Wednesday, September 13, 2023 – California Healthline

AP:
California’s Assembly Votes For Ballot Measure That Would Change How Mental Health Care Is Funded 

California lawmakers voted Tuesday to put a proposal before voters next March that would overhaul how counties pay for mental and behavioral health programs in an effort to address the state’s worsening homelessness crisis. The bill authored by Democratic state Sen. Susan Eggman was passed by the state Assembly and will need one more vote in the Senate if it is to make the ballot. (Nguyen, 9/12)

CalMatters:
A $25 Minimum Wage Is In Sight For California Health Care Workers Under New Legislative Deal

Tens of thousands of California health care workers stand to see their minimum wage climb to $25 an hour over the next several years in an amended legislative proposal that has support from both labor groups and employers. (Ibarra, 9/12)

Los Angeles Times:
California Is Poised To Require Employers To Create Workplace Violence Response Plans

California appears poised to require employers to take measures meant to prevent and respond to workplace violence after the state Legislature passed sweeping Senate Bill 553 on Tuesday. (Campa, 9/12)

Sacramento Bee:
CA Lawmakers Send 2 Affordable Housing Bills To Gavin Newsom 

California lawmakers for the second year in a row pushed through union conflicts to pass a package of bills intended to promote the construction of thousands of new affordable homes in the state. The Legislature on Monday night approved Senate Bill 4 and Senate Bill 423, both authored by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco. They now go to Gov. Gavin Newsom for a signature or veto. (Sheeler and Holden, 9/12)

Los Angeles Times:
Cannabis Cafes, Amsterdam-Style, Await Newsom’s Approval. It’s A Culture Shift, Lawmaker Says

Californians are just one signature away from Amsterdam-style cannabis cafes opening up across the state sometime next year. Legislation heading to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk for final approval will allow weed dispensaries to convert their businesses into cafes where they can sell food and cannabis products and host live concerts. The bill cleared the California Senate in a 33-to-3 vote and the Assembly in a final vote of 66 to 9 on Monday. (Solis, 9/12)

Los Angeles Blade:
Governor Newsom To Decide On Ending Pro-LGBTQ State Travel Ban

Ending California’s ban on publicly funded travel to states with anti-LGBTQ laws is now in the hands of Governor Gavin Newsom after lawmakers this week sent him a bill to do away with the policy. The state would be following San Francisco in doing so, as city leaders this spring ended their similar travel restriction. (9/12)

Bay Area Reporter:
2 CA LGBTQ Health Bills Hit Roadblocks

Two out California lawmakers saw bills relating to LGBTQ health concerns run into legislative hurdles this month. Both hope they can be revived and passed during next year’s legislative session. Gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) announced September 8 that he would revisit his Senate Bill 339 after the Assembly Appropriations Committee inserted language into it he considered to be a “poison pill amendment” counter to his legislative aim of expanding access to the HIV prevention medication known as PrEP. The bill sought to increase the amount of PrEP that pharmacists are authorized to provide without a doctor’s prescription. (Bajko, 9/12)

CalMatters:
California Keeps Its Title As Having The Nation’s Highest Poverty Rate 

Congratulations California, you’ve done it again — retained your title of having the highest level of poverty of any state. The Census Bureau released new economic data Tuesday, including both official poverty rates for 2022 and what are called “supplemental” rates. (Walters, 9/13)

AP:
Child Poverty In The US Jumped And Income Declined In 2022 As Coronavirus Pandemic Benefits Ended

Child poverty in the United States more than doubled and median household income declined last year when coronavirus pandemic-era government benefits expired and inflation kept rising, according to figures released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. At the same time, the official poverty rate for Black Americans dropped to its lowest level on record, and income inequality declined for the first time since 2007, when looking at pre-tax income, due to income declines in the middle and top income brackets. (Schneider, 9/12)

Axios:
The End Of Biden’s Pandemic-Era Programs Increased Poverty

The expected spike in poverty — particularly child poverty — between 2021 and 2022 shows the impact of letting major pandemic-era safety net program expansions expire, a policy experiment with no precedent in the U.S. The pandemic programs were enacted as temporary measures. But their expiration still stings for the Americans who experienced an economic boost only to lose it — and there’s more to come. (Owens, 9/13)

Politico:
Unemployment Fraud Hit $100-135B During Covid, Watchdog Says 

As much as $135 billion in unemployment insurance benefits may have been lost to fraud during Covid-19, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Tuesday, more than double an earlier estimate. The federal watchdog estimated that fraudulent payments may have amounted to between 10 and 15 percent of the $900 billion spent on UI between April 2020 and May 2023, when the federal public health emergency ended. (Niedzwiadek, 9/12)

Voice Of San Diego:
Closure Of Escondido Preschool Program Leaves More Gaps In Child Care 

For 35 years, a beloved preschool program in Escondido called Tiny Tots has been a resource for families.  Parents say Tiny Tots provides a slow and healthy transition into school. The city operates it, so families trust it, and it’s affordable – a rarity among child care programs and preschools nationwide. (Layne, 9/12)

Bay Area News Group:
COVID Vaccine: CDC Recommends New Booster; What To Know About Getting It

With the latest wave of COVID infections climbing, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended new vaccines Tuesday by Pfizer and Moderna tailored to a recent variant of the virus for everyone 6 months of age and older. (Woolfolk, 9/12)

Los Angeles Times:
CDC: New COVID-19 Vaccinations Coming As Soon As This Week

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday recommended that much of the American public receive an updated COVID-19 vaccine, marking a new phase in the years-long battle against the coronavirus. Should everything move forward as expected, the shots from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech could be available for everyone age 6 months and up in vaccine clinics, pharmacies and doctor’s offices later this week. CVS Health said the new shots will be available in some of its pharmacies as early as Wednesday. (Lin II, 9/12)

San Francisco Chronicle:
How To Time COVID, RSV And Flu Vaccines To Avoid ‘Tripledemic’

Americans will have more reasons to roll up their sleeves this fall as vaccines are available for three respiratory viruses that typically overwhelm hospitals and kill thousands of people annually. Hoping to avoid another “tripledemic” of COVID-19, influenza and the respiratory syncytial virus, public health officials are urging everyone to consider what shots are right for them ahead of a potential surge of illnesses. (Vaziri, 9/12)

Fresno Bee:
How Much Do Covid Tests Cost Now? What To Know As Cases And Hospitalizations Rise

COVID-19 cases have been on the rise (though still relatively low, The New York Times reported) across the country. New variants have fueled worries as well, though updated vaccines are expected to be rolled out this month. (Stark, 9/13)

VC Star:
Community Memorial Partners With County As Pediatric Unit Nears End

Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura will pay the county about $275,000 for a year in a partnership tied to the imminent closure of the private hospital’s in-patient pediatric unit. (Kisken, 9/12)

Times Of San Diego:
Supervisors Approve Review Of Bed Capacity For Mental Health Care 

The county Board of Supervisors Tuesday unanimously approved an effort to increase the number of beds for Medi-Cal eligible county residents needing mental health treatment. Put forward by Supervisor Joel Anderson, the motion directs Chief Administrative Officer Helen Robbins-Meyer to evaluate sub-acute and board-and-care facilities in each supervisor’s district. (Ireland, 9/12)

San Francisco Chronicle:
Patient In S.F. Ambulance Reportedly Blocked By Cruise Robotaxis Was Fatally Struck By Muni Bus

The patient inside an ambulance that San Francisco firefighters said had been blocked by two Cruise robotaxis en route to a hospital last month was fatally struck by a Muni bus, the city’s transportation and fire departments said Tuesday. According to a joint statement by the two agencies, the Muni bus struck the pedestrian, an unidentified male, at the intersection of Seventh and Harrison streets in SoMa the night of Aug. 14, as he crossed the street mid-block and approached the bus’ rear. (Cano, 9/12)

San Francisco Chronicle:
SF Drug Arrests Are The Highest They’ve Been In A Decade

Nearly four months after Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor London Breed teamed up to announce yet another crackdown on the city’s spiraling fentanyl crisis, arrests of alleged drug dealers and users are sharply increasing and San Francisco’s jail is filling up. Still, residents and business owners in the hardest-hit Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods told the Chronicle that despite the spike in arrests, open drug dealing and use continues to plague those neighborhoods. Breed said in an interview that street conditions are much better in the daytime, but acknowledged that open drug use and dealing get worse once the sun sets. (Toledo and Neilson, 9/12)

The Washington Post:
Overdoses Soared Even As Prescription Pain Pills Plunged

The number of prescription opioid pain pills shipped in the United States plummeted nearly 45 percent between 2011 and 2019, new federal data shows, even as fatal overdoses rose to record levels as users increasingly used heroin, and then illegal fentanyl. The data confirms what’s long been known about the arc of the nation’s addiction crisis: Users first got hooked by pain pills saturating the nation, then turned to cheaper and more readily available street drugs after law-enforcement crackdowns, public outcry and changes in how the medical community views prescribing opioids to treat pain. (Rich and Ovalle, 9/12)