Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/715527
ByDarcyCostello The Associated Press SACRAMENTO Califor- nia women who take birth control would have to make fewer trips to the pharmacy under a bill that would re- quire insurers to cover up to a 12-month supply at one time. Supporters say for birth control to be most effective, it must be taken consis- tently and argue the longer- term supply would reduce the potential for skipped doses and would lower in- stances of unintended preg- nancy. "Women are smart enough to carefully admin- ister and use these drugs appropriately," said Demo- cratic Sen. Fran Pavley of Agoura Hills, the bill's au- thor. She said limiting birth control to 30- or 90-day supplies — the current in- dustry standard — may have made sense in the 1970s, when "the pill" came on the market and was un- proven, but she's surprised it's still in practice. "They've been measured and reformed and are safe," Pavley said. There's no health-re- lated reason why the sup- plies should be limited to shorter periods, and elim- inating repeat trips to the pharmacy is more conve- nient, she added. Unlike many other med- ications, experts say one missed dose of a contra- ceptive can undo months of careful usage. At least five states and Washington, D.C., have ap- proved legislation allowing such extended supplies. Two lobbying groups rep- resenting insurers, the As- sociation of California Life and Health Insurance Com- panies and the California Association of Health Plans, oppose the measure, SB999, in its current form. The groups have asked the author to change the bill to allow insurers to request a patient be stabilized on the drug before filling the full year's dosage. They also want to delay the start date of the measure by a year to Jan. 1, 2018. Between 10 and 33 per- cent of women try more than one birth control method within a 12-month period, according to mem- ber companies, said Stef- fanie Watkins, vice pres- ident of health policy for the Association of Califor- nia Life and Health Insur- ance Companies. "We want to ensure women are on the medi- cine that they should be on and want to make sure it's done in a thoughtful way," she said. Supporters argue the bill does not require women to get a year's worth of contra- ception and instead calls for supplies of "up to" 12 months. Of the states that have passed similar leg- islation, only Oregon and Maryland include provi- sions for a smaller initial amount before filling the longer supply. The California Right to Life Committee sees no need for a year's supply, said director Camille Gi- glio. In a letter to the state Senate Health Committee, the organization wrote con- traceptives can have "dev- astating consequences" on women's health. Giglio also said she was concerned that expanded access to contraception could lead to an increase in sex trafficking. In 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Pre- vention recommended pre- scribing or providing up to a year's supply of pill packs at each visit. The report suggested that common in- surance restrictions could result in unwanted discon- tinuation of birth control and increased risk of preg- nancy. California's legislation has cleared the state Sen- ate and needs to pass the Assembly before the end of August to go before Gov. Jerry Brown for his consid- eration. It would include Medi-Cal managed plans and cover hormonal con- traceptives including the pill, vaginal ring and con- traceptive patch. A 2011 University of Cali- fornia, San Francisco, study of women in a state family planning program found that a one-year supply of contraceptives led to a 30 percent reduction in unin- tended pregnancies and a 46 percent decrease in the abortion rate, as compared to 30- or 90-day supplies. "We need to do all we can to ensure that every child is a wanted child, and part of that is being able to use birth control as effectively as possible," said Amy Ever- itt, state director of NARAL Pro-Choice California. SACRAMENTO Billwouldallowwomentogetyear'sworthofbirthcontrol RICHPEDRONCELLI—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, chair of Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee addresses the Senate at the Capitol in Sacramento. The Associated Press LOS ANGELES A strategy of placing homeless peo- ple in permanent housing instead of short-term shel- ters actually may have in- creased the problem in Los Angeles County, it was re- ported Monday. The county's home- less population remained roughly stable from 2015 to 2016. But about 1,400 more people lacked shel- ter, meaning they liter- ally lived on the street, according to the annual count of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Au- thority. One reason, according to the authority, was a loss of so-called transitional housing beds through funding cuts or conver- sions to permanent hous- ing, the Los Angeles Times reported. Both types of housing can include services for the homeless, such as counsel- ing. But permanent hous- ing allows the chronically homeless to stay for as long as necessary for them to become independent. Last year, the home- less services authority cut funding for about 2,000 transitional housing beds operated by 58 agencies, and more cuts are on the way. The authority com- petes for funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban De- velopment, which is shift- ing money to permanent housing. The 220-room Panama Hotel on Skid Row in Los Angeles used to offer 90- day transitional hous- ing for the homeless. The building has been gutted for remodeling and will re- open next year as perma- nent housing — but with only 72 apartments. "We tried to keep our doors open because we saw the tremendous need," said Anita Nelson, chief execu- tive of SRO Housing Corp., the nonprofit that owns the hotel. "We ended up losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in doing so." More than 200 people had to move. "We tried to transition as many as we could and farm out to other agen- cies," Nelson said. "Unfor- tunately, some people went back on the street." Because of fund reduc- tions, the Weingart Center on skid row has lost 300 transitional housing units over five years, according to figures from the home- less authority. Unfortunately, it could take years to provide enough permanent hous- ing to replace transitional housing. About 300 units of what is known as permanent supportive housing are built in the city each year, said Carlos VanNatter of the city's Housing Author- ity. In the meantime, Los Angeles is struggling to deal with a homeless popu- lation estimated at 27,000. The House of Ruth in Boyle Heights saw its grant cut this year, but it has a chance to compete for a new grant in September. That grant, however, will require converting some beds to permanent hous- ing. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Los Angeles housing solutions may bring more homeless problems The Associated Press SAN DIEGO Two housing companies have been fined for illegally evicting military service members and their families from rental homes in Southern California. In a settlement with the Department of Justice, Lincoln Military Property Management and San Diego Family Housing agreed to pay $260,000 in penalties and fines covering four im- proper evictions that took place between 2008 and 2013, the San Diego Union- Tribune reported Sunday. The companies also agreed to pay $252,000 in fines and fees under a set- tlement with California au- thorities. The settlements cov- ered 17 troops in San Diego County and one in nearby Orange County who were evicted for not paying rent. State and federal laws ban eviction when active- duty military can't appear in court because of their du- ties, such as a deployment, and don't have a lawyer. In a joint statement, the companies said they have taken actions to address the problem. Lincoln Mili- tary said it manages 36,000 military homes across the country while San Diego Family Housing is a part- nership between Lincoln and the Defense Depart- ment. Brittany Marks, who lives in one of Lincoln's housing communities, said the evic- tion was insulting to mili- tary families. "If they don't know the laws protecting troops or decided to ignore them, that's beyond forgiveness," Marks told the newspaper. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Housing companies fined for illegally evicting military By Keith Ridler The Associated Press BOISE, IDAHO A multiyear study of mercury contam- ination is underway in a three-dam hydroelectric project on the Idaho-Ore- gon border that's part of a power company's effort to renew its license with the federal government. Idaho Power says the five- to eight-year study now in its second year is needed to better understand the high mercury levels in fish in the Hells Canyon Com- plex on the Snake River. The mercury working its way up the food chain ap- pears to be the result of a chain reaction that starts with nutrients from up- stream agricultural areas, according to scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey who are running the study. Researchers say 96 per- cent of smallmouth bass in the system contain so much mercury they're unsafe to eat under Oregon stan- dards. Under Idaho's less stringent standards, that drops to 31 percent. "The mercury concen- trations of fish within the complex are up to five times higher than within fish up- stream of the complex," said Austin Baldwin, a hydrolo- gist with the U.S. Geologi- cal Survey based in Boise. The elevated mercury levels in fish also extend at least 60 miles downstream to the Salmon River conflu- ence. The high mercury lev- els are preventing the util- ity from obtaining approval from Oregon and Idaho, and that's preventing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from issuing the company a new, multi- decade license. The previ- ous 50-year license expired in 2005, and the company has since been operating the complex on annually issued licenses. The company supplies electricity to customers in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon, and the Hells Can- yon Complex is one of its key power producers. The main takeaway from the study so far, said Ralph Myers of Idaho Power, is the realization of the complex- ity of the problem. Results from the study so far have discovered a pro- cess where nutrients enter the uppermost reservoir formed by Brownlee Dam, which is also the largest of the three reservoirs. Scientists say the nutri- ents, combined with warm summer temperatures, lead to an increase in algae and organic material. That's broken down by oxygen-us- ing bacteria leading to de- pleted oxygen levels in the reservoir. The reservoir becomes stratified by late summer, with deeper areas becom- ing devoid of oxygen. In those areas, bacteria that don't use oxygen, called an- aerobic bacteria, go to work on inorganic mercury that enters the system mainly through the atmosphere. Baldwin said the process isn't fully understood, but anaerobic bacteria trans- form the inorganic mercury to methylmercury, with the amount increasing in the reservoir through the sum- mer and fall. Methylmercury is much more harmful than inor- ganic mercury, scientists say. It also accumulates in organisms and works its way up the food chain to fish. "If you eat a fish, then you get all that mercury from that fish," Baldwin said. The study has found the process occurring in all three reservoirs. Idaho Power doesn't have control over what comes into the system from up- stream, Myers said, but the company is looking at finding ways to reduce the amount of nutrients enter- ing the Snake River from the agricultural areas. 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