First Edition: Jan. 24, 2024

KFF Health News: With Trump Front Of Mind, New Hampshire Voters Cite Abortion And Obamacare As Concerns 
Health care issues are important to Lana Leggett-Kealey, who works as a genetic genealogist. But on Tuesday, as she walked out of her polling place at a local high school and into a frigid New England morning, she said she had something bigger on her mind when she cast her vote. “I want to make sure we have someone competent in the White House,” she said. She wrote in President Joe Biden’s name on her ballot in New Hampshire’s Democratic primary. (Galewitz, 1/24)

KFF Health News: 988-Hotline Counselors Air Concerns: More Training Needed To Juggle A Mix Of Calls 
In the year and a half since its launch, 988 — the country’s easy-to-remember, three-digit suicide and crisis hotline — has received about 8.1 million calls, texts, and chats. While much attention has been focused on who is reaching out and whether the shortened number has accomplished its goal of making services more accessible to people in emotional distress, curiosity is growing about the people taking those calls. An estimated 10,000 to 11,000 counselors work at more than 200 call centers nationwide, fielding calls from people experiencing anxiety, depression, or suicidal thoughts. (DeGuzman, 1/24)

KFF Health News: Preparing To Hang Up The Car Keys As We Age 
Lewis Morgenstern has made up his mind. When he turns 65 in four years, he’s going to sign an advance directive for driving. The directive will say that when his children want him to stop getting behind the wheel, Morgenstern will follow their advice. “I recognize that I might not be able to make the best decision about driving at a certain point, and I want to make it clear I trust my children to take over that responsibility,” said Morgenstern, a professor of neurology, neurosurgery, and emergency medicine at the University of Michigan. (Graham, 1/24)

KFF Health News: In Los Angeles, Occupational Therapists Tapped To Help Homeless Stay Housed 
Carla Brown waits on an air mattress, eager for her occupational therapist to arrive at her apartment next to the Hollywood Freeway, mere blocks from where she once camped on the sidewalk. She moved into the one-bedroom apartment on the second floor of PATH Villas Hollywood, a county-run apartment complex, in July, shortly after her 60th birthday. Inside the open-concept unit, the walls stand bare except for three Christian art prints hung near the front door. (Castle Work, 1/24)

KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute' 
This week on the KFF Health News Minute: Workers in smoky casinos say they shouldn’t have to gamble with their health on the job, and some Medicare Advantage enrollees feel trapped in their plans as they get older and sicker. (1/23)

Reuters: Biden Administration Urges US Supreme Court To Reverse Abortion Pill Curbs
A 2023 judicial decision that would curb access to the abortion pill threatens to disrupt the authority of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and harm the American healthcare system, President Joe Biden's administration told the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, urging the justices to reverse the ruling. The Justice Department filed a written brief outlining its main arguments to preserve broad access to the pill, called mifepristone, in its appeal of an August decision by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that barred telemedicine prescriptions and shipments by mail of the drug. (Chung, 1/23)

Roll Call: Biden Kicks Off Reelection Push With Singular Goal: Restore Roe 
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ first campaign rally of 2024 sought to build voter enthusiasm and boost turnout on a singular issue: abortion rights, which the campaign sees as the golden ticket to reelection. Flanked by their respective spouses, Biden and Harris on Tuesday kicked off a full-court press strategy elevating abortion rights, highlighting it as a crucial issue this election cycle. (Raman, 1/23)

AP: Biden, Harris Paint Trump As Freedom's Enemy At Virginia Abortion Rally 
President Joe Biden on Tuesday condemned abortion bans that have increasingly endangered the health of pregnant women, forcing them to grow sicker before they can receive medical care, and he laid the blame on Donald Trump, his likely Republican challenger in this year’s election. “He’s betting we won’t hold him responsible,” Biden said to a crowd of hundreds of cheering supporters. “He’s betting you’re going to stop caring.” “But guess what?” he added. “I’m betting he’s wrong. I’m betting you won’t forget.” (Long and Megerian, 1/23)

AP: North Dakota Judge Won't Block Part Of Abortion Law Doctors Say Puts Them At Risk Of Prosecution 
A North Dakota judge ruled Tuesday that he won’t block a part of a state law that doctors say puts them at risk of prosecution if they perform an abortion to save a patient’s life or health. State District Judge Bruce Romanick said the request for a preliminary injunction “is not appropriate and the Plaintiffs have presented no authority for the Court to grant the specific relief requested.” The lawsuit will continue to play out in court, with a jury trial set for August. (Dura, 1/23)

The Hill: Tennessee Bill Targets Adults Who Take Minors Out Of State For Abortion 
The Tennessee legislature introduced a bill on Monday that targets adults who take minors out of the state to have an abortion. The bill says that an adult who “recruits, harbors, or transports a pregnant unemancipated minor within this state for the purpose of” aiding them in getting access to actions that constitute “criminal abortion” under Tennessee law “commits the offense of abortion trafficking of a minor,” despite where the action occurs. (Suter, 1/23)

WUSF: Abortion Rates Are Down In Florida, But Not For Out-Of-State Residents
Fewer Floridians had abortions in 2023 than in the previous two years, but the number of out-of-state patients coming for the procedure continues to grow. The Agency for Health Care Administration reports 7,130 out-of-state residents had abortions in Florida last year, up from 6,708 in 2022 and 4,873 in 2021. It marks a 46% increase over the past two years. (Colombini, 1/23)

Axios: U.S. Maternal Health: State Shares Of Rural Hospitals Without Maternity Care
More than half (55%) of the nation's rural hospitals don't offer maternity care, as challenging economics and labor shortages force more rural facilities to stop providing labor and delivery services. Hospitals have been increasingly scaling back or cutting maternity services for financial reasons — while demand for obstetrics care rises as more states ban abortion. (Millman, 1/23)

North Carolina Health News: NC Loses Eight Babies To Congenital Syphilis
Last year, congenital syphilis led to six stillbirths in North Carolina and two neonatal deaths, according to preliminary data. Syphilis, a bacterial infection transmitted by sexual contact, is typically seen more often in men. In recent years, however, it has been on the rise in women — and therefore, babies. (Fernandez, 1/24)

Stat: FDA Endorses New Sterilization Method For Medical Devices
The chemical used to sterilize half of all medical devices in the United States is also known to cause cancer. After years of deliberating on alternatives, the Food and Drug Administration this month deemed a safer gas, vaporized hydrogen peroxide, a legitimate way to decontaminate devices. It’s a small step in pushing the medical device industry away from the carcinogenic chemical, called ethylene oxide. (Lawrence, 1/24)

The New York Times: Gene Therapy Allows An 11-Year-Old Boy To Hear For The First Time 
Aissam Dam, an 11-year-old boy, grew up in a world of profound silence. He was born deaf and had never heard anything. While living in a poor community in Morocco, he expressed himself with a sign language he invented and had no schooling. Last year, after moving to Spain, his family took him to a hearing specialist, who made a surprising suggestion: Aissam might be eligible for a clinical trial using gene therapy. On Oct. 4, Aissam was treated at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, becoming the first person to get gene therapy in the United States for congenital deafness. The goal was to provide him with hearing, but the researchers had no idea if the treatment would work or, if it did, how much he would hear. The treatment was a success, introducing a child who had known nothing of sound to a new world. (Kolata, 1/23)

Stateline: Wastewater Tests Show COVID Infections Surging, But Pandemic Fatigue Limits Precautions
Although it’s spotty and inconsistent in many places, wastewater testing is pointing to a new wave of COVID-19 infections, with as many as one-third of Americans expected to contract the disease by late February. With pandemic fatigue also in full force, and deaths and hospitalizations well down from peaks in 2021 because of high vaccination and immunity rates, many people are inclined to shrug off the new wave, fueled by the JN.1 variant. But COVID-19 continues to take thousands of lives a month. (Hendersen, 1/23)

CBS News: COVID Variant JN.1 Is Not More Severe, Early CDC Data Suggests
Early data from hospitals suggests the latest COVID variant, known as JN.1, is not leading to more severe disease, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official said Monday, as the agency has tracked the strain's steep rise to an estimated 85.7% of COVID-19 cases nationwide. The agency is still waiting for more weeks of data to lay out its more detailed assessment of JN.1's impact this season, the CDC official, Dr. Eduardo Azziz-Baumgartner, said at a webinar with testing laboratories hosted by the agency this week. (Tin, 1/23) 

Houston Chronicle: With COVID Vaccine In Republican Crosshairs, Public Health Officials Worry About Vulnerable Texans
Starting next month, private employers in Texas will be barred from requiring COVID-19 shots. A new budget rule stymies the promotion of the vaccine. And as part of a pending lawsuit, the Texas attorney general is trying to reap millions from one of the companies behind the vaccine, accusing it of misrepresenting the shot’s efficacy. Since the deadliest days of the pandemic, Texas and other conservative states have become hubs for anti-vaccine policies, worrying public health officials. (Gill, 1/23)

CIDRAP: No Neurodevelopmental Issues Found In Babies Of COVID-Vaccinated Moms
In first results from a study that tracked neurodevelopmental differences in babies born to mothers who were vaccinated against COVID-19, researchers found no differences at the 12- and 18-month marks compared to babies born to unvaccinated moms. The team, from the University of California, San Francisco, published its findings yesterday in JAMA Pediatrics. Against the backdrop of vaccine hesitancy among pregnant women and even in some of their healthcare providers, the researchers said their goal was to address unanswered questions about the longer-term impacts of COVID vaccination on developmental outcomes. Schnirring, 1/23)

Modern Healthcare: Medicaid Waivers Allow States To Spend Billions On Social Needs
State Medicaid programs are bargaining with the federal government to cover some of the costs of non-medical care for high-risk patients in a bid to narrow health disparities and reduce long-term spending. Earlier this month, New York became the most recent state to receive a Section 1115 Demonstration waiver from the Biden administration. Such waivers grant Medicaid agencies certain flexibilities under federal law and expanded funding opportunities to test programs that could reduce negative health outcomes for enrollees and lower costs. (Hartnett, 1/23)

Axios: Red States Revive Push For Employment Requirements In Medicaid
Republican-controlled states are making a fresh push to tie employment to Medicaid eligibility ahead of a presidential election that could usher in a new administration receptive to the idea. Rules requiring some low-income adults to work, attend school or volunteer as a condition of coverage could force more people off the Medicaid rolls at a time when millions have been dropped from the program following the expiration of pandemic-era coverage protections. (Goldman, 1/24)

Modern Healthcare: How CMS’ Prior Authorization Rule Will Affect Insurers
Health insurance companies will have to invest in technology and update their administrative processes to comply with new prior authorization requirements. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services last week finalized a rule requiring government-sponsored health plans to respond to non-urgent preapproval requests within seven days and to urgent requests within 72 hours. Insurers also will have to provide a reason for why they denied care requests and publicly disclose data on their decisions. (Tepper, 1/23)

Modern Healthcare: Medicare Advantage Marketing Scrutinized In Sen. Wyden’s Letter
An ongoing Senate investigation into Medicare Advantage marketing is now targeting online insurance brokerages. Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) sent letters to eHealth, GoHealth, SelectQuote, Agent Pipeline and TRANZACT on Tuesday requesting information on how they identify potential customers, advertise and direct older adults to choose specific Medicare Advantage plans. (Tepper, 1/23)

Boston Globe: Steward Health Care’s Financial Issues May Hurt Health Care Access
Steward Health Care, a for-profit health system that serves thousands of patients in Eastern Massachusetts, is in such grave financial distress that it may be unable to continue operating some facilities, according to public records and people with knowledge of the situation. The fast-moving crisis has left regulators racing to prevent the massive layoffs and erosion of care that could come if hospital services were to suddenly cease. (Bartlett, 1/23)

Modern Healthcare: Instacart, DispatchHealth Partner On Food-As-Medicine Program
A new partnership between Instacart and DispatchHealth could help the grocery technology company move deeper into healthcare. The companies announced a collaboration Tuesday that will allow DispatchHealth’s in-home healthcare providers to prescribe food interventions using Instacart’s platform. DispatchHealth emergency medical technicians, nurses and nurse practitioners will be able to distribute food stipends to patients for use to order nutritious food delivered to their doors. (Eastabrook, 1/23)

CIDRAP: Primary Care Physicians' Electronic Workload Grew During Pandemic 
A new study shows primary care providers' (PCPs') electronic workload was already growing when the pandemic hit, and continued to increase 3 years later. The study, published yesterday in the Annals of Family Medicine, suggests PCPs may be at risk from burnout considering the high after-hours demand to complete electronic health records (EHR) and answer patient email messages after clinic hours. (Soucheray, 1/23)

Modern Healthcare: Generative AI In Healthcare Needs Government Regulation: WHO
The World Health Organization says providers have a role to play in developing guardrails for artificial intelligence in healthcare. WHO outlined its concerns in a report published last Thursday that focused on the ethics and governance of AI in healthcare. As the hype, promise and usage of AI has grown in healthcare, health system leaders, developers and congressional stakeholders have sought more concrete guardrails on its usage, particularly for clinical purposes. (Turner, 1/23)

Reuters: Medical Scrubs Company Careismatic Files For Bankruptcy 
Medical apparel company Careismatic Brands filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late on Monday, with an agreement to turn over control to its lenders and eliminate $833 million in debt. ... Careismatic, owned by private equity firm Partners Group, overextended itself to meet a spike in demand for medical apparel during the COVID-19 pandemic, taking on new debt in order to boost sales to brick-and-mortar retail partners, according to court filings. (Knauth, 1/23)

CNBC: Johnson & Johnson To Settle Talc Baby Powder Probe
Johnson & Johnson has reached a tentative settlement to resolve an investigation by more than 40 states into claims the company misled patients about the safety of its talc baby powder and other talc-based products, the company said in a statement to CNBC on Tuesday. Notably, the settlement does not resolve the tens of thousands of consumer lawsuits, some of which are slated to go to trial this year, alleging that those talc-based products caused cancer. (Constantino, 1/23)

GovInfo Security: Judge Again Says Meta Pixel Privacy Case Dismissal Unlikely
A federal judge on Wednesday said he is inclined to let proceed a putative class action lawsuit against Meta over its gathering of data from medical center patient portals through a web activity tracking tool. In an amended complaint, plaintiffs allege that the social media giant violated their privacy by harvesting individually identifiable health information from medical websites that had embedded the Meta pixel tracking tool. (McGee, 1/17)

Reuters: Martin Shkreli's Lifetime Drug Industry Ban Upheld 
Martin Shkreli, known for once hiking the price of a life-saving drug more than 4,000%, cannot return to the pharmaceutical industry after a federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld his lifetime ban. A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said a lower court judge acted properly in imposing the ban and ordering Shkreli to repay $64.6 million because of his antitrust violations. Shkreli, 40, became notorious and gained the sobriquet "Pharma Bro" when, as chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals in 2015, he raised the price of the newly-acquired antiparasitic drug Daraprim overnight to $750 per tablet from $17.50. (Stempel, 1/23)

AP: Oregon Lawmakers Backpedal On Pioneering Drug Decriminalization Law
Democratic lawmakers in Oregon on Tuesday unveiled a sweeping new bill that would undo a key part of the state’s first-in-the-nation drug decriminalization law, a recognition that public opinion has soured on the measure amid rampant public drug use during the fentanyl crisis. The bill would recriminalize the possession of small amounts of drugs as a low-level misdemeanor, enabling police to confiscate them and crack down on their use on sidewalks and in parks, its authors said. It also aims to make it easier to prosecute dealers, to access addiction treatment medication, and to obtain and keep housing without facing discrimination for using that medication. (Rush, 1/23)

St. Louis Public Radio: Southwest To Stock Overdose Reversal Drug On Flights 
Southwest Airlines will now carry the opioid overdose-reversal drug naloxone on flights. Ballwin resident John Gaal and other advocates have been lobbying the airline to carry naloxone, which is also called Narcan, to protect passengers from opioid overdoses since Gaal witnessed an apparent overdose on a Southwest flight in October 2022. (Fentem, 1/24)

Reuters: US Republican Subpoenas Health Secretary For Migrant Children Records 
A top Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday issued a subpoena that orders President Joe Biden's health secretary to provide records related to the handling of unaccompanied migrant children with suspected criminal ties. House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan sent the subpoena to Xavier Becerra, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the committee said in a press release. (Hesson, 1/23)

NPR: Racism Linked To Health Risks, Brain Changes In Minorities
Scientists know that Black people are at a greater risk for health problems like heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease than white people. A growing body of research shows that racism in health care and in daily life contributes to these long-standing health disparities for Black communities. Now, some researchers are asking whether part of the explanation involves how racism, across individual interactions and systems, may physically alter the brain. (Hamilton, Carlson, and Ramirez, 1/24)

USA Today: Energy Drinks Linked To Insomnia And Sleep Problems, New Study Shows
Downing energy drinks could make it harder for you to fall asleep – and make it more likely your sleep will be disturbed. A new study of university students in Norway found a disturbing side effect of drinking energy drinks to stay alert during the day and evening. Those who drank energy drinks daily slept about a half hour less each night, compared to those who didn't drink energy drinks or had them only occasionally, the researchers report in the current issue of the BMJ Open medical journal. (Snider, 1/23)

Axios: Many Patients Keep Weight Off After Stopping Anti-Obesity Meds: Study
Most patients on a new class of anti-obesity medications kept at least some of the weight off up to a year after they stopped taking the medication, according to new data from Epic Research. This appears to contradict previous studies that have indicated patients on drugs known as GLP-1 agonists need to stay on them to keep the weight off. (Reed, 1/24)

CBS News: What's Causing Measles Outbreaks? Experts Point To Vaccination Decline, Waning Herd Immunity
Measles was officially declared eradicated in the U.S. more than 20 years ago, but new outbreaks of the disease are popping up — and experts say declining vaccination rates are jeopardizing herd immunity and increasing the risk. ... According to data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, during the 2021-2022 school year, 94.3% of kindergarteners in Philadelphia County were fully vaccinated with the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella. Last school year, that dropped to 92.8% — below the 95% needed for herd immunity. (Stock, Winick, and Moniuszko, 1/23)