Medicaid Shortfall Sparks Growing Concerns: California lawmakers are calling for answers after Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office floated a $3.44 billion loan to bail out the Medi-Cal program, bringing renewed scrutiny on the state’s coverage of undocumented immigrants. Lawmakers said they were caught off guard by the news and still don’t understand the extent of the shortfall. Read more from Politico.
Capital & Main: Domino Effect: Assessing the Risks of Medi-Cal Cuts
While the conversation around cutting Medicaid funding can be made to feel either academic or political, in reality it is neither. It’s human. And in California, where nearly 15 million residents receive health care largely based on Medicaid funding, the potentially toxic effects on the state’s collective health are all too real. Those possibilities are already the subject of worried conversations among some of the folks who provide care to residents who can’t afford to receive it any other way. (Kreidler, 3/13)
Los Angeles Times: California's Undocumented Healthcare Costs Exceed Estimates by $3B
In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrats in the state Legislature are under pressure to scale back the expansion of state-sponsored healthcare coverage for undocumented immigrants with the cost of the program more the $3 billion over budget. (Luna, 3/13)
CalMatters: GOP Blames Immigrant Health Care As Medi-Cal Costs Increase
The California health care program that covers almost 15 million people is costing more money than Gov. Gavin Newsom projected, creating a new budget problem in a lean year. Now his administration is borrowing $3.4 billion from the state’s general fund to cover the unexpected cost increase. It’s unclear when the administration plans to restore the money. The administration acknowledges that more people are enrolled in the program than the state anticipated, and that the state is spending more than it planned on coverage expansions for immigrants without legal status. (Ibarra and Hwang, 3/14)
KFF Health News: California Borrows $3.4 Billion to Cover Medicaid Overrun as Congress Considers Deep Cuts
California’s Medicaid program has borrowed $3.4 billion from the state’s general fund — and will likely need even more — to cover ballooning health expenses for 15 million residents with low incomes and disabilities. The state Department of Finance disclosed the loan to lawmakers in a letter late Wednesday, noting funds were needed to make critical payments to health care providers in Medi-Cal, the state’s version of Medicaid. (Mai-Duc, 3/13)
KFF Health News: Can House Republicans Cut $880 Billion Without Reducing Medicaid? It's Likely Impossible
The prospect of deep Medicaid cuts has become a flashpoint in Congress, with leaders of both parties accusing their counterparts of lying. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said Feb. 27 that a Republican budget measure would “set in motion the largest cut to Medicaid in American history,” and that Republicans are hiding the consequences. (Czopek and Sherman, 3/13)
Politico: Medicaid Shortfall Forces California to Borrow $3.44 Billion
California will need to borrow $3.44 billion to close a budget gap in the state’s Medicaid program, Newsom administration officials told lawmakers Wednesday in a letter obtained by POLITICO. That’s the maximum amount California can borrow, and will only be enough to cover bills for Medi-Cal — the state’s Medicaid program — through the end of the month, Department of Finance spokesperson H.D. Palmer separately told POLITICO. (Bluth, 3/12)
The Hill: Trump Administration Proposes Shortening ACA Enrollment Period and Ending Coverage for 'Dreamers'
The Trump administration is proposing to shorten ObamaCare’s annual open enrollment period by a month, a move the administration said is aimed at helping consumers pick the right plan. According to a proposed rule released Monday, open enrollment would run from Nov. 1 through Dec. 15, instead of through Jan. 15. (Weixel, 3/10)
The Washington Post: Experts Say COVID-19 May Now Be Endemic, Five Years After the Pandemic Began
Five years after the pandemic began, covid-19 is now more consistent with an endemic disease, U.S. health experts said.It has become similar to influenza — an endemic disease — in terms of the risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death, experts said. The coronavirus, which causes covid, is now less deadly, though it is more transmissible and is expected to continue experiencing waves, some of which could be severe, they said. ... There is no clear threshold for when a disease transitions from pandemic to endemic, but the endemicity of covid is largely agreed upon in the medical community, said William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases and preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University. (Bever and Gilbert, 3/13)
CIDRAP: Study Suggests Latent Epstein-Barr Virus May Trigger MIS-C
A new study suggests that kids who develop MIS-C (multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children), a severe complication following COVID-19 infections, may do so because COVID reactivates a latent Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in their bodies. The study appears in Nature. (Soucheray, 3/13)
The New York Times: Parents of Infants Too Young for Measles Vaccine Express Concerns Over Outbreaks
Infants are at higher risk of complications from the measles but can’t be vaccinated right away. (Pearson, 3/14)
CIDRAP: Vermont Reports Measles Case; Europe Sees Highest Case Count in 25 Years
The Vermont Department of Health has said a school-aged child in Lamoille County is confirmed to have measles, the first case in 2025. “The child became sick after returning with their family from traveling internationally in recent days,” the department said in a statement. “The risk to the public is believed to be low, as the child has been isolated from most community settings while they have been contagious. Investigation is ongoing.” (Soucheray, 3/13)
The New York Times: Mapping the Spread of Measles Outbreaks Across the U.S.
As new cases are reported, our maps and illustrations show the spread of the virus and how infections can run through a community. (Corum and Rosenbluth, 3/13)
San Francisco Chronicle: Two New Measles Cases in California Highlight the Importance of Vaccination
Two new confirmed cases of measles in California highlight the risk for the unvaccinated, and the need for all Californians to check their vaccination status, infectious disease experts said Wednesday. The cases, reported in Los Angeles and Fresno counties this week, bring California’s total measles count to five for 2025, according to state data. They follow — but appear unrelated to — a major measles outbreak in West Texas that has resulted in more than 250 cases and two deaths in unvaccinated individuals. (Ho, 3/12)
Stat: Experts Warn Measles Outbreak May Be Larger Than Reported
The growing measles outbreak centered in West Texas, with cases reaching into New Mexico and now Oklahoma, is the country’s largest in six years. But experts say that even with more than 250 cases reported across the three states, the outbreak is likely much larger. (Joseph, 3/12)
NBC News: Long-Term Risks of Measles Include 'Immune Amnesia' and Brain Swelling
Measles is unlike other childhood viruses that come and go. In severe cases it can cause pneumonia. About 1 in 1,000 patients develops encephalitis, or swelling of the brain, and there are 1 or 2 deaths per 1,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The virus can wipe out the immune system, a complication called “immune amnesia.” (Syal, 3/12)
The Washington Post: USDA’s $1B in Cuts Leaves Farmers and Schools Facing Uncertainty
The Trump administration last week moved to cut more than $1 billion in programs that helped schools and food banks buy fresh food and meat, leaving farmers and educators across the country worried about wide-ranging impacts. Some local and state leaders said the loss of funding will make it more difficult to feed hungry people in their areas. Farmers and those who work in food security said the cuts could shutter farms and ranches that depended on those federal dollars. (Brasch, Somasundaram and Blaskey, 3/13)
Axios: The Impact of Cutting Junk Foods from SNAP on Millions of Recipients
Some Trump administration officials citing health concerns are looking to remove "junk food" from a federal food assistance program serving more than 41 million Americans. A ban on any foods in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program could be particularly paramount for recipients living in food deserts who don't have access to nutritious foods nearby. (Habeshian, 3/8)
NBC News: Potential Impact of Education Department Layoffs on Students with Disabilities
Massive layoffs initiated this week at the Education Department could hamstring the federal government’s efforts to assist students with disabilities, former officials and education experts said, citing blows to the agency’s civil rights and research divisions. The Office for Civil Rights lost at least 243 union-eligible staff members, according to the American Federation of Government Employees, and an unknown number of supervisors. The office historically had around 600 attorneys handling complaints alleging discrimination based on race, gender, disability and sexual orientation, and most already had caseloads of 50 or more. (Kingkade and Edelman, 3/12)
Capitol Weekly: Are Cell Phone Bans in California Schools Enforceable?
In these divided times, limiting cell phone use in schools has emerged as an issue both Republicans and Democrats can get behind. But while these policies enjoy bipartisan support, enacting them may prove challenging. Last year, California joined at least seven other states (Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Ohio, South Carolina and Virginia) in adopting or expanding rules to reduce the use of cell phones by students in schools when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 3216 by Assemblymember Josh Hoover (D-Folsom) into law. (Joseph, 3/11)
NBC News: Pregnant and Parenting Students Risk Losing New Title IX Protections
Saige Dahmen was eager to learn the basics of hair cutting and coloring in cosmetology school in Beaverton, Oregon, in 2023. There was just one hiccup: She needed a 20-minute break during her five-hour school day to express milk for her nearly 1-year-old daughter, and the school only allowed 15 minutes. Dahmen, 24, was told to submit a request under the Americans with Disabilities Act to the school’s Title IX coordinator, but it was denied, according to interviews and correspondence reviewed by NBC News, on the grounds that it did not meet the requirements for an ADA accommodation. Instead, the coordinator said she’d have to clock out and make up the time. (Harris, 3/11)
Harvard Doctors Sue Trump After Research Removed From Government Website For References To The LGBTQ+ Community
Two physicians are suing the Trump administration over the removal of two research papers from a government website, because they included the terms “LGBTQ” and “trans(gender).” (Oza, 3/12)
NPR: NIH Cuts Focus on Vaccine Hesitancy Research; mRNA Technology May Be Affected Next
The Trump administration is slashing long-standing areas of research funded by the National Institutes of Health, claiming they no longer align with the agency's priorities. The latest target? Millions of dollars in NIH grants for studying vaccine hesitancy and how to improve immunization levels. It's work that's particularly relevant as a measles outbreak grips the Southwest amidst diminishing vaccination rates. (Stein and Stone, 3/12)
ProPublica: National Cancer Institute Employees Need Special Approval to Publish on Certain Topics
Employees at the National Cancer Institute, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, received internal guidance last week to flag manuscripts, presentations or other communications for scrutiny if they addressed “controversial, high profile, or sensitive” topics. Among the 23 hot-button issues, according to internal records reviewed by ProPublica: vaccines, fluoride, peanut allergies, autism. While it’s not uncommon for the cancer institute to outline a couple of administration priorities, the scope and scale of the list is unprecedented and highly unusual, said six employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. (Waldman and Song, 3/10)
The New York Times: C.D.C. to Investigate Discredited Link Between Vaccines and Autism
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is planning to conduct a large-scale study to re-examine whether there is a connection between vaccines and autism, federal officials said Friday. Dozens of scientific studies have failed to find evidence of a link. But the C.D.C. now falls under the purview of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has long expressed skepticism about the safety of vaccines and has vowed to revisit the data. (Baumgaertner Nunn and Gay Stolberg, 3/7)
Becker's Hospital Review: Keck Medicine of USC Shares Insights on 'The Way to Grow' for Academic Health Systems
As we continue to see academic health systems acquiring hospitals, Los Angeles-based Keck Medicine of University of Southern California is also focused on accelerating growth through partnerships and collaborations beyond its main campus. Keck Medicine's CFO Chris Allen told Becker's during a CFO+Revenue Cycle Podcast episode that the system recently launched a new ventures corporation aimed at focusing on joint ventures and off-campus partnerships. (Ashley, 3/11)
Becker's Hospital Review: How CHLA Promotes Nursing Excellence: 5 Questions with Dr. Kelly Johnson
Four nursing units at Children's Hospital Los Angeles recently earned Beacon Awards for Excellence, a national recognition of superior patient outcomes and nursing excellence. Behind this achievement is a culture that prioritizes leadership development, staff well-being and empowers frontline teams to lead quality improvement initiatives, according to Kelly Johnson, PhD, RN, senior vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer. (Carbajal, 3/10)
Stacker: Why Aging Poses a Greater Risk for Black Americans: Older Black People Die at Higher Rates Than White Peers
For older Black people in America, the golden years often come with a harsh reality: They are more likely to suffer from chronic illnesses, be sicker in old age, and die younger than their white counterparts. (Goodwin, 3/11)
Becker's Hospital Review: Women Spent $8.8B More Than Men on Medications in 2024: 4 Key Takeaways
Women in the U.S. continue to pay significantly higher out-of-pocket healthcare costs than men, with a new report from GoodRx showing an $8.8 billion gap in prescription spending in 2024. Here are four takeaways: Women consistently spend 30% more out of pocket on prescriptions than men, totaling $8.5 billion more in 2024 alone. The disparity is driven by higher healthcare utilization, chronic condition management and the costs of female-specific treatments, according to the healthcare technology company's report. (Murphy, 3/10)
NBC News: AG Claims Hyperbaric Chamber Facility Prioritized Profits Over Safety in Boy's Death
The Michigan facility where a hyperbaric chamber fire killed a 5-year-old child “held safety among their lowest considerations,” the state attorney general said Tuesday, a day after four people were arrested in the boy’s death. Thomas Cooper died Jan. 31 at the Oxford Center, an alternative medicine facility in the Detroit suburb of Troy that says it treats over 100 conditions, including Alzheimer’s, autism and dyslexia. Those conditions are not cleared for hyperbaric oxygen therapy by the Food and Drug Administration, nor are the ones that a family attorney said Thomas’ parents took him in for: sleep apnea and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. (Chuck, 3/11)
Axios: COVID's Legacy: The Erosion of Public Health's Power
COVID-19 put public health officials on the front lines against a once-in-a-lifetime threat. It's left them with less power and resources to respond to future emergencies. Instead of strengthening America's public health infrastructure, the pandemic experience spawned hundreds of new laws in at least 24 states limiting public health orders or otherwise undercutting emergency responses. (Reed, 3/10)