First Edition: April 5, 2021

KHN: Despite Covid, Many Wealthy Hospitals Had A Banner Year With Federal Bailout 
Last May, Baylor Scott & White Health, the largest nonprofit hospital system in Texas, laid off 1,200 employees and furloughed others as it braced for the then-novel coronavirus to spread. The cancellation of lucrative elective procedures as the hospital pivoted to treat a new and less profitable infectious disease presaged financial distress, if not ruin. The federal government rushed $454 million in relief funds to help shore up its operations. But Baylor not only weathered the crisis, it thrived. By the end of 2020, Baylor had accumulated an $815 million surplus, $20 million more than it had in 2019, creating a 7.5% operating margin that would be the envy of most other hospitals in the flushest of eras, a KHN examination of financial statements shows. (Rau and Spolar, 4/5)

KHN: Montana Sticks To Its Patchwork Covid Vaccine Rollout As Eligibility Expands 
Montana’s covid-19 vaccine distribution is among the most efficient in the nation, but closer examination reveals a patchwork of systems among counties and tribal governments that will be put to the test as the state opens vaccine eligibility to all people 16 and older starting this month. KHN, Montana Free Press and the University of Montana School of Journalism surveyed all 56 counties and eight tribal governments to find out how vaccine distribution has worked over the past four months and what residents might expect when the floodgates open. (Houghton, 4/5)

KHN: Families With Sick Kids On Medicaid Seek Easier Access To Out-Of-State Hospitals 
Three-year-old Elizabeth Zakutansky was born with a rare genetic condition that causes multiple seizures. Her neurologist, a top expert on treating her condition, practices at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, less than an hour’s drive from the Zakutanskys’ home in Hobart, Indiana. Her parents would like her to get all her care there. But Lurie wouldn’t continue to treat Elizabeth, because her insurer, Indiana Medicaid, pays out-of-state providers much less than in-state facilities. That’s true for most state Medicaid programs. So the Zakutanskys pay the Lurie neurologist out-of-pocket for consultations, and the doctor gives detailed instructions for Elizabeth’s care to their local pediatrician. (Meyer, 4/5)

KHN: Vermont Is 1st State To Give Blacks And Other Minority Residents Vaccine Priority 
States have tried with limited success to get covid vaccines to people of color, who have been disproportionately killed and hospitalized by the virus. Starting Thursday, Vermont explicitly gave Black adults and people from other minority communities priority status for vaccinations. Although other states have made efforts to get vaccine to people of color, Vermont is the first to offer them priority status, said Jen Kates, director of global health and HIV policy at KFF. (KHN is an editorially independent program of KFF.) All Black, Indigenous residents and other people of color who are permanent Vermont residents and 16 or older are eligible for the vaccine. (Galewitz, 4/5)

KHN: On The Air: Journalists Dive Deep Into Roots Of Vaccine Distrust In Prisons And Covid’s Toll On Public Health
Reporter Eric Berger discussed vaccine hesitancy among inmates at a Missouri correctional center with Newsy on Thursday. ... KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal discussed how the U.S. has focused on international terrorism at the expense of public health with the Los Angeles Times’ “Second Opinion” on March 28. She also joined North Carolina Public Radio’s “The People’s Pharmacy” radio program on March 25 to discuss how covid-19 has impacted the U.S. health system. (4/3)

Roll Call: CDC: Fully Vaccinated People Can Travel Safely 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its travel guidelines on Friday to say people who are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 can safely travel in the United States and overseas without self-quarantine or a coronavirus test, as long as they wear a mask in public spaces. This guidance does not change the guidelines for unvaccinated individuals. (Cohen, 4/2)

Fox News: US Seeing 'Fourth Wave' Of Coronavirus Infections Due To Variants: Osterholm
Epidemiologist Dr. Michael Osterholm believes the U.S. is seeing a "fourth wave" of infections due to coronavirus variants that have arisen over the past few months. Osterholm, who served as a member of President Biden's COVID-19 transition advisory board, said the variants pose a significant problem despite underscoring that existing vaccines appear to be effective against them. "I believe that, in some ways, we're almost in a new pandemic," Osterholm told "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace. "The only good news is that the current vaccines are effective against this particular variant B.1.1.7." (Aitken, 4/4)

The Washington Post: Are We Entering The Pandemic's ‘Fourth Wave’? Experts Disagree. 
The data doesn’t look good. After weeks of decline, the average number of new coronavirus infections reported each day is higher than it’s been in a month. The number of people in hospitals with covid-19 has been stubbornly stagnant since mid-March. And even as highly contagious virus variants spread, state leaders are relaxing safety precautions. By now, this is a familiar script. But this time around, the country’s leading epidemiologists disagree about what to call this latest phase of the pandemic. Is the United States on the cusp of a “fourth wave”? Or are we instead seeing the last gasps of a crisis in its 14th month? (Thebault, 4/4)

Washington Post: Infection Rates Rise, But Experts Disagree On What To Call Surge
After weeks of decline, the average number of new coronavirus infections reported each day is higher than it’s been in a month. The number of people in hospitals with covid-19 has been stagnant since mid-March. And even as highly contagious virus variants spread, state leaders are relaxing safety precautions. This is a familiar trend. The country's leading epidemiologists disagree about what to call this latest phase of the pandemic. Is the United States on the cusp of a "fourth wave"? Or is it instead seeing the last gasps of a crisis in its 14th month? Most recently, the debate played out on the Sunday morning news shows. Michael Osterholm, an adviser to President Joe Biden's coronavirus task force, said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that the next two weeks will bring "the highest number of cases reported globally since the beginning of the pandemic." (Thebault, 4/4)

NPR: Fauci Expects Surge In Vaccinations To Keep A 4th Coronavirus Wave At Bay
More than 56 million people in the U.S. have now been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Yet cases are rising again in some parts of the country, notably in Michigan and states in the Northeast. But Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Biden administration's chief medical adviser, predicts that the U.S. won't see a fourth wave of the coronavirus as severe as the previous three, thanks to the uptick in vaccinations. "It's kind of like a race between the potential for a surge and our ability to vaccinate as many people as we possibly can," he said in an interview Friday with NPR's Morning Edition. "And hopefully, if you want to make this a metaphorical race, the vaccine is going to win this one." (King, 4/2)

Bay Area News Group: COVID: California Reports Most New Cases In Almost Four Weeks
California reported nearly 4,000 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, the highest single-day total in almost a month, amid otherwise declining death and hospitalization numbers and an increasing share of the adult population fully vaccinated against the virus. The 3,984 new cases reported by counties, according to data tracked by this news organization, are the most reported in a single day since March 9. The state now has a seven-day average of 2,643 daily cases, the highest the average has been since March 15. The slight increase comes after weeks of low and declining case numbers, which in turn followed a massive winter surge that began in early November, peaked over the holidays and declined through February. (Castañeda, 4/5)

San Francisco Chronicle: 'Double Mutant' Coronavirus Variant Surfaces In Bay Area. Here's What We Know
The Bay Area has yet another coronavirus variant to contend with. Through genomic sequencing, the Stanford Clinical Virology Lab has identified and confirmed one case of an emerging variant that originated in India, said Lisa Kim, a spokesperson for Stanford Health Care, on Sunday. Stanford is screening seven other presumptive cases; the location of the confirmed case was not disclosed. The variant is being dubbed the “double mutant” because it carries two mutations in the virus that helps it latch itself onto cells. It could possibly be responsible for the troubling new surge in cases in India. Kim said it is not yet known if the variant is more infectious or resistant to vaccine antibodies. (Hwang, 4/4)

The New York Times: Virus Variants Threaten To Draw Out The Pandemic, Scientists Say 
For weeks, the mood in much of the United States has been buoyant. Cases, hospitalizations and deaths from the coronavirus have fallen steeply from their highs, and millions of people are being newly vaccinated every day. Restaurants, shops and schools have reopened. Some states, like Texas and Florida, have abandoned precautions altogether. ... But it is increasingly clear that the next few months will be painful. So-called variants are spreading, carrying mutations that make the coronavirus both more contagious and in some cases more deadly. (Mandavilli and Mueller, 4/3)

Bloomberg: Covid-19 Coronavirus Mutants Multiply As Scientists Race To Decode Variations
When Bette Korber, a biologist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, spotted the first significant mutation in the Covid-19 virus last spring, some scientists were skeptical. They didn’t believe it would make the virus more contagious and said its rapid rise might just be coincidence. Now, 11 months later, the D614G mutation she helped discover is ubiquitous worldwide, featured in the genomes of fast-spreading variants from the U.K., South Africa and Brazil. Meanwhile, new mutations are popping up in increasingly complicated patterns, spurring a drive by top biologists to devise new ways to track a fire hose of incoming genomic data. (Langreth, 4/5)

Fox News: UK Coronavirus Variant Likely Circulated Undetected In US For Months, Researchers Say
The more transmissible coronavirus variant first detected in the U.K. likely made its way to the U.S. months before it was discovered, according to a new analysis by researchers. In fact, the B.1.1.7 variant was likely "silently spreading" in 15 other countries before being identified in the U.K. in December 2020. "By the time we learned about the U.K. variant in December, it was already silently spreading across the globe," Lauren Ancel Meyers, director of the COVID-19 Modeling Consortium at The University of Texas at Austin, and professor of integrative biology, said in a news release posted to Eurekalert.org. "We estimate that the B.1.1.7 variant probably arrived in the U.S. by October of 2020, two months before we knew it existed." (Hein, 4/2)

Modern Healthcare: Increase In Virus Variation Aligns With Rise In COVID-19 Cases
Surges in COVID-19 cases last year coincided with the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants, a new study has found. Since its initial declaration as a pandemic in March 2020, SARS-CoV-2 has spread around the world, causing an estimated 129 million cases of COVID-19 and 2.8 million deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard. By studying SARS-CoV-2 samples from early in the pandemic, researchers from the University of California, Davis, developed a metric they dubbed the pathogen genome identity (GENI) score that measures viral genetic diversity. SARS-CoV-2 contains just 15 genes and has a high mutation rate, and variants of concern like B.1.351, B.1.1.7, and P.1 have emerged in recent months. (4/4)

The Wall Street Journal: J&J Takes Over Contractor’s Covid-19 Vaccine Manufacturing Plant 
Johnson & Johnson is taking over manufacturing of its Covid-19 vaccine at a contract manufacturer’s plant that makes the main ingredient, after a production problem ruined a batch. In order to give J&J full control, production of AstraZeneca PLC’s vaccine at the Emergent BioSolutions Inc. plant in Baltimore will move elsewhere, according to a person familiar with the matter. (Loftus and Leary, 4/4)

The Washington Post: Johnson & Johnson To Take Full Control Of Its Coronavirus Vaccine Production At Baltimore Plant As AstraZeneca Is Relocated 
The Biden administration said Sunday that the country will have sufficient coronavirus vaccine to meet the president’s goal of enabling every adult in the United States to get immunized by the end of May, despite the contamination of millions of doses at a troubled Baltimore manufacturing facility. A senior administration official, granted anonymity to speak about the sensitive matter, said health officials had negotiated for more than a week for an arrangement, announced late Saturday, under which Johnson & Johnson would take over responsibility for manufacturing at the plant. Johnson & Johnson developed one of the two coronavirus vaccines being made at the Baltimore facility where the cross-contamination occurred. (Goldstein, Swaine and Rowland, 4/4)

CBS News: Johnson & Johnson Testing COVID-19 Vaccine On Teenagers 
Johnson & Johnson is now testing its COVID-19 vaccine on teenagers, the pharmaceutical company said on Friday. The drugmaker has been conducting a clinical trial looking at the safety and immune response of its vaccine on healthy adults since September. That ongoing study now includes adolescents 12 to 17 years of age, according to J&J. (Gibson, 4/2)

The Hill: HHS Launches Mask Design Improvement Contest 
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched a competition to develop “the next generation of masks” with the winning submission receiving a $500,000 cash prize. The competition — “Mask Innovation Challenge: Building Tomorrow’s Mask” — is a partnership between HHS’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). (Choi, 4/4)

CNN: The Biden Administration Launches A $500,000 Contest To Improve Face Mask Designs
We all know face masks can be troublesome to wear. They can irritate your skin, hurt your ears and fog up your glasses. That's why the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched the $500,000 "Mask Innovation Challenge" to find new and effective masks people will find more comfortable to wear. (Elassar, 4/4)

The Hill: CDC Director Walks Tightrope On Pandemic Messaging 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky finds herself in a delicate position as she seeks to balance the optimism of increasing vaccinations with the reality that the U.S. is still very much in the grip of a deadly pandemic. Walensky started the CDC job with a reputation as a savvy communicator, tasked with salvaging the reputation of an agency that took a beating under the Trump administration. (Weixel, 4/4)

The Washington Post: Fauci Pushes Back On GOP Criticisms, Calling Claims ‘Bizarre’
Facing criticism from several high-profile Republicans in recent weeks, the country’s top infectious-disease expert, Anthony S. Fauci, pushed back on some of the claims, calling the remarks flat-out “bizarre.” The most recent slight came Friday from Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), who in a series of tweets urged Fauci to visit the U.S.-Mexico border, where authorities are grappling with an influx of migrants, and asked him to witness firsthand what he called the nation’s “biggest super spreader event.” (Villegas, 4/4)

Stat: Former Biden, Trump Advisers Renew Push To Delay Second Covid Vaccine
As Covid-19 cases spike and coronavirus variants continue to spread, the Biden administration is facing renewed calls to delay second vaccine doses and blanket more of the U.S. population with an initial shot. Advocates of a strategy focused on first doses include Democratic and Republican senators, Trump administration surgeon general Jerome Adams, and at least four physicians or epidemiologists who advised President Biden on pandemic response issues prior to his inauguration, including the prominent surgeon and author Atul Gawande. (Facher, 4/2)

The New York Times: Biden Effort To Combat Hunger Marks ‘A Profound Change’ 
With more than one in 10 households reporting that they lack enough to eat, the Biden administration is accelerating a vast campaign of hunger relief that will temporarily increase assistance by tens of billions of dollars and set the stage for what officials envision as lasting expansions of aid. The effort to rush more food assistance to more people is notable both for the scale of its ambition and the variety of its legislative and administrative actions. The campaign has increased food stamps by more than $1 billion a month, provided needy children a dollar a day for snacks, expanded a produce allowance for pregnant women and children, and authorized the largest children’s summer feeding program in history. (DeParle, 4/4)

NPR: COVID-19 Vaccine Safe For Mom And Baby, New Study Suggests
Since the pandemic began, pregnant people have faced a difficult choice: to vaccinate or not to vaccinate. The risk of severe disease or even death from COVID-19 — while small — is higher during pregnancy. More than 82,000 coronavirus infections among pregnant individuals and 90 maternal deaths from the disease have been reported in the U.S. as of last month. But there's very little data on whether the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective during pregnancy, because people who are pregnant or breastfeeding weren't included in the initial clinical trials. (Pfizer recently began a new trial with 4,000 pregnant women.) (Greenhalgh, 4/2)

ABC News: COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effects Reported By Women More Than Men: Here's Why
If you are a woman who felt more severe side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine than your brother, father, male coworker or partner, you are not alone and not imagining things. The majority of side effects from the vaccine reported so far have been among women. This might be because women are more likely to willing than men to acknowledge symptoms like headache and fatigue, but there also may be a biological reason why women experience more severe side effects than men, experts say. (Kindelan, 4/5)

NBC News: Do You A Need Test To Tell You If You're Allergic To The Covid Vaccine Before Getting It?
When reports of severe allergic reactions among recipients of Covid-19 vaccines started surfacing, Angelina Giunta became worried. Even though Giunta, 61, of Brooklyn, New York, was desperate to get the vaccine after a year in quarantine, she'd had two severe allergic reactions to medications during treatment for cancer in 2017. "I want to get the vaccine because I want to move on with my life," Giunta said. "But I was extremely concerned." (Edwards, 4/5)

CNN: Read These Tips Before Getting Your Covid-19 Vaccine
If you are not eligible to be vaccinated against Covid-19, you will be soon if you live in the United States. All 50 states plan to open vaccine eligibility to everyone 16 and older, and several states have already done that, including Alaska, Mississippi and Georgia. According to President Joe Biden, 90% of all adult Americans will be eligible for vaccination by April 19. (Waldrop, 4/3)

CNN: You Should Think Twice Before Laminating Your Vaccine Card 
Vaccine eligibility in the US is expanding quickly, and so is the popularity of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's little white card. While plans to establish standardized vaccination proof are still being developed, many are holding to their Covid-19 vaccine cards as a potential form of social currency. And companies, like Staples and Office Depot, are offering to help keep them safe with free lamination. (Morava and Lear, 4/4)

The New York Times: What You Need To Know About Your Covid-19 Vaccine Card 
Laminating your card will make it more durable if you’re planning to carry it around in your wallet, though there has been some concern about lamination because it would prevent information from future booster shots from being added. (de Leon, 4/4)

AP: State Expands Eligibility For Coronavirus Vaccine This Week
All Delawareans above the age of 16 will soon become eligible to sign up for the coronavirus vaccine. The Delaware State News reports that the expanded eligibility begins on Tuesday. People can sign up for the state’s waiting list at vaccinerequest.delaware.gov. (4/4)

AP: Vermont Opening COVID-19 Vaccines To Those 40 And Older
Vermonters age 40 and over are now eligible to make appointments to be vaccinated against the virus that causes COVID-19. The Vermont Health Department website will begin accepting appointments at 8:15 a.m. Monday. A week later, the age limit drops to age 30 and over. On April 19, all adult Vermonters will be eligible to be vaccinated. (4/5)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Vaccine Appointments Available For Age 16 And Up In Nevada
Appointments are open for Nevadans age 16 and up to schedule the COVID-19 vaccine before official expansion Monday. The expansion means that 2.47 million will be eligible to receive the vaccine. As of Friday, 33.9 percent of that population has received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Health and Human Services. State officials say they are anticipating a big response to the expansion and expect appointments to be grabbed up quickly. As a result, not everyone will be able to immediately get a shot, they say. (Newberg, 4/4)

The New York Times: The Once-Battered Navajo Nation Has Gained Control Of The Virus, For Now.
The Navajo Nation, which once had one of the worst coronavirus case rates in the United States, recently reached an extraordinary milestone: zero cases and zero deaths in a 24-hour period. The nation, which has over 300,000 enrolled members, is averaging about 11 new cases a day, far below its peak of 250 in late November, according to the latest data from the Navajo Department of Health. (Delkic and Ngo, 4/5)

The Wall Street Journal: Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 Vaccine Emerges As Preferred Shot For Homeless 
Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine has found a niche among organizations that work with the homeless, who say the one-dose shot is better-suited for a population that can be difficult to reach twice. The U.S. homeless population has soared during the pandemic. Shelters have become a source of spread as experts puzzle over how to stem stubbornly high infection rates despite an aggressive national vaccine rollout. (Wernau, 4/4)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Vaccine Appointment Website Sending People To Dead End
On Friday, the last business day before the state throws open the doors for COVID-19 vaccinations, the Milwaukee Health Department's sign up webpage was directing those trying to make an appointment to a dead end. City spokesman Jeff Fleming said there were some interface issues between the city and the state, and problems were expected to be fixed by 3:30 p.m. Friday. But as of 5 p.m. it was not working. The city has been promoting its website Milwaukee.gov/CovidVax as the place to sign up for appointments at the downtown Wisconsin Center. (Dirr, 4/2)

Bay Area News Group: ‘Vaccine Passports’ Are Headed To California, But Some Could Be Left Behind
California crossed a major threshold last week: For the first time, state officials moved to adopt a policy that that would give residents who are vaccinated access to different events and activities than those who aren’t. New requirements for a “vaccine passport” — showing proof of vaccination to attend gatherings like weddings, conferences, concerts or theater shows — set California apart from states looking to ban such requirements and raise questions surrounding vaccine access and privilege in a region that has repeatedly failed to protect its most vulnerable populations. (Kelliher and Castañeda, 4/3)

Politico: Pharmacies Score Customer Data In Vaccine Effort. Some Are Crying Foul
Millions of Americans streaming through retail pharmacies to receive Covid vaccines have no choice but to hand over their personal information to those companies, raising red flags for privacy watchdogs who are pressing for oversight of how the pharmacies may use the data bonanza to boost their profits. Pharmacy chains like CVS Health, Walgreens, Rite Aid and others are playing an increasingly larger role in the nationwide inoculation effort, as vaccines become more widely available in the coming weeks. While providing vaccinations themselves aren’t a major moneymaker for the retailers, they have been able to scoop up data on new customers that could prove to be valuable. (Ravindranath and Luthi, 4/3)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Are Louisiana Residents Getting COVID After Vaccines? Yes, But 'Breakthrough Cases' Expected
About 125 fully vaccinated people in Louisiana have tested positive for COVID-19 more than two weeks after their last dose. That there is a small number of "breakthrough case" is no surprise. “I think it’s in line with what you would expect from the trials,” said Dr. Joe Kanter, the state health officer. A recent study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are about 90% effective against infection once two weeks have passed since the second of two doses. The one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine is about 72% effective against moderate to severe disease, according to U.S. trials. (Woodruff, 4/2)

AP: The Final Insult: Some Dying Of COVID While Awaiting Vaccine
After months of hoping to receive a COVID-19 immunization and then weeks of fighting the illness after one never came, Air Force veteran Diane Drewes was down to her last few breaths at a hospice center in Ohio when the phone rang. It was a health care worker, calling to schedule her first appointment for a coronavirus shot. Drewes’ daughter Laura Brown was stunned by the timing of the call in January but didn’t lash out over the phone or even explain that her 75-year-old mom was at the point of death. There just wasn’t any point, she said. “But me and my sister were upset that it came too late,” Brown said. “It seemed like the final insult.” (Reeves, 4/3)

KQED: Finally Some Good News For California Nursing Home Residents
After a devastating sweep that killed more than 9,000 residents and workers, COVID-19 has nearly disappeared from California’s nursing homes. At the height of the winter surge, more than 80 residents of nursing facilities died every day from COVID-19. In March, however, fewer than 15 new cases were reported each day, and deaths dropped to between one and six people daily, according to the California Department of Public Health. Health experts credit a massive nationwide campaign to vaccinate elderly and frail residents and their caregivers. About 87% of the 85,000 people who live in California’s skilled nursing facilities have been fully vaccinated, according to the state health agency. (Feder Ostrov, 4/4)

Fox News: Coronavirus Masks Containing Graphene Should Not Be Sold, Canadian Health Authorities Say
Canadian health officials have issued a warning about face masks that contain graphene or biographene, urging a recall by distributors, according to reports. Health Canada said graphene is a novel nanomaterial that is reported to have antiviral and antibacterial properties. However, the advisory issued Friday warns that there is "potential that wearers could inhale graphene particles from some masks," Global News reported. (Aitken, 4/4)

CIDRAP: One In 5 COVID-Affected Health Workers Weighs Quitting: Study
More than one in five healthcare workers (21%) have at least moderately considered leaving the workforce and 30% have considered reducing hours because of COVID-19 stress, according to a study in JAMA Network Open. Unlike previous studies that have reported healthcare workers' mental health burden during the pandemic, this survey-based study looks at childcare, career development prospects, and stress. (McLernon, 4/2)

Modern Healthcare: 10% Of Black Patients Report Prejudice By Their Healthcare Provider
Black adults were more likely than patients from other racial and ethnic groups to report discrimination against them by a healthcare provider both prior to and during the pandemic. An Urban Institute report released Monday found 10.6% of Black patients reported being discriminated against or being unfairly judged based on their race, ethnicity, disability, gender, sexual orientation, or health condition by clinical staff sometime over the previous 12 months. By comparison, 3.6% of white adults and 4.5% of Latino individuals reported experiencing discrimination during a healthcare visit. (Ross Johnson, 4/5)

Modern Healthcare: UnitedHealthcare Sued For Allegedly Bribing Providers To Avoid Out-Of-Network Referrals
U.S. Anesthesia Partners sued UnitedHealth Group in two states on Wednesday, calling the nation's largest insurer a "boa constrictor" that allegedly squeezed the 4,000-member physician practice out of so much business it went to the courts to regain its clients. "United and its affiliates have extended their tentacles into virtually every aspect of healthcare, allowing United to squeeze, choke, and crush any market participant that stands in the way of United's increased profits," the physician group's lawsuit in a Texas state court reads. (Tepper, 4/2)

Boston Globe: Boston’s Hospital Chiefs Moonlight On Corporate Boards At Rates Far Beyond The National Level
As chief of Boston Children’s Hospital, one of the most esteemed pediatric hospitals in the world, Sandra Fenwick had outsized influence. After the pandemic struck last spring, she used that clout to lobby Massachusetts legislators for more money for telemedicine, a suddenly essential alternative to in-person visits. She also spoke glowingly about remote care during an online forum last September, saying that satisfaction among patients and staff was hitting “eight, nine, and 10.’' The hospital, she told a Harvard public health professor, would objectively study the best uses of telemedicine, but she predicted it “is absolutely here to stay.” What she did not say on both occasions was that she had a highly paid side job: She has, since 2019, had a seat on the board of directors of a major, for-profit telemedicine company. (Kowalczyk, Ryley, Arsenault and Wen, 4/3)

Modern Healthcare: 40 Oregon Providers, Insurers Sign Value-Based Care Pact
Dozens of Oregon healthcare companies have committed to boosting their value-based payment models as the state looks to reduce healthcare expenses. Forty healthcare organizations, including some of state's largest health systems and insurers, signed a voluntary compact Thursday that aims to tie 70% of their payments to capitation and other alternative payment models by 2024. The pledge aligns with the Oregon's cost growth benchmark that goes into effect this year, which looks to reduce the current 6.5% cost growth rate to 3.4%, said Jeremy Vandehey, director of the health policy and analytics division at the Oregon Health Authority. (Kacik, 4/2)

Stat: Research On Therapies For Herpes And Diabetes Win STAT Madness 
From curing herpes to treating diabetes in a new way, their innovations might one day treat some of the world’s most prevalent health problems. This year’s two finalists in STAT Madness, a bracket-style competition that showcases cutting-edge research across the biomedical sciences, harnessed new approaches to devise possible therapies that could help millions of people with all-too-common maladies. (Sohn, 4/5)

The Washington Post: Schools Plan Full-Time Classes For Fall 
Parents, students and teachers, exhausted by the false starts, union battles, quarantines and remote learning that have upended this school year, are looking around the bend with an urgent, fretful question: Come fall, will school at last be back to normal? The likely answer: Sort of, but not really. And not for everybody. (Meckler and St. George, 4/3)

Axios: Pandemic Fuels Staggering Teacher Shortages Across The U.S. 
The pandemic has pushed teachers out of the workforce in droves, and many schools don't have a strong safety net to fill the gaps as children come back into classrooms. Teaching has been one of the toughest pandemic-era jobs, with pivots to remote learning and then risk of infection with school reopenings. (Pandey, 4/5)

Indianapolis Star: NCAA Tournament Fan Dies From COVID-19 Days After Attending Game
The Marion County health department is investigating whether anyone in Indianapolis was exposed by any Alabama residents after news reports of an NCAA fan dying of complications of COVID-19. Luke Ratliff, a 23-year-old student at the University of Alabama, died after a brief illness days after attending the NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis, his father has confirmed. Multiple sources told The Tuscaloosa News that he had died of complications related to COVID-19.Ratliff, a major fan of the school's basketball team, was hospitalized shortly after returning to Tuscaloosa on Mar. 29. He had attended the school's game against UCLA at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis the night before. (Hopkins, 4/3)

ABC News: Texas Rangers To Reopen Stadium At Full Capacity Despite COVID-19 Case Numbers 
The Texas Rangers are scheduled to make a bold move for their home opener Monday that has some medical experts and President Joe Biden concerned. Globe Life Field in Arlington will be the first Major League Baseball stadium to reopen at full capacity -- roughly 40,000 seats -- since the pandemic began. The move comes a month after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ended the state's mask mandate and asked businesses to reopen fully, citing declining COVID-19 cases and vaccination numbers. (Pereira, 4/4)

The Washington Post: He Said He Spent $15,000 On A Disney World Trip. He Refused A Temperature Check And Got Arrested.
Kelly Sills paid a small fortune for an enchanting trip to “the most magical place on Earth.” Instead, the Baton Rouge resident — like several other Disney World guests who have defied coronavirus restrictions — visited the Orange County jail. Amid heightened precautions for the virus at the major Florida tourist attraction, Sills, 47, skipped the temperature screening required of guests, authorities said. He was confronted by security about it at a Disney Springs restaurant, the Boathouse, when he yelled and refused to leave, according to an Orange County Sheriff’s Office arrest report from Feb. 13. When deputies insisted he would be charged with trespassing, he pointed to how much he spent on his vacation, according to body-camera footage released this week. (Kornfield, 4/3)

AP: Delta Cancels Over 100 Flights, Opens Some Middle Seats 
Delta Air Lines canceled about 100 flights Sunday due to staff shortages, and it opened up middle seats a month earlier than expected in order to carry more passengers. The airline says it had over 1 million passengers during the past few days, the highest number since before the coronavirus pandemic began last year. (Krisher, 4/4)

NBC News: Office Buildings Are Opening Back Up. Not All Employees Want To Return.
On the morning Alexia Layne-Lomon returned to her office for the first time since the pandemic began, she woke up anxious. Her stomach felt queasy. Commuting into work, once a mindless daily routine, now felt foreign and risky. Layne-Lomon, 38, of Roslindale, Massachusetts, is one of millions of employees across the country who hastily made the transition to remote work last spring. A couple of weeks ago, she went back to her building to train a new employee at the anti-poverty agency where she is the director of development and grants. (Chuck, 4/5)

Stat: Kids In The ER Are Waiting Longer For Mental Health Care 
Children taken to the emergency room for mental health concerns are more likely to be stuck there for extended stays than they were a decade ago, according to new research. Hispanic children are almost three times more likely than white children to experience these delays in care. “Every minute, every hour, every day a kid with mental health care [needs] spends in the ED is a delay in the care that they actually need,” said Katherine Nash, author of the study, published Monday in Pediatrics. (Gaffney, 4/5)

ABC News: If We Want More Resilient Adults, We Need To Teach Resilience To All Kids 
For years, science has looked at what makes someone resilient and able to positively adapt in the face of adversity. While early studies suggested that resilience depends on inherent traits that we have as individuals, newer studies suggest that resilience is a dynamic process that in large part can be taught, practiced and strengthened -- kind of like building an internal toolbox to help you manage external stress. And the sooner it's taught, the better. (Chaudhary, 4/5)

The New York Times: Salmonella Outbreak Is Linked To Wild Birds And Feeders, C.D.C. Says 
A salmonella outbreak linked to contact with wild songbirds and bird feeders has sickened 19 people across eight states, eight of whom have been hospitalized, federal health authorities said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was investigating salmonella infections in California, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington State in people ranging in age from 2 months to 89 years old. (Jimenez, 4/4)

CBS News: Toxic Wastewater Reservoir On Verge Of Collapse In Florida Could Cause "Catastrophic Event"
Hundreds of residents in Manatee County, Florida, were ordered to evacuate their homes over Easter weekend as officials feared that a wastewater pond could collapse "at any time." On Saturday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for the area. ... Phosphogypsum is the "radioactive waste" left over from processing phosphate ore into a state that can be used for fertilizer, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. "In addition to high concentrations of radioactive materials, phosphogypsum and processed wastewater can also contain carcinogens and heavy toxic metals," the center said in a statement on Saturday. (Cohen, 4/4)