On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its ruling in the case of Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania, determining on a 7-2 vote that employers with a “religious or moral objection” to providing contraceptive coverage to their employees may indeed opt out of the requirement without penalty. Recall, under the Affordable Care Act…
Read More »The Trump Administration this week sent a letter notifying the United Nations of its planned departure from the World Health Organization (WHO), effective July 6, 2021. The move by the Trump Administration follows an indefinite hold on all funding to the WHO ordered by President Donald Trump in April. President Trump expressed concerns over the…
Read More »The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced today the release of an additional $4 billion of Provider Relief Funds, provided through the CARES Act and the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, for safety net hospitals and specialty rural hospitals that may not have met initial criteria for qualification. Approximately $3 billion…
Read More »The California State Senate and Assembly have both delayed their scheduled return to Sacramento from summer recess on Monday after six individuals in the Assembly, including two Assembly Members, tested positive for COVID-19. Assembly Member Autumn Burke announced receiving positive results after being notified by the Assembly Human Resources Department that she had been subject…
Read More »Today the House of Representatives passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) via a voice vote. Speaker Pelosi acknowledged during her remarks on the floor that the CARES Act was not perfect and that Congress would have to do more in a fourth package. Many representatives sat up in the gallery…
Read More »The American Lung Association recently published its 18th annual “State of Tobacco Control” report, evaluating states and the federal government on proven-effective tobacco control laws and policies. According to the American Lung Association, the report serves as a blueprint for what state and federal leaders need to do to eliminate death and disease caused by…
Read More »The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released data on Thursday, finding that U.S. life expectancy at birth slightly increased from 78.6 years to 78.7 years. The slight increase was the first since 2014 when the U.S. life expectancy had been declining, largely due to suicides and drug overdoses. The latest data available…
Read More »This week, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced that Dr. Marisa Ramos has been appointed as the Chief of the CDPH Office of AIDS. Dr. Ramos has been with CDPH for 11 years and has been serving as the Interim Office of AIDS Chief, as well as the Surveillance and Prevention Evaluation and…
Read More »On Thursday, Governor Gavin Newsom announced the appointment of Bradley Gilbert as the Director of the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS). Dr. Gilbert has been a retired annuitant at the Inland Empire Health Plan since 2019 where he previously held several positions since 1996, including medical director, chief medical officer, and chief executive…
Read More »The Legislature spent much of this week focused on passing two-year bills out of their houses as today is the final deadline. Very few managed to pass off their respective floors. Most prominently, Senator Wiener’s SB 50, which makes significant changes to local zoning laws allowing for more high-density housing near mass transit hubs, failed…
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