The Brief

Popular weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy would no longer be covered by Medi-Cal under a proposal unveiled by Gov. Gavin Newsom Wednesday in an effort to reduce cost overruns in the state health insurance program.

The costly drugs prescribed to fight obesity have been driving up the cost of Medi-Cal, the state program that provides health coverage for low-income Californians. Eliminating coverage for these drugs would save the state $85 million in 2025-26, and up to $680 million by 2028-29, according to the governor’s office.

Newsom’s proposal will be taken up by the state Legislature as the governor and top legislators tackle a state budget facing a $12 billion deficit.

As proposed, coverage of the drugs would end on Jan. 1, 2026. Medi-Cal patients trying to lose weight would have to pay for the prescriptions themselves, at a cost of more than $1,000 per month, making it unattainable for low-income people.

Some health professionals say the drugs are highly effective at combating obesity, a chronic disease that drives up health care costs because it can lead to many other disorders such as heart disease and diabetes.

An estimated 18 million adults in California are obese or overweight, according to the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

“This is a bad decision. The people who are already taking this medication, what’s going to happen to them?” said Liz Helms, president of the California Chronic Care Coalition, a group of health consumer advocacy organizations and providers.

Dr. Wayne Ho, a Los Angeles obesity specialist and researcher, said patients will likely regain the weight they’ve lost, and also lose the health benefits they’ve gained, such as lower blood pressure and cholesterol.

“It is the best tool I have had as a primary care physician in practicing preventative medicine,” Ho said of weight management drugs. For patients on Medi-Cal, he said it can be especially difficult to access obesity specialists and nutritious foods, making their weight loss journey even more difficult.

On the other hand, the California Association of Health Plans said Newsom’s proposal “should send a strong signal to the Legislature that they should reconsider mandating that health plans cover these costly drugs for weight loss without the proper clinical safeguards in place.” 

California is not required by federal law to cover the cost of the weight loss drugs in its Medi-Cal program. Instead, the state opted to include them. Under Newsom’s proposed cuts, when Ozempic is prescribed to treat diabetes, it would still be covered by Medi-Cal.

Newsom’s proposal comes as Wegovy and Ozempic prescriptions among Medi-Cal enrollees are soaring along with overall prescription drug spending. In fiscal year 2023-24, drugs cost Medi-Cal close to $15.2 billion, according to state drug cost reports. That’s about a 10% increase from the previous year.

Between 2022 and 2023, Wegovy prescriptions in the Medi-Cal program jumped from 15,000 to 181,000, data from the U.S. Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services show. Ozempic prescriptions for diabetes and weight loss rose from 178,000 in 2022 to 480,000 in 2023.

In 2023, the latest year for which data is available, Medi-Cal spent about $733 million on both drugs. (This amount does not include the refunds that Medi-Cal received from pharmaceutical companies as part of rebate programs.)

“This is a bad decision. The people who are already taking this medication, what’s going to happen to them?"LIZ HELMS, CALIFORNIA CHRONIC CARE COALITION In his budget presentation today, Newsom did not mention the drugs. But he said the state had to “tighten things up” in its massive Medi-Cal program so he proposed several restrictions, including a freeze on Medi-Cal enrollments by people who lack permanent legal immigration status. Medi-Cal covers nearly 15 million Californians.

Earlier this year, the state had to backfill a $6.2 billion shortfall in its Medi-Cal budget to pay providers through the end of June. The Department of Health Care Services, which oversees the Medi-Cal program, cited a number of reasons for going over budget, including the state’s expansion to undocumented immigrants and an increase in prescription drug spending.

Ozempic is primarily used to treat Type 2 diabetes, but some doctors prescribe it for weight loss, too. Wegovy is used only for weight loss. Both are manufactured by Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, and there are no generic versions.

Semaglutide, the active ingredient in both drugs, works by mimicking the GLP-1 hormone, which helps regulate blood sugar and appetite. In an attempt to contain costs, Medi-Cal already limits the quantity of Wegovy that can be dispensed every 28 days to one carton of four pen injectors. Patients inject themselves once a week.

To qualify for Medi-Cal, a single person’s annual income cannot exceed $21,597. For a family of 4, the threshold is $44,367.

Erica Yee contributed to this report. 

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

L.A. County health officials Wednesday confirmed the county's seventh measles case this year — a traveler who passed through Hollywood Burbank Airport on the morning of June 17.

They're warning people who may have come in contact with the person of possible exposure to the highly contagious virus.

What you should know: Public health officials say the infected traveler arrived on Southwest Airlines Flight 4245 Gate A4 on June 17 at the Hollywood Burbank Airport. Anyone who was at that gate between 8:45 to 9:45 a.m. may have been exposed.

Officials also noted that people who were at the Thrifty Rental Car Service on June 17 from 9:20 to 10:20 a.m. and on June 18 from 10:25 to 11:25 a.m. may have been exposed. That's located at 2627 N. Hollywood Way in Burbank.

What if I was on the flight? Public health officials say passengers sitting next to the traveler will be notified by local health departments and should monitor for symptoms. Keep in mind those symptoms could appear up to three weeks after you were exposed.

Symptoms to look out for: Common symptoms include runny nose, fever cough, or a rash. It's also important if you develop these symptoms, don't just walk into a health care center without calling ahead first.

For people exposed on June 17, the last day to monitor for symptoms is July 8. For those exposed on June 18, the last day to monitor for symptoms is July 19.

How can I protect myself?: It's important to check if you are vaccinated against the measles. As health officials noted in the news release reporting the latest case: "The most effective way to protect yourself and your family is with the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine."

The Los Angeles Unified Board voted unanimously to appoint Andres Chait, a longtime district administrator, as superintendent days after his predecessor resigned.

 “This board's decision reflects the confidence in Mr. Chait's leadership, his decades of service to Los Angeles Unified, and his demonstrated ability to guide the district during this period of transition,” said board President Scott Schmerelson.

The board met privately to discuss the district’s top job three days after Alberto Carvalho resigned. Carvalho wrote in a letter that he was leaving “because I believe our schools must remain focused on students and learning without distraction.”

The board placed Carvalho on paid administrative leave following FBI searches of his home and district office in February and appointed Chait acting superintendent. Carvalho has not been charged with a crime and has maintained his innocence.

Who is Andres Chait?

Chait rose through the ranks from teacher to administrator at LAUSD over nearly three decades. The responsibilities of his most recent role, chief of school operations, included overseeing school safety, athletics and the district’s office of emergency management.

Chait thanked the board, the community and his family after the announcement Wednesday and reflected on his first day as a kindergarten teacher 30 years ago. “ I was probably more nervous than the kids were, but I knew then that this was a place where I could make a positive difference in the lives of students and families,” Chait said. “I've always known that there is no greater accelerator of change and opportunity than the schoolhouse, and that is still true today.”

What is the superintendent responsible for?

LAUSD is the country’s second-largest school district, employs 83,000 people and enrolls more than 400,000 students across more than 1,000 schools. Despite recent gains in student test scores, the majority of students are not proficient in reading and math skills for their grade level. The district also faces looming financial challenges from declining enrollment — which is tied to state funding — and federal investigations into programs designed to help underserved students succeed.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

A former state parks superintendent who oversaw Orange County beaches was charged Wednesday with secretly filming naked male lifeguards and other workers inside the locker room at Bolsa Chica State Beach. The former superintendent, Kevin Pearsall, is also accused of sending some of the images to two other men.

What charges does he face?

Pearsall, 59, of Long Beach, faces five felony counts of eavesdropping, 23 misdemeanor counts of secretly filming another and three misdemeanor counts of unlawful dissemination of private recordings. If convicted on all charges, he faces a maximum sentence of 18 years and eight months behind bars.

Scott C. Thomas, a defense attorney representing Pearsall, declined to comment in the wake of the charges being announced by the Orange County District Attorney's office. Pearsall is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 6 and could enter a plea at that time.

Details of the investigation

In July 2025, a California State Parks officer discovered a USB stick with a hidden camera in the men's locker room at Bolsa Chica State Beach Lifeguard Headquarters. The officer contacted California Highway Patrol, which launched an investigation.

The investigation found Pearsall allegedly had recorded numerous secret videos in the locker room over an 11-month period beginning in August 2024, according to the DA's announcement. Pearsall retired from his job shortly after CHP served search warrants in the case. He turned himself in earlier this week.

State Parks reaction

Marty Greenstein, a spokesperson for California State Parks, told LAist the agency “takes these charges very seriously and has fully cooperated with law enforcement through every step of the investigation.” Greenstein declined to comment further, citing the active criminal investigation.

Making your way through South Coast Plaza — the sleek consumer cathedral in Costa Mesa, a sort of mall of malls — past Uniqlo window displays and Pop Mart blind boxes, there's a good chance you'll eventually land at Tiny's, the new casual restaurant from Chef Sang Yoon.

The burger shack-meets-Asian convenience store is the latest from Yoon, best known for Father's Office, the Los Angeles institution where he's spent two decades running one of the city's most uncompromising kitchens — no substitutions, no exceptions.

Tiny’s marks Yoon’s first venture into Orange County — a deliberately accessible entry point for a chef who has spent decades at the top of L.A.'s gastropub scene.

The concept

Tiny's is the place Yoon wanted to exist as a kid.

Inside, you're greeted by shelves stocked in the style of a konbini, the beloved Japanese convenience corner store, with cilantro-flavored Doritos from China, elote-flavored Turtle Chips from Korea and, for the purists, the requisite Japanese Kit-Kats and Pocky too.

At the counter, a friendly employee greets you beneath a letterboard menu anchored by Yoon’s signature 30-day dry-aged beef burger. Starting at $9 for a plain burger, up to $12 for the Tokyo Dog dressed in bonito flakes and furikake, there's also salt and vinegar tots, french fries, miso mac 'n' cheese and soft serve that runs from Straus vanilla to Pineapple Dole Whip, available as a swirl, cup, cone or float. That's the menu, streamlined by design.

Chef Sang Yoon's cheeseburger and Tokyo Dog at Tiny's, his new fast-casual concept inside South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa

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For Yoon, the son of Korean immigrants who grew up between two worlds, the idea of opening a burger stand with a konbini was about tapping into the happy place of his memories: after school with friends, trying out the latest snacks to hit the market to Friday nights with the entire family celebrating after a long week of grinding it out with burgers and chili fries.

"The corner burger stand is where life happened. ... What if those two of my favorite things were under one roof?" said Yoon.

Tiny the dog

Inspiration for the name Tiny’s came from a somewhat unlikely place: Yoon’s beloved Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Yoon describes her as appearing extremely cute and friendly, but in reality, she was actually sassy and judgmental. Illustrations bearing Tiny’s "don't mess with me" vibe can be seen throughout the restaurant.

“People would rather hear this from a sassy, cute dog than me. So I decided that we should channel Tiny. And let this belong to her," Yoon said.

The food

The cheeseburger itself is simple: a thin patty topped with melted American cheese and Tiny's signature sauce — a blend of Kewpie mayo, caramelized gochujang, ssamjang and tomato — finished with pickle chips and a bed of lettuce.

What sets it apart is what you can’t see, the same 30-day dry-aged chuck Yoon has used at Father’s Office for over 25 years.

“I still don’t think there’s any product superior to that for the purpose of a hamburger,” he said.

The spread at Tiny's includes the cheeseburger, miso mac 'n' cheese, chicken nuggets, tater tots, fries and a jammy egg sando — a konbini staple in Japan.

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The nuggets ($10) had a crispy, craggy exterior finished with visible seasoning crystals, a small but deliberate touch, and came with a fresh herbaceous dipping sauce. As for the chili fries ($8), the chili itself was sufficient as an L.A.-style chili (think Tommy's), but since Lao Gan Ma chili crisp was promised in the name, I was expecting that distinctive, crunchy, fermented kick — but left wanting more of it. It felt more like a whisper than a statement.

The miso mac 'n' cheese ($6) was a highlight of the meal, especially for someone who doesn't usually order mac 'n' cheese. Fresh ridged elbow pasta with a proper chew in each bite, and salty morsels of miso folded into a tight cheese sauce had me picking up forkfuls until it was mostly gone. Consider my position reconsidered.

Encouraged, I went back and ordered a Dole Whip ($7). The electric, tangy flavor, paired with the soft creaminess, served as a suitable exclamation point for my lunch that day.

With Tiny's, Yoon has built his most personal restaurant — accessible in price, but uncompromising in intention.

Could mall food now be on a new trajectory? Perhaps we've finally transcended corn dogs at Hot Dog on a Stick and cinnamon rolls at Cinnabon.

After dining at Tiny’s, all signs point to yes.