First Edition: Feb. 7, 2024

KFF Health News: Halfway Through ‘Unwinding,’ Medicaid Enrollment Is Down About 10 Million 
Halfway through what will be the biggest purge of Medicaid beneficiaries in a one-year span, enrollment in the government-run health insurance program is on track to return to roughly pre-pandemic levels. Medicaid, which covers low-income and disabled people, and the related Children’s Health Insurance Program grew to a record 94 million enrollees as a result of a rule that prohibited states from terminating coverage during the nation’s public health emergency. (Galewitz, 2/7)

KFF Health News: Colorado Moves To Connect Agricultural Workers With Mental Health Resources 
Colorado lawmakers have proposed a pair of measures they say will improve the availability of mental health resources for the state’s agricultural industry, as stress, anxiety, and depression among ranchers and farmhands have emerged as critical issues that have worsened since the coronavirus pandemic. The bills under consideration would address a growing need to treat rural mental health issues that have only compounded with the effects of the pandemic and climate change — all in a state that has one of the highest suicide rates in the nation. Mental health professionals are scarce in rural parts of Colorado, a significant gap considering suicide rates have been higher in rural America than in metropolitan areas for decades. (Ramachandran, 2/7)

KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute'
This week on the KFF Health News Minute: Americans struggle to find a primary care provider, and some experts on aging are calling on older drivers to sign an advance directive to determine when they should stop driving. (2/6)

NPR: The Census Bureau Is Dropping A Controversial Proposal To Change Disability Statistics
The U.S. Census Bureau is no longer moving forward with a controversial proposal that could have shrunk a key estimated rate of disability in the United States by about 40%, the bureau's director said Tuesday in a blog post. The announcement comes just over two weeks after the bureau said the majority of the more than 12,000 public comments it received about proposed changes to its annual American Community Survey cited concerns over changing the survey's disability questions. (Lo Wang, 2/6)

The New York Times: Mother of Michigan Gunman Found Guilty of Manslaughter
Michigan jurors, after 11 hours of deliberations, found Jennifer Crumbley guilty of involuntary manslaughter on Tuesday for the gun rampage committed by her teenage son, who carried out the state’s deadliest school shooting more than two years ago. The trial became a lightning rod for issues of parental responsibility, in a time of frequent cases of gun violence carried out by minors. It was the most high-profile example of prosecutors seeking to hold parents responsible for violent crimes committed by their children. (Fortin, 2/6)

The New York Times: Jennifer Crumbley’s Conviction Offers New Legal Tactic In Mass Shooting Cases 
The guilty verdict on Tuesday against the mother of a Michigan teenager who murdered four students in 2021 in the state’s deadliest school shooting is likely to ripple across the country’s legal landscape as prosecutors find themselves weighing a new way to seek justice in mass shootings. But, legal experts say, don’t expect a rush of similar cases. That’s because prosecutors in Michigan had notably compelling evidence against the mother, Jennifer Crumbley, that jurors felt proved she should have known the mental state of her son, Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 at the time. (Arango, 2/6)

The Washington Post: Fact Checker: Is Gun Violence The Leading Cause Of Death For Children? 
Deaths from gun violence, after remaining relatively stable from 1999 to 2014, have spiked in recent years, to a peak of 48,830 in 2021, according to data maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But has gun violence become so horrific that it is now the leading cause of death for children? The Biden White House, in various venues, has made that claim. But the source cited in the White House news release — a 2022 study by the Center for Gun Violence Solutions at Johns Hopkins University — reports data with a broader focus. It cites gun deaths of “children and teens,” meaning it includes deaths of 18- and 19-year-olds, who are legally considered adults in most states. (Kessler, 2/7)

Reuters: US Agency To Hire 50 AI Experts To Crack Down On Drugs, Child Abuse
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to hire 50 artificial intelligence experts this year to help it halt child abuse, counter fentanyl production and assess damage from natural disasters, as it seeks to increase use of the burgeoning technology. The agency, tasked with securing U.S. borders, announced the hiring effort at an event in Mountain View, California, headlined by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer Eric Hysen. (Alper, 2/6)

Stat: House Panel Passes PBM Reforms For Sliver Of Commercial Market
A House panel passed a bipartisan bill to ban drug middlemen from charging fees based on drug list prices — the first in Congress’ raft of PBM reform efforts that would actually ban the practice in at least some of the employer-sponsored insurance market. (Wilkerson, 2/6)

Axios: How Trump Could Weaken Medicare Drug Pricing Negotiations
If Donald Trump returns to the White House, the self-proclaimed master negotiator could get his shot at brokering Medicare prices for drugs. Trump first ran for president bucking conservative orthodoxy by vowing to negotiate drug prices, though he later abandoned that pledge. But the Democrats' drug pricing law would require the GOP frontrunner to negotiate Medicare prices for some drugs if he wins a second term, and former Trump health officials expect he would use executive power to soften the government's approach. (Goldman, 2/7)

Axios: Scoop: China Panel Plans Biotech Field Hearing
The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party is planning to hold a field hearing on China biotech competition next week in Boston, Axios has learned. Chinese genomics companies are becoming a national security concern in some quarters of Congress, where there's bipartisan support for cutting off some firms from taxpayer funding. (Snyder, 2/6)

The New York Times: Democrat Al Green, In Hospital Garb, Delivers Vote To Kill Mayorkas Impeachment 
The Democrat from Texas had undergone abdominal surgery but rushed to the Capitol because he said the vote was “personal.” (Guo, 2/6)

Modern Healthcare: Medicare Advantage Rate Cut May Cause Insurers To Ding Providers
Medicare Advantage insurers are likely to respond to a modest rate cut next year by adjusting premiums, benefits, provider reimbursements and other factors to emphasize profitability, financial analysts said. Although the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has downplayed the effects of its proposed 0.16% reduction in the Medicare Advantage benchmark rate for 2025, the rule issued last Wednesday is the latest in a string of policies that has Medicare insurers and their investors wary about the program. (Tepper, 2/6)

Modern Healthcare: Centene May Trim Medicare Advantage Benefits Over CMS Rate Cut
Centene may scale back Medicare Advantage benefits if the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services carries out a rate cut next year, executives said Tuesday. The health insurance company is the latest to report higher-than-expected costs for its Medicare Advantage members and to bemoan a CMS proposed rule that would trim benchmark payments by 0.16% in 2025, excluding the effects of risk adjustment. That wouldn't be enough to cover expenses, CEO Sarah London said during a call with investor analysts to announce fourth-quarter and full-year earnings. (Tepper, 2/6)

Modern Healthcare: CMS Medicare Advantage AI Guidance Issued 
Medicare Advantage insurers may utilize artificial intelligence and other technologies to assess coverage decisions, but the tools cannot override benefits rules and medical necessity standards, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services wrote in a notice to health insurance companies Tuesday. UnitedHealth Group, Humana and Cigna each is fighting lawsuits alleging they utilize AI, algorithms and similar utilities to routinely decline coverage for post-acute care and other services. (Bennett, 2/6)

Modern Healthcare: Amazon Layoffs Hit One Medical, Pharmacy Divisions
Amazon is cutting "a few hundred roles" across its One Medical and pharmacy divisions, the tech titan said Tuesday. The company declined to share details about the timeline for the layoffs or which positions will be cut. Amazon plans to talk with those affected on Wednesday, Neil Lindsay, senior vice president at Amazon Health Services, said in a company-wide email sent out after an employee leaked information on the job cuts. (Hudson, 2/6)

Bloomberg: Alphabet’s Verily Hires Myoung Cha As Chief Product Officer
Verily, Alphabet Inc.’s life sciences unit, hired veteran health technology executive Myoung Cha as chief product officer to help lead strategy as the company ramps up efforts to expand its business. Cha previously served as president and chief strategy officer at startup Carbon Health Technologies Inc. and also worked on health efforts at Apple Inc., Verily said Tuesday in a statement. (Love, 2/6)

Stat: Health VR Firms Are Impressed, Yet Cautious, About Apple Vision Pro
Apple has long touted the potential of the iPhone and Apple Watch to help people live healthier lives, both through its own features as well as with apps from researchers and outside companies. Naturally, with the launch of Vision Pro, it has begun to explore the headset’s potential in health care as well. (Aguilar, 2/7)

The Boston Globe: Mass. Hospitals Are Full And Patients Wait Months For Discharge
Hospitals throughout Eastern Massachusetts are facing growing challenges in meeting the demand for care, as they cope with hundreds of “stuck” patients — ready for discharge but with no place to go. In the latest sign of a worsening but not unprecedented situation, last week the state Department of Public Health designated hospitals in greater Boston and in cities and towns north of the city as “Tier 3.” A Tier 3 designation, under a pandemic-era system, alerts hospitals to a “high risk” of capacity problems. (Freyer, Piore and Andersen, 2/6)

Modern Healthcare: HHS Settles Montefiore Medical Center Lawsuit For $4.75M
The Health and Human Services Department's Office for Civil Rights has reached a $4.75 million settlement with Montefiore Medical Center for alleged violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, HHS announced Tuesday. In 2013, an unnamed former hospital employee sold electronically protected medical records of 12,517 patients to an identity theft group, according to HHS. The New York City hospital did not detect or report the breach to the Office for Civil Rights until 2015. (Desilva, 2/6)

Modern Healthcare: Workplace Violence Against Nurses On The Rise: NNU Survey
Nearly half of nurses reported an increase in workplace violence last year, leading many to consider leaving their job or healthcare altogether, according to a recent survey from National Nurses United. The survey gathered data from more than 900 nurses nationwide and found that in 2022 and 2023 more than 80% of nurses experienced some form of workplace violence. Attacks ranged from bites, punches, kicks and thrown urinals to “racist and sexually aggressive comments,” the union said. (Devereaux, 2/6)

Modern Healthcare: University Of Rochester Telehealth Kiosks Come To Five Star Banks
University of Rochester Medical Center is testing on-demand telehealth appointments at kiosks inside local bank branches. The pilot program combines the system's telehealth capabilities with physical, internet-connected stations at three Five Star Bank locations in rural areas where the provider does not have physician offices. The goal of the kiosks is to reach patients who face long commutes to in-person care or challenges accessing virtual care in their homes. (Turner, 2/6)

Axios: Latina Voices Are Largely Left Out Of Abortion Ban Discourse Despite Disproportionate Impact
Abortion advocates say Latinas and other women of color are disproportionately affected by bans and restrictions, but when it comes to lawsuits and news coverage, their stories are less likely to get attention. The reality underscores the limited resources that Hispanic women have in accessing abortion care, especially since the fall of Roe v. Wade, which has prompted nearly half of all U.S. states to enact more restrictions or bans. (Galvan, 2/6)

St. Louis Public Radio: Illinois Abortion Clinics Want State Protections From Protestors
Citing an increase in harassment and intimidation from anti-abortion protesters, abortion providers in Illinois on Tuesday implored state legislators to pass laws to protect clinics and their workers. Abortion providers said such incidents have increased in the state since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade, which protected access to abortion nationwide. (Fentem, 2/6)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Closes PrEP Loophole, Takes Aim At HIV Infection Rates
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law on Tuesday a bill that makes PrEP — a daily pill that prevents HIV infection — easier to access at pharmacies, potentially improving use statewide and especially in communities where rates of disease have remained stubbornly high. The bill corrects earlier legislation, signed in 2019, that made California the first state in the nation to allow pharmacists to provide PrEP without a doctor’s prescription. But that legislation included critical limitations that prevented wide implementation among pharmacists. (Allday, 2/6)

Los Angeles Times: Bill Aims To Legalize Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy In California
After a failed attempt to decriminalize a short list of psychedelics last year, state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) is reintroducing legislation to make California the third state to legalize psychedelic-assisted therapy for adults. Gov. Gavin Newsom in October vetoed a similar bill, urging state lawmakers to first take steps toward creating regulated treatment guidelines. ... “It was a very thoughtful veto message,” said Wiener, who on Tuesday morning will introduce a new bill with a more clinical approach to expanded access to psychedelic uses. (Sosa, 2/6)

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Study: More Older Adults Are Using Cannabis Post-Pandemic 
A new study, published in the Cannabis and Cannabinoids Research journal, found more older Americans are using cannabis today than before the pandemic. According to researchers with the University of Michigan’s Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, roughly 1 in 8 Americans over 50 currently use the substance. (Boyce, 2/6)

CIDRAP: US Outpatient Care For Serious Mental Health Issues Declined During COVID-19
A study today in the Annals of Internal Medicine shows that while telemedicine helped some groups seeking mental health care during the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans with serious mental health symptoms suffered from a decline in in-person outpatient mental health visits that has persisted. Moreover, this lack of outpatient care for those with significant mental illness was seen mostly in patients with lower incomes and education levels. (Soucheray, 2/6)

AP: Not Wearing Mask During COVID-19 Isn’t A Free Speech Right, Appeals Court Says
A federal appeals court shot down claims Monday that New Jersey residents’ refusal to wear face masks at school board meetings during the COVID-19 outbreak constituted protected speech under the First Amendment. The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling in two related cases stemming from lawsuits against officials in Freehold and Cranford, New Jersey. (Catalini, 2/6)

AP: Cough? Sore Throat? More Schools Suggest Mildly Sick Kids Attend Anyway
Trenace Dorsey-Hollins’ 5-year-old daughter was sick a lot last year. Dorsey-Hollins followed school guidelines and kept her home when she had a cough or a sore throat — or worse — until she was completely better. Near the end of the year, the school in Fort Worth, Texas, called her in to talk about why her daughter had missed so much school. During the pandemic, schools urged parents and children to stay home at any sign of illness. Even though the emergency has ended, she said no one has clarified that those rules have changed. (Toness, 2/7)

CIDRAP: FDA Mulls Extending RSV Vaccine To People Ages 50 To 59 
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted GSK's application for priority review for extended use of its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine Arexvy in adults ages 50 to 59 at higher risk for complications. (Schnirring, 2/6)

The Hill: Half Of Trans People In US Have Considered Moving Out Of State Because Of Anti-LGBTQ Laws: Survey
Nearly half of transgender people in the U.S. have considered moving to another state because of legislation in their home state that threatens to curtail access to things like gender-affirming health care, public restrooms and school sports, according to a survey published Wednesday by the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE). Roughly half, or 47 percent, of the more than 92,000 transgender and nonbinary people surveyed by NCTE, a nonprofit group that focuses on transgender policy reform, said they had thought about moving to another state at some point during the past year because their state government had either pursued or passed laws that target the transgender community. (Migdon, 2/7)

The New York Times: Federal Records Show Increasing Use Of Solitary Confinement For Immigrants
The United States government has placed detained immigrants in solitary confinement more than 14,000 times in the last five years, and the average duration is almost twice the 15-day threshold that the United Nations has said may constitute torture, according to a new analysis of federal records by researchers at Harvard and the nonprofit group Physicians for Human Rights. The report, based on government records from 2018 through 2023 and interviews with several dozen former detainees, noted cases of extreme physical, verbal and sexual abuse for immigrants held in solitary cells. The New York Times reviewed the original records cited in the report, spoke with the data analysts and interviewed former detainees to corroborate their stories. (Baumgaertner, 2/6)

CNN: Baby’s Death Ruled A Homicide After Suffering Broken Neck During Delivery At Georgia Hospital
A medical examiner on Tuesday released the manner of death for a baby whose mother accused a Georgia hospital and others of decapitating during delivery, ruling it a homicide. The Clayton County, Georgia Medical Examiner’s office said the baby died from a broken neck and the baby’s head was detached, according to a news release shared with CNN. (Tamsett, Rosales and Tucker, 2/6)

USA Today: Plastics Linked To Thousands Of Preterm Births In U.S., Study Finds
Chemicals commonly used for plastic in food containers, lotion and other products are linked to tens of thousands of preterm births in the U.S. each year, according to a new study. Those babies’ medical bills over their lifetimes cost billions, the study says. The researchers behind the Lancet Planetary Health study published Tuesday looked at daily exposure to phthalates, synthetic chemicals used in everyday items, by examining national data on 5,000 mothers. The study showed an increased risk of preterm birth, which has risen in the U.S. (Cuevas, 2/6)

AP: Listeria Outbreak Linked To Cotija, Queso Fresco From California Business
A California cheese and dairy company is the source of a decadelong outbreak of listeria food poisoning that killed two people and sickened more than two dozen, federal health officials said Tuesday. New lab and inspection evidence linked soft cheeses and other dairy products made by Rizo-Lopez Foods of Modesto, California, to the outbreak, which was first detected in June 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. (Aleccia, 2/6)

CIDRAP: Probe Confirms Imported Eye Drops As Source Of Extensively Drug-Resistant Pseudomonas Outbreak 
The investigation by researchers with the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and several state and local health departments identified a total of 81 case-patients from 18 states in the outbreak, which stretched from May to November 2022 and was originally linked to an ophthalmology clinic in Los Angeles. Nearly a third of the patients (26) were treated at one of three healthcare facilities in three states. Four of 54 case-patients with clinical cultures died within 30 days of culture collection, 4 of 18 patients with eye infections had to have their eyes removed, and an additional 14 suffered vision loss. (Dall, 2/6)

AP: Ecuador Officials Name Likely Source Of Tainted Cinnamon That Poisoned U.S. Children 
Officials in Ecuador have named the likely source of contaminated ground cinnamon used in fruit pouches tied to more than 400 potential cases of lead poisoning in U.S. children, the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday. Carlos Aguilera, a cinnamon-processing company in Ecuador, supplied the spice added to WanaBana and other applesauce pouches sent to the U.S., according to the Ecuadorian regulatory agency ARCSA. The cinnamon, which was sent to another supplier, Negasmart, was found to be contaminated with high levels of lead and chromium, an FDA analysis showed. Carlos Aguilera is not operating at this time, ARCSA said. (Aleccia, 2/6)

The Washington Post: Toby Keith Had Stomach Cancer. Symptoms Can Be Easy To Miss, Doctors Say
Some lifestyle choices can increase people’s risk of developing stomach cancer. Smoking, eating unhealthy foods and drinking alcohol have been linked to stomach cancer, according to Meira Epplein, a professor for Duke University’s School of Medicine. Another cause stems from bacteria called Helicobacter pylori, which is contagious and causes stomach infections, Epplein said. The bacteria is harmless to most people, Epplein said, but about 3 percent of people who have it develop stomach cancer. Genetics can also play a role, experts said. (Melnick, 2/7)

AP: As Cancer Treatment Advances, Patients And Doctors Push Back Against Drugs' Harsh Side Effects 
For cancer patients, the harsh side effects of powerful drugs have long been the trade-off for living longer. Now, patients and doctors are questioning whether all that suffering is necessary. They’ve ignited a movement to radically change how new cancer drugs are tested, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration urging drugmakers to do a better job at finding the lowest effective dose, even if it takes more time. (Johnson, 2/6)

The Washington Post: These Vending Machines Are Giving Out Free STI Tests. Can They Save Lives?
In at least two British cities, certain vending machines offer up not snacks and sodas but a more unusual item: free self-test kits for sexually transmitted diseases. The initiative aims to overcome some of the obstacles that keep people from testing: the hassle of going to the doctor, the stigma of visiting sexual health clinics (especially for LGBTQ+ people who are not out) and a lack of awareness about testing options. Such obstacles contribute to more than a million STIs being acquired globally every day, according to the World Health Organization, which has called for better access to testing and diagnostic services. (Vinall, 2/7)