First Edition: Feb. 16, 2021

KHN: Anti-Immigrant Vitriol Complicates Vaccine Rollout In Southern States 
In eastern Tennessee, doctors have seen firsthand how a hard-line immigration policy can affect the health and well-being of a community. In 2018, federal agents raided a meatpacking plant in Morristown, a manufacturing hub in the Tennessee Valley, and detained nearly 100 workers they suspected of being in the country illegally. In the weeks that followed, scores of immigrant families who had found work in the meat-processing plants dotting broader Hamblen County scrambled to find sanctuary in churches — and scrupulously avoided seeking medical care. (Varney, 2/16)

KHN: Family Caregivers, Routinely Left Off Vaccine Lists, Worry What Would Happen ‘If I Get Sick’ 
Robin Davidson entered the lobby of Houston Methodist Hospital, where her 89-year-old father, Joe, was being treated for a flare-up of congestive heart failure. Before her stretched a line of people waiting to get covid-19 vaccines. “It was agonizing to know that I couldn’t get in that line,” said Davidson, 50, who is devoted to her father and usually cares for him full time. “If I get sick, what would happen to him?” (Graham, 2/16)

KHN: The ACA Marketplace Is Open Again For Insurance Sign-Ups. Here’s What You Need To Know. 
For people who’ve been without health insurance during the pandemic, relief is in sight. In January, President Joe Biden signed an executive order to open up the federal health insurance marketplace for three months as of Monday so uninsured people can buy a plan and those who want to change their marketplace coverage can do so. (Andrews, 2/16)

KHN: Vaccines Go Mobile To Keep Seniors From Slipping Through The Cracks 
A mobile “strike team” is bringing vaccines to some of Northern California’s most vulnerable residents along with a message: This is how you avoid dying from covid-19.So far, that message has been met with both nervous acceptance and outbursts of joy from a population that has been ravaged by the disease. One 68-year-old pastor, who lives in a racially diverse, low-income senior housing complex, rolled down his sleeve after his shot and said he wants to live to see 70 — just to spite the government. (Bluth, 2/16)

KHN and PolitiFact: Can Pfizer And Moderna End The Pandemic By Sharing Their Vaccine Designs? It’s Not That Simple
Vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna earned praise for creating highly effective covid-19 vaccines in record time. But are they inadvertently hurting the public by not sharing their technology with other pharmaceutical companies to help speed up vaccine manufacturing and distribution? That’s what one post circulating on social media claims. “The vaccine shortage doesn’t need to exist,” reads an image of a tweet shared thousands of times on Facebook. “Pfizer and Moderna could share their design with dozens of other pharma companies who stand ready to produce their vaccines and end the pandemic.” (Putterman, 2/15)

KHN: ‘An Arm And A Leg’: Viral TikTok Video Serves Up Recipe To ‘Crush’ Medical Debt 
Jared Walker, who runs a nonprofit that helps people pay medical bills, posted a TikTok video explaining the recipe to “crush” hospital bills via charity care policies. “What that means is that if you make under a certain amount of money, the hospital legally has to forgive your medical bills,” Walker said in the video. The video has been viewed more than 10 million times. Walker’s organization, Dollar For, had already helped wipe out millions in medical bills before he posted that video. (Weissmann, 2/15)

KHN: In Search Of The Shot 
Too little covid vaccine and too great a demand: That’s what KHN readers from around the country detail in their often exasperating quest to snag a shot, although they are often clearly eligible under their local guidelines and priority system. Public health officials say the supply is growing and will meet demand in several months, but, for now, readers’ experiences show how access is limited. Some savvy readers report no problem getting in line for the vaccine, but others say that balky application processes and lack of information have stymied their efforts. Their unedited reports are a good snapshot of the mixed situation around the country. (2/12)

KHN: S.D. Governor Gives State High Marks In Handling The Pandemic. Are They Deserved?
Covid-19 has pushed states to adopt unique approaches to protect their residents, but few have garnered as much scrutiny as South Dakota. Its governor, Kristi Noem, refused to enact a mask mandate or close any businesses. She argued these precautions were a matter of personal choice, even at large gatherings, such as a July 3 political event at Mount Rushmore and the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis that was connected to covid cases in Minnesota and other nearby states. She sees success in the approach. (Heredia Rodriguez, 2/12)

USA Today: Winter Storm Delays Vaccine Shipments To Texas, Florida
A winter storm with icy roads, power outages and dangerously low temperatures has snarled traffic from coast to coast — and will delay shipments of COVID-19 vaccines to Florida and Texas. Jared Moskowitz, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said the state has been alerted that the frigid weather system impacting 25 states will delay the Monday-Tuesday shipment of vaccines. It is unclear how many doses will be affected and when deliveries will resume. Texas state health officials, due to receive more than 400,000 additional vaccine doses this week, don't expect deliveries until at least Wednesday. And vaccine appointments in the cities of Houston and Austin were expected to be canceled again Tuesday because of the severe winter weather. (Aspegren, 2/16)

The New York Times: Storm Forces Closure Of Vaccination Sites Across U.S. 
The winter storm stretching across much of the country is disrupting the distribution of coronavirus vaccines. Clinics have closed and shipments have been stalled as snow and ice grounded flights and made highways dangerously slick. The cancellations are just the latest hurdle in the U.S. vaccine rollout, which has been accelerating despite difficulties, delays and confusion: An average of about 1.7 million people are getting a shot daily, according to a New York Times database. Several states, including New York and California, have expanded eligibility despite a limited supply. (Rojas, 2/16)

The Washington Post: Power Outages Leave Millions Of Texans Without Heat Overnight As Temperatures Plummet 
After below-freezing temperatures knocked out power to their Houston apartment, Jael Sanchez and Randy Castillo began to feel like they were living at the end of the world. With no heat and no working stove, the couple and their 11-year-old daughter hunkered down in a makeshift bedroom fort made from nearly a dozen blankets, and did their best to heat cans of soup over an outdoor grill in the snow. One neighbor lit a trash fire; another used a car to ram open the electronic gates that typically control who can enter and exit the complex. “Eight hours into Houston not having power, and we were already having an apocalypse here,” Castillo joked shortly before midnight on Tuesday. (Farzan, 2/16)

NPR: Millions Without Power In Texas, Northern Mexico As Blackouts And Bitter Cold Continue 
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced late Monday that the Texas National Guard was being deployed to help get people to heating centers. He said state agencies are sending additional resources and personnel to help local officials clear roadways and to assist essential workers. "The state has also deployed resources to assist Texans without power and to help essential workers continue to carry out their jobs," Abbott said in a statement. "In the meantime, I encourage all Texans to continue to stay off the roads, and conserve energy as state agencies work with private providers to restore power as quickly as possible." (Diaz, 2/16)

ABC News: Texas Officials Scramble To Administer 5,000 COVID Vaccines After Power Loss 
Health officials in Texas scrambled to administer over 5,000 vaccine doses before they expired after the harsh winter storm hitting the state knocked out the power of the freezers storing the vaccines. Harris County public health officials said that their facility that stored the Moderna vaccine lost power early Monday morning and a backup generator also failed. The freezers that kept 8,430 vaccine doses at their containment temperature were among the affected equipment, they said. (Pezenik and Pereira, 2/15)

Tallahassee Democrat: Winter Storm Closes Airports And Delays Vaccine Deliveries To Florida
A winter storm with icy roads, power outages and dangerous low temperatures has snarled traffic from coast to coast — and will delay shipments of coronavirus vaccines to Florida. Jared Moskowitz, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said the state has been alerted the massive weather system will delay the Monday-Tuesday shipment of vaccines. (Call, 2/15)

Fox43.Com (Hershey, Pa.): Pharmacies Prepare Generators In Case Of Winter Weather-Related Power Outages 
In light of the snow and freezing rain expected tonight, pharmacies are preparing contingency plans to keep the COVID-19 vaccine properly frozen in case of power outages. ... Hershey Pharmacy in Derry Township has backup generators it can transport to its three locations. “We don’t have the luxury of being down in a snow storm or a power outage,” said Chadd Blannet, the pharmacy’s director of marketing. “We have centrally located generators that we then dole out to each store so we can power up all of our emergency operation systems and now these freezers, so we’re ready to go without missing a beat.” (2/15)

The Washington Post: Virus Variant First Detected In The U.K. Has Been Deadlier, Study Confirms 
Scientists had already determined that the variant of the novel coronavirus first detected in the fall in the United Kingdom — known as B.1.1.7. because of its molecular makeup — was probably 30 to 70 percent more transmissible than the typical version of the virus causing covid-19. They also knew, based on preliminary data, that the variant appeared to be relatively more deadly for the growing number of people catching it. U.K. scientists now say the variant is probably 30 to 70 percent more deadly, based on a follow-up study by the government released Friday that assessed a larger sample size of covid-19 patients and also found a higher rate of hospitalization. (Berger, 2/13)

The New York Times: U.K. Virus Variant Is Probably Deadlier, Scientists Say 
The reasons for an elevated death rate are not entirely clear. Some evidence suggests that people infected with the variant may have higher viral loads, a feature that could not only make the virus more contagious but also potentially undermine the effectiveness of certain treatments. But scientists are also trying to understand how much of the increased risk of death may stem from the propensity of the variant to spread very easily through settings like nursing homes, where people are already vulnerable. (Mueller and Zimmer, 2/13)

The New York Times: 7 Virus Variants Found In U.S. Carrying The Same Mutation
As Americans anxiously watch variants first identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa spread in the United States, scientists are finding a number of new variants that originated here. More concerning, many of these variants seem to be evolving in the same direction — potentially becoming contagious threats of their own. In a study posted on Sunday, a team of researchers reported seven growing lineages of the novel coronavirus, spotted in states across the country. All of them have evolved a mutation in the same genetic letter. (Zimmer, 2/14)

The Hill: Seven Coronavirus Variants Potentially Similar To UK Type Have Been Detected In US: Study 
Seven variants of the COVID-19 virus have been detected in the U.S., and all or some of them may contain mutations similar to the qualities exhibited by a strain of extra-contagious COVID-19 spreading in the United Kingdom, a new study found. (Bowden, 2/15)

CIDRAP: New COVID Variant With 5 Mutations Identified In California 
A new SARS-CoV-2 variant, CAL.20C, has been detected in southern California amid a surge in local infections and is spreading through and beyond the United States, according to a research letter published yesterday in JAMA. Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (CSMC) in Los Angeles analyzed COVID-19 strains before and after the surge in cases in southern California in October 2020. Before October, most coronavirus strains there originated from the 20C clade (group of viruses evolved from the same ancestor), which emerged in New York via Europe in the early stages of the pandemic. (Van Beusekom, 2/12)

The Washington Post: U.S. Seven-Day Average Of Daily New Cases Drops Below 90,000 — First Time Since Early November
The numbers of newly reported coronavirus infections in the United States continued their steep drop with only around 56,000 new cases reported on Monday, though that number is likely artificially low due to the U.S. holiday. However the seven-day average, considered a more reliable measure, has dipped below 90,000 a day for the first time since early November. Scientists have been split about the reasons for the drop, citing increased vaccinations, decreased testing and the seasonal patterns of these kinds of viruses which see a decline in transmission rates as the winter goes on. (Schemm, Cunningham and Dupree, 2/16)

The Washington Post: Why Are Coronavirus Cases Dropping In The U.S.? Experts Point To Four Reasons. 
The rate of newly recorded infections is plummeting from coast to coast and the worst surge yet is finally relenting. But scientists are split on why, exactly, it is happening. Some point to the quickening pace of coronavirus vaccine administration, some say it’s because of the natural seasonal ebb of respiratory viruses and others chalk it up to social distancing measures. And every explanation is appended with two significant caveats: The country is still in a bad place, continuing to notch more than 90,000 new cases every day, and recent progress could still be imperiled, either by new fast-spreading virus variants or by relaxed social distancing measures. (Thebault, 2/14)

AP: 3 Sailors Have COVID On US Ship That Saw Outbreak Last Year
Three sailors aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt have tested positive for COVID-19, the Navy said Monday, less than a year after a massive outbreak on the ship sidelined it in Guam for nearly two months. The Navy said the three sailors have not had any symptoms, and they and others who were exposed to them are currently isolated on the aircraft carrier, which is conducting operations in the Pacific. They tested positive Sunday. (Baldor, 2/16)

CNN: Governors Tell Biden In Letter Some Covid Vaccine Efforts Are Creating Confusion And Inefficiency 
A bipartisan group of governors expressed concern Monday at the Biden administration's vaccine rollout, writing in a letter to the White House that better coordination is needed between the federal government and states on distributing doses to prevent confusion and duplicative efforts. The executive committee of the National Governors Association, comprised of Democrats and Republicans, raised alarm over two areas of confusion: first, the numbers publicly reported by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for vaccine distribution; and second, the separate federal distribution systems -- including a recently launched program sending vaccines directly to retail pharmacies -- they say have caused inefficiencies. (Liptak and Murray, 2/15)

Los Angeles Times: Dodger Stadium COVID Vaccine Site To Reopen For 2nd Doses 
Dodger Stadium and several other COVID-19 vaccination sites that were shuttered last week due to shortages are set to reopen Tuesday, though continuing supply problems mean the vast majority of shots administered will be second doses, Los Angeles officials said. People vaccinated in mid-January were automatically slotted into appointments for most of the city’s anticipated weekly supply of 54,000 Moderna doses and 4,000 Pfizer doses, a prioritization that the city said complied with directives by county and federal health officials. (Ryan, 2/15)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. School District To Open Vaccination Site For Staff
Los Angeles County elementary school campuses are cleared to fully reopen for the first time in nearly a year because of dropping coronavirus rates, health officials confirmed Monday night. County Supervisor Janice Hahn tweeted out the news before the official confirmation, with a celebratory tweet in the late afternoon: “L.A. County has officially reached the State’s threshold for reopening elementary schools. Starting tomorrow, schools can reopen” if they have submitted and posted the necessary paperwork with county and state officials. (Blume, 2/15)

The New York Times: New Yorkers Rush To Get Vaccine After Eligibility Expands 
The first of millions of New Yorkers with chronic health conditions lined up to receive the Covid-19 vaccine at sites around the city on Monday, a day after people inundated a state website and call center when they became eligible for the shot. Four million people with conditions like hypertension and obesity can now receive the vaccine in the state, despite a shortage in supply. (Slotnik, 2/15)

Boston Globe: Hospitals Denounce State’s Decision To Shut-Off Vaccine Supply
Hospital leaders and physicians expressed dismay on Friday at the Baker administration’s decision to halt vaccine distribution to hospitals and primary care offices, saying it could undercut efforts to reach minority communities and reluctant patients. But the state’s top health official said that hospitals were scheduling more vaccine appointments than the state could meet with the current level of supplies. “We all need to understand that we have a limited supply,” said Marylou Sudders, secretary of health and human services. (Freyer, Pan and Lazar, 2/12)

Boston Globe: State Rebuffed Funeral Workers’ Requests For Vaccine Doses, But Offered Them To Office Of The Chief Medical Examiner Staff
The Baker administration came under fire Sunday for offering vaccination appointments to staff at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner last month — after rebuffing calls from lawmakers and other officials asking the state to provide shots to funeral home workers. The vaccination appointments for medical examiner staff, which were described in a pair of January e-mails obtained by the Globe, came from Lisa Riccobene, the agency’s chief administrative officer. “THIS IS YOUR LAST OPPORTUNITY,” Riccobene wrote in an e-mail sent to medical examiner staff on Jan. 19, the second of the two messages reviewed by the Globe. “Once you are given a date and time you must keep the appointment because it will not be rescheduled.” (Hilliard and Stout, 2/14)

The Hill: Kansas Says It's Working To Fix Vaccine Reporting Issues 
Kansas officials say they are working to fix issues with the system that reports its vaccination data to the federal government. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) said glitches within the state's reporting system, Kansas WebIZ, were largely responsible for making it appear as though 100,000 doses of the vaccine had not been used even though they had, the Associated Press reported. (Lonas, 2/15)

The Hill: Florida Official Overseeing Pandemic Strategy Resigns 
A Florida official who oversees the state’s response to the pandemic confirmed on Monday that he will resign from his position, saying he wants to spend more time with his family. Jared Moskowitz, the director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management, told the USA Today network, however, that his “departure won’t be imminent.” (Coleman, 2/15)

The New York Times: Cuomo Accepts Some Blame In Nursing Home Scandal But Denies Cover-Up
Admitting a degree of fault for the first time, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Monday that his administration’s lack of transparency about the scope of coronavirus-related deaths in nursing homes in New York was a mistake. By failing to answer questions from state lawmakers, the public and the news media, Mr. Cuomo acknowledged, the state created a void that was “filled with skepticism, and cynicism, and conspiracy theories which furthered the confusion.” But he stopped short of a full apology for his handling of information about the death toll in the state’s nursing homes, an issue that has engulfed his administration in recent weeks. (McKinley, 2/15)

The Hill: Sanofi CEO: Vaccine Candidate Will Not Be Ready In 2021
Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson said that a COVID-19 vaccine candidate that the company is developing will not be ready in 2021. “This vaccine will not be ready this year, but it could be of use at a later stage all the more if the fight against variants was to continue,” Reuters reported Hudson told French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche. (Williams, 2/13)

The Hill: Pfizer Exec 'Confident' In Ability To Deliver 2 Billion Coronavirus Vaccine Doses This Year 
An executive at Pfizer said he and the company are “confident” in its ability to deliver 2 billion doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the year in an interview with the Associated Press published Sunday. “Right now, we can potentially deliver approximately 2 billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of 2021,” Mike McDermott, the president of global supply at Pfizer, told the AP. (Coleman, 2/14)

AP: COVID-19 Shots Might Be Tweaked If Variants Get Worse
The makers of COVID-19 vaccines are figuring out how to tweak their recipes against worrisome virus mutations — and regulators are looking to flu as a blueprint if and when the shots need an update. “It’s not really something you can sort of flip a switch, do overnight,” cautioned Richard Webby, who directs a World Health Organization flu center from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. (Neergaard, 2/15)

Stat: 1 In 4 People Unable To Get A Covid-19 Test When They Wanted One 
As the U.S. struggles to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, nearly a quarter of Americans say they wanted to get tested for the coronavirus but were unable to do so, according to the latest survey from STAT and The Harris Poll. (Silverman, 2/15)

The Wall Street Journal: The U.S. Bought Rapid Covid-19 Tests To Help Control The Virus. Now Many Are Unused. 
The U.S. government distributed millions of fast-acting tests for diagnosing coronavirus infections at the end of last year to help tamp down outbreaks in nursing homes and prisons and allow schools to reopen. But some states haven’t used many of the tests, due to logistical hurdles and accuracy concerns, squandering a valuable tool for managing the pandemic. The first batches, shipped to states in September, are approaching their six-month expiration dates. (Abbott and Krouse, 2/15)

CIDRAP: Study Shows Strong 1-Dose Immune Response With Pfizer Vaccine
A single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was immunogenic in 92% of recipients, with no difference in immunogenic response between men and women but a decreasing response among older recipients, researchers from Israel's Bar-Ilan University reported yesterday in Eurosurveillance. The research also showed that, among those with previous evidence of infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, the immune response to a single dose was significantly stronger. (2/12)

CIDRAP: CDC Data: COVID Vaccine-Related Anaphylaxis In Less Than 4 Per Million
Pfizer/BioNTech's and Moderna's mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have been associated with 4.7 cases of anaphylaxis per million doses and 2.5 cases per million, respectively, according to data published by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists in JAMA late last week. Sixty-six total cases have occurred in the United States through Jan 18, 2021, making the cumulative frequency 3.8 cases per million doses. No known deaths have been reported. (2/15)

The New York Times: As Millions Get Covid Vaccine Shots, F.D.A. Struggles With Safety Monitoring 
More than 35 million Americans have received Covid vaccines, but the much-touted system the government designed to monitor any dangerous reactions won’t be capable of analyzing safety data for weeks or months, according to numerous federal health officials. For now, federal regulators are counting on a patchwork of existing programs that they acknowledge are inadequate because of small sample size, missing critical data or other problems. (Kaplan, 2/12)

CIDRAP: Non-COVID Kids' Hospital Cases Nearly Halved Early In Pandemic 
US pediatric non–COVID-19 hospitalizations fell up to 45.4% amid the pandemic and related lockdowns compared with previous years, a study published late last week in JAMA Network Open finds. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of the Pediatric Health Information Systems database of 5,424,688 admissions of 3,372,839 children to 49 hospitals from Jan 1, 2010, to Jun 30, 2020. (Van Beusekom, 2/15)

CIDRAP: Early Anticoagulant Use Tied To Fewer Deaths In VA Patients With COVID-19
COVID-19 patients given preventive anticoagulants, or blood thinners, within 24 hours of hospitalization may have a greater chance of survival than those who don't receive them, suggests a large observational US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) study published yesterday in BMJ.A team led by researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine mined the electronic health records of 4,297 VA patients hospitalized with COVID-19 from Mar 1 to Jul 31, 2020. (2/12)

CIDRAP: Zinc, Vitamin C Show No Effect For COVID-19 In Small Study 
Consuming high doses of zinc and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) was not associated with improvement in COVID-19 infections, according to a small study published today in JAMA Network Open. In a 214-person, open-label experiment with COVID outpatients in Ohio and Florida, those who received one or both supplements had similar symptom-reduction periods as those who received standard of care. (McLernon, 2/12)

Consumer Reports: Why You Can Get A Cold Even While Masking And Taking Other Covid-19 Precautions 
Even people taking a vast array of precautions to stay safe from covid-19 might find themselves battling a more familiar foe: the common cold. During a winter where the slightest cough can prompt a panicked trip to a coronavirus testing site, it’s important to understand how both of these infections work — and why you might find yourself with one even if you are relatively protected from the other. (2/15)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Safari Park Gorillas Recover From Coronavirus 
Gorillas at San Diego Zoo Safari Park have recovered from a bout of the coronavirus and are ready for visitors, zoo officials announced Saturday. The eight-member troop had been out of view to visitors after contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus in January. During that time, they received care from experts in both human and veterinary medicine. (Brennan, 2/13)

Stat: Denali Study Of Hunter Syndrome Drug Leaves Experts Encouraged
A preliminary study of a medicine developed by Denali Therapeutics to treat Hunter syndrome, a rare genetic disease, has left outside experts encouraged by its potential. The study, details of which were released Friday, included just five patients, and the experts said much more testing would be needed. (Herper, 2/12)

Bloomberg: Bristol-Myers, Sanofi Must Pay $834 Million Over Plavix
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Sanofi were ordered to pay the state of Hawaii more than $834 million for illegally marketing their blockbuster blood-thinning drug Plavix in a manner that put some users’ lives at risk. Judge Dean Ochiai in Honolulu concluded Monday the drugmakers misleadingly marketed Plavix and failed to properly warn consumers in the state about its health risks. The companies produce the medicine as part of a joint venture. The $834 million was awarded as a civil penalty for Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi’s violation of Hawaii’s consumer-protection laws through their improper Plavix marketing campaigns. Hawaii Attorney General Clare Connors’ lawyers showed the companies didn’t properly disclose the blood thinner was ineffective for as many as 30% of users in the state, the judge said. (Feeley, 2/15)

Modern Healthcare: Florida Healthy Kids Says Third-Party Breach Exposed Data On 3.5 Million
More than 3 million people who applied or enrolled for coverage from health insurer Florida Healthy Kids Corp. may have had data exposed in a seven-year long breach. The breach, which Florida Healthy Kids said took place at the company that previously hosted its website, affected an estimated 3.5 million people, according to a report that Florida Healthy Kids submitted to HHS' Office for Civil Rights in January. The HHS agency publicly posted the report to its online database of healthcare data breaches in an update Friday. That's a sizeable breach to be reported in the first month of 2021. The largest healthcare data breach reported in all of 2020 compromised data on nearly 1.3 million patients. (Kim Cohen, 2/12)

Crain's Chicago Business: Pritzker, Local Officials Blast Mercy's Plan To Shutter Without State Approval
A group of elected officials, including Gov. J.B. Pritzker, is condemning Mercy Hospital & Medical Center owner Trinity Health for moving to shutter the South Side facility without approval from the state. “As elected officials and advocates for our communities, we begged Trinity to work with us and our community partners to save Mercy Hospital and to continue to provide much-needed health care to underserved Black, Brown, Asian and white communities on Chicago’s South Side,” according to the statement, signed by 13 elected officials. (Goldberg, 2/12)

AP: New Enrollment Window Opens For Health Insurance Shoppers
Health insurance shoppers stuck in a bad plan or unable to find coverage have a new option for help. A sign-up window opened Monday for government insurance markets and runs through May 15 in most states. It’s available for people who don’t have coverage through work, and it is expected to make finding a plan less of a hassle for those who lost a job. (Murphy, 2/15)

CNN: Obamacare Open Enrollment 2021: Here's What To Know 
Uninsured Americans who want to buy Affordable Care Act coverage have another three months to do so, thanks to an executive order President Joe Biden signed last month. The federal Obamacare exchange, healthcare.gov, reopened Monday for a special enrollment period that runs until May 15. Most states that operate their own marketplaces are also doing the same or are extending their sign-up season for several more weeks. (Luhby, 2/15)

Modern Healthcare: Hospital Apps Becoming More Patient-Friendly
As smartphones have become tightly intertwined into so many Americans’ lives, hospital executives have realized that to play a central role in their patients’ health, they need to meet them where they are—via their phone. Having an app to engage patients is “table stakes,” said Tom Kiesau, leader of the digital transformation unit at the Chartis Group. But while most health system app strategies historically have centered around the electronic health record’s patient-specific patient portal, a growing number of systems have wanted to offer more customized apps. (Kim Cohen, 2/13)

Stat: During Covid-19 Pandemic, Overdose Deaths Reached New Heights 
Among the unrelenting death statistics flowing from the CDC last month, one grim non-Covid-19 statistic stood out: 81,003 deaths. That’s the number of people who died from drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending last June: a 20% increase and the highest number of fatal overdoses ever recorded in the U.S. in a single year. (McFarling, 2/16)

NPR: As Addiction Deaths Surge, Profit-Driven Rehab Industry Faces 'Severe Ethical Crisis'
As the nation's addiction crisis deepened, Tamara Beetham, who studies health policy at Yale University, set out to answer a simple question: What happens when people try to get help? Her first step was to create a kind of undercover identity — a 26-year-old, using heroin daily. Using this fictional persona, her research team called more than 600 residential treatment centers all over the country. "We'd kind of call and say, I'm looking to, you know, start treatment and kind of go from there," Beetham said. For people suffering addiction, this can be a life-or-death moment. Studies show that getting high-quality medical care can make a huge difference, leading to long-term recovery and a healthier life. So what Beetham's team found was troubling. (Mann, 2/15)

AP: Hospitals Still Ration Medical N95 Masks As Stockpiles Swell
Mike Bowen’s warehouse outside Fort Worth, Texas, was piled high with cases of medical-grade N95 face masks. His company, Prestige Ameritech, can churn out 1 million masks every four days, but he doesn’t have orders for nearly that many. So he recently got approval from the government to export them. “I’m drowning in these respirators,” Bowen said. On the same day 1,000 miles north, Mary Turner, a COVID-19 intensive care nurse at a hospital outside Minneapolis, strapped on the one disposable N-95 respirator allotted for her entire shift. (Dearen, Linderman and Mendoza, 2/16)

Politico: Doctors Bring The Fight To Anti-Vaxxers Online 
Doctors and nurses trying to build confidence in Covid-19 vaccines on social media are mounting coordinated campaigns to combat anti-vaccination forces prevalent on those platforms. At the same time, public health groups are mobilizing a global network of vaccine advocates to come to their aid when they are attacked online by activists, who closely monitor certain hashtags and keywords. The groups use monitoring software to swiftly identify online attacks, then tap their networks to flood social media posts with supportive messages countering vaccine opponents. (Ravindranath, 2/15)

Modern Healthcare: COVID-19 Pushes More Healthcare CFOs Into Employee Benefits Planning
It takes a village to design employee benefits—or, at least the entire executive team, says OhioHealth Chief Financial Officer Mike Browning. Every year, OhioHealth’s human resources department surveys its 35,000 employees about their health insurance needs. After reviewing responses, HR staff try to match employee needs with plans available in the market. From there, Browning looks over the proposals, taking a strategic eye of what will keep the Columbus, Ohio-based healthcare system competitive. He crunches the numbers to see how employees’ salaries fit in. Of course, in the end, the CEO needs to weigh in on the benefits offered. (Tepper, 2/13)

USA Today: COVID Pandemic Sends More People To ER For Drug Overdoses
Many Americans stayed away from the emergency room when the nation went under lockdown for fear of contracting COVID-19 at the hospital. While this led to an overall decline in emergency department visits, a recent study shows weekly trips to the ER for drug overdoses were higher in 2020 than in 2019. Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studied more than 180 million ER visits from Dec. 30, 2018, to Oct. 10, 2020, and found that weekly counts of all drug overdoses were up to 45% higher in 2020 than in 2019, according to the study published Feb. 3 in the peer-reviewed JAMA Psychiatry. Opioid overdoses, specifically, increased about 29% compared with before the pandemic. (Rodriguez, 2/15)

The Hill: Drug Overdose Crisis Worsens In Shadow Of COVID-19 Pandemic 
President Biden and Congress are coming under pressure from advocates to address a public health crisis that has been overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic: rising drug overdose deaths. (Hellmann, 2/15)

AP: Doctors Who Say No To Opioid Use Face Threats From Patients
One patient threatened to shoot Dr. Terry Hunt if physical therapy didn’t relieve his pain as effectively as opioids did. Another harassed his staff, then roamed a hospital searching for Hunt after being told he would be weaned off painkillers he had used inappropriately. Hunt was unharmed, but shaken enough to ask the central Illinois hospital system where he worked to dismiss both patients. So when he heard about Tuesday’s attack at a medical clinic in Buffalo, Minnesota, that left one person dead and four injured, “the first thing I assumed is that it was something to do with pain medication,” said Hunt, who now works for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and a Mayo Clinic Health System facility in Red Wing, Minnesota. (Webber, 2/14)