Latest California Healthline Stories
Nearing Consensus on Dense Tissue Bill
In case you missed it, yesterday was the day to ask people if they’re dense. The Legislature last session officially approved Aug. 8 as Are You Dense Day. Not surprisingly, the occasion yesterday marked the reintroduction of a bill that would notify women if their dense breast tissue might interfere with mammogram results.
SB 1538 by Joseph Simitian (D-Palo Alto) has passed the Legislature before despite opposition from provider groups. Last year the governor vetoed it.
“Dense breast tissue can appear white in a mammogram, and cancer can appear white in a mammogram,” Simitian said at yesterday’s Assembly Committee for Appropriations hearing.
Governor Signs Veteran-Benefit Bill
It was a bill that had no organized opposition, and passed through every committee without a single “nay” vote.
The governor added his approval Tuesday to that overwhelming support, signing AB 1869 by Assembly Speaker John Pérez (D-Los Angeles) into law.
The legislation affects approximately 130,000 veterans who remain uninsured despite possibly being eligible for federal Veterans Affairs health benefits, according to a Senate analysis of California Health Interview Survey data compiled by UCLA.
‘Where You Live Matters’ to Your Health
Health care numbers are interesting to Angela Russell but they only become important when you remember what they represent, Russell said.
“Data rankings are a starting point, not an endpoint, and the key is using that information to take action,” Russell said. “You have to remember, this data is alive. It represents families and individuals and communities.”
Russell is the engagement lead for the County Health Rankings and Roadmaps program at the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. Yesterday, she was in the Capitol Building to talk about using federal and state health care data to make policy changes at the local level. The event was part of a California Health Policy Forum briefing called: “Health Rankings for Communities Across California: Using Data To Improve Population Health.” The event was funded in part by California HealthCare Foundation, which publishes California Healthline.
Task Force Starts with Population Health
When you’re trying to take on reformation of the complex and arcane system of health care in California, where do you even begin?
At population health, apparently.
The state’s recently formed “Let’s Get Healthy California” task force convened yesterday for the first of four scheduled webinars. The meetings are part of the task force’s plan to eventually organize the unruly health care system in California by creating a priority list and action plan for what needs to be done, according to Diana Dooley, Secretary of Health and Human Services.
No-Cost Clinic Faces Hard Times, Uncertain Future
Al Shifa Free Clinic near San Bernardino — one of two no-cost clinics in Riverside and San Bernardino counties providing care for uninsured residents — is scraping to make ends meet and exploring ways to survive under health care reform.
What Food Issues Mean to Health Care
A new policy brief from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research found that 3.8 million Californians in 2009 had times during the year when they could not afford food.
Based on data from the California Health Interview Survey, the new study of showed a marked rise from the 2.5 million Californians with food insecurity eight years before, in 2001. That’s an increase of about half (49%), during a time period where California’s population grew by about 10%.
“The numbers are quite striking,” said UCLA researcher Gail Harrison. “We knew what the trend was going to be, but this was a much more striking increase than I thought there would be.”
Paramedics Could Lighten L.A. County’s EMS Load
Proponents of expanded roles for emergency medical personnel say a goldmine of untapped health care resources in Los Angeles County is ripe for mining. Changes brought on by health care reform could make the transition smoother.
San Francisco Bay Area Aims To Tackle STIs With No-Cost Home Tests for Young Women
Heidi Bauer of the state Department of Public Health, Victoria Jones of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, Vivian Levy of the San Mateo County Health Department and Freya Spielberg of RTI International spoke with California Healthline about a pilot program to help young women obtain no-cost home tests for sexually transmitted infections.
Smoking In Long-Term Care Facilities Debated
California already prohibits smoking inside hospital buildings, so Assembly member Wilmer Amina Carter (D-Rialto) thought it made good sense to extend that ban to long-term nursing facilities.
The often elderly, frail population at nursing facilities might need more protection from secondhand smoke than most people, Carter said at a Senate Committee on Health meeting yesterday.
“There is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke,” Carter said. “One lit cigarette inside a long-term health facility exposes non-smoking workers, non-smoking patients and those who visit these facilities to over 7,000 harmful chemicals, of which over 70 of these chemicals cause cancer.”
Scrutiny of Health Care Training Programs Increasing
The training of health care workers at private schools is coming under increasing scrutiny in California. Legislation, research projects and consumer oversight efforts are looking into the costs of education compared with graduation rates, accreditation claims and graduates’ ability to find jobs.