Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: July 11, 2023
KFF Health News: As Nonprofit Hospitals Reap Big Tax Breaks, States Scrutinize Their Required Charity Spending
The public school system here had to scramble in 2018 when the local hospital, newly purchased, was converted to a tax-exempt nonprofit entity. The takeover by Tower Health meant the 219-bed Pottstown Hospital no longer had to pay federal and state taxes. It also no longer had to pay local property taxes, taking away more than $900,000 a year from the already underfunded Pottstown School District, school officials said. (Miller and Hawryluk, 7/11)
KFF Health News: Mental Health Respite Facilities Are Filling Care Gaps In Over A Dozen States
Aimee Quicke has made repeated trips to emergency rooms, hospitals, behavioral health facilities, and psychiatric lockdowns for mental health crises — including suicidal thoughts — since she was 11. The 40-year-old resident of Le Mars, Iowa, has bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorders. “Some of the visits were helpful and some were not,” she said. “It was like coming in and going out and just nothing different was happening.” (Weinstock, 7/11)
Bloomberg: FDA Allows More Cancer Drug Imports From China Amid Shortage
US regulators are allowing imports of additional supplies of a cancer drug from China amid a nationwide shortage that has forced doctors to ration care, putting patients’ lives at risk. The Food and Drug Administration has allowed distribution of 10 more lots of cisplatin, an essential chemotherapy drug, from Qilu Pharmaceutical Co., an agency spokesperson said Monday. The FDA previously cleared four lots of Qilu’s version of the drug, which is unapproved in the US, but similar to approved cisplatin sold there. (Swetlitz, 7/10)
Roll Call: House Committee Questions Legality Of Fauci, NIH Appointments
The Department of Health and Human Services vigorously rejected the accusations, calling them political and inaccurate. The allegations mark an escalation in lawmakers’ attacks on Dr. Fauci. ... Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., has been especially critical of the agency’s research protocols amid questions about NIH’s ongoing funding of EcoHealth Alliance and its subcontracts with the Wuhan Institute of Virology. (Clason, 7/10)
AP: Iowa Legislature Will Take Up 6-Week Abortion Ban During Special Session Tuesday
Iowa’s Legislature convenes Tuesday in a special session focused exclusively on abortion restrictions, where Republican lawmakers will work to push through a new ban on abortion after roughly six weeks of pregnancy. The day will be a marathon of committee hearings and floor debates in both chambers, with votes likely to extend late into the night. Demonstrators for and against the bill are expected to rally at the capitol building throughout the day. (Fingerhut, 7/11)
AP: Appeals Court Says Minnesota Governor Had Authority To Impose Mask Mandate
Gov. Tim Walz had the legal authority to mandate face masks when he declared a public health emergency in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled Monday. Walz declared a peacetime emergency in March 2020 and mandated masking in most indoor public spaces in July 2020. The conservative Upper Midwest Law Center sued, challenging the mask requirement as unconstitutional. Walz lifted the mandate in May 2021, at which point the Court of Appeals declared the case moot. (7/10)
CIDRAP: Study Spotlights Personal, Health System Impact Of Long COVID
A new 12-study meta-analysis outlining the impact of post–COVID-19 condition (PCC), or long COVID, shows substantial functional, daily activity limitation to patients as well as high use of multiple healthcare services. The study is published in JAMA Health Forum. A second new study highlights the most common long-COVID symptoms in kids. (Soucheray, 7/10)
CNBC: HCA Healthcare Patient Data Stolen And For Sale By Hackers
Personal information for potentially tens of millions of HCA Healthcare patients has been stolen and is now available for sale on a data breach forum as of earlier this week. HCA, one of the largest companies in the U.S., warned patients that critical personal information had been compromised, including their full name, city and when and where they last saw a provider. (Goswami, 7/10)
The New York Times: Who Employs Your Doctor? Increasingly, A Private Equity Firm.
In recent years, private equity firms have been gobbling up physician practices to form powerful medical groups across the country, according to a new report released Monday. In more than a quarter of local markets — in places like Tucson, Ariz.; Columbus, Ohio; and Providence, R.I. — a single private equity firm owned more than 30 percent of practices in a given specialty in 2021. In 13 percent of the markets, the firms owned groups employing more than half the local specialists. (Abelson and Sanger-Katz, 7/10)
Modern Healthcare: Executive Compensation: 5 Trends From Healthcare Systems
Hospitals and health systems seeking executive-level talent must find leaders with the appropriate skills to oversee increasingly complex organizations, all while navigating a tight labor market and challenging economic environment. “This industry is just under enormous pressure and stress,” said Michelle Johnson, senior partner at executive search firm WittKieffer. “I think we have to get a little creative, or at least a little more creative, both in terms of how we structure compensation and also in a willingness to broaden our hiring efforts.” (Hudson, 7/10)
Bloomberg: Ozempic, Weight-Loss Drugs Are Being Investigated For Suicide Risks
The European Medicines Agency is looking at adverse events noted by the Icelandic Medicines Agency, including two cases of suicidal thoughts linked to the drugs Saxenda and Ozempic, the EMA said in a statement Monday. One additional case relating to thoughts of self-injury has been raised in connection with Saxenda. The EMA did not report any cases of suicide, and suicidal behavior is not currently listed as a side effect in the EU product information of the drugs. (Ring, 7/10)
Bloomberg: Nestlé Said To Weigh Sale Of Peanut Allergy Pill To Stallergenes
Nestlé SA is discussing a potential sale of its peanut allergy medicine to Swiss health-care group Stallergenes Greer, people with knowledge of the matter said. Stallergenes has been holding talks with Nestlé about a possible deal for the Palforzia treatment, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. (Nair, 7/10)
AP: Kansas Must Stop Changing Trans People's Sex Listing On Driver's Licenses, Judge Says
Kansas must stop allowing transgender people to change the sex listed on their driver’s licenses, a state-court judge ordered Monday as part of a lawsuit filed by the state’s Republican attorney general. (Hanna, 7/10)
AP: Wisconsin School District Can't Restrict Bathrooms For Transgender Student, Federal Judge Says
A federal judge has blocked a Wisconsin school district from requiring transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that match the sex they were assigned at birth while a lawsuit plays out against the school. (7/10)
The Washington Post: 1.3 Billion People Worldwide Projected To Have Diabetes By 2050
The number of people worldwide with diabetes is projected to more than double in the next three decades, reaching 1.3 billion by 2050, according to research published in the Lancet. The researchers found that 529 million people had diabetes in 2021 and that the climb in diabetes numbers would increase the prevalence of the disease from 6 percent of the world’s population to nearly 10 percent by 2050. The study’s findings are based on the analysis of data from more than 27,000 sources in 204 countries and territories. (Searing, 7/10)
Bloomberg: Temperatures Will Top 100 Degrees In Multiple US States This Week
A massive heat wave will build in the southern US and expand into the Pacific Northwest this week, with temperatures in the Southwest rising to as much as 120F (49C) on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. (Sullivan, 7/10)
AP: How Extreme Heat Takes A Toll On The Mind And Body, According To Experts
From heavy sweating and dizziness to muscle spasms and even vomiting, experts say heat exhaustion and heat stroke are likely to become more common. In coming decades, the U.S. is expected to experience higher temperatures and more intense heat waves. Heat stroke is the most serious heat-related illness and happens when the body loses its ability to sweat. (Bryan, 7/10)
Politico: New York City Hotline To Advise Police On Involuntary Hospitalizations Has Gotten Zero Calls
No one has called a 24/7 city hotline to help NYPD officers determine whether to force someone to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, a resource launched by Mayor Eric Adams’ administration as he sought to involuntarily hospitalize people unable to meet their basic needs. NYC Health + Hospitals, which operates the hotline, disclosed the information to POLITICO Friday in response to a public records request for data on calls since it went live on Jan. 31. (Kaufman, 7/10)
The Washington Post: Family Reaches $5M Settlement After Army Veteran's Suicide At VA Center
When her husband was having a mental health crisis in 2019, Emma Dash thought the safest place for him to receive treatment was at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Fla., where she had worked. Her husband, former Army Sgt. Brieux Dash, had battled post-traumatic stress disorder since was honorably discharged in 2015, and his mental health struggles had recently worsened. Emma Dash trusted that her husband would be protected at the VA center’s mental health unit. But three days later, Brieux Dash, a 33-year-old father of three, died by suicide there. (Somasundaram, 7/11)
Stateline: Despite Pandemic Pay Boost, Low-Wage Workers Still Can't Afford Basic Needs
Despite the recent gains, low-wage workers have faced stagnant wages for decades. Their costs for basics such as housing and health care have risen even faster than inflation, according to a report from United for ALICE, a project led by the United Way of Northern New Jersey. The effects are significant: The typical retail sales worker, the most common job in the country, lost $26,000 in buying power between 2007 and 2022, according to the report. (Henderson, 7/10)
The Hill: A Record Share Of Americans Is Living Alone
Nearly 30 percent of American households comprise a single person, a record high. Scholars say living alone is not a trend so much as a transformation: Across much of the world, large numbers of people are living alone for the first time in recorded history. (De Vise, 7/10)
CIDRAP: Five More European Countries Report Severe E-11 Infections In Newborns
Following reports in May of enterovirus-echovirus 11 (E-11) neonatal sepsis cases in France, five more countries in Europe have reported similar cases, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a recent update. (Schnirring, 7/10)
CIDRAP: PAHO Warns About Infections Linked To Medical Tourism
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) last week called on member states to strengthen their capacity to detect, manage, and prevent outbreaks of antimicrobial-resistant organisms linked to medical tourism. The warning comes in the wake of a multinational fungal meningitis outbreak linked to two private cosmetic surgery clinics in Mexico. (Dall, 7/10)
Bloomberg: Primary Care Doctor Shortage Undermines Universal Health Care In Ontario
Zunera Hashmi, a Toronto resident, has been anxiously waiting in line for three years to be assigned a family doctor. When she gets stressed, the 28-year-old marketing professional calls the provincial help line but hears the same message: “Wait just a bit longer.” She emails them occasionally but gets no reply. (Rai, 7/10)
