Los Angeles County Sees Its First Flu Death Of The Season

Los Angeles Times: Los Angeles County Records First Flu Death Of 2021-22 Season
Los Angeles County recorded its first influenza-related death of the 2021-22 season, public health officials announced on Wednesday. The middle-aged man had multiple underlying medical conditions and hadn’t gotten his flu shot, according to the L.A. County Department of Public Health. He tested negative for COVID-19 multiple times over the course of his illness. “Although most people recover from influenza without complications, this death is a reminder that influenza can be a serious illness,” the public health department said. Complications like pneumonia can develop, and the flu can aggravate underlying health conditions like heart disease and asthma, public health officials said. (Yee, 11/10)

Reuters: World At Risk Of Measles Outbreaks As COVID-19 Disrupts Infant Shots, Report Says
The risk of measles outbreaks is high after more than 22 million infants missed their first vaccine doses during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned. Reported measles cases fell by more than 80% last year compared with 2019, but a higher number of children missing their vaccine doses leaves them vulnerable, a joint report by the WHO and the U.S. CDC showed on Wednesday. About 3 million more children missed the shots in 2020 than the previous year, the largest increase in two decades, threatening global efforts to eventually eradicate the highly infectious viral disease. (11/10)

On the cost of health insurance —

Axios: Health Insurance Costs For Workers Rose 4% During Pandemic 
Health insurance provided by employers this year cost an average of $22,200 for families and $7,700 for individuals, a 4% increase from a year ago, according to new survey data from the Kaiser Family Foundation. While many people lost their jobs and health insurance during the pandemic, most companies didn't rock the boat heading into 2021. But even a relatively modest increase in the already high costs of job-based insurance means workers and families continue to pay a lot more for their health care. (Herman, 11/10)

The Wall Street Journal: A Family’s Health Insurance Cost More Than $22,000 In 2021, Survey Finds
The average cost of employer health coverage for a family plan passed $22,000 this year, according to a new survey, rising at a rate that indicates the Covid-19 pandemic had little impact on the total expense. Yet the pandemic did lead to some changes for workplace health benefits, including enhanced access to telemedicine and mental-health services, according to the yearly poll of employers conducted by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation. Annual family-plan premiums rose 4% to hit $22,221 for an employer-provided family plan in 2021, up from $21,342, according to the survey. Employees paid $5,969 of the total this year, with the rest of the cost borne by the employers. The amount of the employee contribution was statistically unchanged from 2020. (Wilde Mathews, 11/10)

Also —

KHN: As Workers Struggle With Pandemic’s Impact, Employers Expand Mental Health Benefits
As the covid-19 pandemic burns through its second year, the path forward for American workers remains unsettled, with many continuing to work from home while policies for maintaining a safe workplace evolve. In its 2021 Employer Health Benefits Survey, released Wednesday, KFF found that many employers have ramped up mental health and other benefits to provide support for their workers during uncertain times. Meanwhile, the proportion of employers offering health insurance to their workers remained steady, and increases for health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket health expenses were moderate, in line with the rise in pay. Deductibles were largely unchanged from the previous two years. (Andrews, 11/10)

Jobless figures fall —

AP: US Jobless Claims Drop To Pandemic Low Of 267,000
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell to a new pandemic low 267,000 last week as the job market recovers from last year's sharp coronavirus downturn. Jobless claims fell by 4,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out weekly ups and downs, dropped by nearly 7,300 to 278,000, also a pandemic low. (Wiseman, 11/10)

Big tech makes some public health moves —

Bloomberg: Instagram Tests ‘Take a Break’ Tool to Let Users Self Regulate
Instagram is testing a feature that will encourage its users to, well, stop using it. “Take a Break” will allow the social media app’s users to get a notification after they spend a certain amount of time on the Meta Platforms Inc. service. The feature is similar to Apple Inc.’s Screen Time tool that tracks and can set limits on how long users spend on apps and websites. “Take a moment to reset by closing Instagram,” a sample of the service says, encouraging users to do other things like “take a few deep breaths” or “write down what you’re thinking.” (McGrath, 11/10)

Bloomberg: YouTube Hides ‘Dislike’ Counts To Avoid Creator Pile-Ons
“We also heard directly from smaller creators and those just getting started that they are unfairly targeted by this behavior,” the company wrote in a blog post on Wednesday. The button itself isn’t going away -- only the public view of the count. YouTube, part of Alphabet Inc.’s Google, needs to keep creators happy because it’s facing its first real competition for talent in years from rivals like Instagram, TikTok and Spotify. Meta Platforms Inc.’s Instagram let users hide their like counts on posts earlier this year, responding to criticism about the stress the feature places on young users. Susan Wojcicki, YouTube’s chief executive officer, said in September that YouTube was a “really valuable resource” for teenage mental health. The company has pledged to provide more internal research on the subject to U.S. Congress. (Bergen, 11/10)