lure children into a life of addiction. But the law met resistance from small grocers and smoke shop owners — many of them immigrants — who are grappling with other taxes and costs, including tobacco retailer licenses, cigarette litter abatement fees and the new $2-per-pack cigarette tax that state voters approved last year. (Swan, 6/20)

In other news from across the state —

San Jose Mercury News: Santa Cruz Brain Surgeon Charged With Child Rape Has Medical License Suspended
The Medical Board of California suspended Santa Cruz brain surgeon James Kohut’s medical license Monday amid allegations that he and two nurses raped children and recorded the acts in Santa Cruz County. ... Kohut faces 11 felonies in connection with raping, sodomizing and abusing children sexually. (Todd, 6/21)

The San Diego Union-Tribune: Doctor: Shark Bite Victim Recovering, Likely Will Walk Again 
The Vista woman who nearly died after she was attacked by a shark at San Onofre State Beach seven weeks ago is “progressing amazingly quickly” in her recovery, her doctor said Tuesday. Leeanne Ericson was swimming at San Onofre State Beach when a great white shark tore into her right buttock and upper leg on April 29. Witnesses said the 36-year-old mother of three disappeared under the water after the shark struck. Her boyfriend, on a surfboard next to her, dove in and pulled Ericson onto his surfboard and with the help of several bystanders rushed her to shore. Ericson was flown to Scripps Memorial Hospital, La Jolla, where she has remained since then. (Figueroa, 6/20)

Reuters: After Weeks Of Secrecy, U.S. Senate To Unveil Healthcare Bill
U.S. Senate Republicans plan to unveil the text of their draft healthcare bill on Thursday as senators struggle over issues such as the future of the Medicaid program for the poor and bringing down insurance costs. Republicans in the chamber have been working for weeks behind closed doors on legislation aimed at repealing and replacing major portions of the Affordable Care Act, former Democratic President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, popularly known as Obamacare. (Cornwell and Cowan, 6/20)

The Associated Press: GOP Eyes Senate Health Care Vote Next Week, Amid Grumbling
Republicans are angling toward a Senate vote next week on their marquee effort to erase much of President Barack Obama's health care law. But there's plenty of grumbling from senators across the GOP spectrum, and leaders haven't yet nailed down the support they'll need to prevail. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said Tuesday that there's "more work to do" before the bill adequately cuts premiums. A second conservative, Utah's Mike Lee, complained about not seeing the legislation despite being on the working group of senators assigned to craft it and said lawmakers should have seen the measure "weeks ago" if they're to vote next week. And Alaska moderate Lisa Murkowski said she didn't know how she'd vote, adding, "I have no idea what the deal is." (6/21)

The New York Times: G.O.P. Rift Over Medicaid And Opioids Imperils Senate Health Bill
A growing rift among Senate Republicans over federal spending on Medicaid and the opioid epidemic is imperiling legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act that Senate leaders are trying to put to a vote by the end of next week. President Trump had urged Republican senators to write a more generous bill than a House version that he first heralded and then called “mean,” but Republican leaders on Tuesday appeared to be drafting legislation that would do even more to slow the growth of Medicaid toward the end of the coming decade. (Pear and Steinhauer, 6/20)

Politico: How McConnell Gets To 50 Votes To Repeal Obamacare
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell needs to nail down 50 GOP votes to repeal Obamacare. He has no easy options. He can lean toward conservatives like Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah, who want to dismantle as much of Obamacare as they possibly can. But if he does that, he risks losing a group of Senate moderates, including Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rob Portman of Ohio and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, who are pushing for a slower phase-out of the Medicaid expansion that is covering low-income people in some of their states. (Haberkorn, 6/20)

Politico: Secrecy Boosts GOP’s Obamacare Repeal Push
Senate Republicans are closer than ever to voting to repeal Obamacare after three months of work that’s unparalleled in its secrecy and speed. They’re unapologetic, though. Because so far, it’s working. The closed-door deliberations, which have left even some GOP senators in the dark, have prompted widespread charges of hypocrisy and even a fair amount of heartburn within a party that railed for seven years against Democrats’ rush to pass their 2010 health care reform law. (Cancryn, 6/20)

Politico: 11 Times Republicans Said Obamacare Process Was Too Secretive
Senate Republicans have come under fire from Democrats and even some in their own party for crafting their Obamacare replacement plan in secret, without public hearings to debate the legislation they have promised to voters for years. But not long ago, leaders in the Republican Party skewered President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress for writing the Affordable Care Act "behind closed doors" and in "smoke-filled rooms," as Vice President Mike Pence, at the time a lawmaker from Indiana, put it. (Lahut, Siu and Tesfamichael, 6/20)

Politico: Poll: Opposition To GOP Health Bill Is On The Rise
Opposition to the Republican health bill is growing, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll. As the GOP-led Senate prepares to take up the measure, only 35 percent of voters surveyed approve of the bill passed by the House last month. Nearly half of voters, 49 percent, disapprove of the bill. The other 16 percent don’t know or don’t have an opinion, the poll shows. (Shepard, 6/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Administration Makes ACA Payments To Health Insurers For June
The Trump administration made contested payments to health insurers for the month of June, removing the possibility of an abrupt cutoff just as many insurers make decisions about coverage under the Affordable Care Act in 2018. The fate of “cost-sharing reduction” payments, which reimburse health plans for lowering copays and deductibles for millions of low-income people who get coverage under the 2010 law, often dubbed Obamacare, has been a running backdrop in the debate over Republicans’ bid to scrap that law. Senate GOP leaders intend to vote next week on legislation to repeal portions of the act. (Radnofsky, 6/20)

The New York Times: Middle Class, Not Poor, Could Suffer If Trump Ends Health Payments
Jane and Abe Goren retired here five years ago to escape the higher cost of living they had abided for decades in the suburbs of New York City. They did not anticipate having to write monthly checks for health insurance that would exceed their mortgage and property taxes combined. Ms. Goren, 62, is paying nearly $1,200 a month for coverage through the individual insurance market (her husband, 69, is on Medicare) and accumulating enough debt that her sons recently held a fund-raiser to help. For next year, her insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, has proposed raising premiums by an average of 22.9 percent, a spike it is blaming squarely on President Trump. (Goodnough, 6/20)

Meanwhile —

Politico: Looming Obamacare Deadline Forces Decision From Skittish Insurers
Decision day is here for the health insurers that serve Obamacare markets. The health plans must decide by Wednesday whether to file plans to sell through the federal exchange HealthCare.gov in 2018. But they’re still waiting for assurances the Trump administration will fund subsidies to reduce low-income customers’ health costs. The White House on Tuesday agreed to make the payments for June. But uncertainty over what happens after that is turning efforts to cover Obamacare’s poorest customers into a game of chicken — and adding instability to already shaky insurance markets. (Demko, 6/20)