Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Appeals Court Revives Alabama's Youth Trans Care Ban
Reuters: Court Revives Alabama Ban On Transgender Youth Treatment, Judge Blocks Georgia Law
A U.S. appeals court on Monday revived a Republican-backed Alabama law banning the use of puberty blocking drugs and hormones to treat gender dysphoria in transgender minors, a day after a judge blocked a similar Georgia law. A three-judge panel of the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that the families and physicians challenging the law "have not presented any authority that supports the existence of a constitutional right" for parents to treat their children with "transitioning medications subject to medically accepted standards." (Raymond and Pierson, 8/21)
Axios: Freeze Of Georgia Law Adds Twist To State Efforts To Ban Trans Care
A federal judge's decision to block part of Georgia's ban on most gender-affirming care for minors is throwing a new legal wrinkle into state efforts to restrict care for transgender youths. U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Geraghty, a Biden appointee, wrote the state's hormone-therapy ban likely violates the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause and carries imminent risks of depression, anxiety, disordered eating, self-harm and suicidal ideation for transgender youths. (Bettelheim, 8/21)
In other health news from across the U.S. —
Crain's New York Business: DocGo New York Migrant Care Contract Scrutinized
Since early May DocGo has provided shelter and services to 4,000 people in 28 hotels, according to city officials. Reports surfaced in late July that migrants had been misled with promises about finding work and mistreated once they arrived at hotels upstate. In addition to the no-bid contract awarded by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, New York City Health + Hospitals system this summer extended an existing migrant services contract with DocGo for $311 million. (Spivak, 8/21)
Washington State Standard: How Washington State Is Treating Housing As Health Care
Washington state is trying something new when it comes to housing: treating it as health care. Apple Health and Homes is a multi-agency state program launched last year that focuses on providing housing to people with health and behavioral health challenges. What’s unique is that the program taps Medicaid dollars to pay for housing subsidies, tenant services and more. (Demkovich, 8/21)
The CT Mirror: Amid Proposed CT Health Insurance Rate Hikes, Residents Fight Back
Frustrated residents, advocates and elected officials demanded Monday that state insurance regulators turn down double-digit rate hikes recommended by insurance companies for 2024 health plans on and off Connecticut’s Affordable Care Act Exchange. Carriers have asked for an average increase of 12.4% on individual health plans and an average hike of 14.8% on small group policies next year. The filings collectively cover about 188,000 people. (Carlesso, 8/21)
On the heat wave —
The Texas Tribune: Death Toll In Stifling Texas Prisons Climbs, Democrats Seek Investigation
At least 41 people have died in stifling, uncooled prisons of either heart-related or unknown causes during Texas’ relentless and record-breaking heat wave this summer, according to a Texas Tribune analysis. Relatives of those who died and prison rights advocates insist at least some of those deaths were caused by the heat. More than a dozen of the prisoners were in their 20s or 30s, with at least four people 35 and under reportedly dying of cardiac arrest or heart failure. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice says no prisoner has died from the brutal heat in its facilities since 2012, around the time the agency began being bombarded with wrongful death and civil rights lawsuits over the heat. (McCullough, 8/21)
Tampa Bay Times: Florida’s Heat Takes A Toll On Health. Shade Provides Relief — But Not For All
If it weren’t for the traffic along South MacDill Avenue, Javonne Mansfield swears you could hear the sizzle of a frying pan. The sun is scorching with such violent intensity that even weathered Floridians can’t help but take note. In a hard hat, Mansfield pushes a shovel into the earth. Heat radiates from the road, the concrete parking lots. It’s around 10:30 a.m., and his crew is starting a 10-hour shift fixing traffic lights in West Tampa during the hottest week recorded in Tampa Bay history. Cloud coverage is minimal, thin and wispy. There’s no greenery or trees to shield them, no refuge from the blistering sun. Outside, it’s 91 degrees — but feels like 104. (Peace and Prator, 8/22)
North Carolina Health News: It's Too Hot. How Can Schools Protect Students, Athletes?
Many children across North Carolina are heading back to school, returning to classes and other activities even as weather forecasters caution about temperatures in the 90s with heat indexes topping 100 degrees. That can have an impact on football, cross country, tennis and other sports teams that practice and compete in August. It also can have an effect on the mental health and physical well-being of people — from the youngest among us to those with chronic ailments to the older population. (Blythe, 8/22)
