First Edition: Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024

KFF Health News: Patients Couldn’t Pay Their Utility Bills. One Hospital Turned To Solar Power For Help
Anna Goldman, a primary care physician at Boston Medical Center, got tired of hearing that her patients couldn’t afford the electricity needed to run breathing assistance machines, recharge wheelchairs, turn on air conditioning, or keep their refrigerators plugged in. So she worked with her hospital on a solution. The result is a pilot effort called the Clean Power Prescription program. The initiative aims to help keep the lights on for roughly 80 patients with complex, chronic medical needs. (Bebinger, 12/12)

CNN: In Biden Administration’s Final Days, FDA Advances Proposal To Set A Nicotine Limit On Tobacco Products
As the Biden administration winds down, the US Food and Drug Administration has submitted a proposed rule that could significantly lower the amount of nicotine in tobacco products and potentially prompt more people to quit smoking. (Christensen, 12/11)

CBS News: Bidens Host Women's Health Conference To Focus On Health Care Gender Gap
President Biden and first lady Jill Biden hosted the first-ever White House Conference on Women's Health Research on Wednesday, showcasing progress in women's health initiatives to close the gender gap in health care. Last year, the president and first lady introduced a White House initiative to undertake what they said would be the "most comprehensive" effort any administration has taken to support women's health research. (Pound, 12/11)

Stat: White House Takes Credit For 'Largest Drop' In Overdose Deaths 
Drug deaths are falling for the first time in recent memory, representing a rare glimmer of hope after years of record overdose mortality. On Wednesday, to the surprise of some experts, Biden administration officials sought to take credit for the decrease. (Facher, 12/11)

Politico: Biden Threatens To Veto Bill That Would Have Given Trump New Judicial Appointments 
Donald Trump is eager to appoint dozens of new judges once he becomes president. Joe Biden has other plans. The president threatened to veto a bill to expand the number of federal judges because he doesn’t want to give the president-elect new appointment opportunities, one of the outgoing president’s closest allies said in an interview. The move dooms legislation spearheaded by Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), who had spent months pushing for the creation of 63 new judgeships. (Cancryn, 12/11)

AP: Biden Commutes Roughly 1,500 Sentences In Biggest Single-Day Act Of Clemency 
President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and is pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. It’s the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history. The commutations announced Thursday are for people who have served out home confinement sentences for at least one year after they were released. Prisons were uniquely bad for spreading the virus and some inmates were released in part to stop the spread. At one point, 1 in 5 prisoners had COVID-19, according to a tally kept by The Associated Press. (Long, 12/12)

CIDRAP: HHS Secretary Extends Duration For COVID PREP Act Declaration
US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra today signed the 12th amendment to the declaration under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act (PREP) Act for COVID-19 countermeasures, a step that provides liability immunity through December 31, 2029. The declaration provides immunity, except for willful misconduct, for certain claims, including loss caused by or related to administration or use of countermeasures to diseases, threats, or conditions, according to information from the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), which is part of HHS. (Schnirring, 12/11)

NBC News: Biden Administration Has No Current Plans To Authorize A Bird Flu Vaccine For Humans
Biden administration officials said Wednesday they have no current plans to authorize a stockpiled bird flu vaccine, despite an escalating outbreak among livestock in the U.S. and at least 58 human infections across seven states. The move means any decisions about a bird flu vaccine will likely be left to health officials in the incoming Trump administration, who may be led by anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom Trump has picked to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. (Lovelace Jr., 12/11)

ABC News: California Child Tests Negative For Bird Flu, But Health Officials Continue To Warn Against Raw Milk
Health officials in Marin County, California are warning against raw milk consumption after a child there was suspected to have contracted bird flu after consuming raw milk. However, in an update Wednesday, the child appears to have tested negative for bird flu, a source close to the investigation told ABC News. "The child has recovered, and no other family members became sick, indicating no person-to person transmission," Marin County Public Health officials said in their initial statement. (Salzman and Benadjaoud, 12/11)

The New York Times: House Passes Defense Bill Denying Transgender Health Coverage For Minors 
A divided House on Wednesday passed a defense policy bill that would direct $895 billion to the Pentagon and other military operations, moving over the opposition of Democrats who objected to a provision denying coverage for transgender health care for the children of service members. ... The provision in question would bar TRICARE, the military’s health care plan, from covering “medical interventions for the treatment of gender dysphoria that could result in sterilization” for children under 18. (Demirjian, 12/11)

NBC News: Britain Bans Puberty Blockers For Transgender Minors
The United Kingdom on Wednesday indefinitely banned new prescriptions of puberty blockers to treat minors for gender dysphoria. The announcement comes a week after the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case involving state bans on puberty-suppressing medication and other forms of transition-related care for minors. Puberty blockers are commonly prescribed to transgender children in countries throughout the Western world to delay the onset of puberty or pause it as it is transpiring. (Lavietes, 12/11)

AP: Montana Supreme Court Upholds Ruling Allowing Gender-Affirming Care For Minors 
A Montana law banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors will remain temporarily blocked, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, after justices unanimously agreed with a lower court judge who found the law likely violates the state’s constitutional right to privacy. The case against the Montana law now goes to trial before District Court Judge Jason Marks in Missoula. (Hanson, 12/11)

The Marshall Project: New Florida Prison Policy On Trans Health Care Is 'Like Conversion Therapy' 
Earlier this fall, Florida officials ordered transgender women in the state’s prisons to submit to breast exams. As part of a new policy for people with gender dysphoria, prison medical staff ranked the women’s breast size using a scale designed for adolescents. Those whose breasts were deemed big enough were allowed to keep their bras. Everyone else had to surrender theirs, along with anything else considered “female,” such as women’s underwear and toiletry items. (Schwartzapfel, 12/11)

The New York Times: Police Say Suspect’s Notebook Described Rationale for C.E.O. Killing
Luigi Mangione, who has been charged with killing the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare outside a company investors’ day in Manhattan, was arrested with a notebook that detailed plans for the shooting, according to two law enforcement officials. The notebook described going to a conference and killing an executive, the officials said. (Southall and Cramer, 12/11)

Stat: UnitedHealthcare Shooting Suspect's Manifesto Cites Health Care Critics
The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO appears to cite two prominent critics of the U.S. health care system in his handwritten manifesto — journalist Elisabeth Rosenthal and filmmaker Michael Moore — although neither of their works focused on the insurance company. (Herman and Bannow, 12/11)

The Hill: NYPD Investigating Possible Mangione Back Injury And Insurance Claims
New York Police Department Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, may have filed an insurance claim for back pain last year. “So we’re looking into whether or not the insurance industry either denied a claim from him or didn’t help him out to the fullest extent.” He added that investigators believe Mangione’s injury may have been sustained on July 4, 2023. (Fields, 12/11)

AP: Suspect In UnitedHealthcare CEO Killing Could Return To New York On A Governor's Warrant
The suspect in the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO plans to fight extradition to New York to face murder charges, but officials hope to get him back with what’s called a governor’s warrant. The process could happen quickly or take more than a month. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office on Wednesday had not yet asked Pennsylvania for the warrant after murder charges were filed against Luigi Mangione late Monday in New York. (Dale, 12/11)

The New York Times: Health Insurance Workers Fearful Amid Public Anger After Slaying of C.E.O.
The fatal shooting last week of an executive on the streets of New York City plunged his family members and colleagues into grief. For rank-and-file employees across the health insurance industry, the killing has left them with an additional emotion: fear, with many frightened for their own safety and feeling under attack for their work. One UnitedHealthcare worker who processes claims described being cleareyed about the American health care system’s shortcomings, but also believes that she and her colleagues did their best to help patients within the limits of that system. Like most workers interviewed, she did not want to be named because, given the reaction after Mr. Thompson’s killing, she feared for her own safety. (Abelson, Smith, Benner and Harris, 12/11)

CBS News: After Killing Of UnitedHealthcare CEO, 2 Pittsburgh Companies Remove Leadership Pages From Websites
Allegheny Health Network and Highmark Health removed leadership pages from their websites a week after the deadly shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO. A spokesperson confirmed to KDKA-TV on Wednesday that they took the pages down out of an abundance of caution. UPMC's CEO still has a bio on its website but no photo. (Borrasso, 12/11)

Stat: How AI Is Supercharging The Fight Over Health Insurance Denials
Like many Americans, Holden Karau said she was fed up with health insurance. The software engineer’s disillusionment began in 2019, when her insurer, UnitedHealthcare, balked at covering physical therapy after she was hit by a car and could not walk. She said the hassles piled on stress, forced her to pay more out of pocket, and delayed access to care she needed to recover from multiple broken bones. (Ross, 12/12)

Bloomberg: Lawmakers Plan Bill Forcing CVS, Cigna, UnitedHealth To Sell Pharmacies
A bipartisan coalition of US lawmakers has drafted legislation that would force prescription drug middlemen to divest pharmacies they own. Some of the largest US health-care companies own pharmacy benefit management units that negotiate drug prices for employers and other customers. If enacted, the policy would compel CVS Health Corp., Cigna Group and UnitedHealth Group Inc. to shed drug-dispensing operations that have become profit centers for the vertically integrated conglomerates. (Tozzi, 12/11)

Modern Healthcare: Telehealth Extension Must Pass, ATA, CHIME Say
Telehealth industry groups are urging Congress to extend COVID-19 pandemic-era reimbursement flexibilities before the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31. Multiple COVID-19-era temporary policies and regulations are set to expire at the end of the year unless Congress acts. These provisions include removing geographic site restrictions for telehealth, permitting audio-only telehealth services and delaying the in-person requirement for mental health patients seeking treatment through telehealth. (Turner, 12/11)

Modern Healthcare: 'Ghost Networks' Lawsuit May Signal Trouble For Insurers
Health insurers have long faced criticism over inaccurate provider directories, and a recent lawsuit suggests more scrutiny could be on the horizon. Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of New York, an Elevance Health subsidiary, is battling a trio of policyholders seeking class action status who allege the insurer deliberately includes out-of-network providers in its lists. These alleged "ghost networks" can deter patients from seeking care or increase their costs and can cause headaches for providers. (Berryman and Early, 12/11)

Modern Healthcare: Community Health Systems To Sell NC Hospital To Duke Health
Community Health Systems signed a definitive agreement to sell a North Carolina hospital to Duke Health for about $280 million. The deal involves the 123-bed Lake Norman Regional Medical Center in Mooresville, North Carolina, and related businesses. It is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025, subject to regulatory approval, according to a Wednesday news release. (Hudson, 12/11)

ProPublica: How Wall Street Billionaires Avoid Paying Medicare Taxes 
For most working Americans, paying their share of the taxes that fund Medicare is an unavoidable fact of life. It’s so automatic for many workers that they may not even realize it takes a bite out of every paycheck. In theory, everyone is required to contribute to the country’s health insurance program for seniors, no matter how poor or rich, from cashiers to CEOs. Not on Wall Street. There, some of the most powerful people in finance found a way to opt out. (Kiel, 12/11)

Stat: Gilead To Test Once-A-Year HIV Prevention Shot 
Gilead said Tuesday that it will soon begin Phase 3 testing for a drug it believes could prevent HIV infection with just a single shot every year. Such a medicine, if proven effective, would be the closest thing to a vaccine the HIV field has produced in four decades of research. The company plans to begin the trial next year, with an eye toward regulatory filings in late 2027. (Mast, 12/11)

ProPublica: FDA Hasn’t Inspected This Drug Factory After 7 Recalls, 1 Potentially Deadly 
The drug potassium chloride has been on the market for decades, widely prescribed to help the nerves and muscles — including the heart — function properly in patients with low potassium. Too much of it, however, can kill you. At high doses, it is so effective at stopping the heart that some states have used injections of it for executions. So the danger was obvious in May, when Indian drugmaker Glenmark Pharmaceuticals recalled nearly 47 million capsules for a dire flaw: The extended-release medication wasn’t dissolving properly, a defect that could lead to a perilous spike in potassium. (Callahan, Cenziper and Rose, 12/12)

Fox News: Gene Therapy Reverses Heart Failure In Large Animal Model
Heart failure has historically been irreversible, but the outcome of a new study suggests that could someday change. At the University of Utah, scientists used a new gene therapy that was shown to reverse the effects of heart failure in a large animal study. In the study, pigs with heart failure were found to have low levels of cardiac bridging integrator 1 (cBIN1), a critical heart protein. (Rudy, 12/11)

Modern Healthcare: Labcorp Completes Acquisition Of Ballad Health Lab Assets
Labcorp has completed its acquisition of select non-hospital lab assets from Ballad Health, the independent laboratory company said Wednesday. A purchase price was not immediately available. Johnson City, Tennessee-based Ballad Health will retain operations of its inpatient and emergency department laboratory services, as well as lab services for hospital-based practices, according to a news release. (DeSilva, 12/11)

CBS News: A Citywide Vaping Ban Is Coming To Dallas. Here's When It'll Take Effect
The Dallas City Council on Wednesday approved a new ordinance banning vaping in all locations where smoking is already prohibited, effective Dec. 11, 2025. City officials said the measure is part of an effort to enhance air quality and safeguard public health. (Myers, 12/11)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Attorney General Sues Companies Over Forever Chemicals 
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit Wednesday against chemical giants 3M and DuPont, accusing them of decades-long misrepresentations and omissions regarding the safety of PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” sold for use in countless consumer products. These products, sold under brand names such as Teflon, Stainmaster, and Scotchgard, have been staples in households across the nation despite mounting evidence that they contain chemicals that are harmful to human health. (Martinez, 12/11)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Agency To Ask For $300M For Medicaid Enrollment Fix 
In Texas, health advocates often find themselves playing defense to encourage leaders to preserve the state’s relatively frugal public service offerings while also pushing for more. That’s why a $300 million ask to lawmakers next year from the state’s social services agency — the Texas Health and Human Services Commission — to improve the agency’s complicated Medicaid application process has thrilled the state’s nonprofit policy groups. (Langford, 12/11)

ProPublica: Maine’s Eviction Prevention Program Excludes Public Housing Tenants
Public housing helped bring an end to Linda Gallagher-Garcia’s three years of intermittent homelessness in her hometown of Presque Isle, Maine, in 2020. With $200 in secondhand furniture, she made the apartment feel like home for her and her dog, Tex. But when she fell behind on her rent and was evicted two years later, the fact that she was in public housing made her future more dire: Maine public housing authorities’ rules bar evicted tenants from returning to government-subsidized units and from receiving other benefits that could help them relocate. (Loftus, 12/12)

The New York Times: ADHD Diagnosis In Older People Has Increased 
An analysis by Truveta, a health care data and analytics company, shows that the rate of first-time A.D.H.D. diagnoses has been on the rise since 2021, but the increase has occurred only among people 30 and older. From January 2021 to October 2024, the rate of first-time diagnoses rose about 61 percent among those ages 30 to 44 and 64 percent among those ages 45 to 64. As a result, about 31 percent of first-time diagnoses are now among people ages 30 to 44, the largest proportion of any age group. (In 2018, younger adults took the top spot.) (Caron, 12/11)

AP: Fewer U.S. Grandparents Are Taking Care Of Grandchildren, According To New Data 
Fewer grandparents were living with and taking care of grandchildren, there was a decline in young children going to preschool and more people stayed put in their homes in the first part of the 2020s compared to the last part of the 2010s, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released Thursday, reflecting some of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest figures from the most comprehensive survey of American life compares the years of 2014-2018 and 2019-2023, timeframes before the COVID-19 pandemic and during the virus’ spread. The American Community Survey data show how lives were changed and family relationships altered by the pandemic and other occurrences like the opioid crisis. (Schneider, 12/12)

Bloomberg: Semen Study Finds More Pathogens Capable Of Sexual Transmission
An analysis of data from hundreds of studies identified 22 viruses capable of persisting in human semen after infection, with nine showing evidence of sexual transmission. Scientists have for decades understood that chronic infection-causing viruses like HIV and herpes can persist in semen, posing a risk for sexual transmission. More recently, viruses like Ebola and Zika have been found to infect the male reproductive tract, evading immune system clearance and sometimes spreading long after the acute phase of infection. (Gale, 12/12)

CNN: Certain Foods May Disrupt Your Body’s Fight Against Cancer Cells, Study Says 
The food you eat may be affecting your body’s ability to fight cancer cells in the colon, according to a new study. The potential culprit: an overabundance of certain omega-6 fatty acids — perhaps from ultraprocessed foods in your diet — that may hinder the anti-inflammatory and tumor-fighting properties of another essential fatty acid, omega-3. (LaMotte, 12/11)