First Edition: Aug. 22, 2022

KHN: Grassroots Work Leads To Vaccination Success In Georgia Refugee Community
Naw Mu Chaw had questions about the possible side effects of a covid-19 vaccine. Chaw, a recent refugee from Myanmar, received medical care at a community health center near her home in Clarkston, Georgia, a city of about 14,000 people. Her English is limited, but the center has an interpreter to translate health information into her native language, Burmese. (Rocha, 8/22)

KHN: California Wants To Snip Costs For Vasectomies And Condoms 
California is trying to ease the pain of vasectomies by making them free for millions of residents. Federal law and state law require most health insurers to cover prescription contraceptives at no cost to the patient. But those provisions apply to only 18 FDA-approved birth control options for women, so anyone with testicles is out of luck. (Bluth, 8/22)

KHN: Policies To Roll Back Abortion Rights Will Hit Incarcerated People Particularly Hard
Policies governing abortion and reproductive health care services in U.S. prisons and jails were restrictive and often hostile even before the Supreme Court removed Roe v. Wade’s constitutional protections for abortions. After the June ruling, many reproductive services stand to be prohibited altogether, putting the health of incarcerated women who are pregnant at risk. That threat is particularly urgent in states where lawmakers have made clear their intentions to roll back abortion rights. (Graf, 8/22)

KHN: Abortion Is Shaking Up Attorneys General Races And Exposing Limits To Their Powers
As the country grapples with states’ newfound power to regulate abortion in the aftermath of this summer’s U.S. Supreme Court decision, state attorney general candidates are staking claims on what they’ll do to fight or defend access to abortion — and that’s attracting cash and votes. “By pretty much every indicator there is in a campaign, the Dobbs decision has energized and supercharged our race,” said Kris Mayes, a Democrat running for attorney general in Arizona. “People are outraged about this, and you can feel it in the air.” (Weber and Whitehead, 8/19)

KHN: Journalists Dig Into Questions About The 988 Hotline And Inflation Reduction Act 
KHN correspondent Aneri Pattani discussed social media criticism of the new 988 mental health hotline on NPR’s “Weekend Edition Saturday” on Aug. 13 and on WAMU’s “1A” on Aug. 16. ... KHN chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner discussed the health policy implications of the Inflation Reduction Act on WAMU’s “1A” on Aug. 16. (8/20)

Stat: Biden Admin Stands Firm On Method For Resolving Surprise Billing Disputes
In a final rule published late Friday, the government said the entities that are meant to settle disputes between insurance companies and out-of-network providers must start their considerations with the median in-network payment rate for the service in question. Many providers don’t want the arbiters to rely on the median in-network payment rates, because they’ll get paid less if those in-network charges are taken into account. Already eight provider groups have sued the government on this point. (Bannow, 8/19)

Axios: Surprise Billing Rule Gets New Rules For Working Out Disputes
A year and a half after Congress protected patients from surprise medical bills, the Biden administration has finalized the process for deciding who'll actually pick up the tab. Billions of dollars are at stake — either for providers or for insurers and employers. (Reed and Bettelheim, 8/22)

Modern Healthcare: No Surprises Act Dispute Resolution Rule Published
The regulation, which follows a court decision that struck down part of an earlier policy, instructs arbiters to consider both an insurer's median contracted in-network rate and additional information when determining the correct payment for a surprise bill, including for air ambulance services. The Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury departments jointly published the final rule. (Tepper and Goldman, 8/19)

AP: Arizona Judge Weighs State Request To Enforce Abortion Ban 
An Arizona attorney on Friday urged a judge to allow the state to enforce a near-total ban on abortions under a law that has been blocked for nearly 50 years through a now-overruled U.S. Supreme Court decision. Assistant Attorney General Beau Roysden said the judge’s role is simple: now that the high court has overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion, Pima County Superior Court Judge Kellie Johnson should lift an injunction preventing enforcement of that law. (8/19)

AP: Lawyers Argue To Delay North Dakota Law Banning Abortion
Lawyers for North Dakota’s only abortion clinic asked a judge Friday to delay a trigger law set to ban abortion starting next week, while they pursue a lawsuit challenging the ban on constitutional grounds. The abortion ban is set to go into effect on Aug. 26. The Red River Women’s Clinic in Fargo is seeking a preliminary injunction as part of a lawsuit that says the ban violates the state constitution. Burleigh County District Judge Bruce Romanick said he would make a decision on the motion by the end of [this] week. He did not say how they would proceed with the lawsuit. (MacPherson and Kolpack, 8/19)

AP: 16 More States Hope To Weigh In On Idaho Abortion Lawsuit 
Sixteen more states are asking to weigh in on the U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Idaho over its strict abortion ban. The Justice Department sued the Republican-led state of Idaho earlier this month, saying the abortion ban set to take effect on Aug. 25 violates a federal law requiring Medicaid-funded hospitals to provide “stabilizing treatment” to patients experiencing medical emergencies. ... In court documents filed Friday, Indiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming characterized the federal government’s guidelines as “EMTALA’s grant conditions” and said they do not have the power to preempt state law. (Boone, 8/19)

Houston Chronicle: Texas Supreme Court Weighs Rule On Minors Seeking Abortions
An advisory committee to the Texas Supreme Court voted unanimously Friday to keep in place a legal procedure that allows minors to get a judge's approval to have an abortion without the legally necessary parental consent. (Goldenstein, 8/19)

AP: Little Change In Kansas Abortion Recall; 1 County Not Done
Results from eight of nine Kansas counties that recounted ballots found fewer than 35 changed votes from the Aug. 2 election, when voters soundly rejected a proposed amendment that would have removed abortion rights from the state’s constitution. ... Posted results for the eight counties found a total of 13 fewer votes for those favoring tighter abortion restrictions and 19 fewer votes for those wanting to keep existing abortion rights. Election officials attributed the changes to human error, such as voters making unclear marks on ballots. (8/20)

AP: Spielberg Among Donors In $22M Kansas Campaign On Abortion
Abortion opponents and abortion rights advocates together spent more than $22 million on a ballot question this month in Kansas, and famed film director and producer Steven Spielberg contributed to the successful effort to affirm abortion rights. Finance reports filed by 40 groups and individuals with the state as of this week showed that abortion rights supporters spent $11.3 million on their campaign to defeat a proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution to allow the Republican-controlled Legislature to further restrict or ban abortion. Abortion opponents who pushed the measure spent nearly $11.1 million. (Hanna and Hollingsworth, 8/19)

AP: Walmart Expands Abortion Coverage For Employees
Walmart, the nation’s largest employer, is expanding its abortion coverage for employees after staying largely mum on the issue following the Supreme Court ruling that scrapped a nationwide right to abortion. In a memo sent to employees on Friday, the company said its health care plans will now cover abortion for employees “when there is a health risk to the mother, rape or incest, ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage or lack of fetal viability.” (Hadero, 8/19)

The Wall Street Journal: Websites Selling Unapproved Abortion Pills Are Booming
A murky online market for abortion pills is thriving as some U.S. states tighten abortion restrictions. Dozens of websites state they ship abortion drugs anywhere in the U.S. without a prescription, which violates Food and Drug Administration rules. Most of the sites don’t clearly state who operates them or where they get the pills. The operator of one website said demand for abortion pills has surged since the Supreme Court removed constitutional protection for abortion in June. (Mosbergen and Agarwal, 8/21)

Axios: Louisiana Woman Denied Abortion After Fetus Diagnosed With Fatal Condition
A Louisiana woman says she was denied an abortion after her fetus was diagnosed with a fatal condition that prevented it from developing a skull, according to a statement from her lawyer Ben Crump. (Dam, 8/20)

Indianapolis Star: ‘Predatory’ And ‘Dangerous’ Anti-Abortion Clinics Will Expand In Indiana
Now that Indiana has banned nearly all abortions, crisis pregnancy centers in Indiana are looking to expand. Employees told IndyStar that they have seen upticks in requests for their services and anticipate this need to increase once the ban takes effect Sept. 15. They and other advocates say the centers want to give pregnant people more information before they make their decision on abortion and point to a wide range of other services provided, including therapy and life skills classes. (Kane, 8/22)

NBC News: Mom Fighting Abortion Bans After Her Daughter's Death Points To Her Homeland As A Cautionary Tale
On the eve of the anniversary of her daughter's death Tuesday night, Rosa Hernández was having trouble falling asleep. She said she could still feel the presence of her 16-year-old child Rosaura "Esperancita" Almonte Hernández, who died a decade ago when she had leukemia. Doctors had delayed giving Rosaura chemotherapy because she was pregnant, and they didn't want to harm the fetus. (Acevedo, 8/19)

Reuters: As U.S. Midterms Loom, New York Race Tests Abortion's Sway With Voters
Democrat Pat Ryan did not mince words in laying out his version of the stakes in Tuesday's New York state special congressional election, telling supporters that Republican attacks on abortion are contributing to an "existential" threat to U.S. democracy. "This is not the country I fought to defend, when the government is telling women what to do with their bodies, and ripping away their rights," Ryan, an Army combat veteran, told several dozen Democratic supporters last week at a Woodstock home overlooking the Catskill Mountains about 100 miles (160 km) north of New York City. (Ax, 8/21)

The Wall Street Journal: It Now Costs $300,000 To Raise A Child 
The cost of raising a child through high school has risen to more than $300,000 because of inflation that is running close to a four-decade high, according to a Brookings Institution estimate. It determined that a married, middle-income couple with two children would spend $310,605—or an average of $18,271 a year—to raise their younger child born in 2015 through age 17. The calculation uses an earlier government estimate as a baseline, with adjustments for inflation trends. (Torchinsky, 8/19)

Axios: FDA Authorizes Novavax Vaccine For Adolescents Ages 12 To 17
The Food and Drug Administration has authorized Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use for adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17, the biotech company announced Friday. (Allassan, 8/21)

CNBC: Omicron-Specific Covid Booster Shots Are Just Weeks Away. Here’s Who Will—And Won’t—Be Eligible
Newly updated Covid booster shots designed to target omicron’s BA.5 subvariant should be available within the next three weeks. That begs an important question: Who’s going to be eligible to get them? The short answer: Anyone ages 12 and up who has completed a primary vaccination series, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesperson tells CNBC Make It. It’s unlikely to matter whether you’ve received any other booster doses or not before, the spokesperson says — but if you’re unvaccinated, you won’t eligible for the updated formula until you complete a primary series with the existing Covid vaccines. (Constantino, 8/20)

The Wall Street Journal: Variant-Targeted Covid-19 Boosters Test The Promise Of MRNA Technology 
In the U.S., modified Covid-19 booster shots are unlikely to be cleared for several more weeks because health authorities decided in late June they wanted modified vaccines to target different Omicron subvariants than those rolling out in other countries. As a result, the makers of the leading Covid-19 vaccines—Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc. with its partner BioNTech SE—got a later start producing the new shots that are planned for the U.S.  (Loftus, 8/21)

AP: Judge Throws Out Maine Lawsuit Against COVID Vaccine Mandate
A federal judge has dismissed a complaint from a group of health care workers who said they were unfairly discriminated against by Maine’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement. The plaintiffs sued Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and other Maine officials along with a group of health care organizations in the state. The workers argued that the vaccine mandate violated their right to free exercise of religion because it did not provide an exemption for religious beliefs. (Whittle, 8/19)

The New York Times: Jill Biden Tests Negative For The Coronavirus
Jill Biden, the first lady, left isolation after testing negative for the coronavirus on Sunday, nearly a week after she tested positive while on vacation in South Carolina. Dr. Biden had been isolating in a private residence there, but joined President Biden in Rehoboth, Del., on Sunday, according to a statement from Elizabeth Alexander, her communications director. (Montague, 8/21)

Fox News: Los Angeles County Health Department Offering Free COVID-19 Testing For Pets
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is offering free COVID-19 testing for pets who may have been exposed to the virus. Los Angeles health officials announced the initiative on Aug. 20, stating that it has recently received funding to conduct the free COVIS-19 testing on pets. (Sabes, 8/21)

Oklahoman: Oklahoma Is Expanding Monkeypox Vaccine Eligibility. What To Know
Monkeypox vaccinations will be more widely accessible starting next week in Oklahoma, as federal health authorities have made dosing changes that allow states to stretch their vaccine supplies further. Up until this point, the Oklahoma State Department of Health has reserved vaccinations for people who have been exposed to monkeypox or people who may encounter the virus in their work, like lab technicians and certain health care workers. (Branham, 8/20)

The Boston Globe: Monkeypox Vaccine Providers Start New Method Of Injection
Vaccine providers in Massachusetts are starting to employ a new method of administering the monkeypox vaccine, in an effort to stretch the scarce supplies by using smaller doses for each injection. The method, authorized by the federal government on Aug. 9, involves injecting the vaccine at a shallow angle, sliding the needle near the skin’s surface rather than into the fat underneath. (Freyer, 8/21)

USA Today: Monkeypox State Cases: New York, California Numbers Amid US Emergency
The U.S. had reported 14,115 confirmed monkeypox/orthopoxvirus cases as of Friday, per the CDC. Highly-populated states are leading the numbers – with 2,744 confirmed cases in New York, followed by 2,668 confirmed cases in California. (Grantham-Philips, 8/20)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Issues Its First Monkeypox Isolation Guidance
People recovering from monkeypox should wait at least 48 hours after symptoms subside before resuming activities outside the home and wear condoms during sex for 12 weeks after infection, California health officials said in their first recommendations for monkeypox isolation. (Ho, 8/19)

Los Angeles Times: Monkeypox Cases More Than Double In L.A. County
The number of cumulative monkeypox cases has more than doubled in Los Angeles County in the last two weeks as officials race to better track the virus and more widely vaccinate more vulnerable communities. (Money, Lin II and Toohey, 8/19)

AP: Public Health Emergency Declared Over Monkeypox In WA County 
King County, which includes Seattle, on Friday officially declared the local monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency as infections continue to increase in the city and other parts of the state. “We are fortunate to have one of the best public health organizations in the nation right here in King County, and today’s action ensures they will have all the tools needed to take on the challenge of monkeypox,” King County Executive Dow Constantine said in a written statement. (8/19)

CIDRAP: Evidence Of Monkeypox Virus Found On Household Surfaces 
A study today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report shows multiple surface sites testing positive for monkeypox virus genetic material in a household of two people infected with monkeypox in Utah. ... The swabbed areas included those from all three porous items (cloth furniture and blankets), 17 of 25 (68%) nonporous surfaces (handles and switches), and one of two mixed-surface types (chairs). (8/19)

Stat: FDA Approves Axsome’s Fast-Acting Treatment For Major Depression
After a lengthy review, the Food and Drug Administration approved a fast-acting depression treatment from Axsome Therapeutics on Friday, clearing the way for the first new oral therapy for major depressive disorder in decades. (Garde, 8/19)

The Wall Street Journal: Amazon Among Bidders For Signify Health 
Amazon.com Inc. is among the bidders for healthcare company Signify Health Inc., joining other heavy hitters vying in an auction for the home-health-services provider, according to people familiar with the matter. Signify is for sale in an auction that could value it at more than $8 billion, the people said. Bids are due around Labor Day, according to the people, but it is always possible an eager bidder could strike a deal before then. (Cooper, 8/21)

Stat: Hospitals Wrangle Billions In FEMA Funding To Offset Covid Costs
More hospitals are tapping into billions of dollars from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to offset costs for caring for Covid-19 patients. (Herman, 8/22)

Stat: How North Carolina Hospitals Justify Thwarting Medicaid Expansion
North Carolina hospitals just helped kill a major expansion of the state’s Medicaid program. Both Democrats and Republicans in the state legislature had been working toward expanding the program to another 600,000 low-income people, but the deal fell apart this month. (Herman, 8/22)

AP: Tennessee's Covenant Health Settles Disabilities Act Claims 
The United States has reached a settlement with Knoxville, Tennessee,-based Covenant Health over claims that it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. The settlement Friday comes in the case of a deaf man who alleged that he was denied effective communication during emergency department visits and an in-patient admission at Parkwest Medical Center. That’s according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee. (8/22)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Nevada Has Highest Percentage Of Low-Ranking Hospitals
Nevada has the highest percentage of one-star acute-care hospitals of any state, the lowest rating given by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The state has a single five-star hospital, Renown South Meadows Medical Center in Reno, placing Nevada 12th worst for percentage of top-rated facilities, according to a data analysis by the Review-Journal. (Hynes and Scott Davidson, 8/20)

Becker's Hospital Review: 6,200 University Of Michigan Nurses To Vote On Possible Strike
Members of the Michigan Nurses Association will vote from Aug. 27 through Sept. 2 on whether to authorize nurse negotiation leaders to call a strike at the University of Michigan. (Gooch, 8/19)

Becker's Hospital Review: Pennsylvania Health System To Lay Off 245 Employees
Commonwealth Health will lay off 245 employees when it closes facilities at the end of October. The health system is closing First Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in Kingston, Pa., and its various outpatient centers on Oct. 30. The hospital stopped accepting new admissions at the beginning of August. (Ellison, 8/19)

North Carolina Health News: Mental Health Data Show ‘Unsustainable’ Emergency Department Burden
A 9-year-old girl with mental health issues spent at least four months this spring living in a Novant Health emergency room in Wilmington: sleeping, eating, doing school work. During that time, emergency department staff searched for an available mental health facility that could take a child so young. (Knopf, 8/22)

WUSF Public Media: Sarasota Researchers Find Evidence That Airborne Exposure To Red Tide May Have Neurological Impact 
A Sarasota-based nonprofit organization that works to find treatments for brain disorders has found evidence that airborne exposure to red tide could have neurological impacts. (Carter, 8/19)

CIDRAP: H1N2v Flu Case Detected In Oregon
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) [on Friday] reported a variant H1N2 (H1N2v) case in a patient from Oregon who is younger than 18, according to its latest FluView update. Investigators did not find that the patient had any contact with swine or had attended agricultural fairs. No other respiratory illnesses were found in the individual's household contacts. The patient was not hospitalized and has recovered from his or her illness. (8/19)

The Washington Post: Utah Judge Rules Transgender Girls Allowed To Play Girls’ Sports 
A Salt Lake City judge Friday temporarily halted a Utah law that banned transgender girls from competing in girls’ sports. The decision came as he considered a lawsuit by the families of three transgender students and opened the door for those students to compete in girls’ sports this school year, though a state-created commission will make that determination. (Hill, 8/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: Mothers Rally To Stop The Fentanyl Deaths Of Their Children
Roman Vardanega has been in county jail for five months, and his mother, Tanya Tilghman stood on the steps of City Hall Sunday to beg that he be left there. “If they release my son, he will die and be one of these pictures on the steps,” Tilghman told a crowd of about 150 gathered on National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day. It also marked the first anniversary of Mothers Against Drug Deaths, a Bay Area coalition formed by women whose children are either on the streets or have died of overdoses. (Whiting, 8/21)

Texas Tribune: Abbott Joins Key Republicans In Support Of Repealing “Tampon Tax”
On Friday, Gov. Greg Abbott signaled support for a yearslong call by women's health care advocates to remove taxes on menstrual products like like tampons, sanitary pads and pantyliners. His statement comes after Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar and state Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, voiced their support from eliminating the "tampon tax" on Thursday. (Melhado, 8/21)

St. Louis Public Radio: Missouri Call Centers See Increase In 988 Hotline’s First Month
During the first month of a national mental health crisis line, calls to Missouri mental health centers have gone up 30%, state officials said. (Fentem, 8/19)