First Edition: March 3, 2023

KHN: Shaved Costs, High Risk, Maximum Profits: Regulators Worry About Florida’s Butt Lift Boom
In hindsight, Nikki Ruston said, she should have recognized the red flags. The office in Miami where she scheduled what’s known as a Brazilian butt lift had closed and transferred her records to a different facility, she said. The price she was quoted — and paid upfront — increased the day of the procedure, and she said she did not meet her surgeon until she was about to be placed under general anesthesia. “I was ready to walk out,” said Ruston, 44, of Lake Alfred in Central Florida. “But I had paid everything.” (Chang, 3/3)

KHN: Schools Struggle With Lead In Water While Awaiting Federal Relief 
On a recent day in this 19th-century mining town turned tourist hot spot, students made their way into the Granite High School lobby and past a new filtered water bottle fill station. Water samples taken from the drinking fountain the station replaced had a lead concentration of 10 parts per billion — twice Montana’s legal limit for schools of 5 parts per billion for the toxic metal. (Houghton, 3/3)

KHN: Guns Are The Biggest Public Health Threat Kids Face. Why Aren’t They Getting The Message?
I still remember the raspy voice of the wizened cancer patient with the hole in her throat. So addicted to the poison that was killing her — cigarettes — she interspersed her words of warning about the dangers of smoking with taking puffs of a cigarette through her tracheostomy hole. It was a short, disturbing public service video shown in my sixth-grade classroom as part of an anti-smoking campaign linked to a U.S. surgeon general’s report, which for the first time officially linked smoking to cancer and heart disease. That night, I flushed my father’s cigarettes down the toilet. The woman’s image haunted my nightmares for years. After seeing that video, I never lighted up. (Rosenthal, 3/3)

KHN: Eli Lilly Slashed Insulin Prices. This Starts A Race To The Bottom.
When drugmaker Eli Lilly announced Wednesday it will slash the list price for some of its insulin products following years of criticism from lawmakers and activists that the price of the lifesaving hormone had become unaffordable, the news raised questions about what will happen to other efforts to provide low-cost insulin. Civica, a nonprofit drugmaker based in Utah, for example, has said it plans to begin selling biosimilar insulin for roughly $30 per vial by 2024 — $5 more than the new price of Eli Lilly’s generic insulin. (Sable-Smith and Young, 3/2)

KHN's 'What The Health?' Podcast:: March Medicaid Madness
With Medicare and Social Security apparently off the table for federal budget cuts, the focus has turned to Medicaid, the federal-state health program for those with low incomes. President Joe Biden has made it clear he wants to protect the program, along with the Affordable Care Act, but Republicans will likely propose cuts to both when they present a proposed budget in the next several weeks. (3/2)

USA Today: Better Social Security, Medicare Options May Be Available, Manchin Says
Sen Joe Manchin, D-WVa, repeated his support Thursday to keep Social Security and Medicare intact amid worries about its long term solvency but said there might be a “better program” to consider for future beneficiaries. The West Virginia Democrat — and key Senate swing vote — indicated his opposition to Social Security and Medicare cuts. But in an interview on FOX News on Thursday, he also didn’t close the door on a finding a different way to help future beneficiaries. (Elbeshbishi, 3/2)

Axios: Scoop: GOP Spends $2 Million Trying To Flip The Script On Medicare
A group closely aligned with House Republican leadership is spending over $2 million to accuse President Biden of being the one who truly wants to cut Medicare, Axios has learned. It's some of the earliest spending of the 2024 election cycle and signals that Republicans plan to go on offense, rather than just defend against Biden's claims that the GOP wants to slice into Medicare and Social Security. (Solender and Knight, 3/2)

Stat: The Other Way The Government Is Privatizing Medicare
A new approach to paying doctors and hospitals — originally billed as a way to bolster traditional Medicare — might be speeding the public health insurance program’s privatization. Medicare Advantage typically gets credited, or blamed, for moving beneficiaries into a system run by private health insurers. The program has grown rapidly since its inception; nearly half of people on Medicare are now in a private plan. But there may be another wave of privatization coming. (Wilkerson, 3/3)

Modern Healthcare: Walmart Health Adds 28 Centers, Expands To Missouri, Arizona
Walmart Health is expanding into two new states and opening 28 centers in 2024, the retailer announced Thursday. The company said it will open six centers in the Phoenix metro area and four in metro Kansas City, adding Arizona and Missouri to its footprint. It will also add 10 locations in the Dallas region and eight in metropolitan Houston, totaling more than 75 centers nationwide by the end of 2024. (Hudson, 3/2)

Reuters: Best Buy, Walmart, Other Major US Retailers Tout Health Services
Electronics retailer Best Buy recently kicked off a partnership with Atrium Health, part of Advocate Health, one of the country’s largest nonprofit hospital systems, Best Buy Chief Executive Officer Corie Sue Barry announced Thursday on a call with analysts. The partnership combines Atrium's hospital-at-home program with Best Buy’s technological services, she said. (Masters, 3/2)

Fox News: More Than Half The World's Population Will Be Obese Or Overweight By 2035, Says New Report
A startling new report may be putting a lot of people on notice. Without significant action to change this trajectory, more than half the world's population will be overweight or obese by 2035, according to a new report. The World Obesity Federation's 2023 atlas is predicting that 51% of the world, or more than 4 billion people, will be obese or overweight within the next 12 years, according to Reuters. (Mackey, 3/2)

Stat: Report: Obesity Could Cost World $4 Trillion A Year By 2035
The costs of obesity are projected to soar globally, in step with rising prevalence, according to a new report from the World Obesity Federation, the only global group focused solely on tracking obesity and a partner of the World Health Organization. Over half the world’s population will be either overweight or have obesity by 2035, the report projected, while the economic impact of a high BMI could reach $4.32 trillion annually, if current trends continue and policy inertia around the disease remains in place. (Belluz, 3/2)

Politico: Walgreens Won’t Distribute Abortion Pills In Some States Where They Remain Legal 
The nation’s second-largest pharmacy chain confirmed Thursday that it will not dispense abortion pills in several states where they remain legal — acting out of an abundance of caution amid a shifting policy landscape, threats from state officials and pressure from anti-abortion activists. Nearly two dozen Republican state attorneys general wrote to Walgreens in February, threatening legal action if the company began distributing the drugs, which have become the nation’s most popular method for ending a pregnancy. (Ollstein, 3/2)

Roll Call: FDA Could Widen Path For OTC Birth Control, Statins
A Biden administration proposal to broaden access to over-the-counter medications is drawing interest from manufacturers of products as varied as birth control, erectile dysfunction and cholesterol medication. But while some companies are already altering plans to fit the proposal’s requirements, the idea is also raising concerns among consumer advocates over cost and safety issues. (Clason, 3/2)

Detroit Free Press: House Repeals Still-On-Books Abortion Ban After Prop 3 Passage
The Michigan House of Representatives on Thursday moved to repeal Michigan's 1931 ban on abortion, which remains on the books even though it was rendered unenforceable when the state's voters overwhelmingly approved Proposal 3 to enshrine the right to an abortion in the constitution. Representatives voted 50-38 to remove the laws from Michigan's books, with two Republican lawmakers — state Reps. Thomas Kuhn, R-Troy, and Donni Steele, R-Orion Twp. — joining Democrats in voting in favor of the repeal. (Lobo, 3/2)

AP: Ohio AG Approves Language In Abortion Protection Petition 
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office approved summary language Thursday in a petition to enshrine abortion rights in Ohio’s state constitution, advancing the closely watched amendment to its next step. Republican Attorney General Dave Yost determined that the summary submitted by a pair of abortion rights groups is a fair and truthful representation of the proposed change to Ohio law. Yost said that a certification of the summary is being sent to the Secretary of State’s Office. (3/2)

The 19th: Texas Abortion Funds Could Resume Support After New Court Ruling. But Will They?
Texas-based abortion funds — nonprofits that offer financial support for people seeking to end a pregnancy — are weighing whether to resume helping people leave the state for care, a decision that could expand Texans’ ability to access abortion. (Luthra, 3/2)

NPR: These Texas DAs Refused To Prosecute Abortion. Republican Lawmakers Want Them Stopped
Texas is at the center of an ongoing, nationwide struggle between state and local authorities. It's an escalating dispute over who has what power — and when.The newest battle centers on criminal district attorneys in Texas' big cities, who are mostly Democrats. Some of these chief prosecutors have told their communities they will use their inherent discretion and not zealously pursue criminal cases against women who seek abortions or families who obtain gender-affirming health care for their children. (Several later said they would make decisions on a case-by-case basis.) (Jaspers, 3/3)

San Francisco Chronicle: Long COVID Linked To Lower Brain Oxygen Levels
Long COVID is associated with reduced brain oxygen levels, worse performance on cognitive tests and increased psychiatric symptoms, according to a new study. In an analysis of two parallel studies — a laboratory study involving cognitive testing and imaging and a population survey — researchers from the University of Waterloo found that individuals who experienced symptomatic COVID-19 illness showed impaired brain function compared to those who had not been infected. (Vaziri, 3/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: Vaccines Will Hit Commercial Market With Next Virus Strain
In an update to the potential timeline for commercialization of COVID-19 medical countermeasures, including vaccines, the federal Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) said it expects that to happen once the doses are reformulated for the next coronavirus lineage. (Vaziri, 3/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: Hopes Dashed For Combo Flu And COVID Vaccine This Year
According to a federal official, vaccines that provide vaccination against both influenza and COVID-19 will not be ready this year. Dr. Peter Marks of the Food and Drug Administration previously said he expected the combination shots to be ready for consumers in 2023. But this week he told a webinar by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases that hitting a target for the fall season was “too heavy a lift,” and they would not be available until 2024. (Vaziri, 3/2)

Modern Healthcare: BetterHelp Shared Consumer Health Info With Facebook, Snapchat 
The Federal Trade Commission has fined digital mental healthcare provider BetterHelp $7.8 million for sharing the personal health information of millions of consumers with advertisers like Facebook, Snapchat, Criteo and Pinterest during a seven-year period. (Turner, 3/2)

Modern Healthcare: Presbyterian Healthcare Services, UnityPoint Health To Merge
Presbyterian Healthcare Services and UnityPoint Health announced plans Thursday to merge, creating an organization with roughly $11 billion in annual revenue. The combined nonprofit organization would have 48 hospitals, a health insurance plan offered through Presbyterian and 40,000 employees. (Kacik, 3/2)

AP: Documents Detail EMTs' Failure To Aid Tyre Nichols 
Two Memphis Fire Department emergency medical technicians who were fired and had their licenses suspended for failing to give aid to Tyre Nichols for 19 minutes while he struggled with injuries from being brutally beaten by police, did not check his vital signs or perform other basic medical examinations, documents released Thursday showed. (Sainz, 3/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Tennessee Governor Signs Bill Restricting Transgender Healthcare For Minors 
Tennessee’s governor on Thursday signed legislation that blocks physicians from providing treatments to minors related to their gender identity, one of dozens of bills moving through legislatures that would impose limits on access to transgender healthcare for children and teenagers. (Timms and Kusisto, 3/2)

AP: Missouri Tries To Ease Access To Breast Cancer Screenings
Missouri patients won’t be charged a copay for a second mammogram to diagnose breast cancer or another illness under a bill the state House approved on Thursday. The GOP-led chamber voted 126-29 to send the measure to the Senate. Some female lawmakers noted that most of those opposed are men. (Ballentine, 3/2)

Houston Chronicle: Texas Wants To Ban Delta-8, But Veterans Are Pushing Back
Texas veterans have pledged to come out in force at the Capitol in the coming months to vouch for delta-8, the hemp derivative that provides a soothing effect similar to marijuana, as state officials argue it’s illegal in court and lawmakers consider banning it. (Goldenstein, 3/3)

CBS News: Teachers Learn To Administer Narcan Amid Opioid Crisis
As the U.S. continues to contend with an opioid epidemic that has led to surge in accidental deaths among teens — largely due to fentanyl — some teachers are now being educated on the use of Narcan, a drug that reverses opioid overdoses. (Ruffini, 3/2)

AP: Baby's Death Tied To Contaminated Breast Pump, CDC Says 
Federal health officials are warning parents of newborns to sterilize equipment used for both bottle- and breast-feeding after a baby died last year from a rare infection tied to a contaminated breast pump. The infant, a premature boy, was infected with the bacteria Cronobacter sakazakii, the same germ that sparked a recall and nationwide shortage of powdered infant formula last year, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Thursday. (Aleccia, 3/2)

WMFE: Stomach Bug Cases Increasing In Central Florida As CDC Warns Of A Drug-Resistant Bacteria
Reports of stomach bugs are growing throughout the country. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health warning regarding Shigella bacteria, which is drug-resistant and causes severe, bloody diarrhea. It is commonly spread through fecal matter either in person-to-person contact or contaminated food. Orlando Health, Nemours Children Hospital and Central Florida AdventHealth have not observed any Shigella hospitalizations. (Pedersen, 3/2)

USA Today: Oyster Recall: Salmonella Outbreak In Three States Linked To Shellfish
The Florida Department of Health is warning consumers to check where their oysters came from on the heels of a salmonella outbreak across three southeastern states. Oysters harvested in the small island city of Cedar Key from Dec. 16 through Feb. 24 are associated with the outbreak sickening people in Florida, Georgia and Alabama, the state agency reported Wednesday. As of Thursday, at least eight people had contracted the disease in those three states. (Neysa Alund, 3/2)

The New York Times: Ohio Residents Confront Train Company Over Derailment As EPA Orders Tests 
Residents vented and pleaded, describing how their families were still living in hotels or experiencing lingering health problems, including repeated vomiting and rashes. They told the officials how they felt trapped, with few resources to move away from the homes they had spent their lives building, and demanded more answers about the validity of the testing done on their air, water and soil. (Lieszkovszky and Cochrane, 3/2)

AP: Toxic 'Forever Chemicals’ About To Get Their First US Limits
The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to propose restrictions on harmful “forever chemicals” in drinking water after finding they are dangerous in amounts so small as to be undetectable. But experts say removing them will cost billions, a burden that will fall hardest on small communities with few resources. Concerned about the chemicals’ ability to weaken children’s immune systems, the EPA said last year that PFAS could cause harm at levels “much lower than previously understood.” (Phillis and Peterson, 3/3)

Axios: Study: Texas Kids On U.S.-Mexico Border More Likely To Die From Common Type Of Leukemia
Children in Texas who live along the U.S.-Mexico border have a 30% higher risk of death within five years of being diagnosed with the most common type of childhood cancer compared to those living elsewhere in the state, a new study found. Childhood cancer is the second-leading cause of death for kids under 16 years of age, and people who live in Texas border communities — about 80% are Hispanic — have long had less access to health care. (Galvan, 3/2)

Houston Chronicle: Healthiest Fast Food Cheeseburger? Whataburger Takes Top Spot
A whole bunch of media outlets breathlessly transcribed a fast-food health ranking compiled by a gambling website. The ranking, a top 10 of the healthiest fast food cheeseburgers, put Whatburger at the top of the list followed by In-N-Out and Checker's. Scores were generated by weighing sugar, sodium and fat and calories against the weight of the burger. (Perera, 3/2)