Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday handed what health care advocates and supporters of people with special needs called a status quo budget proposal for the next fiscal year, with no new investments or restoration of funding to programs that help California’s most vulnerable.
Citing a potential future recession that could deplete the Golden State’s now robust surplus, Brown’s $122.6 billion general fund spending plan for 2016-17 offers a fiscally safe proposal that was praised by some lawmakers for its cautiousness but also left those within some sectors disappointed. The budget also includes a $3.6 billion surplus.
“Given the wide disparities that exist in our state and the millions who struggle in one form or another, understandably there will be proposals to fund a variety of worthwhile programs,” Brown said in a statement to state legislators. Read more.

Many of the remaining uninsured children in California have parents who are employed by small businesses throughout the state. Most of those employed parents are unaware their children likely are eligible for Medi-Cal coverage, according to advocates. Medi-Cal is California’s Medicaid program. Read more.

Jason Jimenez was one of the 30 percent of those baseball pitchers who just don’t recover from Tommy John surgery. The former Elk Grove High School hurler had a promising career going with both the Tampa Bay Rays and Detroit Tigers before an injury hit in 2002.

The surgery that replaces a tendon in the throwing arm, a procedure named after the Major Leaguer who revived his pitching career afterwards, typically gives a pitcher a few more good seasons. That didn’t happen, though, for Jimenez. He returned to Elk Grove in 2004, joined the police department and then started coaching the pitchers at Elk Grove High School. Read more.

Liberty Church in Fairfield, California is launching a new social ministry for children with special needs/developmental disabilities. They are seeking leaders/staff for their program called Champions Club and are looking for enthusiastic and loving staff. All children in this program will be staffed 1:1 during programming.Read more.

Paramedic Elisa Martinez said she is usually always in “emergency mode” at work. However, lately things have been a little different.

Martinez is one of the six paramedics at Medic Ambulance that have been trained as community paramedics. The new state-wide pilot program launched in Solano County mid-September. The Medic Ambulance’s Community Paramedicine Program is a collaborative effort with NorthBay Healthcare, and is sponsored by California Emergency Medical Services Authority and California Healthcare Foundation. It is one out of 12 such programs throughout California. Read more.

Take a look back at the most-read and shared autism research studies of the year …

Our understanding of autism deepened and broadened in 2015, with scientific publications on an unprecedented number of advances and discoveries. They included the revelation of a previously unknown connection between the brain and the immune system and the reassuring results of the largest-ever comparison of autism rates among vaccinated versus unvaccinated children. Read more.

Health advocates are accusing state officials of discriminating against Latino patients in Medi-Cal, the state’s health insurance program for people who are low income.

They filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights, arguing reimbursement rates are so low that doctors refuse to see Medi-Cal patients — nearly two-thirds of whom are Latino. Many patients face long waits for care or outright denial, the complaint says. Read more.