Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
California To Provide Financial Boost To Help Buy Health Coverage
Come Jan. 1, California will be the first state to offer financial aid to middle-class people who make too much money to qualify for federal Obamacare tax credits. And Californians will once again owe a penalty if they are uninsured. (Bernard J. Wolfson, )
Good morning! As the nation recovers from the another Democratic debate, we have all the health care angles you could want. Read more below for all the coverage. But first here are your top California health stories of the day.
State To Fund Development Of Nation’s First Program To Teach Doctors How To Help Patients Reduce Gun Violence: The state of California will pay $3.85 million to researchers at the University of California, Davis, to develop the nation’s first program to train health care professionals to help their patients reduce firearm-related injury and death, university officials announced Tuesday. Gov. Gavin Newsom approved the funding on Friday when he signed Assembly Bill 521 . Money will go toward educating a variety of California providers, including practicing physicians, mental health care professionals, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, health professions students and other specialists. Those involved with the program say physicians can, for instance, counsel patients on safe storage practices or how to initiate gun violence restraining orders or how to intervene on behalf of individuals with mental health issues. Read more from Cathie Anderson of the Sacramento Bee.
Whistle Blower Stands Behind Claims That State Prison Officials Provided False Data To Federal Courts: Dr. Michael Golding, the chief psychiatrist at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation headquarters, testified in Sacramento federal court Tuesday about what he said were repeated instances to gin up phony data the state needed to present to U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller to prove they were making progress on improving psychiatric care in the prisons. Golding, who compiled and sent a scathing, 161-page report on psychiatric care in the prisons to the federally appointed receiver in October 2018, said there had never been anything secret about his views that corrections officials were trying to produce “extraordinarily misleading data” to come into compliance with court orders. Read more from Sam Stanton of the Sacramento Bee.
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
Sacramento Bee:
CA Gov Gavin Newsom Signs Slate Of Marijuana Bills Into Law
California Gov. Gavin Newsom handed a win to the cannabis industry over the weekend when he signed a law allowing marijuana businesses to claim state tax deductions. It’s one of eight laws he signed in the closing weeks of the legislative year aimed at fine-tuning the 2016 ballot initiative voters passed to legalize cannabis and at helping state-registered marijuana companies compete with black market dealers. (Sheeler , 0/15)
Capital Public Radio:
Covered California Enrollment Opens This Week, With New State Financial Aid For Some
People buying insurance through Covered California might see lower prices this time around, following changes in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s most recent state budget. Enrollment for the state’s health benefit exchange begins Oct. 15. Certain low-income Californians are already eligible for subsidies from the federal government to help pay their premiums, but this year there are new state dollars to help low and middle income residents. (Caiola, 10/15)
Fresno Bee:
Fresno CA Leaders Say Housing Crisis Won’t Fix Homelessness
A number of Fresno’s city leaders said Tuesday that California’s officials are pushing a false narrative when talking about the state’s housing crisis, saying it allows them to ignore what are real solutions to homelessness in the state. Councilmembers Garry Bredefeld and Mike Karbassi convened a joint news conference to call state leaders to fund mental health facilities and to repeal Propositions 47 and 57 as well as Assembly Bill 109 — initiatives and legislation that reduced the sentencing and punishment of certain crimes. (Miller, 10/15)
WBUR:
One California County Combats Homelessness Crisis With New, Sometimes Controversial Methods
There is a radical approach on the table to fight the homeless crisis in Kern County, where Bakersfield sits. The sheriff there is proposing locking up some homeless people for drug and other misdemeanor offenses. The approach has largely been out of favor for decades now. (Mosley, 10/15)
LAist:
Saddleridge Fire: Some LAUSD Students Returned To Smoky, Ash-Filled Classrooms This Week. Teachers Are Asking Why.
On Sunday, Los Angeles Unified School District officials said crews had worked through the weekend to ensure that Van Gogh — and many other of the district's San Fernando Valley campuses that had been sooted by the fire — would be clean and "ready when classes resume tomorrow morning." But Selman said the classroom she returned to Monday was still covered with a thin layer of fire ash. District officials had said cleaning crews would likely return to campuses Monday for "additional cleaning." (Stokes, 10/15)
KPBS and City News Service:
County Supervisors Approve Ban On Vaping Products In San Diego's Unincorporated Areas
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted 3-2 to ban vaping product sales in unincorporated areas. The measure puts a one-year moratorium on the sale of vaping devices and permanently bars flavored nicotine. (Mento, 10/15)
The California Health Report (healthycal.org):
Over 1 Million Children Live In Low-Income Neighborhoods In California
Nearly 1.2 million California children live in low-income neighborhoods, a number that has decreased in the decade since the Great Recession, but remains troubling, researchers said in a new report. Research has shown that the type of neighborhood low-income children live in can influence their health. Children who live in low-income neighborhoods are less likely than those in more affluent areas to have access to quality public schools, healthy food, medical care and green spaces to play, said Scot Spencer, associate director for advocacy and influence at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which released the report. (Boyd-Barrett, 10/15)
The San Diego Union-Tribune:
Countywide Campaign Unveiled To Help Healthcare Professionals Better Identify, Address Domestic Violence
County officials on Tuesday unveiled an educational campaign designed to help health professionals better recognize and report suspected domestic violence, especially cases involving strangulation. The effort builds on a countywide protocol launched in 2017 that outlines how police and other trauma care providers should respond to and document strangulation. Since that protocol was implemented, the District Attorney’s Office has filed three times as many felony strangulation cases, officials said. The new campaign, called San Diego County Health CARES, will provide healthcare professionals at facilities across the county with training and information to identify, address and intervene in cases involving suspected domestic violence. (Winkley, 10/15)
The New York Times:
‘Medicare For All’: Elizabeth Warren And Pete Buttigieg Clash At Debate
Pete Buttigieg directly criticized Elizabeth Warren over health care at Tuesday night’s debate, saying that she had not been forthcoming about whether she would raise taxes on the middle class to help finance “Medicare for all.” Ms. Warren, the Massachusetts senator, was asked if she would raise taxes on the middle class, and she responded by focusing on the costs that middle-class families would face. “I will not sign a bill into law that does not lower costs for middle-class families,” she said. (Kaplan, 10/15)
The New York Times:
6 Takeaways From The October Democratic Debate
For a candidate who has risen in the polls based on her policy acumen and specifics, Ms. Warren’s unwillingness to address the question of whether her “Medicare for all” plan would require higher taxes on the middle class was striking. And her opponents put her on the defensive. (Goldmacher and Epstein, 10/16)
Los Angeles Times:
Elizabeth Warren Faces Debate Attacks Over Healthcare
“This is why people here in the Midwest are so frustrated with Washington in general, and Capitol Hill in particular. Your signature, Senator, is to have a plan for everything — except this,” South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg said to Warren. “No plan has been laid out to explain how a multi-trillion-dollar hole in this Medicare for all plan that Sen. Warren is putting forward is expected to get filled in.” (Mehta, 10/15)
Politico:
Klobuchar Charges At Warren
“I want to give a reality check here to Elizabeth because no one on this stage wants to protect billionaires — not even the billionaire wants to protect billionaires,” Klobuchar said, referencing Tom Steyer, the environmental activist and former hedge fund manager participating in the debate. “We just have different approaches. Your idea is not the only idea.” Warren responded in part that “the rich are not like you and me,” asserting that “the really, really billionaires are making their money off their accumulated wealth, and it just keeps growing.” She added: “Look, I understand that this is hard, but I think, as Democrats, we are going to succeed when we dream big and fight hard, not when we dream small and quit before we get started.” (Forgey, 10/15)
The Washington Post:
Warren Faces First Sustained Attack In Debate That Begins With Unified Condemnation Of Trump
Warren fought back against the attacks, casting her challengers as too small-minded or timid for the moment, or as part of an entrenched political system that is dominated by corporations and the wealthy. “Look, I understand that this is hard, but I think as Democrats, we are going to succeed when we dream big and fight hard, not when we dream small and quit before we get started,” Warren said. (Olorunnipa, Janes and Viser, 10/16)
Reuters:
Warren Comes Under Attack On Healthcare, Taxes At U.S. Democratic Presidential Debate
"I have made clear what my principles are here, and that is that costs will go up for the wealthy and for big corporations and, for hard-working middle-class families, costs will go down," [Warren] said. The expansive Medicare for All proposal, based on the government-run healthcare plan for Americans over age 65, has sharply divided Democratic presidential contenders. Some analysts have said it would cost $32 trillion over a decade. Many other Democratic candidates back a Medicare-based plan as just one option for Americans seeking healthcare coverage. (10/16)
The Wall Street Journal:
Warren Pressed On Health-Care Plan At Democratic Debate
Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas joined in the critique of Ms. Warren, saying “sometimes, I think that Senator Warren is more focused on being punitive or pitting some part of the country against the other, instead of lifting people up and making sure that this country comes together around the solutions.” Ms. Warren appeared puzzled, telling Mr. O’Rourke, “I’m really shocked at the notion that anyone thinks I’m punitive.” (Thomas, Siddiqui and McCormick, 10/16)
The New York Times:
Amy Klobuchar Goes After Elizabeth Warren Over Health Care Plan In Debate
Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator who has championed a single-payer system, said taxes would go up for “virtually everybody.” But he added that the tax increase would be substantially less than what people currently pay for premiums and out-of-pocket health care expenses. “At least Bernie is being honest here, and saying how he’s going to pay for this and that taxes are going to go up,” Ms. Klobuchar, of Minnesota, said after his comments. “And I’m sorry, Elizabeth, but you have not said that and I think we owe the American people to tell them where we will send the invoice.” (Zraick, 10/15)
The New York Times:
Fact-Checking The Democratic Debate
WHAT MR. SANDERS SAID: “I do think it is appropriate to acknowledge that taxes will go up. They’re going to go up significantly for the wealthy and for virtually everybody, the tax increase they pay will be substantially less than what they were paying for premiums and out-of-pocket expenses.” This lacks evidence. Mr. Sanders’s health care plan would substantially increase the amount that the federal government spends. Estimates of its precise cost vary, but according to an estimate from the conservative Mercatus Center, which Mr. Sanders has mentioned approvingly, federal spending would need to increase by about 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, triple what the government spends on the military. (10/15)
The New York Times:
Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden And Elizabeth Warren Discuss Age At Debate
Loath as the candidates have been to talk about it, age is an inescapable subject in this Democratic primary: The three highest-polling candidates are all in their 70s, and one of them just had a heart attack. So it was perhaps not surprising that, about two hours into the debate on Tuesday, the moderators bluntly asked how Senator Bernie Sanders, 78, Joseph R. Biden Jr., 76, and Senator Elizabeth Warren, 70, could assure voters that they were up to the rigors of the presidency. (Astor, 10/15)
The Associated Press:
Takeaways: Warren Under Fire, 70s Club Ignores Age Issue
Biden promised to release his medical records before the Iowa caucuses next year and said he was running because the country needs an elder statesman in the White House after Trump. Warren, whose campaign has highlighted her hours-long sessions posing for selfies with supporters, promised to "out-organize and outlast" any other candidate — including Trump. Then she pivoted to her campaign argument that Democrats need to put forth big ideas rather than return to the past, a dig at Biden. (10/15)
Los Angeles Times:
Sanders, Biden And Warren Talk Age At Democratic Debate
Sen. Bernie Sanders, in his first major public appearance since suffering a heart attack this month, raised the issue as he tried to insert himself into a debate question about the opioid epidemic. “I’m healthy, I’m feeling great,” the Vermont Democrat said, leading moderator Erin Burnett to ask the 78-year-old how he would reassure the American people after his health scare. (Seema Mehta, 10/15)
The New York Times:
Kamala Harris Calls For Attention On Reproductive Rights At Debate
Senator Kamala Harris of California made an impassioned plea on Tuesday for her fellow presidential candidates to focus on women’s access to reproductive health care, generating applause. “This is the sixth debate we have had in this presidential cycle,” she said at the night’s debate in Ohio. “And not nearly one word, with all of these discussions about health care, on women’s access to reproductive health care, which is under full-on attack in America today. And it’s outrageous.” (Murphy, 10/15)
Los Angeles Times:
Kamala Harris Slams Republicans On Abortion, Says They're Killing Poor Women Of Color
“There are states that have passed laws that will virtually prevent women from having access to reproductive healthcare,” she said at the CNN/New York Times debate in Westerville, Ohio. “And it is not an exaggeration to say women will die. Poor women, women of color will die because these Republican legislatures in these various states who are out of touch with America are telling women what to do with their bodies.” Harris hadn’t been asked about abortion. But when her turn came to respond to comments by other candidates on healthcare, she raised her voice in protest. The crowd cheered Harris several times. (Finnegan, 10/15)
The Wall Street Journal:
Democratic Debate: The Moments That Mattered
Mr. O’Rourke and Mr. Buttigieg had a heated exchange over whether to implement a mandatory government buyback of assault weapons, which devolved into the two bickering over who was more courageous. Mr. O’Rourke has become a vocal advocate for tougher gun-control measures after 22 people were killed in a mass shooting in his hometown of El Paso, Texas, in August, and he supports a mandatory buyback program. He said he expected Americans would follow the law and turn in their weapons voluntarily, but guns would be confiscated if people refused and then used their guns for intimidation. (Parti and Collins, 10/16)
Los Angeles Times:
Pete Buttigieg And Beto O'Rourke Clash Over Gun Control
“We cannot wait for purity tests; we just have to get something done,” Buttigieg said. “This is not a purity test,” O’Rourke replied, saying that if the government was going to ban the sale of assault rifles for being too dangerous, then logically it followed that those guns should be taken off the streets. O’Rourke also implied that Buttigieg’s caution on confiscations was the result of poll testing and focus groups. Buttigieg replied: “I don’t need lessons from you on courage. We are this close to an assault weapons ban” — for sales, that is. (Pearce, 10/15)
The Associated Press Fact Check:
Dems Debate On Guns, Syria, Health Care
PETE BUTTIGIEG: "On guns, we are this close to an assault weapons ban. That would be huge." AMY KLOCHUBAR: "I just keep thinking of how close we are to finally getting something done on this." THE FACTS: No, the U.S. is not close to enacting an assault-weapons ban, as Buttigieg claimed, nor close on any significant gun control, as Klobuchar had it. Congress is not on the verge of such legislation. Prospects for an assault-weapons ban, in particular, are bound to remain slim until the next election at least. (10/15)
The Washington Post:
Fact Check Of The 4th Democratic Debate
“You have half a million people sleeping out on the street today.” –Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)The way Sanders frames this is exaggerated. Sanders’s number come from a single-night survey done by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to measure the number of homeless people. For a single night in January 2018, the estimate was 553,000 people are homeless. But the report also says that two-thirds — nearly 360,000 — were in emergency shelters or transitional housing programs; the other 195,000 were “unsheltered” — i.e., on the street, as Sanders put it. The number has also been trending down over the past decade; it was 650,000 in 2007. (Kessler, Rizzo and Kelly, 10/15)
The Associated Press:
Study: 'Medicare For All' Not Only Way To Universal Coverage
Health care memo to Democrats: there's more than one way to get to coverage for all. A study out Wednesday finds that an approach similar to the plan from former Vice President Joe Bide n can deliver about the same level of coverage as the government-run "Medicare for All" plan from presidential rival Bernie Sanders. The study from the Commonwealth Fund and the Urban Institute think tanks concludes that the U.S. can achieve a goal that has eluded Democrats since Harry Truman by building on former President Barack Obama's health care law. (10/16)
The Washington Post:
State AGs Dangle $18B Potential Settlement, But Fail To Delay Federal Opioid Trial
An 11th-hour bid to delay a landmark federal opioid trial failed after a group of state attorneys general tried to persuade U.S. District Court Judge Dan Aaron Polster to give them more time to craft a settlement in their own cases, according to people with familiar with the events. They told Polster they were trying to reach an $18 billion settlement with the nation’s three largest drug distributors, McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen, according to the people familiar with the events who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations. (Bernstein, Higham, Horwitz and Davis, 10/15)
The Washington Post:
Landmark Opioid Trial Against Giant Drug Companies Begins In Ohio
The U.S. opioids epidemic has claimed more than 400,000 lives and left millions of people addicted, strained health care, law enforcement and social service systems, cost governments billions, and bankrupted the best-known manufacturer of narcotic painkillers. Now, 12 ordinary people will decide whether drug companies should be held responsible for the worst drug crisis in U.S. history and forced to pay billions of dollars to help clean it up. That effort begins Wednesday in U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster’s courtroom on the 18th floor of the federal building here, where attorneys will start picking a jury for the landmark trial. (Bernstein, 10/15)
The New York Times:
Fed Up With Deaths, Native Americans Want To Run Their Own Health Care
When 6-month-old James Ladeaux got his second upper respiratory infection in a month, the doctor at the Sioux San Indian Health Service Hospital reassured his mother, Robyn Black Lance, that it was only a cold. But 12 hours later James was struggling to breathe. Ms. Black Lance rushed her son back to the hospital in western South Dakota, where the doctors said they did not have the capacity to treat him and transferred him to a private hospital in Rapid City. There he was given a diagnosis of a life-threatening case of respiratory syncytial virus. “They told me if I hadn’t brought him back in, he would have died,” Ms. Black Lance said, choking back tears. (Walker, 10/15)
Modern Healthcare:
Amazon, City Of Hope Partnership Gives Workers Access To Cancer Support
Amazon is the latest employer to contract with Duarte, Calif.-based cancer treatment center City of Hope to offer its workers an array of cancer support services. The partnership allows Amazon employees to request a review of their diagnosis and treatment plan from City of Hope specialists, who may recommend improvements to the plan if appropriate. Amazon employees may also travel to City of Hope for an in-person evaluation, according to the cancer center's announcement Tuesday. (Livingston, 10/15)