The Sacramento Bee: Feds Approve California’s Health Plan Tax Swap
The Obama administration has signed off on California’s expansion of a tax on health plans that contributes hundreds of millions of dollars to Medi-Cal and other programs, with plans receiving offsetting breaks on other state taxes. Tuesday’s announcement, after about two months of review by the federal government, comes a few days after Gov. Jerry Brown released a revised budget that assumed revenue from the health tax passed by lawmakers Feb. 29. The tax on managed-care organizations will bring in an estimated $1.1 billion for Medi-Cal, the state’s health care program for the poor, as well as allocating more money to people with developmental disabilities and other programs. (Miller, 5/17)

The Associated Press: Obama Administration Backs California Health-Plan Tax
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services notified state officials of their decision on Tuesday, preventing a $1.1 billion hole in the state budget. However, federal officials required one tweak that will result in a modest reduction in revenue to the state. (5/17)

Capital Public Radio: California's Uninsured Rate Continues Decreasing
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey shows California's uninsured rate is down to 8.1 percent. The National Health Interview Survey reflects the state's uninsured rate at the end of 2015. It shows California is below the national average of 9.1 percent. Adults living in states that have expanded Medicaid are less likely to be uninsured, according to the survey. Through the Affordable Care Act, California expanded Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program, and created a state-based health insurance exchange, Covered California. (5/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Number Of Uninsured In U.S. Dropped Below 10% For First Time In 2015
About 9.1% of people in the U.S., or around 28.6 million, were uninsured in 2015 according to federal statistics released Tuesday. The Obama administration is celebrating the figures—which largely matched an earlier release by the agency for the first half of last year—as proof of the impact of the Affordable Care Act, which overhauled the insurance system, created new subsidies for people to get private coverage and boosted funding for states to expand the Medicaid program that offers near free-care to the lowest-income Americans. (Radnofsky, 5/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Nonprofit Hospitals Adjust To Attract Investors
Late last year, a hospital operator with $14 billion in annual revenue sent a team of executives to Boston to schmooze with investors during lunch. For most of corporate America, such events aren’t unusual. But this large hospital is a nonprofit. As Trinity Health of Livonia, Mich., shows, more nonprofits are starting to resemble big business. In health care, where nearly 60% of hospital operators are private nonprofits, recent consolidation has created large organizations that span several states, with multibillion-dollar budgets and tens of thousands of employees. (Evans, 5/18)

In other hospital news —

The Ventura County Star: County Hospital Announces VBAC Program For Expectant Moms
A long-demanded childbirth procedure not allowed at many hospitals will be revived at Ventura County Medical Center on June 1. Officials of the Ventura hospital announced Tuesday that doctors will begin performing vaginal birth for mothers who previously have given birth by cesarean section. (Kisken, 5/17)

The San Francisco Business Times: Dolby Family Amps Up High-Fidelity Network Against Alzheimer's Disease
Something goes horribly wrong in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients, turning interchanges of nerve cells into roads to nowhere. But in trying to find new routes to treatments and diagnostics for the memory-robbing disease, Dolby Family Ventures is seeking better connections, inside and outside the brain. (Leuty, 5/17)

The Mercury News: Ex-Stanford Hospital Worker Convicted Of Sexual Battery On Patients
A former Stanford Hospital employee pleaded no contest Monday to inappropriately touching male patients while they were under anesthesia, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office. Robert Lastinger, 55, of Fremont, was arrested in April 2015 by Redwood City detectives on suspicion of sexually battering patients under his care while he was an operating room technician at Stanford Hospital Outpatient Surgery Center in Redwood City. Lastinger pleaded no contest Monday to two counts of felony sexual battery on condition of no state prison term and up to one year in county jail, prosecutors said. (Gomez, 5/17)

The Associated Press: Court Rejects Blocking Health Warning On Sugary Drinks Ads
A federal court in Northern California has rejected an effort to block a new San Francisco law that requires health warnings on ads for sugary drinks. U.S. District Court Judge Edward M. Chen's decision Tuesday clears the way for the law approved by city lawmakers last year to take effect in July. The ordinance requires the warnings to appear on ads for soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages that appear on billboards, buses, transit shelters, posters and stadiums within the city. The labels would read: "WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay." (5/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Soda Industry Fails To Stop San Francisco Law Targeting Sugar
The American Beverage Association had filed a civil complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in July, arguing the requirement violates free speech rights under the First Amendment. The California Retailers Association and California State Outdoor Advertising Association joined the complaint. In a ruling Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Edward Chen denied a request for a preliminary injunction. He added that plaintiffs are unlikely to succeed on the merits of their First Amendment claim or to suffer irreparable harm if the ordinance goes into effect. (Esterl, 5/17)

The Los Angeles Times: For Loved Ones Of Critically Ill Patients, Hope Often Trumps Understanding Of A Physician's Prognosis
For a majority of people gathered at the bedside of a critically ill patient, new research finds that confusion and miscommunication rein, jostling for space alongside hope and fear. In more than half the cases plumbed by researchers at four major academic medical centers, the people responsible for directing the care of a critically ill patient neither agreed with nor fully understood the prognosis offered by the physician overseeing the patient's care. (Healy, 5/17)

Elsewhere, the husband of Brittany Maynard, the California woman who sparked a national conversation about aid-in-dying, speaks about the need for end-of-life cancer care —

The Cleveland Plain Dealer: Dan Diaz, Medical-Aid-In-Dying Advocate, Tells Of Wife's Final Moments At Cleveland Clinic Summit
An advocate of medical-aid-in-dying legislation appeared at a Cleveland Clinic conference Tuesday, calling for expanded options in treating terminally ill patients at the end of their lives. Dan Diaz spoke about the death of his wife Brittany Maynard, a California woman whose struggle to avoid suffering from terminal brain cancer spurred a national debate about the use of medication to hasten death. "Brittany knew what was coming for her, and that included pain that could not be alleviated with morphine," Diaz said during the Clinic's annual Patient Experience summit at the Cleveland Convention Center. (Ross, 5/18)

The Mercury News: Jahi McMath: Brain Death Cases Similar To Oakland Teen Found Throughout State
Attorney Chris Dolan got a familiar phone call this past month. It was from a Vacaville family who said their 2-year-old son was declared brain-dead. They planned to fight the diagnosis and wanted the San Francisco lawyer's help. Since taking on the case of Jahi McMath, an Oakland teen declared brain-dead in 2013 following complications from tonsil surgery, Dolan has became an unlikely leader in a growing resistance to the medical establishment's long-standing determination that the loss of brain activity equals death. (DeBolt, 5/18)

The Mercury News: Walnut Creek Hospital Mistakenly Diagnoses Woman Brain-Dead
A year ago, four John Muir Medical Center doctors told Mohammad Meshkin his daughter was brain-dead. The hospital refused to operate on Anahita Meshkin's infected, fractured hip because it said it would not be ethical to treat a dead person. (Gafni and DeBolt, 5/17)

The Ventura County Star: From Cancer Advocate To Cancer Patient, Amgen’s Kathryn West Changes Roles
For the first 10 years of Amgen's Breakaway from Cancer initiative, Kathryn West was an advocate. On Tuesday, she was a patient. West was the official starter for Stage 3 of the Amgen Tour of California professional cycling race in Thousand Oaks. As the advocacy director for Amgen oncology and former oncology nurse, West was at the forefront of organizing Amgen's Breakaway from Cancer initiative. (Potkey, 5/17)

In other public health news —

The San Diego Union-Tribune: Scientists, Clinicians, Urged To Lobby Against Alcohol
To reduce harm from alcohol use, scientists and clinicians should lobby the public and their government for restrictions on alcohol sales and advertising, an international team of public researchers recommends. (Fikes, 5/17)

Los Angeles Times: Judge Lets Homeless Ex-Inmates Fight For Mental Health Services
A federal judge said Tuesday that a group of homeless people can continue to fight Los Angeles County in court over jail release policies that they claim perpetuate the cycle of inmates with untreated mental illness bouncing from incarceration to skid row. The ruling came in a court battle over a settlement reached earlier this year between the Sheriff's Department and federal authorities as part of an effort to end deputy abuse of inmates and to improve chronically poor treatment of mentally ill inmates. (Holland, 5/17)

In other news from across the state —

Daily Pilot: Sober-Living Home Slated For Closure Is Eyed By Another Rehab Operator
A Westside Costa Mesa sober-living home scheduled to close this week as part of a settlement agreement is being vetted by another company looking to continue drug and alcohol rehabilitation services there, according to city officials. City spokesman Tony Dodero said Clean Path Recovery, based in Costa Mesa, is seeking a state license to operate a rehab facility at 973 Arbor St. and house up to six tenants there. The home is one of 15 that Solid Landings Behavioral Health, another Costa Mesa-based sober-living operator, agreed to close by this week as part of an agreement reached last month with the city. (Zint, 5/17)

KPCC: Malibu Schools PCB Trial May Have National Implications
A Los Angeles federal court heard a lawsuit Tuesday alleging that Malibu's school district has not done enough to remove PCBs from its campuses, in a one-day trial that could have far-reaching implications for how school districts nationwide must deal with the toxic chemical compound. (O'Neill, 5/17)

The Ventura County Star: Ventura County Seeks Community Input On Medical Marijuana Regulation
The County of Ventura is hosting two community meetings to consider options for regulating delivery, dispensing and cultivation of medical marijuana in unincorporated areas. (5/18)

The Associated Press: Senate Easily Advances $1.1 Billion In Zika Funding

The New York Times: Senate Votes To Advance Emergency Funding To Fight Zika Virus

The Wall Street Journal: Senate Approves $1.1 Billion In Emergency Zika Funding

USA Today: Senate Advances Compromise Bill To Provide $1.1 Billion To Combat Zika

The Washington Post: Congress Struggles To Strike Deal On Zika Funds As Concern About The Virus Grows

Politico: Senate OKs $1.1 Billion To Fight Zika; House Wants Half That

The Associated Press: House To Vote On Scaled-Back Zika Bill Despite Veto Threat