First Edition: Friday, Sept. 13, 2024

KFF Health News: ‘What Happens Three Months From Now?’ Mental Health After Georgia High School Shooting
About an hour after gunfire erupted at Apalachee High School, ambulances started arriving at nearby Northeast Georgia Medical Center Barrow with two students and two adults suffering from panic attacks and extreme anxiety, not bullet wounds. A fifth patient with similar symptoms later arrived at another local facility, according to a health system spokesperson. (Whitehead, Rayasam and Miller, 9/13)

KFF Health News: No One Wants To Talk About Racial Trauma. Why My Family Broke Our Silence
I wasn’t sure if visiting a cotton field was a good idea. Almost everyone in my family was antsy when we pulled up to the sea of white. The cotton was beautiful but soggy. An autumn rain had drenched the dirt before we arrived, our shoes sinking into the ground with each step. I felt like a stranger to the soil. (Anthony, 9/13)

KFF Health News: The First Year Of Georgia’s Medicaid Work Requirement Is Mired In Red Tape
On a recent summer evening, Raymia Taylor wandered into a recreation center in a historical downtown neighborhood, the only enrollee to attend a nearly two-hour event for people who have signed up for Georgia’s experimental Medicaid expansion. The state launched the program in July 2023, requiring participants to document that they’re working, studying, or doing other qualifying activities for 80 hours a month in exchange for health coverage. (Rayasam and Whitehead, 9/13)

KFF Health News: Trump-Harris Debate Showcases Health Policy Differences
The much-anticipated presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris highlighted their policy differences not just on abortion, but also on other health issues, including the future of the Affordable Care Act. ... Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat, Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, and Riley Ray Griffin of Bloomberg News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. (Rovner, 9/12)

The Washington Post: Judge Overturns North Dakota’s Near-Total Abortion Ban
A North Dakota judge struck down the state’s near-total ban on abortion Thursday, saying the state constitution gives women a “fundamental right to choose abortion” before fetal viability. Restrictions on the right is “a violation on medical freedom,” he ruled. State District Judge Bruce Romanick declared the law, enacted by the legislature last year, “unconstitutionally void for vagueness.” The statute made the procedure illegal in all cases except rape or incest when the woman has been pregnant for less than six weeks or when the pregnancy poses a serious physical health threat. Doctors and other health care professionals found to be in violation of the law could be charged with a felony — and then face up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 fine. (Wax-Thibodeaux, 9/12)

AP: Congressional Democrats Push Resolution That Says Hospitals Must Provide Emergency Abortions
A resolution introduced by Congressional Democrats would make clear that U.S. emergency rooms need to provide emergency abortions when a woman’s health or life is at risk, despite strict state abortion bans. The resolution has little chance of passing a Republican-controlled House in an election year. Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington announced on social media that she would introduce a Senate version of the resolution next week. (Seitz, 9/12)

The New York Times: DeSantis Spars With Abortion Rights Backers Over Florida Ballot Measure 
Less than eight weeks before Floridians will vote on an abortion-rights amendment to the state Constitution, a bitter standoff is escalating between Gov. Ron DeSantis and the amendment’s backers over whether a string of state actions directed at the measure amount to a taxpayer-funded effort to defeat it at the polls. The debate first erupted last week after the state Agency for Health Care Administration posted a 30-second video on social media that casts current Florida law — which bans almost all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy — as proof that “Florida cares about women and families.” The post links to an agency website that claims that the abortion rights measure, known as Amendment 4, “threatens women’s safety.” It adds: “Don’t let the fear-mongers lie to you.” (Wines, 9/12)

The Washington Post: Abortion Foes Trying To Derail Or Undermine States’ Fall Ballot Measures
An unprecedented number of abortion initiatives are on state ballots this November, nearly all seeking to protect reproductive rights, but opponents are trying to defeat them even before the start of voting through legal challenges, administrative maneuvers and, critics say, outright intimidation. (Hennessy-Fiske, Rozsa and Gowen, 9/12)

Roll Call: Two Years Later, Dobbs Decision Continues To Spur A Reckoning
In the two years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, countless people have shared their personal experiences with reproductive health – including accessing abortion, seeking fertility services, experiencing miscarriages and giving birth. (Raman, 9/12)

Roll Call: Schumer Tees Up Second Vote On IVF 
The Senate is expected to take another vote on legislation next week that would expand access to and coverage of in vitro fertilization as Democrats look to pressure Republicans to take a stand on IVF policies former President Donald Trump has called for on the campaign trail. (Raman, 9/12)

Politico: Trump Sells Himself As A ‘Leader’ On IVF, Angering Some Republicans
Donald Trump pitched himself as a “leader” on in vitro fertilization during his Tuesday debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. His plans are angering swaths of the Republican Party. “Though we share his desire for Americans to have more babies, Trump’s plan to fund in vitro fertilization for all American women is in direct contradiction with that hope,” said Pro-Life Action League President Ann Scheidler. “Hundreds of thousands of embryos — each of them as fully human as you or me — are created and then destroyed or frozen in IVF procedures.” (Ollstein and Messerly, 9/12)

Stat: Why These Health Tech Leaders Are Openly Backing Trump Or Harris
Silicon Valley startup founders and venture capital investors are picking a side in this year’s presidential race in a stark departure for an industry they say has historically discouraged political activism. (Ravindranath, 9/13)

The 19th: Disabled Activists Respond To Trump’s Debate Claim That He Saved Obamacare
In 2017, then-President Donald Trump’s administration and a Republican majority Congress attempted, repeatedly, to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), more colloquially known as Obamacare. But at the first presidential debate between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday, Trump told a different story. (Luterman, 9/12)

Roll Call: Presidential Contenders Stay Mum, For Now, On Menthol Ban 
When former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris took the debate stage Tuesday, they briefly touched on reproductive rights, health insurance access and drug prices. Left unmentioned, however, was another divisive, though less high-profile public health issue: The fate of menthol cigarettes. (DeGroot, 9/12)

Reuters: US Employers Expect Nearly 6% Spike In Health Insurance Costs In 2025, Mercer Says 
U.S. employers expect health insurance costs to rise an average 5.8% in 2025, largely due to increased cost of medical services as well as higher use, according to a survey released by consulting firm Mercer on Thursday. The year 2025 is projected to be the third consecutive year in which healthcare costs for employers rise by more than 5%. Costs increased an average 3% during the decade prior, the report said. In part, the higher cost of each medical service is driven by a continued shortage of healthcare workers, linked to providers raising prices, Mercer said. Spending on behavioral health and popular but pricey GLP-1 weight loss drugs are also contributors. (Niasse, 9/12)

USA Today: Parenting May Be Hazardous To Your Health, Surgeon General Warns
The surgeon general has a new public health warning. And this time, the hazard isn’t tobacco or alcohol: it’s parenting. Two-fifths of parents say that on most days, “they are so stressed they cannot function,” the Office of the Surgeon General reports in an advisory titled Parents Under Pressure. Roughly half of parents term that stress “completely overwhelming.” Those dire findings anchor a 35-page report, released in late August, that posits parental stress as “an urgent public health issue.” (De Visé, 9/13)

The Hill: Why Are So Many Parents ‘So Stressed They Cannot Function’?
Psychologists and parenting experts who spoke with The Hill said many other societal factors are also contributing to parents’ emotional exhaustion — including decreasing access to child care and changing expectations of what it means to be a good parent.  Experts who spoke with The Hill said the surgeon general was right in naming social media as one of the biggest parental stressors of the modern era. (O'Connell-Domenech, 9/11)

USA Today: Youth Sports: Anti-LGBTQ Language Erases Benefits Of Participation
A culture of masculinity marked by anti-LGBTQ and other harmful language pervades youth sports environments, according to a study led by Fordham University researchers – signaling a public health concern whose implications, experts say, are both wide-ranging and long-lasting. While sports generally offer great benefits for youth, the study found those benefits are increasingly eroded the more that youth are exposed to such language ― even if they aren't the targets of it. (Ramirez, 9/13)

CNBC: Congressman Slams Meta Over Response About Illicit Drug Ads On Apps
A Republican congressman slammed Meta on Thursday over what the lawmaker called an inadequate response to concerns about illicit drug advertisements on Facebook and Instagram. (Vanian, 9/12)

The New York Times: This Chatbot Pulls People Away From Conspiracy Theories 
DebunkBot, an A.I. chatbot designed by researchers to “very effectively persuade” users to stop believing unfounded conspiracy theories, made significant and long-lasting progress at changing people’s convictions, according to a study published on Thursday in the journal Science. Indeed, false theories are believed by up to half of the American public and can have damaging consequences, like discouraging vaccinations or fueling discrimination. The new findings challenge the widely held belief that facts and logic cannot combat conspiracy theories. (Rosenbluth, 9/12)

CIDRAP: H5N1 Avian Flu Virus Detected In Wastewater From 10 Texas Cities
A report yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine details detection of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu virus in wastewater from 10 Texas cities during the same time period the virus was detected in Texas cattle herds. Texas was the first state this year to confirm an H5N1 case, which involved an agricultural worker on March 28. The case-patient, who presented with conjunctivitis, among other mild symptoms, was exposed to symptomatic cattle. Since that detection, 13 other human US cases have been recorded, and all patients have made recoveries. "The widespread detection of influenza A(H5N1) virus in wastewater from 10 U.S. cities is troubling," the authors concluded. (Soucheray, 9/12)

Stat: Cause Of Missouri H5 Bird Flu Case Remains A Mystery, CDC Says
Disease investigators have not been able to determine how a person in Missouri with no known exposures to animals or poultry became infected with an H5 bird flu virus, the principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. But Nirav Shah said the ongoing investigation has turned up no evidence of onward spread of the virus, suggesting this case may turn out to be a one-off infection that defies explanation. (Branswell, 9/12)

CNN: The US Is Entering A Riskier Season For Spread Of H5N1 Bird Flu. Here’s Why Experts Are Worried
With the approach of fall and cooler weather across the United States, officials say the risk posed by the H5N1 bird flu virus could rise — and they’re taking steps to prevent the creation of a hybrid flu virus that could more easily infect humans. (Goodman, 9/12)

BBC: Mpox Outbreak: Morocco Confirms First Case In Current Outbreak
Morocco has confirmed a case of mpox in a man in the city of Marrakech, the health ministry said. The Moroccan authorities have not said which variant the man has. (9/12)

Bloomberg: Mpox Outbreak: Infection In Pregnant Women Spreading To Fetus, Africa CDC Says
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has seen cases of mpox infection in pregnant women being passed on to unborn babies in central Africa, Director-General Jean Kaseya said. Africa CDC doesn’t yet have details of the total number of cases, Kaseya said at a briefing Thursday. Scientists are rushing to understand a complex mosaic of infection patterns of the disease endemic to the region that’s become a global health emergency. (Kew, 9/12)

Bloomberg: Bavarian Explores Options To Boost Mpox Jab Supply By 50 Million
Bavarian Nordic A/S, one of a few companies with an approved mpox vaccine, is increasing the number of jabs it could supply to deal with an outbreak in Africa. Bavarian, which has faced criticism over the high cost of its vaccines, is prioritizing supplying the inoculations to Africa with a plan to defer some other 2024 orders to next year, according to a statement on Thursday. (Wass and Kew, 9/12)

CIDRAP: Emergent BioSolutions Awarded BARDA Contract For Ebola Treatment
Emergent BioSolutions today announced that the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the US Department of Health and Human Services, has awarded the company a research and development option worth $41.9 million to its existing contract to further the development and scale-up of its monoclonal antibody treatment for Ebola virus infection. (Schnirring, 9/12)

Modern Healthcare: Steward Health Facilities In Arizona To Be Run By HonorHealth
HonorHealth will assume operations of several Steward Health Care facilities in Arizona as a Senate committee weighs whether to hold Steward CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre in contempt. The Scottsdale, Arizona-based health system agreed to operate the locations during an interim transition period starting Wednesday. It anticipates taking full operational ownership in October, pending regulatory approval, a spokesperson for HonorHealth said. (DeSilva, 9/12)

Modern Healthcare: Kaiser, Humana, UnitedHealth Land Medicare Advantage Star Bonuses
The federal government will pay less in quality bonuses to Medicare Advantage insurers this year compared with last year, according to a new report. Medicare Advantage insurers will receive an estimated $11.8 billion in bonus payments from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services this year linked to their star rating performance during the 2023 plan year, according to a report released by healthcare research institution KFF on Wednesday. That’s down about 8% from the total CMS distributed to health insurers last year. (Berryman, 9/12)

Modern Healthcare: Hospital Safety, Quality Rebounds Post-Pandemic: AHA, Vizient
Health systems have a lower risk of patient mortality, fewer hospital acquired infections, and are performing more cancer screenings in 2024 than prior to the pandemic, according to a new report from the American Hospital Association and Vizient, a group purchasing and consulting organization. The study, which uses data from Vizient’s clinical database, found that acute care hospitals have made significant improvements on their safety and quality measure performance over the past several years — despite dealing with sicker, more complex patient populations. (Devereaux, 9/12)

Modern Healthcare: Urgent Care Group CityMD Expands Into Connecticut
Urgent care company CityMD, which operates in two Northeastern states, is expanding into Connecticut. CityMD will open a location in Norwalk on Sept. 30, followed by another site in Fairfield next year, according to a Thursday news release. (Hudson, 9/12)

Minnesota Public Radio: Southwestern Minnesota Ambulance Will Receive Telemedicine Rigs To Save Lives And Improve Other Patient Outcomes
Southwest Minnesota EMS will receive $9.9 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation as part of an initiative to improve and speed up care after crashes in rural communities. The money provides 54 EMS agencies in the 18-county service region with Avel eCare’s EMS services. Ambulance rigs will be outfitted with telemedicine rigs connecting crews to board-certified physicians, experienced paramedics, and nurses for virtual peer-to-peer support in the field or during transport. (Yang, 9/13)

Crain's Detroit Business: Henry Ford Health Breaks Ground On New $2.2B Hospital Tower
One hundred and twelve years after Henry Ford broke ground for a new hospital on the then outskirts of the city of Detroit, the region’s largest health system broke ground again for a new hospital tower. Henry Ford Heath and community leaders celebrated the groundbreaking Thursday for the $2.2 billion tower set to open in the city in 2029. (Walsh, 9/12)

Houston Chronicle: Texas Children's Hospital's Longtime CEO, Mark Wallace, Retires
Mark Wallace, who served as Texas Children’s Hospital’s top executive for more than three decades and helped build the system into a dominant force in pediatric care, announced his retirement Thursday. His last day is Oct. 4. Debra Feigin Sukin, who replaced Wallace as president last year while the latter remained CEO, will step into Wallace’s role. In a news release, Wallace said he had been mulling his retirement since Sukin’s appointment and was “happy with how everything has fallen into place.” (Gill and MacDonald, 9/12)

Health News Florida: DeSantis Pledges To Invest Even More Into Growing Florida's Nursing Workforce
Gov. Ron DeSantis is pledging more money in the coming fiscal year to help grow Florida’s nursing workforce. The governor says the state has already invested nearly $400 million in two programs created by lawmakers in 2022 to help graduate more nurses from Florida schools. (Lisciandrello, 9/12)

The Washington Post: FDA Approves Apple AirPods As Hearing Aids 
If you have mild to moderate hearing loss, your AirPods could soon function as hearing aids. The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it has approved a piece of software that will transform the latest model of Apple’s AirPods Pro earbuds into over-the-counter hearing aids. The company’s hearing aid feature will be pushed to eligible devices through a software update in the coming weeks, Apple said. The move, which comes two years after the FDA first approved over-the-counter hearing aids, could help more Americans with hearing loss start getting help, the FDA said in a statement. (Hunter, 9/12)

Chicago Tribune: UIC Pharmacy School Gets $36 Million Donation
University of Illinois Chicago’s pharmacy school is getting a new name, after receiving a $36 million endowment gift from the estate of late Chicago pharmacy owners Herbert and Carol Retzky. The pharmacy school — which will now be called the Herbert M. and Carol H. Retzky College of Pharmacy — is the first college at UIC to be named after a donor. (Schencker, 9/12)

NBC News: An Injectable HIV-Prevention Drug Is Highly Effective — But Wildly Expensive
The hotly anticipated results are in from a landmark pair of major clinical trials of a long-acting, injectable HIV-prevention drug that only requires dosing every six months. They are sensational. Thrilled over the news Thursday that lenacapavir was 89% more effective at preventing HIV than daily oral preventive medication among gay, bisexual and transgender people, plus previous news that the injectable drug was 100% effective in cisgender women, HIV advocates are looking to the future. They hope that if rolled out broadly and equitably, lenacapavir could be the game changer the nation badly needs. (Ryan, 9/12)

Stat: A New Drug, Voranigo, Delays Brain Tumor Progression
When Rachel Guberman found out she had brain cancer, she did so much reading and Googling about the disease that she joked she had reached the end of the internet. But she avoided digging into one particular subject: what she might have to endure with chemotherapy and radiation. (Joseph, 9/13)

Wyoming Public Radio: 988 Suicide Hotline Begins Routing Texts To Wyoming Call Centers
Wyoming has had in-state call centers for the 988 suicide hotline for the past two years. Those centers can now receive text messages. Since June, anyone with a 307 area code who texts 988 will get a response from someone within the state. Beforehand texts were going to national call centers. (Kudelska, 9/12)

NPR: PFAS Filtered From Drinking Water In Orange County, Calif.
Yorba Linda is a small, sunny city southeast of Los Angeles. It’s perhaps best known for being the birthplace of President Richard Nixon. But in the past few years, Yorba Linda has picked up another distinction: It’s home to the nation’s largest per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) water treatment plant of its kind, according to the city. “This December will be [three] years we've been running, and we’re the largest PFAS treatment plant using resin,” says J. Wayne Miller, former board president at the Yorba Linda Water District, for whom the plant is named. (Huang, 9/12)

Bloomberg: In Louisville, Planting Urban Trees Is A Public Health Priority
A decade ago, Louisville earned an unwanted distinction: With sparse tree cover and no ordinances protecting trees on private property, the Kentucky city had the fastest-growing urban heat island in the US. Since then, Louisville has been exploring a variety of green solutions to extreme heat and air pollution. (Baker, 9/12)