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Not a subscriber? Sign up | | | | Daily Edition | | | Latest From California Healthline: California's Health Insurance Marketplace Braces for Chaos as Shutdown Persists Jessica Altman, the head of California's Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplace, warns letters will be sent out this week with sky-high premiums unless Washington extends covid-era enhanced tax credits by then. Even if Congress acts later and rates are lower than feared, she says shoppers could be scared off. (Bernard J. Wolfson, 10/14) Newsom Signs, Vetoes Several Health-Related Bills: Among them, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have given Californians easier access to HIV prevention medications known as PrEP or PEP. Read more from The Bay Area Reporter. Scroll down for more news from the governor's office. Kaiser Criticizes 5-Day Strike As Money Grab. Unions Say It's Not That Simple: The historic walkout, which begins today, will include tens of thousands of health care workers and nurses. Kaiser's latest proposal on the table would lift wages 21.5% over four years but remains shy of the 25% the unions are seeking. Union leaders say wages are only part of the story, citing unsafe staffing, scheduling pressures, and burnout. Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle, The Orange County Register, LAist, and Becker's Hospital Review. 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 The Bay Area Reporter: Newsom Signs, Vetoes Transgender Bills
Transgender, nonbinary and queer Californians will see improved health care privacy and access due to a number of bills Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law. Yet, Newsom also vetoed a bill aimed at improving health care access for intersex individuals and others. His doing so comes amid months of criticism directed at the likely 2028 Democratic presidential contender over his comments in podcasts and the press supportive of preventing trans women and girls from playing on women's athletics teams as a matter of "fairness." (Bajko, 10/13) CalMatters: Newsom Signs Controversial Bill Letting Relatives Care For Kids If Parents Are Deported
Immigrants' rights groups and child advocates say the new law will help parents prepare for emergencies, such as a deportation. It caused a firestorm of controversy among conservative and religious activists who said it would allow adults to traffic kids. (Kuang, 10/13) The Sacramento Bee: California Requires Surgeon General Warnings On Social Apps
Beginning in January 2027, California teens who open social media apps such as Instagram, Tiktok and Snapchat will get a daily warning, written in black text on a white background. (Wolffe, 10/13) Los Angeles Times: Gov. Newsom Signs AI Safety Bills, Vetoes 1 After Tech Industry Pushback
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed multiple artificial intelligence safety bills and vetoed one of the more controversial ones Monday, as lawmakers' attempts to protect children from AI met with strong opposition from the tech industry. One of the key bills signed, Senate Bill 243, requires chatbot operators to have procedures to prevent the production of suicide or self-harm content and put in guardrails, such as referring users to a suicide hotline or crisis text line. (Wong and Christopher, 10/13) CalMatters: New California Laws Increase Pay For Incarcerated Firefighters
Hundreds of California's incarcerated firefighters will see an increase in pay, a new death benefit and a faster path to expungement of their criminal records under laws Gov. Gavin Newsom signed. (Mihalovich, 10/13) Los Angeles Times: Newsom Rejects Bill To Phase Out 'Forever' Chemicals Used In Cookware
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday vetoed legislation that would have phased out a range of popular consumer products, including nonstick pots and pans, that contain synthetic chemicals with potential links to cancer. ... The legislation would have prohibited the selling or distributing of cookware with intentionally added perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, by 2030. It phased out PFAS in products for infants and children, ski wax, dental floss, food packaging and cleaning products starting in 2028. Previously used items would have been exempt. (King, 10/13) Los Angeles Times: Two L.A. Factories Leaking Hexavalent Chromium, Regulators Say
Southern California air regulators issued violations to two foundries in southeast Los Angeles County after air sampling revealed elevated levels of a highly toxic metal near the facilities. Air samples collected Sept. 10-22 in the city of Paramount had "slightly elevated" levels of hexavalent chromium, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Federal and state regulators have found in the past that the chemical compound is a potent carcinogen with no safe level of exposure. (Briscoe, 10/13) Modesto Bee: What Is Pesticide Drift And Why Is Stanislaus Environmental Group Worried About It?
In 2024, Stanislaus was ranked fourth among California counties in use of a pesticide, known as 1,3-dichloropropene or by its brand name, Telone, according to a DPR draft report issued Oct. 1. Telone is a pesticide that can cause skin and eye irritation and breathing issues in the short term, and can increase risk of cancer in the long term. (Quinn, 10/13) The San Diego Union-Tribune: El Cajon Launches Interactive Homelessness Dashboard
The city of El Cajon has launched a new tool it says will allow residents to see, street by street, how the city is responding to homelessness. With the launch of a new dashboard dubbed "Addressing Homelessness," officials said they hope residents will have a better understanding of the issue and how the city is addressing it. (Elsmore, 10/13) KVPR: From Hotels To Homes: How A School District Is Aiding Homeless Families
[Veronica] Sanchez's family has been homeless since 2018. They've bounced from hotels to family members' houses. But in April, they moved into a three-bedroom apartment in North Fresno with subsidized rent. "It's something that I've always wanted and I get to finally have," Sanchez said. The apartment was offered through a pilot project with her kids' school district, Fresno Unified School District. The project provides permanent housing for 20 families of students experiencing homelessness. (Livinal, 10/10) LAist: Measure A Gives LA County's Cities Dedicated Local Homelessness Funding, But Some Say It's Not Enough
For the first time, L.A. County's homelessness sales tax is providing dedicated funding directly to all 88 cities — a key selling point of Measure A that was supposed to empower local leaders to tackle the growing crisis in their own communities. But some local leaders say they're still getting shortchanged. (Schrank, 10/14) Los Angeles Times: Three More L.A. County Deaths Tied To Synthetic Kratom, Health Department Warns
Three more deaths in Los Angeles County have been linked to kratom, a compound that is being synthetically reproduced and sold over the counter as a cure-all for a host of ailments, the county Department of Public Health announced on Friday. The compound, also known as 7-Hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, was found to be a contributing cause of death in three residents who were between the ages of 18 and 40, according to the county health department. (Garcia, 10/13) CalMatters: California's Prop. 36 Promised 'Mass Treatment' For Defendants. A New Study Shows How It's Going
Prop. 36 gave prosecutors the ability to charge people convicted of various third-time drug offenses with a so-called treatment-mandated felony, which would give them a choice between behavioral health treatment or up to three years in jail or prison. If they accept, they would enter a guilty or no contest plea and begin treatment. Those who complete treatment have their charges dismissed. (Mihalovich, 10/13) CapRadio: Sacramento Nightlife Workers Trained To Respond To Opioid Overdose
John Adair, with the City of Sacramento's Office of Nighttime Economy, said the training is part of outreach to Sacramento's nightlife and restaurant community, groups that often encounter emergencies, such as overdoses. (Rodriguez, 10/10) The New York Times: Instagram Will Limit Content For Teenagers Based On PG-13 Ratings
A year ago, Instagram made sweeping changes to the account settings of its teenage users after growing scrutiny from parents and lawmakers over child safety issues. On Tuesday, it took them a step further. Instagram, which is owned by Meta, said it would begin limiting the content its teenage users can see, based on the PG-13 ratings system used by the film industry. The policy, which will roll out by the end of the year, will also apply to conversations with the company's artificial intelligence chatbots, which lawmakers are investigating for having inappropriate sexual chats with children. (Tan, 10/14) Becker's Hospital Review: Labor Deal Reached For 4,000+ Sutter Health Workers
Members of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West at eight Sutter Health hospitals in Northern California have reached tentative agreements on new labor contracts with management. The agreements, reached Oct. 11, cover more than 4,400 employees at the hospitals, Sutter spokesperson Angeline Sheets said in a statement shared with Becker's. The employees work at Sutter facilities in Oakland, Santa Rosa, Roseville, Berkeley, Lakeport, Vallejo, Antioch, Castro Valley and San Francisco. (Gooch, 10/13) San Francisco Chronicle: Benioffs, Salesforce Give $139 Million To UCSF And AI Education
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and his wife, Lynne, are giving $100 million to UCSF's children's hospital. Salesforce is also pledging $39 million for artificial intelligence education to groups including San Francisco Unified School District. ... The Benioffs have previously given hundreds of millions of dollars to UCSF, which named its children's hospitals in both San Francisco and Oakland after them. The Benioffs and Salesforce have surpassed $1 billion in Bay Area giving over the past decade. (Li, 10/10) The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Kaiser Permanente Touts Prenatal RSV Vaccine For Expecting Moms To Safeguard Infants
Heading into the winter respiratory virus season, Kaiser Permanente has begun offering a relatively new vaccine to certain expecting moms to help protect their newborns against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. (Espinoza, 10/13) Becker's Hospital Review: Demand Grows For Hospital Pharmacists, Report Finds
Pharmacist job postings increased 38% nationwide from January through September 2025, according to data released Oct. 9 from the Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. Demand rose in 47 states, with 16 states seeing spikes of 50% or more. California recorded the highest number of postings at 7,943, followed by Texas with 6,223 and Florida with 5,733. (Jeffries, 10/13) inewsource: Many CalFresh Recipients Could Face Cutoff Amid Early End To Waiver
Starting Nov. 1, people using the food assistance program CalFresh, known as SNAP nationally, will have three months to find work before they are kicked off of the program. The new work requirements are part of President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act. A memo published last week by the United States Department of Agriculture notified states of the new, earlier deadline to implement the changes. (Kincaid, 10/10) The Bay Area Reporter: Multiple Cities, Counties Join San Francisco City Attorney Chiu In Filing Amicus Brief In Federal LGBTQ Funding Lawsuit
A dozen cities and counties from across the United States have filed an amicus brief urging the 9th U.C. Circuit Court of Appeals uphold a lower court decision in favor of seeing nine LGBTQ and HIV organizations not lose their federal funding. At stake is millions in dollars for services targeted to queer and transgender Americans, as well as the fiscal standing of the nonprofits providing such programs. The office of San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu exclusively shared with the Bay Area Reporter the 23-page brief it filed on behalf of the coalition of municipalities in the federal lawsuit San Francisco AIDS Foundation v. Trump. The local HIV service provider is among the lead plaintiffs in the case, along with the San Francisco Community Health Center and the GLBT Historical Society. (Bajko, 10/14) Bay Area News Group: Bay Area Universities Losing Millions In Minority Grant Funding
Bay Area universities lost more than $2 million in funds after the Trump administration announced it was rerouting money meant for minority-serving institutions to charter schools and other educational programs, an analysis by Bay Area News Group has revealed. (Gibbs, 10/14) San Francisco Chronicle: UC Sets Record With Five Nobel Prizes In One Week
The University of California made history this week, as its faculty and alumni won five Nobel Prizes across medicine, physics and chemistry — the most ever awarded to a single institution in one year. (Vaziri, 10/10) Capitol Weekly: Q&A: Planned Parenthood Affiliates Of California CEO Jodi Hicks
With drastic federal spending cuts being imposed on Medicaid patients, we sat down with Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California CEO Jodi Hicks to assess the impact of those cuts on her organization and the significant number of California women and men who rely on PPCA for much of their health care. (Ehisen, 10/10) The Modesto Bee: Medicare And Social Security Services Affected In California
About 6.8 million Californians receive Social Security payments. Here's a quick guide to what's available and what's not as the shutdown enters its 13th day Monday, with no end in sight. Only the Senate is scheduled to return Tuesday. (Lightman, 10/13) Los Angeles Times: Trump Claims Democrats Want To Use Federal Funds To Give Undocumented Residents Healthcare. That's Misleading.
Though raging thousands of miles to the east, the entrenched stalemate in Washington over federal spending and the ensuing government shutdown has thrust California's expansive healthcare policies into the center of the pitched, partisan debate. The Trump administration and the Republican leaders in Congress continue to use California, and the benefits the state has extended to eligible immigrants regardless of their legal status, as a cudgel against Democrats trying to extend federal subsidies for taxpayer-funded healthcare coverage. (Smith and King, 10/13) The Washington Post: Shutdown Layoffs Target Services For Vulnerable Students, Homeless, Seniors
Employees who help regulate hazardous waste. Inspectors who check the quality of federal housing. An office that makes sure students with disabilities get the help they need. These are among the targets of the Trump administration's latest round of federal layoffs, undertaken during a government shutdown now stretching through its second week. (Natanson, Meckler, Siegel, Kornfield and Ajasa, 10/14) AP: Speaker Warns Government Shutdown Could Be Longest Ever
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson predicted Monday the federal government shutdown may become the longest in history, saying he "won't negotiate" with Democrats until they hit pause on their health care demands and reopen. Standing alone at the Capitol on the 13th day of the shutdown, the speaker said he was unaware of the details of the thousands of federal workers being fired by the Trump administration. It's a highly unusual mass layoff widely seen as way to seize on the shutdown to reduce the scope of government. Vice President JD Vance has warned of "painful" cuts ahead, even as employee unions sue. "We're barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history," Johnson of Louisiana said. (Mascaro, 10/14) | | | | | |
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