First Edition: October 30, 2019

California Healthline: California Nursing Home Residents Told To Find New Homes
Some of California’s most vulnerable nursing home residents, many of whom have nowhere else to go, are receiving letters from their health care plans saying they are no longer eligible for long-term care. In one notable example, three dozen nursing home residents in San Luis Obispo County were informed on the same day that their Medi-Cal managed-care plan was cutting off payment for nursing home care, said Karen Jones, the county’s long-term care ombudsman. (Wiener, 10/29)

California Healthline: California Fires Illuminate Trauma And Resilience
Dorothy Hammack had planned to wash her thick, dark hair in the kitchen sink Friday morning. She couldn’t yet shower, due to the incision on her breast from a biopsy a few days before. Her doctor had already called to let her know the results: She had breast cancer. She was supposed to be researching treatment options and organizing doctor appointments. Instead, Hammack, 79, was standing in her pajamas in the parking lot of a makeshift evacuation center in Santa Rosa, the urban center of Sonoma County’s celebrated wine country. (Barry-Jester, 10/29)

Kaiser Health News: ‘Invincible’ Teen Vapers Face Fears, Ask For Help
It all started at the mall when a friend offered her a puff from a Juul e-cigarette. “It was kind of peer pressure,” said Beth, a Denver-area 15-year-old who started vaping in middle school. “Then I started inhaling it,” she said. “I suddenly was, like, wow, I really think that I need this — even though I don’t.” (Daley, 10/30)

NPR: Bernie Sanders Won't Yet Explain Details Of How To Pay For Medicare For All
Bernie Sanders doesn't plan on releasing a detailed plan of how to finance his single-payer Medicare for All plan, he told CNBC's John Harwood on Tuesday. "You're asking me to come up with an exact detailed plan of how every American — how much you're going to pay more in taxes, how much I'm going to pay," he said. "I don't think I have to do that right now." The Vermont senator explained that before getting to his detailed financing plan, he wants Americans to understand that they currently pay more for health care than people in other countries. (Kurtzleben, 10/29)

CNN: Bernie Sanders Says He Doesn't Need To Come Up With 'Exact Detailed Plan' Right Now On How To Pay For 'Medicare For All'
His comments come after Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said she would put out a plan in the coming weeks on how to pay for Medicare for All, which she has endorsed. Warren's announcement came after being repeatedly pressed on how she would pay for the sweeping national health insurance plan without raising taxes on the middle class. A recent study by the Urban Institute said federal spending on health care would increase by roughly $34 trillion under a single-payer plan similar to Medicare for All. That number is in line with earlier studies that pegged the cost at around $32 trillion. (Sullivan, Grayer and Luhby, 10/29)

The Hill: Sanders: 'I Don't Think I Have To' Release Details On Paying For 'Medicare For All'
Sanders has been upfront that Medicare for All would involve raising taxes on the middle class as well as on the wealthy but has not fully explained where the revenue for his plan would come from. Sanders last spring released a list of financing suggestions for his updated Medicare for All legislation, but the list would only cover about half the cost. A conservative group estimated Medicare for All would cost about $33 trillion over a decade, but Sanders has said that amount is inflated. (Weixel, 10/29)

The New York Times: How Americans Split On Health Care: It’s A 3-Way Tie
When Americans are asked whether they support a “Medicare for all” system that would replace all current insurance with a generous government program, a majority often say yes. But when they’re asked follow-up questions, they often reveal that they’re not familiar with the details of that plan — or that they would also be happy with other Democratic policy proposals. ... We asked a panel of 2,005 adults to pick their favorite plan from three choices. One resembled the Medicare for all proposal; one was like more incremental Democratic proposals; and one was like a plan proposed by congressional Republicans, which would reduce federal involvement in the health system and give more money and autonomy to states. The share of the public supporting each option wound up being almost identical — around 30 percent each. (Sanger-Katz, 10/30)

The Hill: Number Of Uninsured Children Rises For Second Year, Tops 4 Million 
The number of uninsured children in the U.S. increased for the second year in a row and now tops four million, the highest numbers since ObamaCare became law, according to a new report released Wednesday. According to the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, the number of uninsured children increased by more than 400,000 between 2016 and 2018. (Weixel, 10/30)

CNN: 400,000 More Children Are Uninsured Since Trump Took Office
Roughly 4.1 million children were uninsured in 2018, up from a low of 3.6 million in 2016, according to the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, citing US Census Bureau data. Their uninsured rate jumped to 5.2% last year, up from 4.7% in 2016.Another Census study shows a similar increase, with the uninsured rate for kids increasing to 5.5% last year, up from 5.0% two years earlier. The trend is particularly troubling because it comes during a period of economic growth when more Americans are gaining employment, said Joan Alker, the center's executive director. She fears even more children will lose coverage if the economy falters. (Luhby, 10/30)

The New York Times: Alabama Abortion Ban Is Temporarily Blocked By A Federal Judge
A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a near-total ban on abortions from taking effect next month in Alabama, ensuring the procedure remains legal and available in the state while the case winds its way through the courts. In ruling against the Alabama law — the most far-reaching anti-abortion measure passed by state lawmakers this year — Judge Myron H. Thompson of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama wrote that it violates Supreme Court precedent and “defies” the Constitution. (Rojas and Blinder, 10/29)

The Wall Street Journal: Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Restrictive Alabama Abortion Law
In his order, Judge Thompson said the law violated Supreme Court precedent that determines the right to an abortion before a fetus reaches viability, a period that ranges from 24 to 28 weeks of pregnancy. The judge said the measure also defied the U.S. Constitution and would leave many patients in the state without options. “Enforcement of the ban would yield serious and irreparable harm, violating the right to privacy and preventing women from obtaining abortions in Alabama,” said Judge Thompson, who was appointed in 1980 by former President Carter. (Calfas, 10/29)

The Associated Press: Federal Judge Blocks Alabama's Strict Abortion Ban
"Alabama's abortion ban contravenes clear Supreme Court precedent," Thompson wrote in an accompanying opinion. "It violates the right of an individual to privacy, to make choices central to personal dignity and autonomy. It diminishes the capacity of women to act in society, and to make reproductive decisions. It defies the United States Constitution." Energized by new conservatives on the U.S. Supreme Court, Alabama and other conservative states have attempted to enact new restrictions on abortion in the hopes of getting Supreme Court justices to reconsider Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide. (Chandler, 10/29)

Reuters: Federal Judge Blocks Alabama Abortion Ban From Being Enforced
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, a Republican, had signed the bill into law in May and it was due to come into effect on Nov. 15. A Christian, she invoked God in support of the law, saying it would protect his creation, while opponents said it came at the expense of women's health and constitutional rights. Those performing abortions would be committing a felony, punishable by up to 99 years in prison. A woman who receives an abortion would not be held criminally liable. The law makes no exceptions even for rape and incest. (10/29)

The Washington Post: Bill’s Sponsors Had Called It A Direct Challenge To Roe V. Wade
Passage of the law in May was celebrated as a major victory for the antiabortion movement. The bill’s author, state Rep. Terri Collins, has said it was intended to serve as a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that the Constitution protects a woman’s right nationwide to have an abortion. Collins earlier said she wanted the law to be strong enough to force federal court intervention — something she and others hope will lead to national restrictions on abortion. “Today’s ruling is both expected and welcomed,” Collins said in an interview, explaining the decision “is merely the first of many steps on that legal journey." (Cha and Wax-Thibodeaux, 10/29)

The Associated Press: Missouri Agency Tracked Planned Parenthood Patients' Periods
Missouri's health department director on Tuesday said he tracked the menstrual cycles of Planned Parenthood patients as part of an effort to identify what the agency says were "failed abortions" at a St. Louis clinic. Department of Health and Senior Services Director Randall Williams made the revelation during the second day of an administrative hearing to determine whether Missouri's only abortion clinic will lose its license to perform the procedure. (10/29)

Kansas City Star: Missouri Health Director Kept Spreadsheet Of Planned Parenthood Patients’ Periods
The spreadsheet, which was based on medical records the investigator had access to during the state’s annual inspection, also included medical identification numbers, dates of medical procedures and the gestational ages of fetuses. The last column of the spreadsheet included the date of the last menstrual period of each patient calculated by the health department. The patient’s names were not included. The investigation eventually found four patients that had to return to Planned Parenthood more than once to have a successful surgical abortion. The failed abortions led the department to have “grave concerns” that caused it to withhold the St. Louis clinic’s license. (Thomas, 10/29)

The Associated Press: Abortion Clinic Seeks Court Order, New License To Stay Open
The Dayton area’s last abortion clinic is trying to avoid closure by pursuing a new state license and intervention by a federal court after the Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday again refused to hear its appeal. The state court’s decision meant Women’s Med Center faced losing its license as an ambulatory surgical facility because it didn’t meet certain Ohio requirements about hospital transfers and agreements with doctors who could help facilitate hospital care in an emergency. (Franko, 10/29)

The New York Times: U.S. Blames Drug Shortages On Low Prices And A ‘Broken Marketplace’
Chronic drug shortages that threaten patient care are caused by rock-bottom prices for older generic medicines and a health care marketplace that doesn’t run on the rules of supply and demand, among other factors, according to a federal report published on Tuesday. The report, the work of a task force led by the Food and Drug Administration and comprising representatives from various federal agencies, recommended that buyers like hospitals consider paying higher prices for older generic drugs. (Rabin, 10/29)

The New York Times: Recall Of Generic Version Of Xanax Is Announced By F.D.A.
The Food and Drug Administration has announced a nationwide recall of a batch of alprazolam, a generic version of Xanax, because of potential contamination. The manufacturer, Mylan Pharmaceuticals, said Friday that the voluntary recall was because of the possible presence of a foreign substance. The company had not received reports of problems related to the tablets, but “the remote risk of infection to a patient cannot be ruled out,” it said. A Mylan spokeswoman did not immediately respond to questions about what the contaminant was. (Zraick, 10/29)

The Wall Street Journal: FDA Committee Recommends Withdrawing Treatment To Prevent Preterm Births From Market
A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory committee recommended Tuesday that the standard treatment to prevent women from having another preterm birth, Makena, be withdrawn from the market in a 9-to-7 vote following a public hearing. The FDA approved the treatment, now made by AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc., in 2011, contingent upon completing a follow-up study. That study, published last week in the American Journal of Perinatology, found that the weekly synthetic progestin injections didn’t decrease recurrent preterm births in women who took it versus a placebo. (Reddy, 10/29)

Reuters: Ex-FDA Chief Gottlieb Sees Investment Opportunity In 'Unloved' Antibiotics
As a private investor, former U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is focused on an area where few have found success in recent years: developing new antibiotics. Since leaving the FDA in April, Gottlieb has revealed little about what types of investments he would make in his new role at New Enterprise Associates, one of the country's largest venture capital firms where he worked prior to his time in government. (Spalding, 10/29)

The Associated Press: White House Launches Website Aimed At Addiction Treatment
The Trump administration has unveiled a website aimed at helping millions of Americans with substance abuse issues learn about and locate treatment options. FindTreatment.gov is the latest development in the administration's effort to address the nation's opioid crisis. The White House said it believes the site, which went up Wednesday, will enable the tens of millions of Americans with a variety of substance abuse and mental health issues to better access the care they need. (Miller, 10/30)

Los Angeles Times: 'Extreme Red Flag' Winds In L.A. Region Are Dangerous, Unpredictable
Even after several years of devastating wind-driven fires in Southern California, forecasters fear that the next two days could bring new levels of danger. “Extreme” fire weather began in the Los Angeles area at 11 p.m. Tuesday and was expected to persist for 30 hours, bringing isolated gusts of up to 80 mph. It’s an unusually long Santa Ana wind condition, and fire weather of this kind hasn’t been seen in Southern California since October 2007, when similar conditions helped unleash the sixth most destructive fire in California history. (Serna and Lin, 10/30)

The New York Times: Despair For Many And Silver Linings For Some In California Wildfires
After a wildfire razed his spacious suburban home in the Sonoma hills two years ago, Pete Parkinson set out to rebuild. This time it would be an even better one. He reoriented the house toward vistas of a nearby mountain and designed a large kitchen with hickory floors and 16-foot windows under vaulted ceilings. “We are now living the silver lining,” said Mr. Parkinson, a retired civil servant who moved into his new home 10 days ago. “It is a beautiful, brand-new home.” (Fuller, Turkewitz and Del Real, 10/29)

The Washington Post: PG&E Cut Off Power To Millions Of Californians. Its Equipment Is Still Suspected Of Sparking Fires.
Investigators are looking into whether fires ravaging Northern California may have been sparked by Pacific Gas & Electric equipment, deepening skepticism around the utility’s controversial plan to prevent fires in the region by shutting off power to millions of residents — and raising panic among the bankrupt company’s investors. PG&E told regulators last week that equipment on one of its transmission towers broke near the ignition point of the Kincade Fire, a blaze that has destroyed more than 120 structures and burned 75,415 acres of Sonoma County since last Wednesday, making it the state’s biggest fire this year. (MacMillan and Siddiqui, 10/29)

Los Angeles Times: How Parents And Teachers Can Calm Kids’ Getty Fire Anxiety
During this Santa Ana wind season, 12-year-old Nicholas Ladesich tends to go to bed worrying about what might burn overnight. He often has dreams of waking up in his old house that burned down in the Woolsey fire last year. But he awakens instead in the living room of the one-bedroom guest house he shares with his brother and parents. He demands that his mom turn on the news to monitor possible fires while his 15-year-old brother Lucas uses an app to check the strength and direction of winds. (Kohli and Agrawal, 10/29)

The New York Times: U.S. Detains Record Number Of Child Migrants, Surpassing Crisis Under Obama
The United States has detained more children trying to cross the nation’s southwest border on their own over the last year than during any other period on record, surpassing the surge of unaccompanied minors that set off a crisis during the Obama administration, according to new figures released Tuesday. American immigration authorities apprehended 76,020 minors, most of them from Central America, traveling without their parents in the fiscal year that ended in September — 52 percent more than during the last fiscal year, according to United States Customs and Border Protection. (Villegas, 10/29)

Politico: CBP: Border Arrests Doubled In 2019
The 2019 numbers represent the most people arrested at the border since 2007, but remain below levels of the late-1980s through mid-2000s, when arrest figures routinely topped 1 million. Border arrests are used as a rough metric for the overall number of illegal border crossings. “These are numbers that no immigration system in the world can handle, not even in this country,” acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan told reporters at the border in El Paso, Texas. (Kullgren, 10/29)

The Wall Street Journal: White House Weighs Ways To Tap Cuccinelli As Acting DHS Secretary
The White House is weighing legal options that could allow President Trump to appoint Ken Cuccinelli as the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, according to people familiar with the matter. The White House personnel chief told Mr. Trump in a meeting last week that his top choices for the job—Mr. Cuccinelli, acting head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and Mark Morgan, acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection—are both ineligible under a federal statute governing vacancies, according to an opinion by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. (Hackman and Restuccia, 10/30)

The Wall Street Journal: Coal Miners’ Pension, Health Benefits Under Stress After Bankruptcies
A pension fund covering about 90,000 coal workers and their families is on the brink of insolvency while hundreds of these miners also face losing medical benefits, part of mounting financial stress on the larger safety net meant to protect sick or out-of-work miners. The United Mine Workers of America multiemployer pension plan is projected to become insolvent during its 2022 plan year if Congress doesn’t authorize using public funds to buttress it for the first time in a history tracing back more than 70 years. Murray Energy, which filed for bankruptcy Tuesday, is the last major contributor to the fund. (Randles, 10/30)

The New York Times: Johnson & Johnson Says Recalled Baby Powder Doesn’t Have Asbestos
Johnson & Johnson said on Tuesday that it did not find asbestos in multiple tests of a bottle of baby powder that the Food and Drug Administration said contained trace amounts of the carcinogen. The company had recalled 33,000 bottles of the product earlier this month after the regulator said it discovered evidence of chrysotile asbestos in a bottle bought from an online retailer. Johnson & Johnson said 15 new tests of that very bottle came up clean. (Hsu, 10/29)

The Wall Street Journal: J&J Says Suspect Baby Powder Is Asbestos-Free
On Oct. 18, J&J recalled one lot—or about 33,000 bottles—of its talcum powder after a laboratory test authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found a small amount of asbestos in a single bottle. J&J said at the time it was recalling the lot out of an abundance of caution, and would investigate the matter. The recall fueled concerns about the powder’s safety, and led major retailers, including CVS Health Corp. , to remove some bottles from store shelves. Asbestos, a mineral fiber once widely used in building construction, can cause lung damage if inhaled. (Loftus, 10/29)

The Associated Press: Kentucky-Based Insurer Humana To Lay Off 2% Of Workforce
A health insurance provider says it's laying off more than 800 people. The Louisville, Kentucky-based Humana announced Monday it'd be cutting 2% of its workforce by the end of the year, with some employees being let go as early as Thursday. Severance will be provided. The Courier-Journal reports that Humana employs 41,600 nationwide, so 2% would be about 832 people. The company says it expects to keep 12,000 in Louisville. (10/29)

The Washington Post: The Average Time Young People Spend Watching Videos — Mostly On YouTube — Has Doubled Since 2015
More than twice as many young people watch videos every day as did four years ago, and the average time spent watching videos — mostly on YouTube — has roughly doubled, to an hour each day. That’s according to a survey released Tuesday by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that tracks young people’s tech habits. The report found that overall screen time among young people hasn’t changed much since 2015. On average, American 8-to-12-year-olds spent 4 hours and 44 minutes on screen media each day. And teens average 7 hours and 22 minutes — not including time spent using screens for school or homework. (Siegel, 10/29)

The Wall Street Journal: Heart-Failure Deaths Rise, Contributing To Worsening Life Expectancy
Deaths from heart failure, one of the nation’s biggest killers, are surging as the population ages and the health of younger generations worsens. The death rate from the chronic, debilitating condition rose 20.7% between 2011 and 2017 and is likely to keep climbing sharply, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Cardiology. (McKay, 10/30)

NPR: Children At Risk Of Type 1 Diabetes Get Limited Screenings In Large Trial
At first, 19-year-old Sarah Hornak ignored the tingling in her hands and feet. She also ignored the 20 pounds of weight she shed, the constant hunger and thirst, the time she threw up after a tough workout. She went to her doctor only when she began to see halos everywhere. A pinprick on her finger revealed that her blood sugar was in the 400s — about four times as high as a healthy person's should be. She checked into the hospital and was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes within days. It has been nearly 15 years since she learned she has the disease, a condition in which the body's immune cells attack the pancreas, the gland that regulates blood glucose levels by secreting insulin. What causes Type 1 diabetes and how to stop it are still a mystery. (Madhusoodanan, 10/30)

The New York Times: How Walking Might Affect Our Sleep
Taking more steps during the day may be related to better sleep at night, according to an encouraging new study of lifestyle and sleep patterns. The study, which delved into the links between walking and snoozing, suggests that being active can influence how well we sleep, whether we actually exercise or not. Sleep and exercise scientists have long been intrigued and befuddled by the ties between physical activity and somnolence. To most of us, it might seem as if that relationship should be uncomplicated, advantageous and one-way. You work out, grow tired and sleep better that night. (Reynolds, 10/30)

The New York Times: Why Did The Young Mother Have Searing Head Pain And A Racing Heart?
“Please find something wrong with me,” the 28-year-old woman pleaded. For nearly a year, she’d been looking for a reason for the strange symptoms that now dominated her life. Dr. Raphael Sung, a cardiologist specializing in finding and fixing abnormal heart rhythms at National Jewish Health hospital in Denver, was surprised by her reaction to the news that her heart was normal. Most patients are happy to get that report. For this patient, it seemed like just one more dead end. (Sanders, 10/30)

The Washington Post: Expert: There’s No Evidence That The Fortune Being Spent To ‘Harden’ Schools Against Shooters Will Work -- But Here’s What Will
Last April, a study came out from researchers at the University of Toledo and Ball State University that said the fortune being spent to “harden” public schools to make students safer from gun violence is creating a “false sense of security.” The study, published in the journal Violence and Gender, looked at the literature on the subject from 2000 to 2018 and could not find any program or practice with evidence that it reduced firearm violence. (Strauss, 10/29)

The Wall Street Journal: New York Lawmakers Debate A Tough Topic: Kids Playing Football
New York legislators heard from coaches, league officials, scientists and former football players during a Tuesday hearing to consider a bill banning children under age 13 from playing organized tackle football. All agreed that football involves blows to the head, and that sometimes such trauma eventually can lead to cognitive and behavioral disorders. (Vielkind, 10/29)

The Associated Press: Lawsuit: Fertility Doctor Used Own Sperm To Impregnate Woman
A family alleges in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that a Colorado fertility doctor used his own sperm instead of that of an anonymous donor to impregnate a woman without her consent. KUSA-TV reports that the lawsuit contends Dr. Paul Jones of Grand Junction committed fraud by using his own sperm to artificially inseminate Cheryl Emmons, allowing her to give birth to two daughters in 1980 and 1985, respectively. (10/29)

The Associated Press: Lyft, Uber Will Ask California Voters To Block Employee Law
Some of the country's largest ride-sharing companies proposed a California law on Tuesday that would let them continue to treat drivers as independent contractors while also guaranteeing them a minimum wage and money for health insurance. The state Legislature enacted legislation this year requiring ride-sharing companies to treat drivers as employees, which would let them form a union and entitle them to benefits like a minimum wage and workers compensation. (10/29)

The Associated Press: Potential Listeria Contamination Leads To Apples Recall
A county health department in Illinois says a Michigan company voluntarily is recalling nearly 2,300 cases of apples due to potential listeria contamination. Kane County health officials say Tuesday that North Bay Produce of Traverse City also is recalling two bulk bins of apples. (10/29)