First Edition: Dec. 12, 2023

KFF Health News: LA County Invests Big In Free Virtual Mental Health Therapy For K-12 Students 
Los Angeles County public schools are rolling out an ambitious effort to offer free mental health services to their 1.3 million K-12 students, a key test of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s sweeping, $4.7 billion program to address a youth mental health crisis. Spearheaded by the county’s Medi-Cal plans — which provide health insurance to low-income residents — in collaboration with its Office of Education and Department of Mental Health, the LA school program relies on teletherapy services provided by Hazel Health, one of a clutch of companies that have sprung up to address a nationwide shortage of mental health services that grew much worse during the covid-19 pandemic. (Castle Work, 12/12)

KFF Health News: People With Disabilities Hope Autonomous Vehicles Deliver Independence 
Myrna Peterson predicts self-driving vehicles will be a ticket out of isolation and loneliness for people like her, who live outside big cities and have disabilities that prevent them from driving. Peterson, who has quadriplegia, is an enthusiastic participant in an unusual test of autonomous vehicles in this corner of northern Minnesota. She helped attract government funding to bring five self-driving vans to Grand Rapids, a city of 11,000 people in a region of pine and birch forests along the Mississippi River. (Leys, 12/12)

KFF Health News: Listen: What Our 2-Year-Long Investigation Into Medical Debt Reveals 
Across the country, Americans are losing their homes, emptying their retirement accounts, and struggling to feed and clothe their families because of medical debt. For two years, KFF Health News and NPR have been investigating this crisis through the “Diagnosis: Debt” project. The award-winning project has exposed the enormous scale of this problem, finding, among other things, that 100 million people in the U.S. are saddled with some kind of health care debt. (Levey, 12/12)

Stat: House Passes Site-Neutral Policy, PBM Reform Package 
The House passed a relatively major health care package late Monday, an end-of-year victory after the same policies had to be yanked from consideration in September because they lacked bipartisan support. Though the package is unlikely to pass the Senate and become law as-is, its advancing through the House does make each included policy more attractive for a potential government funding deal, as lawmakers draw closer to the Jan. 19 deadline to fund the government and extend funding for certain health programs in particular. (Cohrs, 12/11)

Modern Healthcare: House Passes Bill Covering PBMs, DSH Cuts, Site-Neutral Payments
The Lower Costs More Transparency Act of 2023, which passed 320 to 71, would require extensive new disclosures of prices and costs by hospitals, insurers, imaging services, diagnostic laboratories and PBMs. It also bans PBMs from the practice of spread pricing in Medicaid, requiring them to pass on savings they negotiate with drug companies and instead get paid a set administrative fee. (McAuliff, 12/11)

Fierce Healthcare: House Price Transparency Legislation Passes With Bipartisan Support 
In addition to mandating providers and PBMs publicly list prices before they charge patients, hospitals will be required to publish charges through machine-readable files. The bill also calls for the elimination of $16 billion in disproportionate share hospital (DSH) program cuts through 2025, $7 billion in funds for the Medicaid Improvement Fund while allocating $15 billion in funds toward community health centers and programs to address physician shortages in underserved communities. Leading House members argue the bill will help patients and employers get the­ best deal possible for patients and employers by codifying price transparency protections, allowing consumers to compare health insurers’ rates and prices hospitals charge. This means insurers will have to disclose all billing codes and modifiers. (Tong, 12/11)

Modern Healthcare: Medicaid Enrollment Increases Amid CMS Pressure On States
State Medicaid agencies, under intensifying federal scrutiny as millions of people lose coverage, say they are stepping up efforts to identify who should and shouldn't be enrolled as they continue eligibility redeterminations. States have removed nearly 12 million people from Medicaid since April, when they began unwinding a pandemic-era continuous coverage policy that expired earlier this year, according to federal data compiled by KFF. (Bennett, 12/11)

The Washington Post: Supreme Court Declines To Hear Challenge To ‘Conversion Therapy’ Ban
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to take up a challenge to a state law in Washington designed to protect LGBTQ+ youths from “conversion therapy,” a decision that drew dissent from three conservative justices. More than 20 states and the District of Columbia restrict mental health counseling that attempts to change a young person’s gender identity or sexual orientation. (Marimow, 12/11)

CBS News: Supreme Court Declines Challenge To Washington State's Conversion Therapy Ban For Minors
"Washington's licensing scheme for health care providers, which disciplines them for practicing conversion therapy on minors, does not violate the First or Fourteenth Amendments," Judge Ronald Gould wrote for the 9th Circuit panel. "States do not lose the power to regulate the safety of medical treatments performed under the authority of a state license merely because those treatments are implemented through speech rather than through scalpel." (Quinn, 12/11)

The Hill: Supreme Court Turns Away Challenge To Abortion Clinic Buffer Zones
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear a challenge to a precedent enabling states to enact laws prohibiting anti-abortion activists from approaching someone entering an abortion clinic. In 2000, the high court ruled that the First Amendment did not prohibit such a law in Colorado. Several of the Supreme Court’s conservatives have publicly cast doubt on the decision’s viability, concerns they again raised in the majority opinion overturning the constitutional right to abortion last year. Backed by anti-abortion and religious interests, a Catholic “sidewalk counselor” sought to have the precedent overturned by appealing her challenge to a Westchester County, N.Y., law to the high court. But in a brief order, the justices declined to hear the dispute. (Schonfeld, 12/11)

USA Today: Kate Cox Leaves Texas After State Supreme Court Blocks Abortion
A pregnant Texas woman seeking an abortion after doctors confirmed her fetus has a deadly genetic condition has left Texas for the procedure after the state Supreme Court blocked her from receiving one, attorneys said Monday. Kate Cox, a mother of two from Dallas, is in her 21st week of pregnancy and doctors diagnosed her fetus with trisomy 18, a fatal disorder. They recommended an abortion to preserve her reproductive health – a procedure largely prohibited under several Texas laws. "She’s been in and out of the emergency room and she couldn’t wait any longer," said Nancy Northup, chief executive of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Cox in a lawsuit challenging the Texas abortion bans. (Villagran, Wagner and Jimenez, 12/11)

Houston Chronicle: Texas Supreme Court Says Doctors Must Decide On Abortion After Blocking Dallas Woman's Procedure
The Texas Supreme Court on Monday ruled doctors must use their “reasonable medical judgment” to determine when a patient qualifies for an abortion and called on the state’s medical board to issue more guidance. The high court’s decision struck down a lower court ruling allowing Kate Cox, the 31-year-old Dallas woman whose fetus was diagnosed with a typically fatal disorder, to get an abortion. It came hours after Cox’s lawyers announced she would leave the state for the procedure. (Goldenstein, 12/11)

ABC News: What To Know As Arizona's Centuries-Old Near-Total Abortion Ban Heads To The State's Supreme Court
The Arizona State Supreme Court will begin hearing oral arguments Tuesday over whether a centuries-old near-total abortion ban will be reinstated. Currently, abortion is banned at 15 weeks or later in Arizona. Patients are required to make two appointments, the first for an in-person counseling session and the second at least 24 hours later for the abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that focuses on sexual and reproductive health. (Kekatos, 12/12)

The Boston Globe: Lawmakers Seeking To Protect N.H. Abortion Rights Push Back On Proposed 15-Day Ban
State lawmakers are fighting a proposal that would ban abortions in New Hampshire after 15 days gestation, and said Monday they plan to introduce a constitutional amendment protecting the right to abortion in the Granite State. The proposal would enshrine the right to abortion up to 24 weeks in the state constitution, allowing only abortions deemed “necessary” by a doctor after that point. The state’s current law allows abortions up to 24 weeks, with exceptions to protect the life of the mother or if the fetus receives a fatal diagnosis. (Gokee, 12/11)

Stateline: Some South Dakota Abortion Rights Groups Don’t Back Ballot Measure To Restore Access
Some South Dakota abortion rights groups do not support a potential ballot measure that aims to restore those rights. The groups say they have concerns about the measure’s language and the way it was drafted. “We are not telling people to donate, or volunteer,” said Samantha Chapman, advocacy manager for the American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota. “We are staying out of it. We’re not telling people to vote no or yes.” (Haiar, 12/11)

Modern Healthcare: 9 Hospitals To Offer First FDA-Backed Sickle Cell Treatment
The hospitals that will offer CRISPR Therapeutics' Casgevy genome-edited cell therapy are Boston Medical Center; Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C.; City of Hope Children’s Cancer Center in Los Angeles; Medical City Children’s Hospital in Dallas; Methodist Children’s Hospital in San Antonio, Texas; Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio; The Children’s Hospital at TriStar Centennial in Nashville, Tennessee; The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute in Columbus, Ohio; and University of Chicago/Comer Children’s Hospital in Chicago. (DeSilva, 12/11)

Modern Healthcare: Norton Healthcare Data Breach Hits Approximately 2.5M Patients
Records for approximately 2.5 million patients of Louisville, Kentucky-based Norton Healthcare were acquired by hackers in a data breach earlier this year. ... Maine’s Attorney General publicly filed information submitted by attorneys representing Norton Healthcare on Friday. While a small number of Maine’s residents were impacted, the state requires organizations experiencing a breach to submit information. (Turner, 12/11)

Modern Healthcare: Kroger Testing Senior Primary Care With In-Store Clinics
Kroger is testing a strategic shift for its in-store clinics and moving into primary care for seniors. This month, its Kroger Health unit transitioned eight of The Little Clinic sites in Atlanta to focus on seniors, in addition to their regular services. If the change proves successful, Kroger wants to expand it to other existing locations and potentially new markets, said Jim Kirby, Kroger Health's chief commercial officer. (Hudson, 12/11)

Modern Healthcare: Best Buy Health, Biobeat Launch Partnership
Best Buy plans to expand its healthcare offerings through a new partnership with Biobeat, a remote patient monitoring company. The partnership is the latest effort by the retailer's Best Buy Health unit to bolster its at-home health strategy. Best Buy Health aims to provide the technology side of at-home care through its Current Health subsidiary, which Best Buy acquired in 2021 for $400 million. (DeSilva, 12/11)

The CT Mirror: Windham Hospital Is Ending Labor And Delivery. Here's What To Know
On Dec. 1, Connecticut’s Office of Health Strategy announced the approval of a plan to terminate labor and delivery services at Windham Hospital, bringing an end to a three-year saga that pitted community organizers against one of the state’s largest health systems. Windham Hospital stopped performing births in June 2020. Three months later, Hartford HealthCare, which owns the hospital, applied for state approval — known as a “certificate of need” — to officially close the unit. (Golvala and DeBenedictis, 12/11)

Becker's Hospital Review: Workers Set To Strike At 4 Prime Hospitals
Members of the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West are set to launch a five-day strike Dec. 20 affecting four Prime Healthcare facilities in Southern California. The union represents about 1,800 workers at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood, Garden Grove Hospital and Medical Center, and Encino Hospital Medical Center, according to a union news release shared with Becker's. Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare operates 45 hospitals and more than 300 outpatient locations in 14 states. (12/11)

CBS News: Sierra College Ranked As Best Nursing School In California
Sierra College's nursing program was just named the best in all of California. The program was ranked number one by RegisteredNursing.org. Nancy James is the dean of nursing and allied health sciences at Sierra College. She said the results were a little surprising. "Because the competition is fierce," she said. "All of the nursing programs in the Sacramento area, and honestly state, are amazing nursing programs." James added that now is a great time to enter the field. (Garcia, 12/11)

CBS News: "Largest Gift In The History" Of University Of Northern Colorado Granted, $25 Million To Help Rural Colorado's Medical Field
The University of Northern Colorado will soon be the home to the region's newest school for osteopathic medicine. Thanks to a $25 million grant from The Weld Trust, UNC plans to have its newest school open by 2026. "This is the largest gift in the history of this university," said Andy Feinstein, President of UNC. The donation was made by The Weld Trust, a nonprofit that was founded after Northern Colorado Medical Center was sold to Banner Health in 2019. (Thomas, 12/11)

Stat: United Executive Mike Tuffin To Head Health Insurance Group AHIP
An executive at insurance giant UnitedHealth Group is slated to be the next leader of the health insurance industry’s largest lobbying group, the group announced Monday. AHIP has selected Mike Tuffin, who’s currently UnitedHealth’s senior vice president for external affairs and head of U.S. government affairs, to be its next leader, after Matt Eyles announced his retirement from the group earlier this year after a five-year tenure. (Cohrs, 12/11)

Erie Times-News: Mercer County Prisoner Charged With Escape After Exiting Hospital During Treatment
A Mercer County Prison inmate was temporarily released from custody on Friday to undergo medical treatment at UPMC Hamot. The order allowing 31-year-old Alex Rabold to visit the Erie, Pennsylvania, hospital required the inmate, who was unguarded by prison officials and hospital security while at Hamot, to return to the Mercer County Prison immediately after his treatment was finished. Rabold walked away instead. Authorities are now investigating whether Rabold, of Hermitage, stole a UPMC Hamot employee's vehicle and fled town. The vehicle was recovered, unoccupied, in Sharon, Mercer County, on Saturday night, according to Erie Police Chief Dan Spizarny. Rabold's whereabouts remained unknown Monday afternoon. (Hahn and Bruce, 12/11)

Reuters: US Consumer Group Seeks Stronger Warnings On Botox, Similar Treatments
Consumer advocacy group Public Citizen on Tuesday filed a petition with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seeking to require makers of Botox and several similar injections to include stronger warnings about the risk of a potentially fatal muscle-paralyzing disease. These injections, which use various versions of botulinum toxins to contract specific muscles by blocking certain nerve signals to erase wrinkles, already have a 'black box' warning in their labels about the risks of the intended effect spreading to other areas. The consumer group asked the FDA to make it clear that these adverse effects could happen even at recommended dosages. (Leo, 12/12)

The New York Times: Drugs Like Wegovy Can Fix Teenage Obesity, But Young People Don’t Get Them 
Dr. Edward Lewis, a pediatrician in Rochester, N.Y., has seen hundreds of children with obesity over the years in his medical practice. He finally may have a treatment for their medical condition — the powerful weight loss drug Wegovy. But that does not mean Dr. Lewis is prescribing it. Nor are most other pediatricians. “I am reluctant to prescribe medications we don’t use on a day-to-day basis,” Dr. Lewis said. And, he added, he is disinclined to use “a medicine that is a relative newcomer to the scene in kids.” (Kolata, 12/11)

CBS News: Brain Of Maine Mass Shooter To Be Studied At Boston University's CTE Center
The brain of the Lewiston, Maine gunman Robert Card is now being tested for potential trauma. Boston University's CTE Center will take a closer look at Card's brain in hopes of learning about any injury or trauma it may have received during his service in the Army reserves. Card is accused of opening fire at a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston in October, killing 18 people and injuring more than a dozen others. (Schooley, 12/11)

The Texas Tribune: Stats On Suicides Involving Guns Shows Need For More Laws, Texas Groups Say
The number of Texans who used a gun to take their life last year was the highest since at least 1999, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC researchers say multiple factors likely contributed to a similar increase nationally, including the COVID-19 pandemic that might have exacerbated risk factors for suicide like social isolation, relationship stressors and substance use. In Texas, gun safety and mental health advocates point to another factor: Easy access to guns. Nationally, the rate of people using a gun in their suicide reached a record high last year when there were approximately 27,000 such deaths, according to a CDC report this month. (Serrano and Simpson, 12/12)

CBS News: Minneapolis Law Firm Files Suit Over Contaminated Cantaloupe
 A court battle is brewing over contaminated cantaloupe spreading salmonella across dozens of states. Three people have died, including two in Minnesota. Minnesota also has the highest number of infections, with 20 reported cases of salmonella. Local law firm Pritzker Hageman, P.A. says a severe salmonella infection sent a 13-month-old Florida boy to the hospital for days. The law firm wants Sofia Produce, or Trufresh, to cover treatment and other costs. The company's brands, Rudy and Malichita, are still under recall. (Moser, 12/11)

Reuters: EPA Pollution Permitting Discriminates Against Kids, New Climate Lawsuit Says 
A group of 18 young California residents has sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for “intentionally” discriminating against American children by allowing the release of dangerous levels of climate change-causing greenhouse gas pollution. The young people filed their lawsuit Sunday night in a California federal court, arguing the EPA is violating their equal protection, due process and other rights under the U.S. Constitution by permitting factories, refineries and other sources of pollution to release too much climate-warming pollutants like carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. (Mindock, 12/11)

Military.com: US Military To Screen All New Recruits For Heart Conditions Under Must-Pass Annual Defense Bill 
Beginning next year, the U.S. military is expected to screen all potential recruits for cardiac anomalies under a new program designed to reduce deaths at boot camp and beyond. The current version of the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, expected to pass Congress this month, requires the Defense Department to launch a pilot program by next October to give electrocardiograms, also known as ECGs or EKGs, to anyone who undergoes a military accession screening. (Kime, 12/11)

The New York Times: To Revive Portland, Officials Seek To Ban Public Drug Use 
After years of rising overdoses and an exodus of business from central Portland, Gov. Tina Kotek of Oregon said on Monday that state and city officials are proposing to roll back a portion of the nation’s most wide-ranging drug decriminalization law in a bid to revive the troubled city. Under the plan brokered by Gov. Kotek, a Democrat, state lawmakers would be asked to consider a ban on public drug use and police would be given greater resources to deter the distribution of drugs. Ms. Kotek said officials hoped to restore a sense of safety for both visitors and workers in the city’s beleaguered urban core, which has seen an exodus of key retail outlets, including REI, an institution in the Pacific Northwest. (Baker, 12/11)

Axios: Pew: Many Teens Use Social Media "Almost Constantly"
Nearly 1 in 5 teens say they're on YouTube or TikTok "almost constantly," according to a Pew Research Center report. The report paints a picture of a rising generation whose lives are dominated by a handful of social platforms — amid ongoing debate over the possible mental health harms that could result. Pew's latest survey on teens and technology — which polled 1,453 kids online, ages 13-17 — found roughly the same amount of internet use as last year, but substantially more than when the survey was conducted in 2014-2015. (Kingson, 12/11)

Reuters: Red Cross Elects US Humanitarian To Lead Network After Rocky Meeting 
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies elected a U.S. candidate on Monday as its new president after an acrimonious meeting that nearly saw the vote postponed amid a controversy involving a rival candidate. Kate Forbes, an existing IFRC board member, became the second woman to ever hold the top job at the world's largest humanitarian network after two rounds of votes. "Now is the time to lean into our fundamental principles to deliver on our mission and make communities stronger,” she said, vowing to address the impacts of climate change, geopolitical tensions and health emergencies. (Farge, 12/12)

CIDRAP: Zambia Reports 684 Suspected Anthrax Cases, 4 Deaths 
The outbreak began in June in Sinazongwe district in Southern province. Twenty-six people developed sores on their face, arms, and fingers after eating meat from three wild hippopotamus carcasses. Around the same time, cattle, goats, and hippos were reportedly dying from an unknown cause in surrounding areas. (Wappes, 12/11)

Reuters: Mexico President To Push Forward Anti-Vape Bill 
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador plans to present a law banning e-cigarettes and vapes before he leaves office in 2024, he said on Monday, after the supreme court overruled his previous attempt to outlaw their sale. "It's proven they're bad for your health," he said at a regular news conference on Monday. Mexico has one of the world's strictest anti-tobacco laws, after passing a bill for a total ban on smoking in public places - including the street - in January. (12/11)

The New York Times: ‘We Are All Sick’: Infectious Diseases Spread Across Gaza 
Infectious diseases are ravaging the population of Gaza, health officials and aid organizations said on Monday, citing cold, wet weather; overcrowding in shelters; scarce food; dirty water; and little medicine. Adding to the crisis in the enclave after more than two months of war, those who become ill have extremely limited treatment options, as hospitals have been overwhelmed with patients injured in airstrikes. (Gupta, Yazbek and Harouda, 12/11)