First Edition: June 24, 2024

KFF Health News: Medicaid For Millions In America Hinges On Deloitte-Run Systems Plagued By Errors
Deloitte, a global consultancy that reported revenue last year of $65 billion, pulls in billions of dollars from states and the federal government for supplying technology it says will modernize Medicaid. The company promotes itself as the industry leader in building sophisticated and efficient systems for states that, among other things, screen who is eligible for Medicaid. However, a KFF Health News investigation of eligibility systems found widespread problems. (Pradhan and Liss, 6/24)

KFF Health News: It’s Called An Urgent Care Emergency Center — But Which Is It?
One evening last December, Tieqiao Zhang felt severe stomach pain. After it subsided later that night, he thought it might be food poisoning. When the pain returned the next morning, Zhang realized the source of his pain might not be as “simple as bad food.” He didn’t want to wait for an appointment with his regular doctor, but he also wasn’t sure if the pain warranted emergency care, he said. (Rayasam, 6/24)

KFF Health News: Young Gay Latinos See Rising Share Of New HIV Cases, Leading To Call For Targeted Funding
Four months after seeking asylum in the U.S., Fernando Hermida began coughing and feeling tired. He thought it was a cold. Then sores appeared in his groin and he would soak his bed with sweat. He took a test. On New Year’s Day 2022, at age 31, Hermida learned he had HIV. “I thought I was going to die,” he said, recalling how a chill washed over him as he reviewed his results. He struggled to navigate a new, convoluted health care system. (Sánchez, Bose and Reese, 6/24)

KFF Health News' 'What The Health?' Podcast: Live From Aspen: Health And The 2024 Elections
Health policy may not be the top issue in this year’s presidential and congressional elections, but it’s likely to play a key role. President Joe Biden and Democrats intend to hold Republicans responsible for the Supreme Court’s unpopular ruling overturning the right to abortion, and former President Donald Trump aims to take credit for government efforts to lower prescription drug prices — even in cases in which he played no role. (6/21)

KFF Health News: Journalists Discuss Bird Flu, Tick-Borne Illnesses, And Lessons From Covid Response
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media in recent weeks to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances. (6/22)

NBC News: Appeals Court Finds 'Obamacare' Pillar Unconstitutional In Suit Over HIV-Prevention Drug
A federal appeals court on Friday found unconstitutional a key component of the Affordable Care Act that grants a health task force the effective authority to require that insurers both cover an array of preventive health interventions and screenings and refrain from imposing out-of-pocket costs for them. The lawsuit centered on the objections of a coalition of small businesses in Texas to the requirement that they cover a drug for HIV prevention, known as PrEP, in their employee health plans. The appeals court did not, however, overturn the related ACA pillar; the practical, immediate impacts of its ruling apply narrowly to the plaintiffs in this case. (Ryan, 6/21)

CNN: FDA Sign-Off On Menthol E-Cigarettes ‘Flies In The Face Of Public Health,’ Anti-Tobacco Groups Say 
Four menthol vaping products were authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration on Friday, the first non-tobacco-flavored e-cigarette products to get the agency’s sign-off. The decision drew harsh criticism from pediatricians and anti-tobacco groups, which called it “a blow to public health” and warned of potential for “disastrous consequences” to children. (Christensen, 6/21)

Reuters: US FDA Approves Bristol Myers' Colorectal Cancer Therapy 
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Bristol Myers Squibb's combination therapy for treating colorectal cancer in patients with a specific gene mutation, the health regulator said on Friday. The approval under the agency's accelerated process was based on an early- to mid-stage study, in which 94 previously treated patients were administered the oral drug Krazati, in combination with cetuximab. (Santhosh and L, 6/21)

Stat: Dobbs Decision Two Year Anniversary Shows Need For Federal Action
It’s been two years since America’s highest court removed a constitutional right — for the first time in history — that Americans have relied on for almost 50 years. Its Dobbs decision opened a Pandora’s box of attacks on reproductive care. (Diana DeGette, 6/24)

Politico: Inside The $100-Million Plan To Restore Abortion Rights In America 
A new coalition of abortion-rights groups is marking the second anniversary of the fall of Roe v. Wade with a pledge to spend $100 million to restore federal protections for the procedure and make it more accessible than ever before. In plans shared first with POLITICO, groups including Planned Parenthood, the ACLU and Reproductive Freedom for All are banding together to form Abortion Access Now — a national, 10-year campaign that will both prepare policies for the next time Democrats control the House, Senate and White House, and build support for those policies among lawmakers and the public. At a private event Monday evening in Washington, they will pitch a group of influential progressives on going on offense at a time when abortion is outlawed in a third of the country. (Ollstein, 6/24)

The Hill: Vice President Harris: Anti-Abortion Laws Pose Health Care 'Crisis'
Vice President Harris on Sunday argued the implications of anti-abortion laws go beyond the medical procedure and present a larger “crisis” for other women’s health treatments. Harris, speaking with MSNBC on Sunday, and two years since the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, warned “everything is at stake” in the upcoming election regarding abortion and other reproductive freedoms. (Nazzaro, 6/23)

AP: Woman Who Was Raped As A Child Campaigns With First Lady On Abortion 
A 22-year-old woman who became an abortion rights advocate after she was raped by her stepfather as a child will campaign with first lady Jill Biden in Pennsylvania this weekend as part of a 2024 election push around the anniversary of the fall of Roe v. Wade. Hadley Duvall of Owensboro, Kentucky, first told her story publicly last fall in a campaign ad for the governor’s race in her home state, discussing the consequences of abortion restrictions, particularly those without exceptions for rape or incest. (Long, 6/22)

The Tennessean: Kentucky Gov. Beshear Decries Abortion Extremism At Nashville Event
Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear decried "extremism" in state abortion bans during a Nashville event on reproductive rights on Friday, pointing to a lack of rape and incest exceptions in Kentucky and Tennessee law as Republicans have effectively banned nearly all abortions in both states. "Extremism pushes everybody off. It's not the right way to govern," Beshear said. "It's not the right way to make policies, because our policies aren't about proving how pure you are to this party or that party. They're about human beings." (Brown, 6/22)

Houston Chronicle: Texas Medical Board Approves Limited Guidance For Emergency Abortions
The Texas Medical Board on Friday adopted guidance on when physicians can perform emergency abortions, loosening some paperwork requirements but adding little clarity to the state ban’s exceptions. The decision follows a meeting last month in which doctors, patients and lawyers criticized an earlier proposal of the rules, with many saying it only added more administrative requirements that could further delay care in emergency situations. (Gill, 6/21)

Chicago Tribune: Dobbs, 2 Years Later: Out-Of-State Medical Providers Flock To Illinois For Abortion Training As Opportunities Dwindle
Obstetrics and gynecology resident Dr. Cory Reiter travels more than 200 miles round trip from Indianapolis to an Illinois clinic once a week to learn how to perform abortions, which she deems a vital aspect of health care. Yet opportunities for learning how to terminate a pregnancy have dwindled in Indiana since the state’s near-total abortion ban went into effect in August, spurring Reiter and other OB-GYN residents at Indiana University School of Medicine to come to Illinois for abortion training. (Lourgos, 6/23)

The Boston Globe: N.H. Teacher Fired For Helping A Pregnant Student Access Abortion Services
A teacher was fired in New Hampshire after investigators concluded she secretly escorted a pregnant student to a medical appointment during the school day, ostensibly to access abortion services. The teacher admitted to her employer that she had lied about having food poisoning when she called in sick from work and drove the student to the medical facility, according to records obtained by The Boston Globe through a public records request. State officials then opened an investigation into her alleged failure to observe appropriate boundaries with the student entrusted to her care. (Porter, 6/23)

The Wall Street Journal: More Women Risk IUD Pain To Prevent Unwanted Pregnancies 
Michele Von Hatten is willing to endure a day of pain twice a decade for reliable birth control. Von Hatten uses an intrauterine device, or IUD, among the most effective reversible forms of birth control and an increasingly popular one. More women are choosing IUDs despite a common experience of pain during insertion that can be severe. Broader insurance coverage and improved doctor training have encouraged more women to use them. (Calfas, 6/23)

The Wall Street Journal: When Hospital Prices Go Up, Local Economies Take A Hit 
Rising healthcare prices have long eroded American wages. They are doing that by eating into jobs. Companies shed workers in the year after local hospitals raise their prices, new research found. Higher hospital prices pushed up premiums for employees’ health insurance, which businesses help pay for. The new study, scheduled to be published Monday as a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper, is a comprehensive look at one way companies manage those higher premiums: cutting payrolls. (Evans, Mollica and Ulick, 6/23)

Modern Healthcare: Prospect Medical Given Conditions To Sell 2 CharterCare Hospitals
Prospect Medical Holdings can move ahead with plans to sell two CharterCare hospitals in Rhode Island — if the for-profit system satisfies dozens of conditions. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha granted conditional approval Thursday for the proposed transfer of Providence-based Roger Williams Medical Center and North Providence-based Our Lady of Fatima Hospital to nonprofit ownership under the Centurion Foundation. (Hudson, 6/21)

Modern Healthcare: Risant Health To Buy Cone Health, Second For Kaiser-Backed System
Risant Health, the nonprofit entity created by Kaiser Permanente, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire North Carolina's Cone Health, the nonprofit systems said Friday. Cone would be the second system to join Risant, subject to regulatory approval, following Geisinger Health earlier this year. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. It is expected to close in early 2025. (Hudson, 6/21)

Reuters: Ardent Health Discloses Over 5% Rise In Annual Revenue In US IPO Filing 
Ardent Health Partners disclosed a more than 5% rise in revenue for 2023 on Friday, as the healthcare provider revealed its paperwork for an initial public offering in the United States. The U.S. capital market has seen a recovery in the number of IPOs in 2024, after a nearly two-year dry spell, as expectations of a soft-landing for the economy encourage companies to list their shares. (6/21)

Modern Healthcare: Sutter Health Did Not Double Bill Patients, California Court Says
Sutter Health was absolved this week from a California whistleblower lawsuit alleging the nonprofit system owed $519 million for double-billing patients. After a seven-week trial, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Stephen Kaus ruled Monday retired surgeon Dr. Gregory Duncan and patient Gary Hulbert failed to show that Sutter's billing practices for surgical patients were fraudulent. (Hudson, 6/21)

Reuters: Doctor's Recommendation Does Not Bar Patient's Lawsuit Over Device - California Top Court 
A patient may be able to pursue a claim against a drug or medical device maker for failing to warn of a product's risks even if the warning would not have stopped the patient's doctor from recommending it, California's highest court has ruled. The California Supreme Court, in a unanimous opinion on Thursday by Justice Joshua Groban, revived a lawsuit against Somatics, the maker of an electroshock therapy device, by a woman who said she suffered brain damage after it was used to treat her severe depression. (Pierson, 6/21)

Stat: How Kaiser Permanente Hospitals Track Risky Medical Devices
When a new medical device hits the market, there’s typically still some uncertainty about whether it works. Device makers generally do not have to submit as much, or as rigorous, clinical data to the Food and Drug Administration as their biotech counterparts. Once FDA regulators decide a device is safe and effective, companies and researchers then attempt to track how the device performs in the real world. (Lawrence, 6/24)

Modern Healthcare: Blue Shield Of CA Fires Tosha Lara-Larios Over Alleged Fake DO
Blue Shield of California has fired a senior executive it alleges misrepresented her name and professional credentials, the insurer said Friday. The nonprofit company "involuntarily terminated" Dr. Tosha Lara-Larios and reported her to law enforcement for fraud, a Blue Shield spokesperson wrote in an email. The San Diego Union-Tribune first reported her termination. (Tepper, 6/21)

Asheville Watchdog: Mission Nurses Demand Action After Assaults
Choked. Hit. Kicked. Thrown against walls. Nurses at HCA Healthcare-owned Mission Hospital face a steady stream of assaults and violence in their workplace and say management needs to do more to prevent their physical injuries and emotional trauma. (Jones, 6/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: UCSF Upgrades Midwifery To Doctoral Program Just As More Nurses Needed
UCSF is ending its long-standing and esteemed master’s program for nurse midwives in favor of a doctorate program that many alumni and others in the field say will take longer and cost more to complete — making it harder for people to become midwives at a time maternal health workers are needed more than ever. ... Students on track to graduate next year will be the final cohort in the master’s program. (Ho, 6/23)

Politico: Florida Medicaid Spending On Undocumented Immigrants Plummets After New Law 
The amount of money that Florida’s Medicaid program spends to provide emergency health care to undocumented migrants has dropped significantly after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis launched a multi-pronged crackdown on illegal immigration amid his unsuccessful primary bid for president. DeSantis signed a law last year directing hospitals that accept Medicaid to ask patients about their immigration status when they seek treatment. While the law does not force patients to provide hospitals with an answer, immigrant rights groups feared the mandate would scare migrants away from seeking urgent medical attention. The DeSantis administration and other Florida Republicans say any marked decreases in spending are signs his immigration crackdown is working. (Sarkissian, 6/23)

The Baltimore Sun: Emergent BioSolutions To Sell Camden Manufacturing Plant
Beleaguered pharmaceutical company Emergent BioSolutions — which, early into the pandemic, threw out coronavirus vaccine doses manufactured in East Baltimore due to lapses in quality — is selling its last major plant in the city. (Roberts, 6/21)

CIDRAP: CDC Data Show Uptick In COVID-19 Cases, Low Flu Activity
Data from the CDC's National Wastewater Surveillance System show that COVID wastewater levels nationally are low, but several states in the West are reporting high viral activity, and six states—Alaska, Hawaii, New Mexico, Missouri, Florida, and Connecticut—are reporting very high activity. (Dall, 6/21)

CIDRAP: Cannabis Use Linked To Worse COVID-19 Outcomes
Cannabis use is linked to an increased risk of more serious COVID-19 outcomes, including hospitalization and intensive care unit (ICU) admission—similar to risks from tobacco use—according to a study today in JAMA Network Open from researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. (Soucheray, 6/21)

Stat: Bird Flu Snapshot: USDA Secretary Urges Farmers To Take Protective Measures
As the H5N1 outbreak in dairy herds approaches the three-month mark, America’s top animal health official is calling on farmers to step up the use of personal protective equipment, limit traffic onto their farms, and increase cleaning and disinfection practices in their barns and milking parlors. (Molteni, 6/24)

Health News Florida: A Locally Acquired Case Of Dengue Fever Is Reported In Hillsborough County
A person has been infected with dengue fever in Hillsborough County. Health officials say the disease was acquired locally, meaning it was likely transmitted through a mosquito bite. Dengue fever is spread to humans through the bites of infected female mosquitoes of the Aedes genus, primarily Aedes aegypti. This is the eighth locally acquired case of dengue fever in Florida this year. (6/23)

USA Today: Heat Waves In The US Kill More People Indoors Than Anywhere Else
In July 1999, during Cincinnati’s worst heat wave in recent history, paramedics rushed a man to the hospital after a neighbor found him unresponsive in an attic apartment that had no air conditioning. It was too late. ... In the quarter century since his death, thousands more across the United States have suffered similar fates during heat waves like the one now smothering large swaths of the nation. These are preventable deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, yet they continue to happen because those most at risk often are unable to get the help they need. (Kim, 6/23)

Los Angeles Times: This One Thing May Derail Your Shot At Healthy Aging, Scientists Say
Before you settle in to binge the new season of “The Bear” or watch Team USA go for the gold at the Paris Olympics, think twice about the amount of time you spend on the couch in front of the TV. Your future self may thank you. A new study by Harvard researchers links the popular pastime of sitting and watching television to the likelihood of reaching one’s senior years in a state of good health: the more time spent doing the former, the lower the odds of achieving the latter. (Kaplan, 6/22)