On Monday, President Donald Trump released his Administration’s proposed FY 2020 budget, amounting to a record $4.75 trillion plan that increases military and defense spending while significantly cutting health, environmental, and education spending. Notably, spending on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is slated for a 12 percent cut, which includes a $750…
Read More »This week, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced the release of draft guidance entitled “Modifications to Compliance Policy for Certain Deemed Tobacco Products.” The draft guidance proposes to restrict flavored electronic cigarette sales and ban new flavored cigars from the market. FDA expects manufacturers of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) that…
Read More »On Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the 2019-2030 Global Influenza Strategy which seeks to prevent seasonal influenza, control the spread of influenza from animals to humans, and prepare for the next influenza pandemic. The strategy outlines a path to protect populations and prepare for pandemic through the strengthening of core public health programs;…
Read More »On Thursday, California State Auditor Elaine Howle released a report, “Department of Health Care Services: Millions of Children in Medi-Cal Are Not Receiving Preventive Health Services.” The audit report determined that an average of 2.4 million children in Medi-Cal per year did not receive all required preventive health services between FY 2013-14 and FY 2017-18….
Read More »The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) recently published “Preventing Violence in California Data Brief 1: Overview of Homicide and Suicide Deaths in California” which presents information on violent deaths in the state through a broad overview of the prevalence and burden of homicides and suicides. The resource was developed to inform and support continuing…
Read More »The Whole Person Care (WPC) Learning Collaborative will host a webinar on Tuesday, March 19 from 12:00pm to 1:00 pm entitled “Psychiatric Respite, Medical Respite, and Sobering Centers: Lessons from WPC.” The webinar will feature presentations from Santa Clara and San Francisco on their experiences launching or expanding psychiatric and medical respite, as well as…
Read More »This week, Senate and Assembly Committees continued to hold a number of informational hearings focused on a variety of issues, including public health, mental health, and housing. Committee hearings for specific bills are beginning to be set for the coming weeks as the Legislature approaches deadlines in late-April and early-May to advance measures out of…
Read More »On Wednesday, the Senate Health Committee convened an informational hearing on the public health infrastructure and capacity. The hearing, chaired by Senator Richard Pan, focused primarily on governmental public health and provided a rare three-hour platform for the state and local health departments to discuss their range of responsibilities and the challenges with addressing key…
Read More »On Wednesday, Governor Gavin Newsom announced the appointment of Mark Ghaly, MD, MPH as the Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHS). Ghaly, a practicing pediatrician, is currently the director of health and social impact for Los Angeles County. He also served as the deputy director of the Los Angeles County Department…
Read More »This week, the California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) published a review of the state’s Active Transportation Program (ATP), administered by the California Transportation Commission (CTC) in coordination with the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans). ATP provides funding to infrastructure and non-infrastructure projects that facilitate travelers being physically active through means such as biking and walking….
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