- California Healthline Original Stories 5
- Calif. Planned Parenthood Says It Faces $300 Million Loss Under GOP Health Legislation
- For Millennials, Both Good And Bad News In Senate's GOP Health Bill
- Analysis: Mitch McConnell Plans To Hide Trumpcare’s Pain Until After Midterms
- Postcard From Capitol Hill: Doubts, Dissent Over Health Care Bill Rescue July Fourth Holiday
- Hospitals Ramp Up Hyperbaric Therapy For Diabetics, Despite Concerns
- Covered California & The Health Law 2
- In Face Of Mounting Dissension, McConnell Blinks And Delays Health Bill Vote Until After Recess
- Top California Democrats Blast Senate's Health Care Bill As 'Very Divisive, Hateful'
Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Calif. Planned Parenthood Says It Faces $300 Million Loss Under GOP Health Legislation
Critics object to the clinics’ abortion services and say other centers can meet the need for prenatal care and cancer screenings. (Pauline Bartolone, )
For Millennials, Both Good And Bad News In Senate's GOP Health Bill
Provisions in the Senate’s “repeal and replace” bill could help some young adults by lowering the cost of premiums but could hurt others who gained insurance through a massive expansion to Medicaid. (Anna Gorman and Kellen Browning, )
Analysis: Mitch McConnell Plans To Hide Trumpcare’s Pain Until After Midterms
The Senate health bill to repeal Obamacare hews closely to the electoral calendar, delaying much of the pain until after Republicans face re-election in Congress, statehouses and the White House. (Michael McAuliff, )
Postcard From Capitol Hill: Doubts, Dissent Over Health Care Bill Rescue July Fourth Holiday
Scenes from Capitol Hill Tuesday as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s effort to pass a health care bill this week crumbled. (Rachel Bluth, )
Hospitals Ramp Up Hyperbaric Therapy For Diabetics, Despite Concerns
Medicare is trying to deter overuse of hyperbaric therapy, and some experts question its effectiveness for healing diabetic wounds, one of the treatment’s fastest-growing uses. (Phil Galewitz, )
More News From Across The State
Covered California & The Health Law
In Face Of Mounting Dissension, McConnell Blinks And Delays Health Bill Vote Until After Recess
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says the bill is not dead, but even more lawmakers came out against the proposal after the vote was pushed.
The New York Times:
Vote Delayed As G.O.P. Struggles To Marshal Support For Health Care Bill
Facing intransigent Republican opposition, the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, on Tuesday delayed a vote on legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act, dealing another setback to Republicans’ seven-year effort to dismantle the health law and setting up a long, heated summer of health care battles. (Kaplan and Pear, 6/27)
The Associated Press:
GOP 'Obamacare' Repeal Teeters After Senate Shelves Vote
The surprise development leaves the legislation's fate uncertain while raising new doubts about whether President Donald Trump will ever make good on his many promises to erase his predecessor's signature legislative achievement. (6/28)
Politico:
Senate GOP Yanks Obamacare Repeal Bill
“Legislation of this complexity almost always takes longer than anyone would hope,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters. “But we’re pressing on.” McConnell said he opted to delay a planned vote on the Senate bill after several members asked for more time to review the sweeping legislation. (Haberkorn and Everett, 6/27)
The Wall Street Journal:
Short On Backers, GOP Delays Vote On Health Bill
In a test of his leadership, Mr. McConnell now will need to bridge a divide between conservative Republicans, who say the bill retains too many of the ACA’s regulations to significantly lower premiums, and GOP centrists, who worry the legislation goes too far in cutting funding to Medicaid. (Armour and Peterson, 6/27)
Los Angeles Times:
Crunch Time For McConnell As Senate GOP Is Forced To Delay Vote On Healthcare Bill
The seasoned GOP leader will be aided by what amounts to a $200-billion piggy bank to push Republicans holdouts over the line. That’s the bill’s extra savings compared with the House version that McConnell can tap to provide perks to individual senators, from more opioid assistance to expanded tax-free health savings accounts. A similar strategy — delay and enticements — worked well in the House, where Republicans last month passed their healthcare bill on the third try. (Mascaro, 6/27)
The Associated Press:
Trump On Healthcare Bill: 'If We Don't Get It Done ... That's OK'
President Trump said that if the healthcare bill fails to pass in the Senate, he won't like it — but "that's OK." Trump spoke Tuesday at a gathering of Senate Republicans after their leaders delayed a vote on their healthcare bill until at least next month. Trump said, "This will be great if we get it done and if we don't get it done it's going to be something that we're not going to like and that's OK and I can understand that." (6/27)
The New York Times:
McConnell’s Reputation As A Master Tactician Takes A Hit
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, has long enjoyed a reputation as a master tactician. But when it comes to repealing the Affordable Care Act, he seems to have miscalculated in the first round of play. He assumed that his conservative and moderate colleagues would come together to make good on their seven-year promise to repeal the health care law, and quickly. (Steinhauer, 6/27)
The New York Times:
On Senate Health Bill, Trump Falters In The Closer’s Role
President Trump began his all-hands meeting with Republican senators at the White House on Tuesday by saying they were “very close” to passing a health care bill, just as efforts to fast-track a vote this week collapsed. If Republicans do manage to broker a deal — as Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, pledged to do during a lively East Room back-and-forth with the president — it is not likely to be because of Mr. Trump’s involvement. Until Tuesday afternoon, the president was largely on the sidelines as the fate of one of his most important campaign pledges played out. (Thrush and Martin, 6/27)
The New York Times:
Health Bill Does Not ‘Cut’ Medicaid Spending, Republicans Argue
Republicans, under fire for proposing health care legislation that would reduce Medicaid funding by hundreds of billions of dollars, have embraced an old argument that taking money from a program is not a “cut.” At first glance, the new pitch to make their strategy more palatable seems at odds with the numbers. The Congressional Budget Office said on Monday that the “Better Care Reconciliation Act” would reduce Medicaid spending by $772 billion over a decade. By 2026, Medicaid enrollment would drop by 16 percent among people under the age of 65. So, are there cuts or not? (Rappeport, 6/27)
Politico:
Emboldened Industry Lobbyists Try To Scale Back Medicaid Cuts
Hospitals, doctors and nursing homes have one last chance to shape a Republican bill to repeal and replace Obamacare they say will hurt millions of old, poor and sick Americans — and their own bottom lines. After being on the sidelines for much of the repeal debate, the groups see an opening in the meltdown of the Senate health care bill. They’re particularly worried about the legislation’s proposed deep cuts to Medicaid, the country’s largest insurance program, which covers 74 million people. (Cancryn and Demko, 6/27)
The Wall Street Journal:
As Health Bill Proceeds, Insurers Regret Loss Of Individual Mandate
Senate Republican leaders on Monday unveiled a new provision in their health bill designed to prod people to maintain their insurance coverage, a tweak made after insurers had complained an initial version of the legislation threatened to undermine the individual insurance market.But industry officials say it isn’t clear how much the new clause would stabilize the markets or draw in the young, healthy enrollees insurers crave. (Wilde Mathews, 6/27)
The New York Times:
Opponents Of Health Law Repeal Vow To Keep Pressure On Over Recess
Under a blistering sun, protesters let out a cheer on Tuesday across Capitol lawns as word spread that the Senate Republican leader had delayed a vote on repealing the Affordable Care Act. But amid the celebration, Democrats urged the crowds to keep the heat on lawmakers whose opposition to the health care overhaul could grow cold over the coming Fourth of July recess. (Chilkoti and Cochrane, 6/27)
NPR:
Just 17 Percent Of Americans Approve Of Republican Senate Health Care Bill
Americans broadly disapprove of the Senate GOP's health care bill, and they're unhappy with how Republicans are handling the efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll. Just 17 percent of those surveyed say they approve of the Senate's health care plan, the Better Care Reconciliation Act. (Taylor, 6/28)
Top California Democrats Blast Senate's Health Care Bill As 'Very Divisive, Hateful'
Gov. Jerry Brown and U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris denounced the proposed legislation.
Los Angeles Times:
Gov. Jerry Brown Says GOP Healthcare Bill Cuts 'Right Into The Heart Of What Is Already A Divided Nation'
One in three California residents are covered by Medicaid, and California is thought to have the most to lose if Republicans gather enough votes to roll back major aspects of the Affordable Care Act. California would see the nation’s biggest increase in uninsured people by next year and face a $24-billion budget shortfall by 2026 because of reduced Medicaid funding, California's Democratic senators and Gov. Jerry Brown warned during a call with reporters on Tuesday. (Wire, 6/27)
Sacramento Bee:
Brown, Feinstein, Harris Rip Health Care
Feinstein, leading a conference call with Sen. Kamala Harris and Gov. Jerry Brown, tore into the health care bill as a gift to the wealthiest Americans in the form of tax breaks at the expense of the poor and lamented that it was drafted “in secret by 12 white men.” The GOP-led Senate and House plans would make significant cuts to Medicaid, a program for the poor that in California covers more than 13 million people, including half of the state’s children. (Cadelago, 6/27)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Opposition In GOP Ranks Forces Delay In Vote On Obamacare Overhaul
In a rare joint telephone news conference Tuesday, California’s top Democrats, Gov. Jerry Brown and Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, urged Republicans to drop their partisan undertaking, warning that the Senate bill would harm Californians of all stripes and devastate the state’s hospitals, among other things. “It’s the most indefensible bill I’ve actually seen in 24 years in the Senate,” Feinstein said. (Lochhead, 6/27)
The Desert Sun:
Barbara Boxer Speaks Out Against Trumpcare And Its Impact On HIV Testing In The Coachella Valley
Former U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer weighed in on the fight over health care Tuesday, calling Republican proposals a threat to vulnerable populations including those with HIV and AIDS. Boxer, a Democrat who left the Senate last year, spoke on the Palm Desert campus of the University of California Riverside as part of an event marking three years of work by the Get Tested Coachella Valley HIV-testing campaign." If every town and city and valley in America did this program, we could say bye-bye to the [AIDS] epidemic," Boxer said. (Newkirk, 6/27)
In related news —
Los Angeles Times:
Senate GOP Healthcare Bill Would Be 'Devastating' For L.A. County, Officials Warn
Los Angeles County officials gathered Tuesday morning to warn of the impact the Senate healthcare bill could have on the county, which is home to one out of every 20 of the nation’s Medicaid recipients. The Obamacare repeal bill unveiled last week would eliminate the mandate that all Americans have health insurance, alter the subsidies provided to people who buy insurance through the exchanges and undo several taxes on high-income Americans that are used to fund the Affordable Care Act. (Karlamangla, 6/27)
San Francisco Chronicle:
GOP Health Bill Would Cut Majority Of Planned Parenthood Budget In California
Planned Parenthood of California, which operates more of the organization’s health centers than any other state in the nation, would lose 73 percent of its operating budget under the health care bills that Republicans are pushing to replace the Affordable Care Act, its leaders said Tuesday. Planned Parenthood of Northern California, which operates 20 health centers San Francisco, Marin, Contra Costa and other counties between the Bay Area and the Oregon border, would face budget reductions of similar proportions. (Ho, 6/27)
The Mercury News:
Obamacare: Bay Area Weighs In On Senate Plan To Repeal Law
California’s successful state-run health care exchange boasts 1.4 million enrolled in private health care plans and about four million low-income residents in an expanded Medi-Cal program, but controversy remains. While many Californians see Obamacare as a lifeline to medical care that is suddenly within their financial reach, some Californians miss the days when the government didn’t penalize them for not having health insurance. (Seipel, 6/28)
More Than 100 Patients Ended Their Lives Under California's New Aid-In-Dying Law Last Year
The majority, or 58.6 percent, of those who sought the drugs suffered from cancer.
The Associated Press:
State: 111 Terminally Ill End Lives Under New California Law
California health officials reported Tuesday that 111 terminally ill people took drugs to end their lives in the first six months after a 2016 law made the option legal in the nation's most populous state. The data was part of the California Department of Public Health's first report on the law since it went into effect June 9, 2016. (6/27)
Sacramento Bee:
111 Californians Use Aid In Dying Law In First Year
California’s End of Life Option Act went into effect June 9, 2016, allowing assisted suicide in the state after years of contentious debate. Each year, on or before July 1, the Department of Public Health must provide prescribed information on those who sought and used aid-in-dying drugs. (Anderson, 6/27)
Los Angeles Times:
111 Terminally Ill Patients Took Their Own Lives In First 6 Months Of California Right-To-Die Law
A snapshot of the patients who took advantage of the law mirrors what’s been seen in Oregon, which was the first state to legalize the practice nearly two decades ago. Though California is far more diverse than Oregon, the majority of those who have died under aid-in-dying laws in both states were white, college-educated cancer patients older than 60. The End of Life Option Act made California the fifth state in the nation to allow patients with less than six months to live to request end-of-life drugs from their doctors. (Karlamangla, 6/27)
Bill Aims To Relax Privacy Protections To Better Help Homeless
The regulations are impeding efforts to share information between areas and agencies, officials say.
KQED:
New Law Could Speed Up Help For L.A.’s Homeless
Assembly Bill 210, written by Assemblyman Miguel Santiago of Los Angeles, would allow county agencies to share some information about homeless clients with each other. It would also allow workers in various agencies to collaborate to get a person housed. (Palta, 6/27)
In other news —
KQED:
Fires At Oakland’s Tent Camps Point To Growing Homelessness Crisis
Several fires at tent encampments in Oakland have raised the already high profile of homelessness in a city that has experienced a 37 percent increase in the unsheltered population over the last two years. Even though Oakland is planning to invest tens of millions of dollars more in short- and long-term solutions, local leaders and advocates say it won’t be nearly enough to make a sizable dent in the city’s homeless crisis. (Katayama, 6/28)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Old-School Shelters Need To Upgrade Services
Unlike old-school shelters, the Navigation Center offers 24-hour access, has storage for belongings, partners are allowed to sleep together, and pets may be brought inside. The big difference? The Navigation Center has case managers offering intensive help on a range of services, including treating addictions, obtaining identification cards and finding housing. (Knight, 6/27)
Hep C Rates In Young People Skyrocketing
Experts point to the opioid epidemic for the increases.
KPCC:
Hepatitis C Rates Ballooning Among Young IV Drug Users
Rates of newly reported hepatitis C increased significantly among young people between 2007 and 2015, according to California's public health department. Over that period, rates shot up 55 percent among young men ages 20 to 29 and 37 percent among young women in the same age group. (Plevin, 6/28)
In other public health news —
The Mercury News:
Main Ingredient In Roundup Draws Scrutiny From California Lawmakers
Glyphosate, the main pesticide in Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer that is used throughout Santa Cruz County, is receiving increased attention from state lawmakers concerned about its cancer-causing properties. In March, California became the first state to add glyphosate to the list of chemicals known to cause cancer. (Men, 6/27)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Women Gain Force In Speaking Up On Sex Abuse, Discrimination
They had the numbers: six women who would describe in disturbing detail exactly how they were harassed, assaulted or made to feel uneasy by the unwanted advances of San Francisco venture capitalist Justin Caldbeck. Three of those women decided to identify themselves publicly — a risky move for victims of sexual violence or harassment, who are often dismissed, threatened or discredited in efforts to poke holes in their stories. (Lang, 6/27)
Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
Ceres Project In Sonoma County A Model For New $6 Million State Nutrition Program
Now the work by Ceres, a nonprofit named after the Roman goddess of agriculture, is the touchstone for an unprecedented $6 million healthy food pilot project for low-income Californians suffering from chronic disease. The three-year project, scheduled to start in 2018, will assess the premise that good nutrition improves the lives of people with cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other serious illnesses and cuts the cost of their taxpayer-funded medical care. (Kovner, 6/27)
With Partnership, UC Davis And Sacramento Fire Department Want To Prevent Injuries In Kids
There are six research partnerships of this kind nationwide under a federally funded Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network program.
Capital Public Radio:
UC Davis, Sac Fire Join Forces To Research Better Medical Treatment For Kids
UC Davis and the Sacramento Fire Department have joined forces to research ways to provide better medical treatment to children. Deputy Chief Chad Augustin is with the fire department and says injury prevention is a goal. (Moffitt, 6/27)
In other news from across the state —
KPBS:
Sharp Mesa Vista Makeover Will Increase Patient Care Space, Add Safety Enhancements
San Diego County's largest mental health care hospital has launched a $4 million renovation. Sharp Mesa Vista Hospital treats more than 1,300 young people each year. (Goldberg, 6/27)