First Edition: June 1, 2023

KFF Health News: As Medicaid Purge Begins, ‘Staggering Numbers’ Of Americans Lose Coverage
More than 600,000 Americans have lost Medicaid coverage since pandemic protections ended on April 1. And a KFF Health News analysis of state data shows the vast majority were removed from state rolls for not completing paperwork. Under normal circumstances, states review their Medicaid enrollment lists regularly to ensure every recipient qualifies for coverage. But because of a nationwide pause in those reviews during the pandemic, the health insurance program for low-income and disabled Americans kept people covered even if they no longer qualified. (Recht, 6/1)

KFF Health News: More States OK Postpartum Medicaid Coverage Beyond Two Months
At least eight states this year have decided to seek federal approval to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage, leaving just a handful that have opted not to guarantee at least a year of health care for women during that critical period after pregnancy. The new states on the list include Montana, where lawmakers in the recently ended legislative session voted for a state budget that contains $6.2 million in state and federal funds over the next two years to extend continuous postpartum eligibility from 60 days to 12 months after pregnancy. That would ensure coverage for between 1,000 and 2,000 additional parents in the state each year, according to federal and state estimates. (Volz, 6/1)

The Washington Post: Debt Ceiling Deal Passes House, Moves To Senate As Deadline Nears
The House voted Wednesday night to pass a painstakingly negotiated bill to suspend the debt ceiling, limit federal spending and avert a catastrophic U.S. government default, securing a major win for the GOP and the White House that seemed elusive just days ago. The deal — brokered over the weekend by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and President Biden — was an enormous test for the narrow Republican House majority, their leader’s shaky hold over his party and a White House that had long refused to compromise on the debt ceiling at all. At times, talks unraveled; at others, McCarthy and Biden projected confidence that they could strike a deal and stave off an unprecedented default on the nation’s debt. (Sotomayor, Kane and Siegel, 5/31)

The Hill: Paul To Force Tough Debt-Ceiling Vote To Cut Total Spending 
Conservative Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says he will force the Senate to vote this week on cutting total federal spending by 5 percent in each of the next two years, a proposal that could put popular programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act under scrutiny.  (Bolton, 5/31)

Stat: Republicans' Crackdown On Health Regulations Has Major Loopholes
At first glance, the debt ceiling deal that Republicans struck with the White House seems to significantly rein in the Biden administration’s ability to pursue big-ticket health care policy. It includes a provision that would force federal agencies to find ways to offset the cost of any new regulations they create related to programs that cost more than $1 billion. Health regulations can be especially expensive, so Republicans are selling it as a way to limit the agencies’ power to spend. (Cohrs, 6/1)

Stat: Debt Ceiling Deal Could Mean Science Research Cuts 
Researchers and health care advocates are warning that the debt ceiling deal would mean a harsh cut for science agencies like the National Institutes of Health. The debt ceiling deal hammered out by the White House and congressional leadership this weekend would freeze non-defense and veterans’ health spending at 2023 levels for next year and allow only a 1% bump in 2025. Individual agencies’ budgets can still rise and fall under this new cap, as long as the total spending number stays at 2023 level. (Owermohle, 6/1)

Military.Com: After 3 Years Of Delays, Army Has Again Paused Rewriting Suicide Prevention Policies 
Despite a website with vague guidance, PowerPoint presentations and at least five separate policies referencing behavioral health, the Army offers relatively few clear resources for how units are supposed to respond to soldiers who are at risk of suicide. The service has been promising to rewrite its suicide prevention policy for three years, but the effort has been repeatedly delayed. The most recent holdup is due to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's push for uniform prevention policies across the services, as recommended by an independent commission that finished work in February. (Beynon, 5/31)

AP: Oklahoma High Court Strikes Down 2 Abortion Bans; Procedure Remains Illegal In Most Cases 
The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that two state laws banning abortion are unconstitutional, but the procedure remains illegal in the state in nearly all cases except life-threatening situations. In a 6-3 ruling, the high court said the two bans are unconstitutional because they require a “medical emergency” before a doctor can perform an abortion. The court said this language conflicts with a previous ruling it issued in March that determined the Oklahoma Constitution provides an “inherent right of a pregnant woman to terminate a pregnancy when necessary to preserve her life.” (Murphy, 5/31)

AP: US Births In 2022 Didn't Return To Pre-Pandemic Levels 
U.S. births were flat last year, as the nation saw fewer babies born than it did before the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. Births to moms 35 and older continued to rise, with the highest rates in that age group since the 1960s. But those gains were offset by record-low birth rates to moms in their teens and early 20s, the CDC found. Its report is based on a review of more than 99% of birth certificates issued last year. (Stobbe, 6/1)

The New York Times: FDA Approves Pfizer’s RSV Vaccine For Adults 60 And Older 
The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved Pfizer’s vaccine against the respiratory syncytial virus, or R.S.V., for adults age 60 and older, the second approval granted for shots offering protection from the virus this month. GSK was the first drugmaker to get the F.D.A.’s permission to market an R.S.V. vaccine on May 3. The vaccines are expected to be available in the fall before the winter R.S.V. season. (Jewett, 5/31)

The Wall Street Journal: New Pfizer RSV Vaccine Rolls Out Into Headwinds Of Hesitancy
Vaccine makers are confronting a post-Covid conundrum: New shots are taming a widening range of diseases, but people are more skeptical of them than ever. (Hopkins, 5/31)

Stat: House Republicans Demand Scientist Explain Pathogen Research
House Republicans are ratcheting up pressure on federal agencies’ pandemic response with an unprecedented move: interrogating a career poxvirus scientist’s infectious disease work. In a letter to federal health officials Tuesday, top Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee asked longtime researcher Bernard Moss, who has worked for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for more than four decades, to sit for a videotaped interview about his work on mpox. (Owermohle, 5/31)

Bloomberg: Covid Lockdowns Messed With Memories In Ways Seen In Prisoners, Study Finds
The psychological toll of Covid lockdowns could lead some people to misremember the timing of recent events, according to a new study published by University of Aberdeen researchers. (5/31)

CIDRAP: Study: Higher Veteran COVID Death Rate At Community Hospitals Than At VA Centers 
Most US Veterans Health Administration (VHA) enrollees aged 65 and older were treated for COVID-19 at community hospitals, which reported higher death rates for this group than VHA hospitals in 2020 and 2021, suggests an observational study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open. (Van Beusekom, 5/31)

CIDRAP: Analysis: Mother-To-Newborn COVID-19 Transmission Infrequent 
A meta-analysis of 26 studies involving mother-to-child COVID-19 transmission in the first 30 days after birth reveals an overall estimate of SARS-CoV-2 infection among infants of 2.3%. The study was published today in Scientific Reports. During the initial months of the COVID pandemic, many hospitals stopped practices known to promote breastfeeding and maternal bonding when the mother had an active COVID-19 infection at delivery, including infant room-in, skin-to-skin contact, and breastfeeding itself. (Van Beusekom, 5/31)

CIDRAP: Kidney Transplants From COVID-19-Positive Donors Appear Safe
JAMA Network Open published a study yesterday on the safety of donors with COVID-19 donating a kidney, showing that the use of kidneys from donors with either active or resolved COVID-19 infections yields excellent outcomes. Now that the COVID-19 pandemic has entered a phase wherein many Americans have experienced infections, questions about the medium-term prognosis of organ donation remain to be answered. (Soucheray, 5/31)

Bloomberg: Obesity Shot Frenzy Makes Eli Lilly World’s Most Valuable Drugmaker
Eli Lilly & Co.’s third straight month of gains has helped it become the largest pharmaceutical company in the world by market value, surpassing Johnson & Johnson. (Adegbesan and Langreth, 5/31)

Reuters: J&J Faces New Trial Over Talc Cancer Claims, Amid Settlement Push 
Johnson & Johnson on Wednesday faced the first trial in almost two years over claims that asbestos in its baby powder and other talc products causes cancer, as it seeks to settle thousands of similar cases in bankruptcy court. Emory Hernandez, 24, says he developed mesothelioma, a deadly cancer, in the tissue around his heart as a result of exposure to J&J's talc products beginning when he was a baby. The company has denied that its talc contains asbestos, which is linked to mesothelioma, or causes cancer. (Pierson, 5/31)

AP: Researchers Link Death In Gene-Editing Study To A Virus Used To Deliver The Treatment, Not CRISPR 
The lone volunteer in a gene-editing study targeting a rare form of Duchenne muscular dystrophy likely died after having a reaction to the virus that delivered the therapy in his body, researchers concluded in an early study. Terry Horgan, 27, of Montour Falls, New York, died last year during one of the first tests of a gene-editing treatment designed for one person. Some scientists wondered if the gene-editing tool CRISPR played a part in his death. The tool has transformed genetic research, sparked the development of dozens of experimental drugs, and won its inventors the Nobel Prize in 2020. But researchers said the virus — one used to carry treatment into the body because it doesn’t usually make people sick — combined with his condition, triggered the problems that ultimately killed him. (Ungar, 5/31)

Reuters: Walmart Is Raising Wages For Pharmacists, Opticians In Healthcare Push 
Walmart is raising wages for thousands of U.S. pharmacists and opticians, the retailer said on Wednesday, part of its broader plan to expand primary care services across the country. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based chain said about 3,700 pharmacists would get a bump in pay starting on Wednesday, bringing their total annual average pay to more than $140,000, excluding bonuses and incentives. More than 4,000 opticians will also receive fatter paychecks, with their average hourly pay rising to more than $22.50 with this investment, Walmart executives wrote in a blog post. (Cavale, 5/31)

Stat: CVS Warns PBM Reforms ‘Could Lead To Higher Costs’
As Congress considers wide-ranging reforms to pharmacy benefit managers, a top executive at CVS Health, which owns one of the largest PBMs in the country, said the company would find ways to maintain its level of profit if those reforms to things like drug rebates went into effect. (Herman, 5/31)

Axios: FDA Proposes Easy-To-Read Drug Package Inserts
The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday proposed overhauling the paper inserts that come with prescription drugs so that risks and safety information are summarized on a single page. The agency said existing medication guides, or patient package inserts, can be cumbersome and confusing and lead patients to stop taking their drugs, or not take them as directed. (Bettelheim, 5/31)

Axios: UnitedHealth Backs Off Contentious Prior Authorization Plan
UnitedHealth is backing off a controversial plan to require prior authorizations for colonoscopies and other endoscopic procedures. But the debate over insurer sign-offs that it stoked will likely linger. While prior authorizations are supposed to ensure that health services are medically necessary, critics say they can create barriers to care and drown the health system in red tape. (Dreher, 6/1)

The Boston Globe: Compass Medical Of Quincy Announces Sudden Closure Of All Facilities 
A Quincy-based health organization with six locations south of Boston on Wednesday announced the sudden closure of all its medical facilities, leaving the future of healthcare for its patients up in the air. Compass Medical, which has clinics in Braintree, East Bridgewater, Easton, Middleborough, Quincy, and Taunton, shared the news of its “imminent plan to close our practices,” in a statement on the company’s website. (Alanez, 6/1)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Thousands Of Georgians Face Immediate Loss Of Medicaid Insurance
Thousands of Georgians who depended on Medicaid for health insurance during the pandemic may lose coverage Thursday as the state finishes its first batch of policy re-evaluations, as emergency protections lapse, state records show. For three years during the pandemic health emergency, states suspended rules that usually require their Medicaid beneficiaries to periodically re-file their qualifying paperwork. The federal emergency ended this spring, however, and all states are now starting up those re-evaluations. (Hart, 6/1)

AP: Georgia's Highest Court Rules State Lactation Consultant Law Is Unconstitutional 
Georgia’s highest court has ruled that a law that requires people who provide lactation care and services to be licensed by the state and only allows people who have obtained a specific certification to obtain a license violates the state Constitution. The opinion issued Wednesday by the Georgia Supreme Court says the 2016 law violates the due process rights of certain lactation care providers to practice their chosen profession. It stems from a lawsuit filed in June 2018, right before the law was set to take effect. (Brumback, 5/31)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia’s Mental Health Hotline Is A National Leader. Some Worry About Its Expansion
Georgia’s new 988 mental health hotline service, which launched last summer, was recognized on Friday as a model for other states. But some Democratic lawmakers in the Legislature say last-minute budget cuts made by the governor’s office could hamper the planned expansion of 988. At a town hall on Friday to discuss the future of the hotline, national leaders held up Georgia as an example of what’s working. The success with 988, a national hotline for people experiencing a mental health or substance abuse crisis, has been a bright spot for a state that’s traditionally lagged in providing that care. (Landergan, 6/1)

Axios: Arizona's Use Of Mental Health Line 988 Is On The Rise
Use of the new 988 mental health crisis line is on the rise in Arizona, though the number of calls remains dwarfed by the number of calls to the state's preexisting crisis line. The Federal Communications Commission designated 988 as the three-digit hotline for suicide prevention and mental health crisis, and the line went into effect last summer. (Duda and Bennett, 5/31)

AP: California Advances Fentanyl Bills Focused On Prevention, Increased Penalties
California lawmakers have advanced more than a dozen bills aiming to address the fentanyl crisis, including some that would impose harsher prison sentences for dealers, ahead of a critical deadline this week. Legislators in the Assembly and Senate debated measures on Wednesday as they tried to wrap up several hundred pieces of legislation before Friday — the last day a bill can pass out of its original chamber and get a chance to become law later this year. (Nguyen, Beam and Austin, 6/1)

The Washington Post: Children Die In Hot Cars In Three States, Prompting Grief And Warnings
Three young children — ages 4, 1 and 11 months — died in recent days after being left or becoming trapped in hot cars for hours in Washington state, Texas and Florida, according to authorities. The deaths of the children, two of whom were left in vehicles as their parents went to church and work, increased the number of hot-car deaths among children this year to six, according to NoHeatStroke.org, a website that tracks hot-car deaths. The six deaths so far this year are double the total at this point last year, according to California meteorologist Jan Null, who tracks the incidents on the website. (Bella, 5/31)

The Washington Post: Eating-Disorder Group’s AI Chatbot Gave Weight Loss Tips, Activist Says
The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), which recently shut down a human-staffed helpline, is suspending its use of a chatbot that activists say shared weight loss advice with people who used the service. Sharon Maxwell, an advocate for weight inclusivity who has commented about her eating disorder and recovery, said on Instagram this week that she decided to try the bot, named Tessa, after “countless individuals” told her it was causing harm. (Vinall, 6/1)

The Washington Post: It’s Never Too Late For Exercise To Boost Your Brain Health 
Exercise can sharpen your thinking and keep your brain healthy as you age — even if you don’t start exercising until later in life. That’s the finding of a new study that found that previously sedentary 70- and 80-year-olds who started exercising, including some who had already experienced some cognitive decline, showed improvement in their brain function after workouts. (Reynolds, 5/31)

NBC News: The Shape Of Your Brain May Strongly Influence Your Thoughts And Behavior, Study Finds
Though much about the brain remains a mystery, scientists have long surmised that our thoughts, feelings and behavior are the result of billions of interconnected neurons that transmit signals to each other, thereby enabling communication between regions of the brain. But a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature challenges that idea, suggesting instead that the shape of the brain — its size, curves and grooves — may exert a greater influence on how we think, feel and behave than the connections and signals between neurons. (Bendix, 5/31)

The New York Times: How To Lower Deaths Among Women? Give Away Cash. 
Cash grants made directly to poor families or individuals have led to fewer deaths among women and young children, according to a new analysis of more than 7 million people in 37 countries. In countries that began making such payments, deaths among women fell by 20 percent, and deaths among children younger than 5 declined by 8 percent, researchers reported on Wednesday in the journal Nature. The impact was apparent within two years of the programs’ start and grew over time. (Mandavilli, 5/31)

The Washington Post: On TikTok, Moms Can Talk Frankly About Loneliness Of Parenting 
While Chantelle Hibbert was pregnant, her family painted a rosy picture of motherhood — all butterflies and rainbows. But after she gave birth to twins in 2022, the 27-year-old says she found herself with “literally no support.” Friends and family stopped contacting her. She quit her job to take care of the twins, and her partner was traveling for work. In some moments, she felt so alone that she wondered if parenthood was the wrong decision. (Hunter, 5/31)

Axios: Base Tan Myth: Tanning Before Vacation Isn't "Safe" Or "Protective"
The general advice that you should get a "protective" base tan before your beach vacation? It's not science-backed. Nearly 1 in 4 (24%) adults think getting a base tan will prevent sunburn, according to a new American Academy of Dermatology survey shared with Axios. You can still burn with a base tan, which offers minimal sun protection while also creating additional health risks. (Mallenbaum, 5/31)

AP: Sweden Close To Becoming First 'Smoke Free' Country In Europe As Daily Use Of Cigarettes Dwindles 
Summer is in the air, cigarette smoke is not, in Sweden’s outdoor bars and restaurants. As the World Health Organization marks “World No Tobacco Day” on Wednesday, Sweden, which has the lowest rate of smoking in the Europe Union, is close to declaring itself “smoke free” — defined as having fewer than 5% daily smokers in the population. Many experts give credit to decades of anti-smoking campaigns and legislation, while others point to the prevalence of “snus,” a smokeless tobacco product that is banned elsewhere in the EU but is marketed in Sweden as an alternative to cigarettes. (Ritter and Pele, 6/1)

AP: In Canada, Each Cigarette Will Get A Warning Label: 'Poison In Every Puff'
Canada will soon become the first country in the world where warning labels must appear on individual cigarettes. The move was first announced last year by Health Canada and is aimed at helping people quit the habit. The regulations take effect Aug. 1 and will be phased in. King-size cigarettes will be the first to feature the warnings and will be sold in stores by the end of July 2024, followed by regular-size cigarettes, and little cigars with tipping paper and tubes by the end of April 2025. (Gillies, 6/1)

Bloomberg: US Finds Contaminated Drugs, Further Lapses In India Pharma Factories Post-Covid
US inspectors have in recent months uncovered wide-ranging lapses at factories run by some of India’s biggest pharmaceutical firms, as the world’s top supplier of cheap medicine faces increased scrutiny after a spate of deadly manufacturing incidents. (Kay, 5/31)