Download May 16 to May 20, 2016 - Gold Coast Health Plan

CALIFORNIA WATCH
MAY 16, 2016
Ventura County Star: Undocumented Youths Qualify for Government Health Care
Monday
A California law that kicks in Monday makes immigrant children without legal documentation eligible for
comprehensive, government-paid health care. No one knows exactly how many people are impacted or
the exact cost to taxpayers for the new care. (Kisken, 5/15)
Los Angeles Times: State Found Lapses in Infection Control at UCLA and Cedars
After "super bug" outbreaks last year involving a hard-to-clean medical scope, state health inspectors
descended on two of Los Angeles’ largest hospitals and found numerous safety violations that appeared
to put far more patients at risk. At UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center, the state declared an
“immediate jeopardy” – meaning lives were at imminent risk – on March 4, 2015, after finding staff using
contaminated water and a tainted liquid cleaner dispenser being used to ready colonoscopes and other
devices for the next patients. (Petersen, 5/14)
The San Jose Mercury News: Will Doctors Choose to Prescribe Lethal Drugs Under
California's New Aid-In-Dying Law?
After 23 years of passionate debate over the issue, California's controversial right-to-die law becomes a
reality next month, when doctors will finally be allowed to legally prescribe lethal drugs to terminally ill
patients who want to end their lives. (Seipel, 5/13)
California Healthline: Consumer Advocates Fret about Proposed Covered California
Budget Cuts
The board of Covered California fielded complaints from consumer advocates at its monthly meeting
Thursday after unveiling a proposed 2017 budget that would cut funding for some programs meant to
assist low-income and hard-to-reach communities. (Ibarra, 5/13)
MEDICAID
The New York Times: Confined to Nursing Homes, but Longing (and ready) for Home
Marvin L. Dawkins was a 53-year-old AT&T manager when a blocked blood vessel left him paralyzed. It
took 11 years, one lawsuit, repeated tangles over Medicaid rules — and a chance meeting on a church
van — before he could extract himself from a nursing home outside Baltimore. ... Across the nation, many
other Americans who could live elsewhere with help are unwillingly confined to nursing homes or longterm care facilities. Nearly 20 years after the Supreme Court ruled that disabled people requiring public
support were entitled to live in their community, rather than in institutions unless medically necessary, the
federal government and states are still far from achieving that goal. (Thomas, Fink and Smith, 5/13)
HEALTH LAW ISSUES AND IMPLEMENTATION
The Washington Post: Obama Administration: Insurers Must Provide Services
Regardless of Gender Identity
The Obama administration unveiled two broad initiatives Friday aimed at combating discrimination
against transgender Americans in schools and health-care coverage, affirming the president’s goal of
elevating transgender protections to one of the central civil rights issues of his presidency. The moves,
both of which had been in the works for years, prompted an immediate backlash from conservatives who
disparaged the measures as government overreach. White House officials countered that they reflected
one of the administration’s core principles: protecting those targeted for discrimination because of their
identity. (Eilperin, 5/13)
PUBLIC HEALTH AND EDUCATION
The Washington Post: Defective ‘Breast Cancer’ Genes aren’t just Dangerous for
Women. They’re Also Linked to Aggressive Cancer in Men.
Joe Scholten’s sister had already beaten breast cancer and was battling ovarian cancer when she tested
positive for a genetic mutation linked to both. He responded by doing something unusual: He got tested,
too. That’s how the District resident discovered that he also carried the defective BRCA gene. He quickly
told his brothers, other relatives and, hardest of all, his daughter. “Getting tested was a no-brainer,” he
said, wondering what steps his sister would have taken if she’d learned early on about her own genetic
risk. She was 54 when the ovarian cancer killed her. He realizes now that not knowing your medical
pedigree is “clearly a danger.” (McGinley, 5/15)
EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS
The New York Times: Congress Wakes up to the Opioid Epidemic
The opioid epidemic is now a leading cause of death in the United States, ravaging communities across
the country. At last, Congress has snapped to attention. But its recent flurry of legislation will be of little
help unless lawmakers are willing to fund treatment and prevention programs. The House last week
passed 18 bills related to opioids, and the Senate approved a comprehensive bill in March. The bills,
which will be reconciled in a conference committee, are overdue. (5/16)
STAT: I Swallowed my Pride and Went to a Geriatrician. I'M Glad I Did.
Checking in at the front desk of the geriatric clinic, I suddenly felt I had made a ghastly mistake. At 68, I
was the only one in the waiting room not accompanied by a caregiver — and one of the few not using a
walker or a wheelchair. ... But I couldn’t just leave. A spate of new health problems, requiring a gaggle of
doctors with no connection to one another, had persuaded me to find the right person to quarterback my
care, now and in the years to come. (Jane Gross, 5/16)
Los Angeles Times: Industry Spending to Beat a Pharmaceutical Initiative Could set a
new Standard for 'Drug Money'
[O]ne measure on this November's California ballot appears poised to set a new standard for corporate
spending. The so-called California Drug Price Relief Act would cap the price any state agency or
healthcare program could spend on prescription drugs at the level paid by the U.S. Dept. of Veterans
Affairs, which customarily receives the largest discounts of any government agency. Turning the VA’s
prices into a benchmark for California could cost Big Pharma billions of dollars a year in profits, especially
if the discounts were later demanded by other states or even private insurers. (Michael Hiltzik, 5/14)
DHNR is a daily compilation of news stories from GCHP's Communications Department.
Certain news organizations are protected via a paywall requiring the purchase of a subscription to
view their content.
CALIFORNIA WATCH
MAY 17, 2016
California Healthline: Three Firms Vie to Run CalPERS’ Drug Benefits
Three industry heavyweights are vying to run the prescription-drug business for one of the nation’s
biggest health-care buyers, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System. Express Scripts and
UnitedHealth Group’s OptumRx unit are each trying to unseat the current pharmacy-benefits contractor,
CVS Health. The stakes are high for the companies and CalPERS, which is struggling along with many
employers nationwide to contain fast-rising drug costs. The agency’s medical costs are closely watched
as a harbinger of what big employers and their workers might be facing across the country. CalPERS
spends more than $8 billion annually on medical care for 1.4 million state and local government
employees, retirees and dependents. About a quarter of that, or $1.8 billion, goes to prescription drugs.
(Terhune, 5/17)
Los Angeles Times: Billionaire-Backed Campaign Launched to Raise California’s
Tobacco Tax
A coalition of health groups has launched a new campaign to ask voters in November to increase
California's tax on cigarettes by $2 per pack, this time enlisting deep-pocket supporters to counter a
tobacco industry that blocked several attempts in the past. Billionaire Tom Steyer, who was the nation’s
largest individual political donor in 2014, spending $74 million that year, is leading the campaign for the
tobacco tax. He has funneled $1 million into collecting signatures to qualify the measure for the Nov. 8
ballot. (McGreevy, 5/17)
HEALTH LAW ISSUES AND IMPLEMENTATION
The Hill: Trump, GOP Agree: ObamaCare Helps Us
Donald Trump and Senate Republicans believe ObamaCare will re-emerge as an explosive political issue
before the November elections. At a private strategy meeting on Thursday, Trump and Senate
Republicans agreed that President Obama’s signature law could be a millstone around Hillary Clinton’s
neck. Republicans point to reports of rising premiums in arguing the public will turn firmly against the
reform law. They say a fight over the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could help elect a GOP president this fall
and keep the Senate in Republican hands. (Bolton, 5/17)
Kaiser Health News: Insurers Quitting Health Law Exchanges May Still Sell Plans to
Individuals
An insurer’s decision to stop selling plans on the marketplace doesn’t necessarily mean it will stop selling
individual coverage in that state altogether. This year, for example, Aetna stopped selling individual plans
on the marketplaces in Kansas, Utah and the District of Columbia. But it continues to sell individual
policies outside the marketplaces in Kansas and Utah, said T.J. Crawford, a spokesperson for Aetna.
(Andrews, 5/17)
The Washington Post: Most Americans Want to Replace Obamacare with a Single-Payer
System — including a lot of Republicans
The politics of Obamacare aren't all that complicated. Republicans have called for the Affordable Care Act
to be "repealed and replaced" for years, with only sporadic attempts to articulate what the replacement
would be. On the Democratic side, the question that's emerged over the course of the primary is whether
or not the program should be expanded and improved (Hillary Clinton's argument) or if we should push for
a complete overhaul, moving toward a "single-payer" system like Medicare (Bernie Sanders's argument).
In a round of polling conducted this month, Gallup figured out which of those ideas was the most popular.
And the result? It's sort of a three-way tie. (Bump, 5/16)
PUBLIC HEALTH AND EDUCATION
The Washington Post: Have a Check-Up? Why Your Doctor Might Ask You if You Own a
Gun
A visit to the doctor’s office often comes with the sort of personal questions not asked anywhere else
except, perhaps, the depths of an online dating quiz: How many sexual partners do you have? How much
booze do you consume in a typical week? Do you smoke? Do you wear a helmet when you ride a bike?
Is there a gun in your house? If that last query feels unusually probing, even for a medical exam, there’s
good reason. The question is a bone of contention in states like Florida, where Gov. Rick Scott signed a
2011 law aimed at restricting doctors’ inquires about the firearms in their patients’ lives. Doctors who ask
about guns, for their part, may fear finding themselves far afield from their comfort zones. (Guarino, 5/17)
The Wall Street Journal: Men and Women’s Genes Help Explain Why Cancer Affects
Them Differently
Researchers are shedding new light on why cancer is often a different disease for men than it is for
women. A new study suggests that for many cancers, important differences in the genetics of tumors in
men as compared with women may affect the development and aggressiveness of the disease or how it
responds to treatment. Researchers said the findings could eventually affect drug development and lead
to strategies for preventing and treating cancer that take a patient’s sex into account. (Winslow, 5/16)
The Associated Press: First U.S. Penis Transplant Could Raise Hope for Maimed Soldiers
Penis transplants have generated intense interest among veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, but they
will require more extensive surgery since their injuries, often from roadside bombs, tend to be more
extensive, with damage to blood vessels, nerves and pelvic tissue that also will need repair, Lee noted.
The Department of Defense Trauma Registry has recorded 1,367 male service members who survived
with genitourinary injuries between 2001 and 2013. It's not clear how many victims lost all or part of the
penis. (5/16)
HEALTH IT
The Boston Globe: New Computer System Brings Prescription for Frustration
The new software that the Brigham’s parent company, Partners HealthCare, bought for its hospitals and
clinics is modernizing the way it tracks patients’ medical care. Doctors and nurses will know more about
their patients more quickly — from emergency room visits to medications. Partners executives say this
will result in safer care. But for [the] nurses and doctors at Partners, the new system has become a
disruptive presence. They say it has an insatiable demand for information that, keystroke by keystroke,
click by click, overwhelms the already tightly wrapped day inside a hospital, eats away at time with
patients, and sometimes forces them to work longer shifts. (Dayal McCluskey, 5/17)
The New York Times: American Well Will Allow Telemedicine Patients to Pick Their
Doctor
When patients use a telemedicine service offered through their health insurer or employer, they can
get modest routine care at any time, without having to go to a doctor’s office or urgent care center. But
they usually know very little about the doctor or nurse on the other end of the phone or on the screen. “It’s
a blind date,” said John Jesser, an executive with Anthem, one of the nation’s largest health insurance
companies, which offers its customers telehealth services through LiveHealth Online, giving them access
to medical care 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Now American Well, the company behind Anthem’s
service, is betting that people would rather choose the doctors or nurses they consult with online, much
as they select an urgent care center or a specialist. (Abelson, 5/16)
EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS
Los Angeles Times: Supreme Court Ruling Should Clear the way to Free Birth Control for
Women with Religious Employers
An evenly divided Supreme Court skirted the major legal questions arising from a dispute over President
Obama’s healthcare program and instead announced a compromise Monday designed to clear the way
for women working for religious organizations to receive the free birth control promised under the
Affordable Care Act. In a short, unanimous decision, the justices said that the Catholic charities who filed
the suits and the Obama administration – at the high court’s strong urging -- had agreed in recent weeks
that the female workers may "receive cost-free contraceptive coverage" without infringing on the religious
rights of the church-based employers. (David G. Savage, 5/16)
The Huffington Post: Why Some Obamacare Insurers are Making Money, but many are
Losing Big
The U.S. health insurance industry has lost a few billion dollars selling policies on Affordable Care Act
exchanges. It’s why many carriers are seeking large premium increases next year and why at least one
major carrier is dropping policies in most states. (Jonathan Cohn, 5/16)
The Wall Street Journal: Is ‘House V. Burwell’ Health Law Case About Statute or
Constitution?
Last Thursday, the Obama administration suffered a legal setback, when a federal judge in Washington
ruled that the administration exceeded its authority by paying out cost-sharing subsidies to health insurers
under the Affordable Care Act. The administration will doubtless appeal the case, which was brought by
the Republican-led House of Representatives, but whether those appeals succeed may well depend on
whether courts view the case as one of statutory interpretation, or one with constitutional implications. In
its briefs in the case, the administration tried to portray House v. Burwell as a successor case to King v.
Burwell, another lawsuit surrounding Obamacare subsidy payments, which the Supreme Court decided in
June 2015. (Chris Jacobs, 5/16)
DHNR is a daily compilation of news stories from GCHP's Communications Department.
Certain news organizations are protected via a paywall requiring the purchase of a subscription to
view their content.
CALIFORNIA WATCH
MAY 18, 2016
California Healthline: Inspectors Find Calif. Hospital’s Pharmacy Posed Infection Risk
More than 7,300 patients at a San Diego-area hospital may have been exposed to infection from
contaminated medications last year, state records show. The problems were traced to the compounding
pharmacy lab at Paradise Valley Hospital in National City, California, where inspectors found “dust, stains
and foreign material” in a supposedly sterile environment in which thousands of intravenous medications
were prepared over eight months — from Jan. 1 to Aug. 18. (Terhune, 5/18)
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. (Miller, 5/17)
MEDICAID
Morning Consult: Inside the GOP’s Plans to Overhaul Medicaid
While many Republican leaders are focusing on how to can fully replace Obamacare in a partisan way,
[Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky.] is thinking about the changes to the low-income health insurance program
could actually pass as soon as next year. ... One of Guthrie’s big ideas is making it easier for people to
transition from Medicaid to some type of individual insurance plan as they begin to earn more money. It’s
a moderate concept that could attract some Democrats, in part, because it doesn’t automatically assume
that Obamacare exchanges are going away. (Owens, 5/17)
HEALTH LAW ISSUES AND IMPLEMENTATION
CNBC: Obamacare Brings Record low for US Health Uninsured Rate
It was the first time the percentage of people without some form of health coverage has gone into single
digits and a 2.4 percentage point drop from 2014. The number of people uninsured in 2015 was 28.6
million, which was 7.4 million fewer than 2014, according to the CDC. (Mangan, 5/17)
PHARMACEUTICALS
Forbes: Valeant Pharmaceuticals hands out Million Dollar Bonuses as Compensation for
'Challenging Times'
Valeant Pharmaceuticals is planning on paying its top brass multi-million dollar bonuses as a reward for
sticking with the embattled drug maker through an accounting scandal, numerous regulatory
investigations, and criticism in the Senate and House of Representatives on its strategy of acquiring offpatent drugs and dramatically increasing their prices. Late on Monday, Valeant disclosed that it will pay
chief financial officer Robert L. Rosiello, and executives Dr. Ari Kellen and Anne C. Whitaker $1 million
retention bonuses, made in three tranches through the course of 2016. These executives will also receive
so-called “special equity awards” of $2.8 million, $3.8 million and $1.25 million, respectively, in the form of
restricted stock units that vest over 18-months. (Gara, 5/17)
The Wall Street Journal: Novartis Pharmaceuticals Head to Depart Amid Restructuring
Novartis AG said its head of pharmaceuticals, David Epstein, is to leave the company amid a
restructuring that will split his role in two. The Basel, Switzerland-based drug giant said Mr. Epstein, who
is American, had decided to leave the company “to explore new challenges from the U.S.” Chief
Executive Joe Jimenez said Mr. Epstein had “steered our pharmaceuticals division through a period of
excellence in innovation, execution and improved financial results.” Novartis disclosed Mr. Epstein’s
departure as the company announced plans to separate its cancer unit from the rest of the
pharmaceuticals business. (Roland, 5/17)
WOMEN’S HEALTH
The Associated Press: South Carolina Passes Bill Banning Abortion after 19 Weeks
The South Carolina Legislature passed a bill Tuesday prohibiting abortion after 19 weeks, becoming the
17th state to pass the restrictive ban. The legislation will now head to Gov. Nikki Haley's desk. The
Republican said in March she will almost certainly sign it, but wants to look at the details once it reaches
her. Similar laws are in effect in 12 states. They've been blocked by court challenges in three others, and
the U.S. Supreme Court has yet to rule on the ban's constitutionality. A South Dakota law signed in March
takes effect this summer. (Adcox, 5/17)
PUBLIC HEALTH AND EDUCATION
The New York Times: Senate Votes to Advance Emergency Funding to Fight Zika Virus
A number of Senate Republicans, particularly from Southern states that face the most immediate threat
from Zika virus, spoke out forcefully for government action, putting added pressure on House
Republicans who have accused the Obama administration of using the threat of Zika to demand a “slush
fund” from Congress. But Senator Johnny Isakson, Republican of Georgia, said he had recently spent
four hours at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looking at models of how the virus could
spread. “If anybody in the audience or in this room doesn’t think this is an emergency, you should have
been with Senator Collins and I two weeks ago at the C.D.C. in Atlanta,” Mr. Isakson said. (Herszenhorn,
5/17)
USA Today: CDC Cut $44 Million in Local Health Funding to pay for Zika Response
Short on funding to combat a potential Zika outbreak, the Centers for Disease Control shifted $44 million
from its fund for local health departments to Zika, a move that public health officials say [weaknens] their
ability to plan for and respond to other emergencies. The CDC tapped into the Public Health Emergency
Preparedness program, which provides federal money for communities to deal with health emergencies
of all kinds, from hurricanes to flu pandemics. (Szabo, 5/17)
Los Angeles Times: For Loved Ones of Critically Ill Patients, Hope Often Trumps
Understanding of a Physician's Prognosis
We have virtually all been there, are there now or will be there someday: A loved one is critically ill, and
his or her physician is talking to us about the patient's prognosis. She wants to know how we would like to
proceed. She's asking what we think our loved one, hovering in a twilight world, would want. She keeps
on talking, though her voice is coming through distant and garbled. The doctor's words are scaring us. 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. (Healy, 5/17)
NPR: Treating Opioid Addiction with a Drug Raises Hope and Controversy
Scientists and doctors say the case is clear: The best way to tackle the country's opioid epidemic is to get
more people on medications that have been proven in studies to reduce relapses and, ultimately,
overdoses. Yet, only a fraction of the more than 4 million people believed to abuse prescription painkillers
or heroin in the U.S. are being given what's called medication-assisted treatment. One reason is the
limited availability of the treatment. But it's also the case that stigma around the addiction drugs has
inhibited their use. (Hsu, 5/17)
EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS
The Washington Post: Obamacare has brought the Uninsured Rate Down into Single
Digits. Trump Would Repeal it.
We keep hearing that Donald Trump is vastly different ideologically from Congressional Republicans, but
the reality is considerably less dramatic. Whatever Trump actually believes in his, er, heart, he is running
on a range of conventional GOP positions: Tax cuts for the rich; hostility to Democratic efforts to solve the
immigration problem; and, of course, repeal of Obamacare. And on that latter front, here’s another data
point: On the very same day that we learned that the Affordable Care Act has brought the uninsured rate
down into single digits, it emerged that Trump thinks advocating for the repeal of the ACA will be a big
political winner for him in the presidential campaign. (Greg Sargent, 5/17)
Bloomberg: Hillary Clinton's Modestly Radical Idea for Medicare
Hillary Clinton wants Americans to have access to Medicare starting at age 50. It's an idea well worth
considering, not least because so many Americans aged 50 to 64 who don't have job-based health
insurance struggle to afford the relatively high premiums they're charged for private plans. And Medicare
is a popular, battle-tested and relatively inexpensive insurance system, costing less per person than
private insurance. (5/17)
DHNR is a daily compilation of news stories from GCHP's Communications Department.
Certain news organizations are protected via a paywall requiring the purchase of a subscription to
view their content.
CALIFORNIA WATCH
MAY 19, 2016
Kaiser Health News: Rushing to Move Excluded Immigrants into Obamacare — Before
Obama Exits
California state legislators and advocates are racing to get federal approval in the waning months of the
Obama administration for a proposal to allow immigrants living in the U.S. illegally onto the California
insurance exchange. Fearful that a new administration will torpedo their plans, they are working hard to
win legislative support in California and clear other hurdles at the state and federal level. California state
Sen. Ricardo Lara is carrying a bill to allow people living in the country illegally to purchase health
insurance — on their own dime — through the state exchange. (Bartolone, 5/19)
Kaiser Health News: Inspectors Find Calif. Hospital's Pharmacy Posed Infection Risk
More than 7,300 patients at a San Diego-area hospital may have been exposed to infection from
contaminated medications last year, state records show. The problems were traced to the compounding
pharmacy lab at Paradise Valley Hospital in National City, California, where inspectors found “dust, stains
and foreign material” in a supposedly sterile environment in which thousands of intravenous medications
were prepared over eight months — from Jan. 1 to Aug. 18. During their investigation into the pharmacy,
California health inspectors found that oversight of infection control was lacking throughout the hospital,
according to documents obtained by a reporter through the California Public Records Act. (Terhune, 5/19)
Ventura County Star: Doctors can help Reduce Prescription drug deaths, Ventura County
officials say
Unwillingly, unknowingly and indirectly, doctors and others who prescribe opioids in Ventura County may
be contributing to addiction and even death. They are, in some cases, "preventable deaths," said Dan
Hicks, an alcohol and drug prevention manager in the county's Behavioral Health Department. (Martinez,
5/18)
California Healthline: CalPERS Taps UnitedHealth to Run Its Prescription Drug Business
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System has picked a unit of UnitedHealth Group to run its
pharmacy business, hoping the nation’s largest health insurer can help contain the soaring cost of
prescription drugs. Now CalPERS will turn its attention to setting health insurance rates for 2017.
(Terhune, 5/18)
PUBLIC HEALTH AND EDUCATION
WBUR: The Promise and Price of New Addiction Treatment Implant
Amid a raging opioid epidemic, there’s a plea for more treatment options. The Food and Drug
Administration expects to have a decision on one by May 27. It’s an implant. Four rods, each about the
size of a match stick, inserted in the upper arm. This new device, called Probuphine, delivers a
continuous dose of an existing drug, buprenorphine but with better results, says implant maker Braeburn
Pharmaceuticals. (Bebinger, 5/19)
The Associated Press: House Passes $622 Million Bill to Fight Zika
House Republicans on Wednesday pushed through a $622 million bill to battle the Zika virus, setting up
challenging negotiations with the Senate and the White House. The 241-184 House vote broke mostly
along party lines as Democrats lined up in opposition, heeding a White House veto threat and a warning
from a top government health official that the bill wouldn’t do enough to respond to the growing threat
from Zika. “It’s just not enough,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Tom Frieden said of
the House measure. (5/19)
NPR: Autism Can be an Asset in the Workplace, Employers and Workers Find
As the population of people diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder keeps growing, so does the number
of people with that diagnosis who aren't finding employment. Though many young adults on the spectrum
are considered high functioning, recent research shows 40 percent don't find work — a higher jobless rate
than people with other developmental disabilities experience. Research scientist Anne Roux, of the A.J.
Drexel Autism Institute in Philadelphia, studies young adults with autism and was the lead author of that
study. (Noguchi, 5/18)
The San Jose Mercury News: Terminal Colon Cancer Patients with Left-Side Tumors Live
Longer, New Study Says
A decade long study of patients diagnosed with terminal colon cancer has yielded a remarkable
conclusion: Patients can expect to live more than a year longer if their tumor started on the left side of
their colon rather than the right side. (Seipel, 5/18)
NPR: Should Pediatricians Ask Parents if they’re Poor?
A single question asked at an annual checkup — whether parents have trouble making ends meet —
could help pediatricians identify children at risk for serious health problems associated with poverty and
the chronic levels of stress that often accompany it. The American Academy of Pediatrics urges members
to ask if their patients' families are struggling financially and then commit to helping them get the
resources they need to thrive. And some communities are trying to make that happen. Since almost half
of young children in the United States live in poverty or near poverty, it's no small challenge. (Korry, 5/18)
EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS
Los Angeles Times: Your Drug Lobby at Work: How Did two Witnesses come to Submit
Identical Testimony to Congress?
The internal mechanisms of the Washington lobbying game were inadvertently placed on public display
Tuesday during a House committee hearing on an Obama Administration move to reduce prescription
drug costs. Two witnesses opposing the proposal, ostensibly from two different interest groups, somehow
submitted statements that contained identical passages. They were ousted by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (DIll.), who said she found the similarities "very curious." (Michael Hiltzik, 5/18)
Modern Healthcare: Privacy, Security Issues Delay API Recommendations
By law, patients have a right to obtain electronic copies of their medical records, but should they also
have a right to access those records by using software applications of their choosing? It was a question
Tuesday that divided two federal panels reviewing the use of application programming interfaces in
healthcare. Their lack of consensus means the decision is still up for debate. (Joseph Conn, 5/18)
DHNR is a daily compilation of news stories from GCHP's Communications Department.
Certain news organizations are protected via a paywall requiring the purchase of a subscription to
view their content.
CALIFORNIA WATCH
MAY 20, 2016
California Healthline: Number of Low Income Kids Getting Coverage Grows in California,
Around Nation
Bolstered by the federal health care reform law, the number of low-income kids getting full health
coverage in California continues to grow, as it does in the nation as a whole, a recent study found. The
rate of uninsurance among California’s children dropped from 7.3 percent in 2013 to 5.2 percent in 2014,
according to the study, conducted by researchers at the Urban Institute. Among the uninsured were
immigrant children living in the country unlawfully, who until recently were ineligible for full coverage
under Medi-Cal, California’s version of the federal Medicaid program for people with low incomes.
(Andrews/Feder-Ostrov, 5/20)
The San Jose Mercury News: Pot for Periods? Medical Marijuana Marketed as Monthly
Pain Relief
For many years, Katie, who asked that her last name not be used, only got marginal relief from loading up
on high-dose ibuprofen over the course of her seven-day cycle. Recently, she's found what she considers
to be a more natural and much more effective remedy: cannabis-infused tinctures and balms designed to
relieve menstrual pain and discomfort. The products come from a new company, Whoopi and Maya, coowned by "The View" co-host Whoopi Goldberg and well-known Bay Area medical cannabis producer
Maya Elisabeth. (Ross, 5/19)
KQED: Law Allows Women to Obtain Birth Control without Prescription, but few
Pharmacies offer Service
It’s been more than 18 months since California’s governor signed a law allowing pharmacists to distribute
birth control without a prescription. Now, legally, women can simply walk into their local pharmacy and
pick up contraceptive pills, the patch or the ring — much like getting a flu shot or buying over-the-counter
medication. But good luck finding a pharmacy that will actually do it. (O'Mara, 5/19)
CAPITOL HILL WATCH
The Associated Press: Senate Vote Sets up Tricky Talks Ahead on Anti-Zika Bills
The Senate on Thursday approved its $1.1 billion plan to combat the Zika virus, setting the stage for
difficult negotiations with House Republicans over how much money to devote to fighting the virus and
whether to cut Ebola funding to help pay for it. The 68-30 vote added the Zika measure to an unrelated
spending bill and follows party-line passage of a separate $622 million House bill on Wednesday. The
White House has signaled that President Barack Obama would accept the Senate compromise measure
but has issued a veto threat on the House bill, saying it doesn’t provide enough money. (Taylor, 5/19)
The Hill: Time Runs Short on House GOP Bill Tackling Mental Health; Mass Shootings
House Republicans are circulating a revised draft of long-stalled mental health legislation. The
controversial bill from Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) has been cast as the Republican response to mass
shootings, but it has long been delayed. Republicans now are trying to jump-start it as time runs out in an
election year. "We're pretty close, I think, to coming up with some movement in the near future, knowing
that the legislative window is closing,” said House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (RMich.). Upton has been working with Murphy to smooth over some of the bill’s more controversial
provisions, and to bring its costs down. (Sullivan, 5/19 )
The Washington Post: Congress is Overhauling an Outdated Law That Affects Nearly
Every Product You Own
Congress has reached agreement on the most sweeping overhaul of U.S. chemical safety laws in 40
years, a rare bipartisan accord that has won the backing of both industry officials and some of the Hill’s
most liberal lawmakers. The compromise, which lawmakers unveiled Thursday, will provide the industry
with greater certainty while empowering the Environmental Protection Agency to obtain more information
about a chemical before approving its use. And because the laws involved regulate thousands of
chemicals in products as diverse as detergents, paint thinners and permanent-press clothing, the result
also will have a profound effect on Americans’ everyday lives. (Eilperin and Fears, 5/19)
CAMPAIGN 2016
Forbes: Hillary Clinton's Medicare 'Buy In' Could Cover 7M Uninsured
But it’s unclear whether an expansion of Medicare to age 50 would bring a better deal for Americans, the
Avalere report said. It could be more expensive. “Medicare does not include any out-of-pocket cap, so
beneficiaries with high healthcare costs could pay more out-of-pocket with Medicare coverage compared
to employer or exchange plan coverage,” the report by Avalere’s Caroline Pearson said. (Japsen, 5/20)
The Hill: New Analysis Finds Sanders's Plans Would Add $19 Trillion To Debt
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) says the proposals of Democratic presidential
candidate Bernie Sanders would add $19 trillion to the debt — an increase from its previous estimate. In
an analysis published in April, the CRFB estimated that the Independent senator's proposals would add
$2 trillion to $15 trillion to the debt, depending on the cost of Sanders's single-payer healthcare plan.
Since then, two new independent analyses have found that the healthcare plan "would cost dramatically
more than the campaign-provided estimates suggest," the CRFB said Thursday in its updated analysis.
(Jagoda, 5/19)
CNBC: Clinton Medicare Plan Could Cover 13M, But Boost Some Obamacare Costs
Nearly 13 million Americans age 50 to 64 who lack insurance or buy private health plans would be eligible
to buy into an expanded Medicare program that the Democratic presidential contender has proposed,
according to an analysis released Thursday. The Avalere Health consultancy, which conducted the
analysis, said those currently without health insurance in that age group — about 7 million or so people —
could "potentially benefit" from Clinton's proposal. But Avalere's report also said "it is not immediately
evident that Medicare coverage would be a better option for all people over 50," as some of them would
face higher costs if they moved into the new coverage option. (Mangan, 5/19)
HEALTH LAW ISSUES AND IMPLEMENTATION
Marketplace: Health Insurance Survey Finds Consumer Dissatisfaction
Let’s face it: When it comes to products most of us buy, health insurance is one of the least popular. And
new survey results from the Kaiser Family Foundation out Friday morning find that sentiment reaching
new lows. (Gorenstein, 5/20)
Los Angeles Times: Most Obamacare Enrollees are Satisfied with Coverage, but Worries
Over Costs are Rising
Most Americans enrolled in health plans through the Affordable Care Act are happy with their coverage,
despite persistent attacks on the health law by Republicans, including presumptive presidential nominee
Donald Trump. But consumers are increasingly concerned about their monthly premiums and
deductibles, reflecting rising anxiety among all Americans about their medical and insurance bills, a new
national survey found. Nearly 6 in 10 working-age Americans who have a health plan through one of the
marketplaces created by the law said they are satisfied with their monthly premiums, and just over half
say they are satisfied with their deductibles. (Levey, 5/19)
PUBLIC HEALTH AND EDUCATION
Kaiser Health News: People With HIV are Less Likely to get Cancer Treatment
We’ve made great progress treating people who are infected with HIV, but if they get cancer they’re less
likely to get the care they need, a recent study found. Researchers examined treatment for a variety of
cancers, including upper gastrointestinal tract, colorectal, prostate, lung, head and neck, cervix, breast,
anal and two blood cancers. With the exception of anal cancer, treatment rates differed significantly
between HIV-infected people and those who weren’t infected, according to the study. (Andrews, 5/20)
The Washington Post: Scientists Discover Five Genes That Impact Nose Shape. Will
Designer Babies be far Behind?
In the futuristic movie “Gattaca,” those in the ruling class are genetically engineered to be a physically
perfect version of their parents. They are as thin and tall as models, with perfect cheekbones, square
jaws and thick, glossy hair. Think of stars Uma Thurman and Jude Law. When the movie came out in
1997, this idea of “designer babies” was still far-fetched. DNA analysis was still in its early stages and the
world was still years away from sequencing the first human genome, much less a particular gene’s
function. But in the more than 20 years that have passed, our understanding of our own DNA and how it
works has exploded, and scientists have discovered a great number of genes that control our physical
appearance. (Cha, 5/19)
EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS
The Washington Post's Wonkblog: Why Bernie Sanders May Have Picked the Wrong Year
for a Revolution
Maybe the revolution got started just a little too late. For decades, Bernie Sanders has been advocating
for national health insurance. During his improbable ascent to national prominence over the past year, his
desire to provide every American with publicly funded insurance has defined his Democratic presidential
primary contest with Hillary Clinton. Although he campaigned on other issues as well — Wall Street, free
college and the war in Iraq — his most ambitious goal has been replacing today's patchwork healthinsurance system with one run by the government. (Max Ehrenfreund, 5/19)
Stat: Why ‘Healthy’ Food is a Bankrupt Concept
The Food and Drug Administration has decided it is going to update its definition of what constitutes
“healthy” food. Under the current definition — set in the 1990s when fat was a four-letter word —
companies can’t market avocados, walnuts, or salmon as healthy because they contain more than three
grams of fat per serving. It doesn’t matter that the fat consists mainly of nourishing monounsaturated fatty
acids. Sugary breakfast cereals and Pop-Tarts do squeak into the healthy category, however. (Roxanne
Sukol, 5/19)
Los Angeles Times: Why is Congress Trying to Weaken the FDA's Oversight of
Dangerous Drugs?
The drug industry blames the Food and Drug Administration for driving up the research and development
costs of new drugs, stifling innovation, and interfering with the sainted mandate to bring cures to suffering
medical patients. The nation's public research agencies, especially the National Institutes of Health,
complain they're starved for money. Put those together, and you get the elements of what drug industry
watchdog Ed Silverman calls a "grand bargain": Congress will step up funding for the NIH in return for a
loosening of regulatory standards at the FDA. Silverman thinks this is an offer the American public should
refuse. He's right. (Michael Hiltzik, 5/19)
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