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Not a subscriber? Sign up | | | | Daily Edition | | | Latest From California Healthline: Even Grave Errors at Rehab Hospitals Go Unpenalized and Undisclosed For-profit hospitals provide most inpatient physical therapy but tend to have worse readmission rates to general hospitals. Medicare doesn't tell consumers about troubling inspections. (Jordan Rau and Irena Hwang, The New York Times, 7/15) How To Find the Right Medical Rehab Services Specialized hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, and home health agencies provide rehab therapy. Insurers may limit the services you can get. (Jordan Rau, 7/15) Nation's First Rape Crisis Center Is Closing: BRAVE Bay Area, the Alameda County-based rape crisis center and hotline, will permanently close Sept. 30, citing funding cuts and staffing constraints. Executives said that to meet minimum standards of care, BRAVE would need to double its workforce, but they're operating with 30% less funding than last year. Read more from The Oaklandside. LA County Homeless Count Ebbs For Second Straight Year: Los Angeles County's unhoused population declined slightly for the second year in a row. Results of the 2025 point-in-time homeless count, released Monday, show homelessness dropped by 3.4% in the city of L.A. and by 4% countywide, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. That includes the number of people in shelters and those sleeping outdoors. Read more from LAist and the Los Angeles Times. Below, check out the roundup of California Healthline's coverage. For today's national health news, read KFF Health News' Morning Briefing. More News From Across The State Berkeleyside: How Will Trump's Mega Bill Affect Health Care In California?
The newly signed "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" marks the most sweeping overhaul of the U.S. social safety net in decades. President Donald Trump and his supporters call it a long-overdue effort to rein in government spending. But critics warn it will gut public health systems — especially in California, where more residents rely on Medicaid, known locally as Medi-Cal, than in any other state. (McClurg, 7/14) Modern Healthcare: Medicare Doctor Pay To Rise By 2.5% In 2026 Under CMS Proposal
The base Medicare rate for doctors would rise 2.5% in 2026 under a proposed rule the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published Monday. President Donald Trump and Congress mandated this one-year boost to physician reimbursement in the tax bill that became law this month. That same statute offers a higher increase for doctors participating in alternative payment models. (Early, 7/14) Modern Healthcare: CMS Proposed Rule Targets Glucose Monitor, Insulin Pump Payments
Sellers of certain types of medical equipment for Medicare patients may find themselves squeezed by a Trump administration proposal to change how contracts are awarded. A rule proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services seeks to start a competitive bidding program for products covered by Medicare such as glucose monitors and insulin pumps as well as those for urological, tracheostomy and ostomy supplies. Currently, that equipment is paid for using set fee schedule rates established by CMS. (Dubinsky, 7/14) The Hill: RFK Jr.: 'No Cuts On Medicaid' In 'Big, Beautiful' Law
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday refuted the existence of Medicaid cuts due to President Trump's "big, beautiful bill." "First of all, there's no cuts on Medicaid. There is a — there's a diminishment of the growth rate of Medicaid, which is bankrupting our country. And by the way, the national debt is also a determinant, a social determinant, of health," Kennedy told Fox Business Network's Larry Kudlow on his show. (Suter, 7/14) The Mercury News: Stanford Blood Center Faces Critical Blood Shortage, Seeks Donations Amid Summer Lull
The Stanford Blood Center announced a "concerning" blood shortage today, calling on South Bay residents to give blood as donations wane. As of Monday, the center had only two to three days' supply of certain blood types left, according to the center. Blood types O and A are in especially high demand. (Sun, 7/14) Becker's Hospital Review: Health Systems Tap Into Gen Z's Most-Desired Benefits
Generation Z healthcare workers prioritize financial wellness and mental health support — and hospitals and health systems are responding. Given changing demographics and labor shortages, organizations across the U.S. are focused on recruiting and retaining the newest generation to enter the workforce. ... Becker's connected with human resources leaders from five organizations — ranging from large academic health systems to community hospitals — to learn how they are tailoring benefits to meet workforce demands. (Kuchno, 7/14) San Francisco Chronicle: NorCal County Warns Of Poisonous Smoke, Declares Emergency
In recent years, cannabis cultivators in the county have increasingly used such pesticides often saturated with insecticides, fungicides and herbicides that pose severe health damages to humans upon contact, according to a Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office news release on Monday. (Wu, 7/14) Los Angeles Blade: Project Angel Food Loses $340,000 Grant To Feed People Living With HIV
Project Angel Food, an LA-based charity that provides nutritious meals to people who are too sick or physically incapable of feeding themselves, has had $340,000 cut from a federal grant it uses to provide medically tailored meals to 519 LA residents living with HIV. The cut reduces a federal grant administered by LA County from $1.3 million to $964,000, and means Project Angel Food will run out of funding allocated to feed these clients about nine months into the fiscal year. (Salerno, 7/11) Times of San Diego: Lucky Duck Foundation Announce Plan To Fund Shelter Beds
The Lucky Duck Foundation has announced that it will fund up to 150 new shelter beds created by Rescue Mission in East and North County. At a press conference with leaders from the San Diego Rescue Mission and the city of Vista, the Lucky Duck Foundation pledged $10,000 for every new permanent shelter bed built by Rescue Mission at a shelter they plan to open in Vista, for up to 150 beds. (Miller, 7/14) Bloomberg: HHS Formally Lays Off Employees Following Supreme Court Ruling
The US Department of Health and Human Services officially laid off employees on Monday, following an order from the Supreme Court on July 8 that allowed its restructuring plans to proceed, according to emails viewed by Bloomberg. Many employees who were supposed to be released during the agency's first round of 10,000 layoffs in April have been in limbo as the effort made its way through the court system and was paused by federal judges. The reorganization, in addition to cutting staff, was supposed to consolidate the department's 28 divisions into 15 and cut regional offices from 10 to five. (Cohrs Zhang and Phengsitthy, 7/14) San Francisco Chronicle: California Sues Trump For Freezing Billions In School Funding
The Trump administration's decision to freeze $6.8 billion in education funds to states is illegal and a betrayal of schools, students and their communities, California and other states argued in a lawsuit Monday. (Egelko, 7/14) Bloomberg: RFK Jr. Vows To Halt 'Attack' On Fats In Whole Milk And Cheese
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other top public health officials said Monday that saturated fats, long blamed for increased risk of heart disease, have been unfairly demonized by the medical community, indicating a pivot on government health guidelines is taking shape. "There's a tremendous amount of emerging science that talks about the need for more protein in our diets, more fats in our diets," Kennedy said Monday at a US Department of Agriculture event. (Peterson, 7/14) Daily News: A California Judge's Ruling On Immigration Raids Ripples Across Nation. Here's What You Need To Know
A federal judge's ruling on Friday raised hope of immigrants and advocates of a pause on immigration arrests in Southern California jolted by a massive immigration crackdown. The ruling puts a halt on "indiscriminate" apprehensions, based on a person's race and requires the government provide due process for those detained. (Carter, 7/15) Bloomberg: US Immigration Crackdown Raises Concerns Over Child 'Wellness Checks'
A group of armed federal agents greeted a family in Spokane, Washington, when they opened their front door to run an errand. ... That April visit was part of a nationwide push by the Trump administration to conduct "wellness checks" on children who migrated to the US without their parents or guardians and were subsequently placed with US-based sponsors. ... But advocates representing many of these children say the unprecedented checks intimidate rather than protect vulnerable kids. (Akinnibi and Adams-Heard, 7/14) San Francisco Chronicle: COVID Cases Rise In California. Is This The Start Of A Summer Wave?
COVID-19 is again on the rise in California, likely marking the beginning of an anticipated summer wave, according to the latest public health data. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that infections are now increasing in about half of U.S. states. The agency's latest update, released Friday, pointed to rising activity across more than two dozen states in the Southeast, South and along the West Coast — including California. (Vaziri, 7/15) CNN: In What Some Call A 'National Movement,' More Than A Dozen States Introduce Menopause Bills
There's a new wave of interest in improving menopause care in the United States – it's in books, on podcasts and dominating social media hashtags – and it's even generating new legislation across more than a dozen states. (Howard, 7/11) The Washington Post: New Framework Would Classify Many More U.S. Adults As 'Obese'
Nearly a fifth of U.S. adults previously deemed "overweight" would be categorized as "obese" under a 2024 obesity classification framework, according to a new study published in Annals of Internal Medicine. Using the recent obesity framework, 18.8 percent of the adults who had previously been categorized as "overweight" now fit under the "obese" category, researchers said. (Docter-Loeb, 7/14) | | | | | |
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