Gov. Jerry Brown calls for special session of Legislature on healthcare

Los Angeles Times

Healthcare and education reform were key themes of Gov. Jerry Brown’s State of the State address Thursday in which he called for the Legislature to convene a special session to work out issues involving the state’s compliance with the federal Affordable Care Act. "Our health benefit exchange, called Covered California, will begin next year providing insurance to nearly one million Californians," Brown said. "Over the rest of this decade, California will steadily reduce the number of uninsured."

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'California did the impossible,' Brown says in State of the State

Los Angeles Times

Seeking to reclaim the state's identity as an innovator and engine of growth, Gov. Jerry Brown declared in a sweeping State of the State address that "California did the impossible" in emerging from financial crisis poised to lead again. Brown outlined a vision for the state Thursday in remarks that were equal parts history lesson, lecture and rhetorical flourish. It includes major investment in water and rail systems, more robust trade and an education structure free of regulations that crush creativity.

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Gov. Jerry Brown Outlines Vision for California in State of State Address

NBC Southern California

Gov. Jerry Brown looked back at what he called a "remarkable" year and outlined his vision for California in 2013 Thursday morning during his annual State of the State address. High-speed rail, education finances, climate change, jobs, health care and projects involving California's water supply and other infrastructure issues were all mentioned during the Thursday morning address in Sacramento. The speech comes about two months after voters approved Prop 30, Brown's measure that he described during the November election as a way to fund "the California Dream."

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F.D.A. Panel Votes to Restrict Drugs Like Vicodin

New York Times

Trying to stem the scourge of prescription drug abuse in the United States, an advisory panel of experts to the Food and Drug Administration voted on Friday to toughen restrictions on Vicodin and other hydrocodone products, the most widely used narcotic painkillers in the country.

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Pain Pill Abuse Helped by Doctor Inattention, DEA Says

Bloomberg

The high rates of abuse of hydrocodone combination painkillers such as Vicodin show doctors aren’t taking seriously enough the risks of the pills, a top Drug Enforcement Administration official said. “This drug has got a hold of this society and it’s killing us,” Joseph Rannazzisi, deputy assistant administrator in the DEA’s office of diversion control, said at a Food and Drug Administration advisory meeting today in Silver Spring, Maryland. “There’s so many prescriptions out there and I’ll tell you why. The medical community, in my humble opinion, is not taking this drug seriously.”

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So Far, Healthy Families Transition Going Smoothly

California Healthline

Given the immense amount of worry and concern over the planned shift of 860,000 kids out of the Healthy Families program and into Medi-Cal managed care plans, there has been surprisingly little turmoil throughout the start of the first phase of that transition. Healthy Families is California's Children's Health Insurance Program, and Medi-Cal is the state's Medicaid program.

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U.S. Senate Measure Seeks To Readjust Health Care System

California Healthline

On Tuesday, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) introduced an expansive public health bill (S 39) that aims to reduce health care costs by readjusting the national health care system to focus on prevention, wellness and health promotion. The bill outlines more than two dozen initiatives, such as providing tax credits for comprehensive workplace wellness programs and expanding federal research on mental health and substance use disorders.

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State-sponsored health coverage for kids in transition

Thousand Oaks Acorn

The parents of more than 20,000 Ventura County children received notices in the mail last month reminding them that their Healthy Families medical insurance will soon be transitioning into the state’s Medi-Cal program. Healthy Families—the state-sponsored health insurance program for children and teens in low-income families—is being phased out as of Jan. 1, in accordance with Gov. Jerry Brown’s Assembly Bill 1494. The new budget bill affects roughly 875,000 children across the state.

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Gov. Brown's 11th such speech finds California more optimistic and functional than it has been in years

Los Angeles Times (Editorial)

When a young Jerry Brown was elected governor of California nearly 40 years ago, he ushered in an era of both optimism and limits. His message to Californians was that they could have more, do more, be more — but only if they proceeded with wisdom and made smart choices.

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Veterans fight chronic pain, drug use with yoga

Auburn Villager

The following article is the second in a six-part series written by junior-level students at the Auburn University Nursing School who are studying issues affecting military veterans' health. The goal of this initiative is to provide health awareness and create dialogue of the challenges veteran students face when transitioning from combat to the classroom. According to a recent census, the number of civilian veterans in Auburn is 2,242, or 6.2 percent of the total population. Many of these veterans, as well as veterans around the country are suffering from chronic pain.

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After shootings, states rethink mental health cuts

Associated Press

Dozens of states have slashed spending on mental health care over the last four years, driven by the recession's toll on revenue and, in some cases, a new zeal to shrink government. But that trend may be heading for a U-turn in 2013 after last year's shooting rampages by two mentally disturbed gunmen. The reversal is especially jarring in statehouses dominated by conservative Republicans, who aggressively cut welfare programs but now find themselves caught in a crosscurrent of pressures involving gun control, public safety and health care for millions of disadvantaged Americans.

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Many Medicaid Patients Could Face Higher Fees Under a Proposed Federal Policy

New York Times

Millions of low-income people could be required to pay more for health care under a proposed federal policy that would give states more freedom to impose co-payments and other charges on Medicaid patients.

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Exchange Readies Its New Website

California Healthline

Covered California, the new brand name for the state's health benefit exchange, will unveil its new website next week, according to Oscar Hidalgo, director of communication and public affairs at the exchange. Hidalgo spoke at last week's exchange board meeting, presenting one of the first building blocks of the marketing structure, an informational website.

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Report: CMS Community Initiatives Could Reduce Health Costs

Kaiser Health News

A pilot program introduced by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to boost quality of care for seniors by developing community approaches to health problems could play a key role in bringing down costs, according to a new report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

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California sees a revenue bump after tax changes

Sacramento Bee

After years of budget agony, California is seeing something strange this month: a heap of excess cash. The state is poised to finish January about $4 billion ahead of what forecasters expected in income taxes, according to the Legislative Analyst's Office – the biggest one-month overage that state fiscal experts can recall in recent memory.

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California Attorney General Kamala Harris seeks new funding for prescription drugs database

Associated Press

A system that tracks prescription drugs and has assisted in several celebrity death investigations is in jeopardy of ending, prompting California's top law enforcement official to seek new funding. The state created the nation's first prescription drug monitoring program in 1939 and shifted to a computerized database in 1997. The online system tracks prescriptions written by doctors and filled by pharmacies.

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Restricting Vicodin is the wrong Rx

Los Angeles Times (Editorial)

More than 1 million Americans visit an emergency room each year because of prescription drug abuse, and the toll has been rising steadily since 2004. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration thinks it has an idea that will help: Reclassify the pain reliever Vicodin and other medications containing hydrocodone as Schedule II drugs, the most restrictive category for pharmaceuticals with accepted medical uses.

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Mendocino County spars with feds over conflicting marijuana laws

Los Angeles Times

Mendocino County is fighting efforts by federal prosecutors to get records on medical marijuana growers who signed up for a program intended to sanction their businesses under state law. The county's resistance creates a rare legal clash between local and federal authorities over conflicting marijuana laws. The U.S. Justice Department has been targeting growers and purveyors of medical cannabis, and threatening local or state officials who try to regulate the trade, saying all marijuana use is illegal under federal law.

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Marijuana-dispensary court ruling stands

San Francisco Chronicle

The state Supreme Court has denied prosecutors' request to review a ruling to allow large nonprofit dispensaries to sell medical marijuana, a case that could affect the federal government's attempt to shut down the giant Harborside dispensary in Oakland.

Harborside Health Center is the nation's largest medical marijuana supplier, with 108,000 patients. Local and state authorities have not objected to its operations, but U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag sued in July to seize its property in Oakland and a smaller site in San Jose.

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ACA Penalty for Lacking Health Coverage Will Be Effective, Analysis Says

California Healthline

The federal penalty for failing to buy health insurance under the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate will be high enough to be effective when it is fully phased in, according to an analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, The Hill's "Healthwatch" reports.

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The War on Drugs Is a “Miserable Failure”

National Geographic News

A large crowd packed the pews of the historic Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. on Saturday. After a deacon introduced such VIP guests as Representatives Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and John Lewis (D-Georgia), the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and actor Danny Glover, Pastor Wallace Charles Smith set the stage for the afternoon’s program. “One of the biggest problems facing this nation and much of the world is the drug epidemic,” said Smith. “It doesn’t seem like this nation has made it a real priority. As long as there is the demand there will be someone who will supply it.”

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After deaths at Narconon Arrowhead, Senator proposes legislation

McAlester News-Capital

After several deaths at Narconon Arrowhead, a senator has proposed legislation to regulate private drug and alcohol facilities. In August Sen. Tom Ivester (D-OK 26th District) told the News- Capital he would work with officials at Oklahoma’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to author legislation aimed at “regulating questionable practices” at Narconon Arrowhead.

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