First Edition: April 28, 2023

KFF Health News: Some Private Companies Charge Hefty Fees To Help Veterans With Disability Claims 
When Glenn Janssen decided to file a claim for disability benefits with the Veterans Affairs Department last year, he dreaded the prospect of dealing with federal bureaucracy and paperwork. Janssen, 57, lives in Portugal with his wife and has worked as a government contractor since leaving the Army in 2004. The Gulf War-era and Louisiana National Guard veteran wanted to put in a claim for tinnitus and back and shoulder problems from his years in the service. But he worried that trying to manage the process from overseas would be a nightmare. (Andrews, 4/28)

KFF Health News: Montana Considers Requiring Insurance To Cover Fertility Preservation For Cancer Patients 
Katie Beall was diagnosed with breast cancer on March 1, 2022. Two days later, doctors told her the chemotherapy she needed would make her infertile. The next day, she started looking into how she could freeze her eggs, which would give her the option of becoming a mother in the future. Twenty-three days after her cancer diagnosis, the 36-year-old Helena resident said, she had put $7,579 on three credit cards to pay for her out-of-pocket fertility preservation costs. (Larson, 4/28)

KFF Health News: How To Increase Your Social Network As You Age
Friends sitting around a table, talking and laughing. A touch on the arm, as one of them leans over to make a confiding comment. A round of hugs before walking out the door. For years, Carole Leskin, 78, enjoyed this close camaraderie with five women in Moorestown, New Jersey, a group that took classes together, gathered for lunch several times a week, celebrated holidays with one another, and socialized frequently at their local synagogue. (Graham, 4/28)

KFF Health News: Readers And Tweeters Defend The Rights Of Adults With Disabilities
KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories. (4/28)

KFF Health News: KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Dancing Under The Debt Ceiling
If Congress fails to raise the nation’s debt ceiling in the next few months, the U.S. could default on its debt for the first time in history. Republicans in Congress, however, say they won’t agree to pay the nation’s bills unless Democrats and President Joe Biden agree to deep cuts to health and other programs. Among the proposals in a bill House Republicans passed April 26 is the imposition of new work requirements for adults who receive Medicaid. (4/27)

The Washington Post: Conservative Dissenters Block Abortion Limits In Nebraska, South Carolina
Strict new abortion restrictions failed to advance in two conservative-dominated legislatures on Thursday, signaling a mounting fear among some Republicans that abortion bans could lead to political backlash. A near-total ban on abortion failed in South Carolina, just hours before a six-week ban fizzled in Nebraska. Abortion remains legal in both states until 22 weeks of pregnancy. (Shammas, Rosenzweig-Ziff, Roubein and Kitchener, 4/27)

AP: Vermont Passes Bills Aimed At Protecting Abortion Pills 
The Vermont Legislature passed reproductive and gender-affirming health care bills on Thursday with a late addition aimed at protecting access to a medication widely used in abortions even if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration withdraws its approval of the pill, mifepristone. The bills protect providers from discipline for providing legally protected reproductive and gender affirming health care services. Legislators recently tacked on medicated abortion to the definition of legally protected reproductive health care services, and believe the state is the first to do so. (Rathke, 4/27)

The Washington Post: Washington Becomes First State To Adopt Health Data Protections Post-Roe
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) on Thursday signed a first-of-its-kind bill into law that creates new protections for reproductive data, responding to concerns that sensitive data collected and sold by tech companies could be used to aid prosecutions related to abortions. (Zakrzewski, 4/27)

The Hill: Senate GOP Blocks Equal Rights Amendment
Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a measure that would have allowed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to be added to the Constitution. Senators voted 51 to 47 to invoke cloture on a motion to proceed, falling short of the 60 votes it it needed. (Weaver and Schnell, 4/27)

Roll Call: House, Senate Craft Separate Health Care Packages
House lawmakers are kick-starting the legislative process for a number of health care bills at the same time their Senate counterparts are shaping their own package on drug pricing, and members appear to be finding common ground on pharmacy benefit managers. (Clason and Hellmann, 4/27)

CIDRAP: US Lawmakers Re-Introduce Antibiotic Development Legislation 
A bipartisan group of US senators and representatives today reintroduced a bill to boost the antibiotic development market. The Pioneering Antimicrobial Subscriptions to End Upsurging Resistance (PASTEUR) Act, which was introduced in 2020 and 2021 but never received a vote despite bipartisan support, would establish a subscription-style payment model for new antibiotics. Under the model, companies that develop innovative new antibiotics for drug-resistant infections would receive contracts from the federal government valued between $750 million and $3 billion to make the antibiotics available at no charge for patients covered by federal health insurance programs. (Dall, 4/27)

Military.com: 2 Lawmakers Trying To Expand Access To Outside Doctors For Vets Despite VA Push To Rein In Costs
A pair of senators is pushing to expand the program that allows veterans to see doctors outside of the Department of Veterans Affairs despite moves by VA officials to rein in the program's costs after years of efforts to privatize some VA-funded care. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., the Veterans Affairs Committee ranking member, and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., are introducing a bill that would codify existing guidelines for when patients can seek non-VA care so the department cannot skirt its own rules, as critics allege it is doing. (Kheel, 4/27)

Stat: Biden Officials Propose Slate Of Medicaid Transparency Changes
The Biden administration on Thursday rolled out proposals to set national standards for care in Medicaid and children’s health care plans, amid upheaval for millions of Americans’ coverage in both programs. (Owermohle, 4/27)

The Hill: Percentage Of Teen Girls Considering, Attempting Suicide Rose In Second Year Of Pandemic: CDC
The percentage of teenage girls considering and attempting suicide rose in 2021, a sign of declining mental health during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 30 percent of female students in grades 9-12 seriously considered attempting suicide in 2021, up from 24.1 percent in 2019. The amount of teen girls who made a plan for suicide also rose from 19.9 to 23.6 percent, and the percentage who attempted suicide rose from 11 to 13.3 percent. (Gans, 4/27)

Politico: A New Portrait Of American Teenagers In Crisis 
In 2021, 1 in 5 high school students said they witnessed violence in their communities, and 3.5 percent said they carried a gun. Nearly 9 percent of students said they’d been forced into sex in their life. A third of female students said they had considered suicide in the past year, and over 13 percent said they’d attempted suicide. A sweeping series of surveys of U.S. high school students released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have an urgent message for parents and policymakers: America’s kids are in crisis. (Mahr, 4/27)

AP: Pandemic Sent High School Sex To New Low, Survey Finds 
The first years of the pandemic saw a huge decline in high school students having sex, according to a government survey. Teen sex was already becoming less and less common before COVID-19.About three decades ago, more than half of teens said they’d had sex, according to a large government survey conducted every two years. By 2019, the share was 38%. In 2021, 30% of teens said they had ever had sex. That was the sharpest drop ever recorded by the survey. (Stobbe, 4/27)

The Hill: More Voters Support Assault Weapons Ban Over Arming Citizens To Reduce Violence: Poll
More U.S. voters support banning assault weapons over arming citizens to reduce gun violence, according to a Fox News poll released on Thursday. While 45 percent of those surveyed said they would encourage more citizens to carry guns to defend against attackers, 61 percent said they favored banning assault rifles and semi-automatic weapons. (Shapero, 4/27)

The Washington Post: Louisville Gunman’s Parents Say He Shouldn’t Have Been Able To Buy Weapon
The parents of the Louisville gunman sought help for their son as he reported a mental health crisis the week before he committed a mass shooting, they said Thursday in an emotional interview with “Today.” Todd and Lisa Sturgeon, who last saw their 25-year-old son Connor the day before he killed five people at the downtown Louisville bank where he worked, said they believed he was improving after seeing a psychiatrist and that Connor seemed happy at an Easter gathering that day. (Wu, 4/28)

The Hill: CDC Relaxes COVID Restrictions For International Travelers 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is relaxing COVID-19 restrictions on international travelers as the national public health emergency is set to expire next month. The CDC said in an update on its website posted Thursday that it will consider anyone who has received a single dose of a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine on or after Aug. 16, 2022, to meet the requirements for boarding an airplane to the United States. (Gans, 4/27)

AP: Court Reinstates Charges Against Leaders Of Veterans' Home 
Massachusetts’ highest court overruled a lower court judge Thursday and reinstated criminal neglect charges against two top former officials at a veterans’ home. Nearly 80 veterans died at the Veterans’ Home in Holyoke after contracting the coronavirus in one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in a long-term care facility in the nation. The ruling allows the case against Bennett Walsh, the former superintendent at the facility, and Dr. David Clinton, its former medical director, to move forward. (4/27)

Bay Area News Group: Maker Of Fast COVID Tests Chops Hundred Of Bay Area Jobs
A maker of rapid coronavirus tests has revealed plans to chop hundreds of jobs in the Bay Area, a grim disclosure that suggests tech and biotech layoffs in the region have yet to run their course. Cepheid, a medical devices and biotech company, has told state labor officials that it has decided to cut 625 positions in the Bay Area, according to official government filings. (Avalos, 4/27)

Los Angeles Times: COVID Detected In California Mule Deer, First Wild Case Here
California wildlife officials have confirmed the state’s first case of COVID-19 in a wild animal, detected in a mule deer killed in 2021 in El Dorado County. The coronavirus has been confirmed in pets and zoo animals, but the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said this is the first case of COVID-19 confirmed in “free-ranging California wildlife,” according to a news release from the agency. (Toohey, 4/27)

The Conversation: Challenging The FDA’s Authority Isn’t New — The Agency’s History Shows What’s At Stake When Drug Regulation Is In Limbo
Political pressure is nothing new for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The agency has frequently come under fire for its drug approval decisions, but attacks on its decision-making process and science itself have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent challenges to the FDA’s authority have emerged in the context of reproductive rights. (Coughlin, 4/28)

Stat: Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro Succeeds In Second Weight-Loss Study
The drug giant Eli Lilly said Thursday that its diabetes drug Mounjaro helped patients with the condition lose 15.7% of their body weight in a clinical trial, a result that Wall Street analysts expect to pave the way for the therapy’s approval as a weight loss treatment. (Herper, 4/27)

Modern Healthcare: 2 CMS Proposals Aim To Set Medicaid Base Payment Standards
CMS issued two notices of proposed rulemaking that it says would boost access to care and promote price transparency. States would provide CMS with provider payment rate analyses every year that compare Medicaid fee-for-service and managed care payments to Medicare rates. State Medicaid agencies also would have to publish the rates on their websites. (Turner, 4/27)

San Francisco Chronicle: Scientific Journal Corrects Study Co-Authored By Stanford President
A German scientific journal has issued a correction to a 2008 brain study co-authored by Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne, The Chronicle has learned. The study is one of at least six scholarly articles under investigation by the university’s trustees for potentially falsified data. The correction issued by the EMBO Journal concerns a study by 11 authors, including Tessier-Lavigne, showing how two proteins signal nerve cells in the brain to stop growing or to change direction. The study’s purpose was to shed light on how brain damage might be repaired. (Asimov, 4/27)

Stat: FDA Warns Of Security Vulnerability In Illumina Sequencing Machines 
The Food and Drug Administration warned health care providers Thursday that a security vulnerability in DNA sequencers made by Illumina could allow unauthorized users to access or alter potentially important medical data. (Herper, 4/27)

Oklahoman: Gender-Affirming Care Ban For Minors Passes Oklahoma House
With less than 24 hours before a major legislative deadline, the Oklahoma House passed a ban on gender-affirming care for minors, bringing the state one step closer to joining other conservative states who have adopted similar legislation this year. Because the House amended the legislation, Senate Bill 613 now goes back to the Senate for final approval. In February, the bill passed the Senate by an overwhelming majority. Gov. Kevin Stitt asked for this kind of legislation in his State of the State speech at the beginning of session. (Denwalt, 4/27)

Stat: Pennsylvania Is Set To Ban Supervised Drug Use Sites 
Pennsylvania lawmakers are set to pass a new ban on supervised drug consumption, effectively ending a Philadelphia nonprofit’s long-running effort to offer a sanctioned substance-use site meant to prevent overdose and death. (Facher, 4/28)

Dallas Morning News: Fentanyl Deaths Could Be Prosecuted As Murder Under Texas Bill Voted Through By House
A bill that calls for prosecuting fentanyl deaths as murder won early approval from the Texas House on Thursday, even as protesters chanted from the gallery in opposition. Such a move is needed to crack down on dealers amid a surge of fentanyl deaths across the state, Rep. Craig Goldman, R-Fort Worth, said. The bill ratchets up penalties for making or distributing the powerful synthetic opioid, including allowing murder charges if the drug leads to someone’s death. (Torres and Morris, 4/27)

NPR: Disability Groups Are Claiming California's Assisted Suicide Law Discriminates
A group of people with disabilities is suing to upend California's assisted suicide law, saying the bias they faced trying to get health care during the pandemic shows the system is too quick to offer death as an appropriate outcome. (Shapiro, 4/27)

Bloomberg: California Flavor Ban Drives Down Sales Of Marlboro Maker’s Cigarettes
Altria Group Inc., maker of Marlboro cigarettes, said a ban on flavored tobacco in California is hurting sales more in that state, as consumers turn to the illicit market or add their own menthol to products. (Kary, 4/27)

The Boston Globe: Laura’s Law Hospital Regulations Aim To Improve Emergency Experience
Laura Levis died at age 34, alone on a bench outside a hospital emergency room, unable to get inside, desperately phoning 911 during an asthma attack, until she fell back and the phone dropped from her hand, glowing in the shadows. (Freyer, 4/27)

Stat: To Prevent Preeclampsia, Experts Urge Broader Blood Pressure Testing At Home
Eleni Tsigas likens her first experience with preeclampsia to a plane crash. She was in the midst of what she thought was a healthy first pregnancy, with low risk for complications. But at 29 weeks, she was rushed to the emergency room with what she now knows are classic signs of preeclampsia: very high blood pressure, a pounding headache, nausea, blurred vision. She lost her first child while being transported between hospitals. (Gaffney, 4/28)

NBC News: Mediterranean Diet May Protect Against Diabetes More Than Realized, Science Shows
The Mediterranean diet has already been shown to help protect the aging brain and may significantly lower risk of heart disease. A new study has now found a much stronger link than previously realized between the Mediterranean diet — which is filled with whole grains, fish, fruits and olive oil — and a reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes. (Carroll, 4/28)