FTC slams pharmacy benefit managers CVS, Cigna, UnitedHealth for high drug prices

• July 9, 2024

By Leah Nylen and John Tozzi | Bloomberg

Drug middlemen paid their own mail-order pharmacies as much as 200 times more than rival pharmacies for common cancer medicines, generating at least $1 billion in excess revenue and potentially raising patient costs, the Federal Trade Commission found in an interim study.

Pharmacy benefit managers — the middlemen that negotiate with drugmakers and manage prescription plans for employers and health insurers — influence what drugs are available and at what cost. Years of dealmaking have wrapped them into much larger health-care enterprises that the FTC says exert “significant control over which drugs are available, at what price, and which pharmacies” patients can go to.

Consolidating with health insurers, pharmacies and other medical businesses lets them favor affiliated businesses under their own corporate parents, the agency said.

Today the six largest PBMs – which include units of CVS Health Corp., Cigna Group and UnitedHealth Group Inc. – account for 95% of US prescriptions, the agency found.

Investors were warily awaiting the FTC report, but Wall Street shrugged at the initial findings. Shares of Cigna rose 1.2% and UnitedHealth was up less than 1% at 12:35 p.m., while CVS was little changed.

“We do not believe this report has the teeth to meaningfully change the PBM landscape” without charges or clearer proof of wrongdoing, JPMorgan analysts led by Lisa Gill wrote in a research note.

Pressure on industry

Pharmacy benefit managers have attracted growing attention in Washington, and the FTC’s study adds to pressure on the industry. Drugmakers have long accused PBMs of pushing up medication costs. Both employer groups that fund prescription benefits and independent pharmacies that get paid by PBMs have criticized them. Lawmakers are weighing new restrictions, and some states have enacted reforms.

The FTC described how PBMs “steer” patients to their own dispensaries including mail-order and specialty businesses, to “advantage their own pharmacies while excluding rivals.” It cited internal emails where executives at top pharmacy benefit managers said client “concerns” about the pricing discrepancy on common drugs and strategized about how to manage the “optics.”

In one internal communication cited by the FTC, an unidentified executive noted that patients could get a commonly prescribed treatment for leukemia, a generic version of Novartis AG’s Gleevec, for $97 at Costco Wholesale Corp., while the company’s own mail-order pharmacy charged $19,200. The agency didn’t identify which company that message was from.

Optics ‘not good’

“We’ve created plan designs to aggressively steer customers to home delivery where the drug cost is ~200 higher,” the executive wrote. “The optics are not good and must be addressed.”

The FTC estimated that those increased reimbursement rates for two drugs led to $1.6 billion in excess revenue for pharmacies affiliated with the three largest PBMs between 2020 and 2022.

The agency also flagged concerns over how PBMs have restructured their entities that negotiate rebates with drugmakers, creating new corporate units for that job and moving some of them overseas. These entities, known as group purchasing organizations, can generate new fees and rebates from drugmakers that aren’t passed on to the PBM’s ultimate client.

The FTC opened the study into the market in 2022, seeking a wide swath of information on what is widely considered one of health care’s most opaque sectors. As part of the study, the FTC sought information from the six largest companies: CVS, Cigna’s Express Scripts, UnitedHealth’s Optum, Humana Inc., Prime Therapeutics LLC and MedImpact Healthcare Systems Inc.

‘Root cause’

Critics say the PBMs operate in obscure ways, making money from health plan clients, rebates and fees collected from drugmakers. The industry says it lowers prices and has blamed drugmakers as the “root cause” of prescription drug costs.

The FTC said in its interim report that it would continue to investigate as several of the companies it subpoenaed had yet to fully turn over documents.

The agency’s commissioners voted 4-1 to issue the interim report, with Republican Commissioner Melissa Holyoak dissenting. In a separate statement, Holyoak faulted the FTC for a lack of empirical analysis on how PBM behavior has affected the prices that patients pay for drugs.

“Relying upon two examples, without any evidence (empirical or otherwise) that demonstrates they are representative, is not a substitute for rigorous analysis,” she wrote.

CVS said its members pay on average less than $8 for a 30-day prescription. Limits on PBMs would benefit drugmakers, the company said in a statement after the FTC issued its report. A representative for Cigna’s Express Scripts said the agency’s “biased conclusions” won’t address rising drug prices. Humana declined to comment.

The other companies the FTC is probing didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Albertsons unveils list of 63 California stores to be sold ahead of trial

• July 9, 2024

By Jaewon Kang and Leah Nylen | Bloomberg

Kroger Co. released the full list of stores, distribution centers and plants — including 63 supermarkets in California — that it plans to divest to secure approval for the proposed merger with Albertsons Cos.

The companies have started notifying staff at affected locations, Chief Executive Officer Rodney McMullen wrote in a memo to employees on Tuesday.

Workers will become employees of C&S Wholesale Grocers after the transaction closes, McMullen wrote, and will remain as Kroger and Albertsons staff until then. C&S has committed to transferring pay and health plans and assuming all collective bargaining agreements, he added.

Related: Kroger-Albertsons merger could upend 164,000 workers in Southern California

The grocers, which announced their $25 billion merger in October 2022, are sharing the list ahead of a trial expected in August that will decide the outcome of their deal.

Kroger and Albertsons agreed to sell a package of stores and other facilities to C&S, boosting the number to 579 from 413 in April after the Federal Trade Commission blocked the tie-up.

The list also includes 124 stores in Washington state, 101 in Arizona and 91 in Colorado, among others. Most of the California stores are in Southern California.

See also: Kroger and Albertsons CEOs give details on controversial $25 billion merger

The divestment package also includes a dairy plant in Colorado, as well as six distribution centers across four states.

Together, Kroger and Albertsons have nearly 5,000 stores across the country, including banners like Kroger, Ralphs, and Harris Teeter as well as Albertsons, Safeway, Acme and Jewel-Osco.

Kroger and Albertsons say they need the merger to compete with larger, non-unionized rivals Amazon.com, Walmart and Costco. The companies have pledged to invest $500 million to cut prices and $1 billion to raise worker wages and benefits, in addition to $1.3 billion to improve Albertsons stores.

The FTC’s complaint alleges the deal would harm consumers by eliminating competition on prices and quality, making the combined firm less likely to improve its services by offering flexible hours and pickup services. It also would give the grocers increased leverage over workers, slowing wage growth and worsening benefits, according to the complaint.

Union workers in California also are protesting the planned merger, saying their jobs could be in jeopardy in any divestiture.

The FTC has also alleged that C&S would face significant challenges stitching together the various stores acquired from the grocers, and deems the grocers’ proposed divestiture package inadequate. In 2015, the agency allowed Albertsons to buy Safeway after it sold 168 stores, the bulk of them to Washington state grocer Haggen Holdings LLC. Less than a year later, Haggen filed for bankruptcy and Albertsons bought back a number of the stores.

The list of stores to be sold to C&S includes dozens of locations that Albertsons reacquired, including 12 Haggen stores in Washington.

The Haggen brand will spark the many memories among Southern California shoppers, who saw 70 grocery stores in the region convert to the Pacific Northwest banner nine years ago.

The grocer bought 146 stores in the Albertsons-Safeway divestiture in 2015. Haggen’s concept, which touted itself as Albertsons meets Whole Foods, didn’t take with shoppers who complained of high prices. The banner would be gone in just six months. The vacant properties left behind in Haggen’s exit languished for years, only recently updating to new names such as Rivera Food Service or familiar chains like Gelson’s and 99 Ranch Market.

Here is the list of California stores that Kroger and Albertsons said would be sold to C&S Wholesale:

15 Albertsons changing banners

Albertsons — 33601 Del Obispo St., Dana Point

Albertsons — 7201 Yorktown Ave., Huntington Beach

Albertsons — 16600 Bolsa Chica St., Huntington Beach

Albertsons — 804 Avenida Pico, San Clemente

Albertsons — 200 E Sepulveda Blvd., Carson

Albertsons — 3901 Crenshaw Blvd, Los Angeles

Albertsons — 9022 Balboa Blvd., Northridge

Albertsons — 541 S Reino Road, Newbury Park

Albertsons — 543 Sweetwater Road, Spring Valley

Albertsons — 42095 Washington St., Palm Desert

Albertsons — 1751 N Sunrise Way Ste 1, Palm Springs

Albertsons — 2899 Jamacha Road, El Cajon

Albertsons — 23893 Clinton Keith Rd, Wildomar

Albertsons — 1500 N H St., Lompoc

Albertsons — 730 Quintana Road, Morro Bay

31 Vons stores changing banners

Vons — 5671 Kanan Road, Agoura Hills

Vons — 301 N Pass Ave, Burbank

Vons — 500 E Manchester Blvd., Inglewood

Vons — 3233 Foothill Blvd, La Crescenta

Vons — 3118 S Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles

Vons — 3461 W 3rd St., Los Angeles

Vons — 1430 S Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles

Vons — 6571 W 80th St., Los Angeles

Vons — 2039 Verdugo Blvd., Montrose

Vons — 17380 Sunset Blvd, Pacific Palisades

Vons — 410 Manhattan Beach Blvd, Manhattan Beach

Vons — 25850 The Old Road, Stevenson Ranch

Vons — 4033 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Studio City

Vons — 18439 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana

Vons — 7789 Foothill Blvd., Tujunga

Vons — 6040 Telegraph Road, Ventura

Vons — 1440 W 25th St., San Pedro

Vons — 185 E 17th St., Costa Mesa

Vons — 11322 Los Alamitos Blvd., Los Alamitos

Vons — 1820 Ximeno Ave., Long Beach

Vons — 78271 Hwy 111, La Quinta

Vons — 6951 El Camino Real, Carlsbad

Vons — 3439 Via Montebello, Carlsbad

Vons — 2606 Del Mar Heights Road, Del Mar

Vons — 4733 E Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs

Vons — 11986 Bernardo Plaza Drive, San Diego

Vons — 1702 Garnet Ave., San Diego

Vons — 2495 Truxtun Road, Suite 100, San Diego

Vons — 9643 Mission Gorge Road, Santee

Vons — 820 Arneill Road, Camarillo

Vons — 163 S Turnpike Road, Santa Barbara

16 Pavilions changing banners

Pavilions — 600 N Pacific Coast Hwy., Laguna Beach

Pavilions — 2660 San Miguel Drive, Newport Beach

Pavilions — 1000 Bayside Drive, Newport Beach

Pavilions — 989 Avenida Pico, San Clemente

Pavilions — 1101 Pacific Coast Hwy., Seal Beach

Pavilions — 4365 Glencoe Ave, Marina del Rey

Pavilions — 29211 Heathercliff Road, Malibu

Pavilions — 9467 W Olympic Blvd., Beverly Hills

Pavilions — 1110 W Alameda Ave., Burbank

Pavilions — 11030 Jefferson Blvd., Culver City

Pavilions — 7 Peninsula Center, Palos Verdes Peninsula

Pavilions — 14845 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks

Pavilions — 6534 Platt Ave., West Hills

Pavilions — 8969 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood

Pavilions — 3850 Valley Centre Drive, San Diego

Pavilions — 7544 Girard Ave., La Jolla

One lone Safeway at 1499 Washington Ave. in the Bay Area city of San Leandro is switching banners.

Staff writer Samantha Gowen contributed to this report.

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Record-setting heat continues to cook Southern California

• July 9, 2024

Unprecedented temperatures are baking the Antelope Valley in northern Los Angeles County with record-breaking highs and streaks that are expected to continue Tuesday and for the rest of the week — and the rest of Southern California isn’t far behind in terms of sweltering conditions.

Lancaster and Palmdale set records for the most consecutive days over 110 degrees. The streak in Lancaster is five days in a row with temperatures above 110 degrees, breaking the mark set in 1945. The streak in Palmdale is five days in a row with temperatures above 110 degrees, breaking the mart set in 1931.

The high in Lancaster was 113 Monday, breaking the record for the day set in 2008. The high in Palmdale was 112 Monday, breaking the record for the day of 110 set in 2008.

A brief onshore flow is slowly backing off and promising to push temperatures a little higher through at least Wednesday.

An excessive heat warning will be in place through 9 p.m. Saturday for the western San Gabriel Mountains, the Antelope Valley and the Antelope Valley foothills, along with the 5 and 14 freeway corridors, with forecasters predicting temperatures of up to 116 degrees.

The eastern San Gabriel Mountains will be under an excessive heat warning until 9 p.m. Thursday, thanks to predicted temperatures of up to 105.

RELATED: Deaths, injuries and billions of dollars: The cost of extreme heat in California

A heat advisory was in effect in the Santa Clarita Valley, Calabasas and the western San Fernando Valley until 10 a.m. Tuesday, when it be was replaced with a more severe excessive heat warning, with temperatures potentially reaching 108 degrees. The warning will be in place until 9 p.m. Thursday.

An excessive heat warning was also slated to be in effect from 10 a.m. Tuesday until 9 p.m. Thursday in the Santa Monica Mountains Recreational Area, the eastern San Fernando Valley and the San Gabriel Valley, where temperatures could reach 106 degrees, according to the NWS.

RELATED: How to stay cool during extreme heat: Tips for preventing heat-related illness

It was 101 in Sandberg on Sunday, breaking the record for the day of 100 set in 2018.

A heat advisory was in effect for the Santa Ana mountains and foothills, with temperatures expected to be between 95 and 102, from 11 a.m. Tuesday until 9 p.m. Thursday.

RELATED: Be careful out there. It’s hot. And it’s going to stay hot in LA County for a while

A heat advisory was also in effect in Fullerton, Orange, Garden Grove, Irvine, Mission Viejo Santa Ana and Anaheim from 11 a.m. Tuesday until 9 p.m. Thursday. High are expected to be in the 90s.

Authorities reminded the public to never leave pets or children inside vehicles on days that are even a little warmer than normal, as locked cars can turn into death traps in mere minutes.

The city and county of Los Angeles both operate cooling centers for people who need a place to escape the heat. To find a location, visit https://ready.lacounty.gov/heat, or call 211.

RELATED: Despite a persistent heat wave, California’s grid is ‘stable’

The city of Los Angeles is operating four “augmented” cooling centers that will be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. through at least Thursday. The centers are located at:

— Fred Roberts Recreation Center, 4700 Honduras St., Los Angeles

— Mid Valley Senior Center, 8825 Kester Ave., Panorama City

— Lake View Terrace Recreation Center, 11075 Foothill Blvd.

— Jim Gilliam Recreation Center, 4000 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles

City officials also noted that climate stations are available for the homeless on Skid Row, offering cold beverages, shade and seating. The stations are on Towne Street between Fifth and Sixth streets; and at San Pedro Street between Sixth and Seventh streets. Another station will be open by July 16 at Fifth and Maple streets.

The homeless can also visit the ReFresh Spot, 544 Towne Ave. The facility is open 24 hours a day, providing drinking water, restrooms, showers and laundry facilities.

​ Orange County Register 

Euro 2024: Spain bounces France to reach final

• July 9, 2024

MUNICH — Spain reached the European Championship final with a 2-1 victory over France on Tuesday with 16-year-old Lamine Yamal becoming the youngest scorer at a major tournament.

France took an early lead when Randal Kolo Muani headed in a cross from Kylian Mbappé, who played without a mask, before Yamal’s moment of brilliance in the 21st minute. Dani Olmo scored what was to prove the winner four minutes later.

“We were in a difficult stretch after not expecting to concede so early. I just took the ball and wanted to put it right there. I am very happy,” Yamal said.

“I don’t try to think about it too much, just enjoy myself and help the team, and if it goes my way, then I am happy (for the goal) and for the win.”

Spain, which is chasing a record fourth European Championship title, will play England or the Netherlands in the final on Sunday in Berlin.

They play each other in Dortmund on Wednesday.

“We knew they were a great team, and they proved it again tonight,” France coach Didier Deschamps said. “Even though we were fortunate to open the scoring, Spain made things difficult for us.

“They were superior in terms of control and technique. The team that gave the best impression was Spain. So they deserve to win tonight.”

There was surprise in Munich when Mbappé took to the field without the mask he has been wearing since getting his nose broken in France’s opening group game at Euro 2024.

Mbappé had been complaining the mask was impeding him, and ditching it appeared to have an immediate effect as he created the game’s opening goal in the ninth minute with a tantalizing cross to the back post that was headed in by Randal Kolo Muani.

That was the first goal France had scored at Euro 2024 that wasn’t a penalty or an own-goal. Fortunately for Les Bleus they had also been exceptional at the back, allowing just one goal, a retaken penalty by Poland’s Robert Lewandowski in the group stage.

But there was no stopping Yamal’s stunning equalizer in the 21st minute as he became the youngest player ever to score at a men’s European Championship — or World Cup — when he curled the ball past Mike Maignan and in off the left post from 25 yards.

And Spain turned the match around completely four minutes later when Olmo’s goalbound-shot was turned into his own net by France defender Jules Koundé. It was originally adjudged by UEFA to have been an own-goal but was later awarded to Olmo.

Related Articles

“We are very close, just one more step to go. It is incredible what the team is doing. We deserve to be in the final, one step from glory,” Olmo said. “Whether it is my goal, or Koundé’s, it doesn’t matter. A goal is a goal. The important thing is that we are in the final.”

France dominated possession in the second half but couldn’t make it count.

Théo Hernández should have done better when he blazed a good chance over the bar late on, and Mbappé did similar with four minutes remaining.

Spain could have been further ahead between those chances as another powerful strike from Yamal flew narrowly over the crossbar.

​ Orange County Register 

Full reservoirs, but California sticks with water rationing

• July 9, 2024

California’s regulatory policy often is at odds with reality, but the latest water-conservation rules seem extreme even within that context. The State Water Resources Control Board has approved new mandatory conservation standards that comply with a package of state laws passed by the Legislature in recent years. They will force us to use less water by imposing targets on suppliers.

This isn’t rationing for individual households, but the net result might be the same as water agencies are forced to meet the targets or face fines. The water agencies will then impose restrictions and raise prices. Conservation is an important part of any water strategy, but as usual the state prefers the stick to the carrot.

Now for some perspective. After bountiful rainy seasons, California’s reservoirs are nearly full Castaic is at 92-percent capacity, as is Don Pedro, Comanche and Oroville. A few years ago, the U.S. Drought Monitor placed virtually all of California in drought conditions, some in the most severe categories. Now none of the state is facing any level of drought.

Certainly, California needs to design its water policy for the long term given that Mother Nature does what she does, nevertheless it’s hard to get Californians’ buy in – and all such policies ultimately need public support – to conserve water when there’s plenty of it. The new policies are extremely costly, too. That money could be better spent expanding water capacity.

The water board staff estimates the compliance costs at $4.7 billion through 2050 and the benefits at $6.2 billion, but residents shouldn’t put much stock in these numbers given the long time period. CalMatters interviewed water agencies, which question the rules’ cost effectiveness and the financial impact on lower-income Californians.

In its January analysis, the Legislative Analyst’s Office argued the rules are “unnecessarily complex … and will be administratively burdensome to implement. Outdoor water use by these customers represents only a small fraction (less than 3 percent) of the state’s total water use.” The rules were later watered down, but the concept hasn’t changed.

The policy is called, “Making Conservation a California Way of Life,” but Californians already have made it a way of life. Residents and businesses consistently meet water-conservation targets. But state officials and environmental groups seem more interested in changing our lifestyles than in adopting policies that provide plenty of water to serve a growing economy.

Related Articles

“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail,” an environmental group told the publication. Yet the state has routinely failed to prepare by expanding water storage. It should capture more water during rainy seasons so it’s available during dry ones rather than promote conservation for conservation’s sake.

The state also needs to increase groundwater storage, invest in storm-water capture, build desalination facilities and jumpstart investments in water recycling. Around 50 percent of the state’s water flows out to the Pacific, so it’s wasteful to not use more of it for human beings.

In terms of conservation, a rate structure that accurately reflects water usage and availability will do more to promote conservation than bureaucratic rules. When gasoline is in short supply, prices rise. The same concept should apply to all commodities. These rules will add to our cost of living without increasing water abundance, which makes it a typical California approach.

​ Orange County Register 

The Church singer Steve Kilbey made a concept album by accident. So he kept going.

• July 9, 2024

Only after Steve Kilbey of the Church had finished the band’s 2023 album “The Hypnogogue” did the singer-bassist realize he’d made a concept album by accident.

“I started thinking about it and I realized a lot of the songs could be about someone living in the future who can’t write songs anymore,” says Kilbey, the last original member of the Australian rock band, about the songs on the record.

Kilbey says the imaginary device that gives “The Hypnogogue” its name is “a weird amalgam of machine, human and vegetable” and other things that can delve deeply into a person.

“It can extract music from their dreams and their past lives,” he says. “Music that the person themself doesn’t know how to access.”

A sci-fi concept album about a dystopian future where burnt-out rock stars can plug into a machine to mine music from their dreams?

That would have been plenty for most songwriters. But when Kilbey was asked if there any outtakes to use on a digital deluxe edition of “The Hypnogogue,” he instead took what was left over, wrote a bunch of new songs, and recorded a second installment of the story, the 2024 album “Eros Zeta and the Perfumed Guitars.”

“Then, for good measure, I wrote a novella about the whole thing as well, if people are really interested in delving into this world of this guy,” Kilbey says of Eros Zeta, the fictional future rock star at the center of both the albums and now book.

“It wasn’t ever a big master plan,” he says. “Just an organic little bit, by little bit, by little bit, as opposed to a great big brainstorm.”

The Church often gets categorized as new wave because they emerged during that scene’s heyday in the late ’70s and ’80s, but the band, over its 25 albums with Kilbey as the only constant, is really something more complex, a dreamy kind of neo-psychedelia with hints of post-punk, goth and more in the mix.

With alternative radio hits such as “Under the Milky Way, “An Unguarded Moment,” and “Reptile,” the band has long been popular in Southern California. The group returns this month for shows at the House of Blues in Anaheim on Friday, July 12 and the United Theatre on Broadway in Los Angeles on Saturday, July 13. Afghan Whigs and Ed Harcourt are also on the bill.

In an interview edited for length and clarity, Kilbey talked about concept albums, songwriting, the role a listener plays in making an album, why he wasn’t happy with the Church’s set at Cruel World Festival in Pasadena in 2022, and more.

Q: How do these albums fit into the category of concept albums?

A: There’s two concept albums that spring to mind, and one of them is ‘Ziggy Stardust’ [by David Bowie]. It’s a very flimsy concept. Some of the songs you have to figure out yourself why that is even on there. Then you have an album like ‘Tommy’ [by the Who] where every song follows on from the last one, and they tell an ongoing, understandable, logical sort of left-brain story about this kid and his adventures. Or there’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ [by Pink Floyd] as sort of a loose concept album. It’s not a story so much but it’s an album about these ideas, these sort of ideas that trap us and plague us.

So I made it fit. And if someone, for some reason, said, ‘Write another song about hitting a gong,’ I would damn well make that fit, too.

Q: And the listener intuits the connections and stories they include?

A: I find people do the work for themselves. If you just give an album a title – ‘Songs from a Hanging Man’ – then all of the songs, people will listen to in that context. I find when I’m listening to my favorite artists I’m doing a lot of work, figuring it all out and really enjoying it as well. And realizing how music and words are really just a door you can open into a room in your mind where you can really enjoy yourself.

Q: The new albums have that great Church sound, but there are also other things in there. ‘No Other You,’ for instance, has bit of a Bowie feel.

A: It’s all there. It’s like, ‘OK, I can write a very David Bowie song right here. The old me, maybe 30 years ago, would have said, ‘No, you can’t use that. That’s too David Bowie.’ And now I go, Hang on, people like what David Bowie can do. And if there’s anybody on this planet who can do a good copy of David Bowie, it’s me. So that song wanted to be David Bowie and I let it be David Bowie.

But that’s what our hero [in the twin concept albums) is. He’s a faux rock star. I don’t know, I’ve done a sort of AI where I’ve recombined different aspects of David Bowie into that one song. People say, ‘Oh, there’s Pink Floyd moments and there’s prog moments. I’ve just sort of let it all be there. I’m not protesting, ‘Oh, I can’t be like anybody else anymore.’ Once upon a time, I couldn’t bear to be like anybody else. Now if start singing and it’s like David Bowie, I just let it be. It doesn’t matter anymore.

Q: But the inspirations never overwhelm the Church qualities. How does that stay consistent?

A: What I’m really good at is spotting potential in things really quickly. Because you’ve got a bunch of musicians improvising. And they could improvise something brilliant and none of them would notice. That’s sort of where I come in. I’m like, ‘Stop! That thing there. What’s that?’ Let’s go and work on that.’ We just noodle around and fiddle about and play guitar and hit the drums and muck around on keyboards. And eventually, something usually starts to take shape.

Q: I saw the Church at Cruel World in 2022. The current band lineup is terrific.

A: That wasn’t a very good show for us. If I’d seen that, I wouldn’t have thought that was very good. We sort of had problems and we’re also standing there in the sun at five o’clock on a really hot day. It wasn’t the way we should really be. There are some people who are so brilliant they can operate under any conditions, big, small, hot, cold, in the day, in the night, whatever it is. And then there are others who need some conditions to be right, otherwise it won’t be exactly as it’s supposed to be.

Q: I do feel like the Church is best listened to at night in a dark theater.

A: I agree. It’s nocturnal stuff. The Church is for sort of a rainy night and, like, getting in the mood of what it’s all about. Not chucking us on a stage with all those other bands from the ’80s. I don’t really like festivals or playing with other bands. Ideally, I’d have it all to myself. That’s selfish, isn’t it? The other guys are always saying we should play more festivals. I’m like, ‘Oh, keep my fingers crossed that doesn’t happen.’

Q: You’ve done 25 albums with the Church and twice that many as a solo artist or different band. Talk about that prolific creativity.

A: It’s interesting. I don’t really know where it’s all coming from. All I know is when I need it, especially if I smoke some marijuana, it seems to easily come and I never go away empty-handed. Also I just sort of feel like I’m not very good at many things. The most simple things bewilder me. But I’ve learned to understand over such a long period of 55 years, how it all works for me. I have this kind of arrangement with whatever it is that feeds me all the stuff I need, as long as I’m not doing something awful.

When I try to use my muse to help me do something awful, when I’m trying to just do something to make some money or something, it doesn’t like it and it doesn’t work out. Then it leaves me on my own and goes, ‘You (bleepin’) write that jingle, my old son, because I’m not involved.’

I want to create extraordinary music. I guess I’m being a bit snobbish. My music is sort of for intelligent people. I was watching a video the other day and there’s AC/DC at a concert, and 45,000 Germans, mainly men and boys. And no, they wouldn’t like what I do. You know, it’s not about fighting and drinking and shagging girls. It’s about something else.

Q: So what is it about?

A: I don’t know what it is, but I know it when I find it. I don’t exactly know what my mission statement is but I know what it isn’t. I can see a niche in the market where sort of David Bowie leaves off and the Beatles begin, and Lou Reed and Marc Bolan and Bob Dylan. Somehow all of this can be combined in a new way and recontextualized. I don’t think any of those people completely explored everything they had in them. They couldn’t. Nobody can.

So there would be a song by one of those people that would raise an implication for me. The implications of that song would inspire me to go on delving into whatever it was I thought I’d found in there.

Q: How did you pick the name Eros Zeta for your rock star protagonist?

A: Well, you need a character and you start going what would he be called? Jim Smith? Nah. Napoleon Clandestine? So I just sat there throwing combinations together. I was struck a long time ago, as I was taking my second set of twins to school, and there was a kid in our neighborhood named Eros. I’d never seen any blokes whose name was Eros. It started to work upon me, like, this is not just an unuseable name. It could be used.

I’m collecting information all the time. If I see a sign that says, ‘Ramp Speed 25,’ I go, ‘Can I use that?’ I was watching TV the other night and I heard this word, ‘decohere.’ I’d never heard that word before. So now I’ve got ‘decoheres’ floating around in my mind just waiting for the right opportunity to come out.

Q: I feel like I’ve heard that on television recently too…

A: – ‘Dark Matter’? [on Apple TV+]

Q: Yes, ‘Dark Matter’!

A: That’s sort of what I want my songs to be like, like anything can happen. And when it’s all over it’s just sort of some interesting things to think about time and space and love and ethics and morality. And the gods and hell. ‘The Iliad’ and ‘The Odyssey’ and ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘The Chronicles of Narnia. Bob Dylan and ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’ and all the stuff I like. It’s a huge melange.

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Solar panels can generate $691 a year in homeowner savings, study says

• July 9, 2024

Solar power panels have long seemed an appealing option in California, a state with lots of sunny days that adores its electronic gadgetry and environment, yet is saddled with the highest residential electricity rates in the continental U.S.

But how much does going solar shave off those electricity bills? A major new study by scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory that analyzed 500,000 households across the U.S. in 2021 offers the best snapshot to date on estimated savings of rooftop solar for American consumers.

The study found the median American household saved an estimated $691 a year when all the costs and benefits were included.

Corda Solar employee Brad Alvey, bottom, hands a solar panel to Brendan Baumgartner while installing solar panels at a home in Danville, Calif., on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

“This is one of the most comprehensive, household-specific, national estimates of rooftop solar impacts on household energy burden,” said lead investigator Sydney Forrester, a policy researcher in the Energy Markets and Policy Department at the Laboratory, a federally funded research and development center in the hills of Berkeley.

Much previous research has focused only on direct utility bill savings of solar power, which can be misleading. For instance, if the cost of installation is excluded, the median household would erroneously calculate $1,987, not $691, in savings.

The new study provides a more complete accounting because it includes upfront installation fees and ongoing loan or lease payments, as well as any solar incentives. And it compares the benefits reaped by households with different incomes.

Nationwide, installation of solar panels in low-income households reduced the proportion of the family budget spent on energy from 7.7% to 6.2%, an estimated savings of $660 a year, the study said. In moderate-income households, it reduced the the proportion they spent on energy from 4.1% to 3.3%, saving $674 a year. And in higher-income households, the amount spent on energy dropped from 2.4% to 1.9%, saving $711 a year.

The study did not look at actual savings, because that data is not available. Rather, it modeled the household savings based on estimates of income, household utility bills, local electricity prices and consumption. Almost everyone in the study was a single family homeowner, with a few multifamily or rental homes.

In 2018, KB Homes Bridgepoint at Patterson Ranch development in Fremont had solar included with the purchase of the new homes. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

Not every home reaps a benefit from solar power, the researchers found. On average, solar adoption reduced the cost of energy for about three-quarters of  U.S. households.

The benefits of solar power varied by region. In the West, especially California, high electricity prices and a competitive solar marketplace led to the greatest cost reduction. Homes in the Midwest experienced lower costs, although they were less pronounced. Homes in the Northeast also saw a benefit, although their overall energy costs remain high due to dependence on non-electric sources, such as propane and fuel oil.

In the South, solar power actually increased the overall cost of energy, because electricity prices from conventional sources are so low. For low-income Southern families, the cost of solar exceeded the benefit by $435 a year.

Low-income residents in the U.S. West who have installed solar power experience the greatest benefit with the proportion of estimated household income spent on energy falling from 7.3% to 5.7%, saving an estimated $821 a year.

But low-income residents continue to need assistance to help reduce energy costs, the researchers added.

“Solar is a great strategy for reducing energy costs,” Forrester said. But he added that it “should be considered as a complementary strategy” along with bill assistance and “weatherization” that helps insulate homes.

And Forrester cautioned that “while low-income households benefit more than other groups, there is a risk if they fall behind on payments to finance the projects.”

GRID Alternatives employees Tony Chang (L) and Sal Miranda install no-cost solar panels on the rooftop of a low-income household on October 19, 2023 in Pomona, California. GRID Alternatives has installed no-cost solar for over 29,000 low-income households located in underserved communities which are most impacted by pollution, underemployment and climate change. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Power bills have been rising across the nation. The average price of electricity per kilowatt hour has jumped from 13 cents to over 17 cents over the past decade, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. California’s residential rates are far higher — close to 30 cents, second highest in U.S. behind Hawaii.

Energy costs are typically a bigger burden for low-income households, which tend to spend a far larger percentage of their income on utility bills than higher-earning households, according to the Energy Department.  Many live in old and drafty homes and cannot afford modern and more efficient appliances.

“I applaud the paper’s overall goal, which is to raise awareness about the potential for rooftop solar to help alleviate energy burden for low-income disadvantaged community households,” said Eric Daniel Fournier, research director of the California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. “We strongly believe in the potential of rooftop solar… to address this important equity issue.”

The benefits of rooftop solar for low income households are most prominent in areas with higher electricity rates, such as California, he added.

Stanford University’s Ram Rajagopal, director of the Stanford Sustainable Systems Lab, called the findings “extremely valuable.”

“It shows that the cost of energy that you get from rooftop solar is very competitive for low and middle income consumers,” he said. “It reduces their energy burden, given access to the right incentives.”

The study is also important because it stresses the need for additional strategies, such as weatherization and bill assistance, said Rajagopal.  His research, published in the March issue of the journal Nature Energy, has also shown that commercial and industrial rooftops, such as those atop retail buildings and factories, have large unused capacity to produce solar power  — and could bring affordable clean energy to low-income communities around them, reducing “the solar equity gap.”

Related Articles

The study falls short by not describing the practical barriers to the implementation of rooftop solar within low-income disadvantaged communities, Fournier noted. It also didn’t include any savings created by energy storage components — backup battery systems, he added. California policy now encourages the parallel adoption of solar panels and power storage units.

In future work, the Laboratory team will study the potential of solar savings for a broader variety of homes, including renters and multifamily dwellers, Forrester said. She hopes to expand the study to include “community solar” and other strategies that don’t require rooftop ownership.

What’s missing, she added, are low-income residents who would like to save money on energy bills but couldn’t afford the upfront costs.

“Any additional cost to solar adoption will increase the barrier,” she said, “and this is more likely in the case of older homes or those with deferred maintenance.”

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

As bird flu spreads on dairy farms, an ‘abysmal’ few workers are tested

• July 9, 2024

Nada Hassanein | Stateline.org (TNS)

Public health officials are concerned about bird flu, which so far has been detected in three dairy farmworkers — two in Michigan and one in Texas — as well as in cattle in a dozen states.

The farmworkers’ symptoms were mild, and researchers have not found that the H5N1 virus, also known as bird flu, can spread from person to person. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there is little risk to the general public. However, flu viruses evolve, and H5N1 could mutate and gain the ability to infect people more easily.

“The reason public health authorities are and should be on high alert is because this is a potential high-consequence pathogen,” said Meghan Davis, an epidemiologist and microbiologist at Johns Hopkins University.

That’s why state officials are so focused on testing and surveillance of dairy workers. But they are encountering significant challenges.

H5N1 is deadly to domestic poultry and can wipe out entire flocks in a matter of days, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says. As a result, the poultry industry has responded vigorously to the threat, culling entire flocks when they detect even one infected bird. But H5N1 is milder in cows, and the response on dairy farms has been less aggressive.

The CDC and USDA have advised dairy farms to monitor for the virus in cattle and humans, but testing remains voluntary, except for herds moving across state lines.

Related Articles

In addition, dairy farms are often in remote rural areas, and workers have little access to transportation and no sick leave. As a result, it’s difficult for them to travel to health care providers for testing and treatment. Many dairy workers, who are mostly immigrants, speak Indigenous languages like Nahuatl or K’iche, according to the National Center for Farmworker Health, a nonprofit that offers support and training for centers that focus on the health of farmworkers.

Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician and scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, emphasized that the current bird flu strain isn’t a pandemic threat to humans. That’s why, he said, this is the perfect time to get the right testing and surveillance measures in place.

“If you can’t get it right with something that’s as forgiving as this virus has been, in terms of its inefficiency in infecting humans, it really doesn’t bode well for when the stakes are higher,” Adalja said.

So far, cases of the virus have been documented among domestic livestock in Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming, according to the USDA. Last month, federal officials announced grants to farms to offset the cost of milk loss from sick cows. Four states — Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico and Texas — are launching voluntary pilot programs to test for the virus in dairy farms’ bulk milk tanks.

In Michigan, where the virus has been detected in 25 herds, Tim Boring, director of the state Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said efforts are focused on trying to help farmers recoup losses and agree to testing. Last month, the agency announced it would use a combination of federal and state money to give as much as $28,000 to up to 20 affected farms.

The state also launched a study to find out if there are antibodies in people exposed to sick cows, aiming to determine if there have been any asymptomatic infections.

Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Michigan’s chief medical executive, said the state is working with community health clinics and local health departments to reach farmworkers.

“They not only know the farms in their counties, but they also know many of the farmworker organizations,” she said.

Dairy farmworkers, who are often immigrants, can’t afford to miss a day of work, and can be reluctant to reach out to request testing or say they feel sick, advocates say.

“This is a population of people that is just vastly underserviced when it comes to both outreach and trust established with state and federal agencies,” said Elizabeth Strater, strategic campaigns director at United Farm Workers, a labor union. “This is a group of workers that are some of the poorest workers in the United States.”

Immigrants make up 51% of daily labor at dairy farms, and farms that employ immigrants produce 79% of the nation’s milk supply, according to the National Milk Producers Federation.

Amy Liebman of the Migrant Clinicians Network, an education and outreach group of experts in migrant health, said testing should be administered on the farms rather than in clinics.

“Dairies are in rural areas, very isolated geographically. You’re not going to get all these workers in one place to be able to do any kind of surveying or testing. It is a matter of really trying to go to where the workers are,” she said.

But it hasn’t been easy getting farm owners to agree to that. The Texas state health department told Stateline it has offered on-site testing to farmers, but as of mid-June, it had tested only about 20 symptomatic dairy workers who volunteered for testing. It also has given personal protective equipment to “interested dairies” and posted a notice online offering to deliver the equipment.

Coordination among state or local agricultural and health departments is key to tracking viral spread. A lack of coordination and monitoring can be contributing to underreporting cases.

“I think it is definitely more widespread than is currently reported,” said Dr. Shira Doron, chief infection control officer at Tufts Medicine. “The barriers between the agencies are really hampering our efforts right now.”

The CDC has offered a $75 payment to any farmworker who agrees to be tested and provide blood and nasal swab samples to the agency. But Doris Garcia-Ruiz, who directs farmworker outreach at Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid, said that won’t make up for days of lost income.

“If they take the time off to go to their doctor’s office, they don’t have sick leave, so they’re not going to get paid,” she said.

The CDC’s latest figures show that at least 53 people have been tested in the cattle outbreak, with a majority of those in Michigan. Strater says that’s not enough.

“That’s abysmal,” she said. “Our method of testing is so passive. They’re relying on workers reporting to medical clinics; these are workers that are not going to be taking themselves for medical treatment unless they’re experiencing something life-threatening.”

Getting workers to use personal protective equipment also is a challenge. The CDC recommends that workers wear respirators, waterproof aprons and coveralls, unvented safety goggles or a face shield, and rubber boots with sealed seams that can be sanitized. It also advises that workers follow a specific sequence of steps to remove the PPE at the end of a shift to avoid contamination.

“Dairy work is very wet, very hands-on,” said Christine Sauvé, who leads community engagement at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. “While some industries are very familiar with PPE … the full recommendation from CDC is new and different. And so that really needs the full promotion from the employer, and then also from the state agencies.”

Sauvé worries that Michigan is prioritizing farmers’ losses, rather than farmworkers’ health, in its response. While the risk to the public is low, she and other experts say the population of farmworkers shouldn’t be forgotten.

Bethany Alcauter of the National Center for Farmworker Health described bird flu threat as “kind of a ticking time bomb.”

“Maybe it hasn’t fully gone off yet. But if we don’t manage it well, it could,” Alcauter said.

Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a national nonprofit news organization focused on state policy.

©2024 States Newsroom. Visit at stateline.org. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

​ Orange County Register