One-Third of Schools Lack a Nurse: The Implications of this Shortfall
School nurses treat children daily for a wide range of illnesses and injuries, and sometimes serve as a young patient’s only health provider. They also function as a point person for critical public health interventions. Yet many states don’t require them, and school districts struggle to hire them. (Colleen DeGuzman, 10/13 )
Agreement Reached Between Kaiser Permanente and Health Workers: Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente and a coalition of unions representing roughly a third of its workforce have reached a tentative agreement, a week after tens of thousands of workers walked off the job in protest. Read more from the Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal.
"Kaiser's $200 Million Settlement for California Behavioral Health Issues, According to CalMatters"
Health care giant Kaiser Permanente agreed to a $200 million settlement with the state of California to resolve investigations into its behavioral health system that showed patients experienced delays in care. The deal announced today includes a $50 million fine and requires Kaiser Permanente to fix major problems in its behavioral health services, such as providing patients with timely access to care. Kaiser Permanente also agreed to invest $150 million over five years to improve its programs. (Ibarra, 10/12)
Newsom Proposes 'Treatment Not Tents' Homelessness Plan to Voters, Criticized for Impact on the Mentally Ill, Reports Sacramento Bee
California voters will decide in March whether the state should borrow $6.4 billion to add thousands of new behavioral health beds and change how the state administers mental health services. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday signed a pair of bills that will place the funding and policy changes on the primary election ballot under Proposition 1. (Angst and Holden, 10/12)
California Prohibits the Controversial Diagnosis of 'Excited Delirium
California is the first state to ban the controversial diagnosis known as “excited delirium,” which has been used increasingly to justify excessive force by law enforcement. A human rights advocate described the law, signed this week by Gov. Gavin Newsom, as a “watershed moment” in criminal justice. (Samantha Young, 10/12 )
California's Prohibition of the Controversial 'Excited Delirium' Diagnosis, as Reported by KFF Health News
California is the first state to ban doctors and medical examiners from attributing deaths to the controversial diagnosis known as “excited delirium,” which a human rights activist hailed as a “watershed moment” that could make it harder for police to justify excessive force. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Oct. 8 to prohibit coroners, medical examiners, physicians, or physician assistants from listing excited delirium on a person’s death certificate or in an autopsy report. Law enforcement won’t be allowed to use the term to describe a person’s behavior in any incident report, and testimony that refers to excited delirium won’t be allowed in civil court. The law takes effect in January. (Young, 10/12)
Stateline Report: Mental Health Coverage Frequently Underfunded by Insurers, Despite Federal Mandate
The federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, enacted in 2008, doesn’t require insurance plans to offer mental health coverage — but if they do, the benefits must be equal with coverage for other health conditions. ... But despite the federal law, many insurers continue to charge higher copayments for mental health care, limit the frequency of mental health treatment, or impose more restrictive prior authorization policies, according to The Kennedy Forum, a nonprofit that advocates for equal mental health coverage. (Hassanein, 10/11)
CalMatters: Gavin Newsom Enacts Legislation for a Comprehensive Overhaul of the Mental Health System
Gov. Gavin Newsom today announced he signed the first of a series of bills that aim to transform California’s mental health system. Depending on who you ask, this transformation represents a long overdue humanitarian response— or a worrisome step backward on civil liberties. Today’s signature loosens long-standing rules about who is eligible for involuntary treatment under the half century-old Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, the landmark mental health law that regulates involuntary civil commitment in the state. (Weiner, 10/10)
The New York Times: Adolescent Depression Increased Amid the Pandemic, Highlighting Racial Disparities in Treatment
Approximately 20 percent of adolescents had symptoms of major depressive disorder in 2021 — the first full calendar year of the pandemic — but less than half who needed treatment received it, according to a new study. The research, published in JAMA Pediatrics, found that treatment was most lacking for minority adolescents, particularly those who are Latino and mixed-race. (Richtel, 10/9)
CIDRAP: CDC Research Describes the 2022-23 Influenza Season as Exceptionally Severe, Especially for Children
Today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a study finds that the 2022-2023 influenza season in the United States was severe, especially for children and adolescents. (Van Beusekom, 10/12)
The Washington Post: The Majority of Childhood Cancer Survivors Encounter Significant Health Issues in Adulthood
In a sobering analysis, researchers warn that those who’ve had childhood cancer are highly likely to face physical and mental health challenges later in life, with 95 percent developing a “significant health problem” related to their cancer or treatment by age 45. The researchers reviewed 73 studies, including 39 cohort studies that followed patients over time. Publishing their findings in JAMA, they said approximately 15,000 children and adolescents through age 19 are diagnosed with cancer every year and that 85 percent of children now live five years or more beyond their diagnosis. That’s compared with just 58 percent in the 1970s, according to the American Cancer Society. (Blakemore, 10/8)
The Hill: CDC Finds Long COVID to Be Uncommon Among Children
New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has shed light on the rate at which long COVID affects children, indicating the condition occurs among only a small minority of them. In a new survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), the CDC found that 1.3 percent of children had long COVID in 2022 and 0.5 percent now have it. (Choi, 10/9)
FiercePharma: Study Shows That Widespread Adoption of Pfizer's Maternal RSV Shot Could Decrease Expenses and Avert Infant Hospitalizations
After a recent FDA approval and CDC recommendation, Pfizer's Abyrsvo is the first maternal vaccine to protect babies from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Now, new research from the company suggests that widespread uptake of the shot could significantly reduce infant hospitalizations and save hundreds of millions of dollars in annual costs. Widespread uptake of the vaccine could slash annual hospitalizations in half, reduce emergency department visits by 31.8% and cut outpatient clinic visits by 32.2% among the 3.7 million U.S. babies that are less than one year old, according to projections shared by the drugmaker ahead of the annual IDWeek meeting. (Becker, 10/11)
Los Angeles Times: Recent California Legislation Advances Toward a Single-Payer Healthcare System
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Saturday that sets the stage for California to work toward universal healthcare, such as a single-payer system that progressive activists have sought for years. The law could help California obtain a waiver that would allocate federal Medicaid and Medicare funds to be used for what could eventually become a single-payer system that would cover every California resident and be financed entirely by state and federal funds. (Sosa, 10/8)