Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
California Changes Environmental Law That Made It Harder To Help Homeless
The New York Times: California Rolls Back Its Landmark Environmental Law
California leaders on Monday rolled back a landmark law that was a national symbol of environmental protection before it came to be vilified as a primary reason for the state’s severe housing shortage and homelessness crisis. For more than half a century, the law, the California Environmental Quality Act, has allowed environmentalists to slow suburban growth as well as given neighbors and disaffected parties a powerful tool to stop projects they found objectionable. (Rosenhall, Karlamangla and Nagourney, 6/30)
More news from California —
Politico: California AG Says 23andMe Sale ‘Does Not Comply’ With State Law
Genetic testing company 23andMe’s recent sale to a research institute “does not comply” with California’s landmark genetic privacy law, state Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said Monday. What happened: Bonta’s office said the terms of 23andMe’s sale, approved Friday by a federal bankruptcy judge, run afoul of the state’s Genetic Information Privacy Act, which requires companies to obtain opt-in consent from customers before selling their genetic information to third parties. (Katzenberger, 6/30)
NPR: California Lawmakers Want To Boost Doctors' Menopause Training
Former middle school teacher Lorraine Carter Salazar isn't easily embarrassed. But when she began having hot flashes at school about a decade ago, she worried about how she came off to coworkers, students and parents. "It doesn't convey competence," said Carter Salazar, 62. She recounted how parents could tell she was uncomfortable in meetings. One time, a student even fanned her and remarked that she was used to seeing her grandma feeling the same way. (Myscofski, 7/1)
KFF Health News: California Immigrants Weigh Health Coverage Against Deportation Risk
For months, Maria, 55, a caregiver to older adults in California’s Orange County, has been trying not to smile. If she opens her mouth too wide, she worries, people will see her chipped, plaque-covered front teeth. An immigrant without legal status, Maria doesn’t have health or dental insurance. When her teeth start to throb, she swallows pain pills. Last summer, a dentist said it would cost $2,400 to fix her teeth. That’s more than she can afford. (Boyd-Barrett, 7/1)
On gender-affirming care —
AP: Iowa Law Removing Gender Identity Protections Takes Effect
Iowa became the first state to remove gender identity from its civil rights code under a law that took effect Tuesday, meaning transgender and nonbinary residents are no longer protected from discrimination in their job, housing and other aspects of life. The law also explicitly defines female and male based on reproductive organs at birth and removes the ability for people to change the sex designation on their birth certificate. (Fingerhut, 7/1)
WSHU: Transgender Veteran Gets Gender-Affirming Care Back In VA Lawsuit
The Department of Veterans Affairs has reinstated gender affirming medical coverage for a transgender veteran who sued them for refusing to cover her hormone replacement therapy. The VA announced in March that it would no longer cover gender affirming care for trans servicemembers or vets, but that people who were already receiving the medicine would continue to. (Ingram, 6/30)
KFF Health News: Feds Investigate Hospitals Over Religious Exemptions From Gender-Affirming Care
The Trump administration has launched investigations into health care organizations in an effort to allow providers to refuse care for transgender patients on religious or moral grounds. One of the most recent actions by the Department of Health and Human Services, launched in mid-June, targets the University of Michigan Health system over a former employee’s claims that she was fired for requesting a religious exemption from providing gender-affirming care. (Wells, 7/1)
More health news from across the U.S. —
ProPublica: Under Texas’ Abortion Ban, More Women Nearly Bled To Death During Miscarriage
Before states banned abortion, one of the gravest outcomes of early miscarriage could easily be avoided: Doctors could offer a dilation and curettage procedure, which quickly empties the uterus and allows it to close, protecting against a life-threatening hemorrhage. But because the procedures, known as D&Cs, are also used to end pregnancies, they have gotten tangled up in state legislation that restricts abortion. (Surana, Presser and Suozzo, 7/1)
The Boston Globe: ‘I’m Really Worried.’ With The State’s Hotel Shelter System Closing, Families Struggle To Find Places To Live.
Nuribel Amparo, a single mother, lived with her three children in a Route 1 hotel before relocating to an apartment-style shelter in Lynn over the weekend. The family was forced to move as the state winds down its controversial hotel shelter program. But Amparo’s search for a permanent home isn’t done. They face a deadline to find a new place by the end of August. (McDonnell Nieto del Rio and Lozada, 6/30)
AP: New York City Doctor Pleads Guilty To Sexually Abusing Patients In Hospital
A doctor pleaded guilty Monday to sexually abusing sedated patients at his New York City hospital and raping women who were unconscious at his home. Zhi Alan Cheng admitted to abusing seven women, including three female patients he was treating at New York-Presbyterian Queens hospital, the Queens district attorney’s office said. Cheng, now 35, was arrested in 2022 after a female acquaintance discovered a video of him abusing her at his home while she was passed out. (6/30)
CIDRAP: Kentucky, Utah Report More Measles Cases
Over the weekend Kentucky reported three more measles cases, all from the same family in Woodford County. None of the individuals were vaccinated, health officials from the state said. Kentucky now has six confirmed measles cases in 2025, following the identification of a measles infection in February in an adult state resident. Officials urged vaccination for all residents, especially school children, noting that, for the 2024-25 school year, only 86.9% of Kentucky kindergartners were fully vaccinated against measles. (Soucheray, 6/30)
