Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
California Partners With Civica To Make Insulin, With Cost Capped At $30
The Hill: California Moves To Cap Insulin Cost At $30
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Saturday announced the state is manufacturing its own insulin and capping the cost at $30. California’s CalRx initiative has partnered with nonprofit generic drug manufacturer CIVICA to make the drug and bring the price down by around 90 percent, according to the governor’s office. (Mueller, 3/19)
California Healthline: California Picks Generic Drug Company Civica To Produce Low-Cost Insulin
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday announced the selection of Utah-based generic drug manufacturer Civica to produce low-cost insulin for California, an unprecedented move that makes good on his promise to put state government in direct competition with the brand-name drug companies that dominate the market. “People should not be forced to go into debt to get lifesaving prescriptions,” Newsom said. “Californians will have access to some of the most inexpensive insulin available, helping them save thousands of dollars each year.” (Hart, 3/18)
San Francisco Chronicle: California Will Make Its Own Insulin. Next Up: Naloxone
Newsom said his administration is already in discussions about also manufacturing both injectable and nasal spray versions of naloxone to bolster the state’s efforts to combat fentanyl overdoses. (Bollag, 3/18)
On mental health treatment —
The Mercury News: Newsom Proposal Would Add Billions For Mental Health Treatment Beds
In a major legislative proposal to combat the state’s growing homelessness crisis, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Sunday an effort to push billions of dollars toward building a vast network of treatment beds to help California’s mentally ill and drug-addicted residents find care. Through a bond measure that could reach up to $5 billion, the governor hopes to build at minimum 6,000 new mental health beds across the state. Funding would also come through the diversion of over $1 billion annually from a pool of money created by a proposition passed by voters almost two decades ago. (Greschler and Rodgers, 3/19)
AP: California To Seek Beds For Mental Health, Drug Treatment
California voters would decide whether to fund a major expansion of housing and treatment for residents suffering from mental illness and addiction, under the latest proposal by Gov. Gavin Newsom to address the state’s homelessness crisis. Newsom announced Sunday that he will ask allies in the Democratic-controlled Legislature for a measure on the 2024 ballot to authorize funding to build residential facilities where up to 12,000 people a year could live and be treated. The plan is the latest by the governor who took office in 2019 vowing to own the issue of homelessness in a state where an estimated 171,000 were unhoused last year. (3/20)
In pandemic news —
San Francisco Chronicle: California’s COVID Misinformation Law Tangled In Lawsuits And Courts
Gov. Gavin Newsom may have been prescient when he acknowledged free speech concerns as he signed California’s COVID misinformation bill last fall. In a message to lawmakers, the governor warned of “the chilling effect other potential laws may have” on the ability of doctors to speak frankly with patients but expressed confidence that the one he was signing did not cross that line. (Wolfson, 3/19)
