First Edition: March 4, 2024

KFF Health News: America Worries About Health Costs — And Voters Want To Hear From Biden And Republicans
President Joe Biden is counting on outrage over abortion restrictions to help drive turnout for his reelection. Former President Donald Trump is promising to take another swing at repealing Obamacare. But around America’s kitchen tables, those are hardly the only health topics voters want to hear about in the 2024 campaigns. A new KFF tracking poll shows that health care tops the list of basic expenses Americans worry about — more than gas, food, and rent. (Appleby and Galewitz, 3/4)

KFF Health News: California Pushes To Expand The Universe Of Abortion Care Providers
California’s efforts to expand access to abortion care are enabling more types of medical practitioners to perform certain abortion procedures — potentially a boon for patients in rural areas especially, but a source of concern for doctors’ groups that have long fought efforts to expand the role of non-physicians. The latest move is a law that enables trained physician assistants, also known as physician associates, to perform first-trimester abortions without a supervising physician present. (Udesky, 3/4)

KFF Health News: Journalists Examine Medicaid Unwinding, Farmworkers' Mental Health, And The Big Opioid Payback 
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances. (3/2)

CNN: Case Threatening Obamacare Mandate For Cost-Free Preventive Services Goes Before Federal Appellate Court 
The seemingly never-ending legal war over Obamacare returns Monday to a familiar battlefront: the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals. The latest case concerns the Affordable Care Act provision that mandates insurers cover preventive care services at no cost to patients. The appeals court is reviewing a district judge’s ruling that wiped away that requirement for certain preventive services – a ruling that was paused while the appeal plays out. Two of the three circuit judges on the panel hearing arguments in the case, brought by employers and individuals in Texas, have shown previous hostility to former President Barack Obama’s 2010 health care law. (Sneed and Luhby, 3/4)

Stat: Congress Gives Doctors Medicare Pay Bump, Sets Up December Fight In New Funding Package
Doctors will get a 1.68% pay hike in Medicare starting March 9 under a deal struck over the weekend to fund part of the government. The pay bump is among multiple Medicare payment policies that now will run until the end of December. That year-end deadline lines up with the expiration of telehealth pay policies, setting the stage for a large health legislative package and giving Congress another shot at aligning hospital and doctor office payments and reforming the business practices of drug middlemen. (Wilkerson and Cohrs, 3/3)

Modern Healthcare: Providers Warn Congress Over DSH Cut Delay, Health Center Funding
Hospitals and other providers waiting for Congress to complete a slew of overdue spending bills are pressing for swift action to eliminate financial uncertainty—which lawmakers themselves compounded with the odd double deadline they set for themselves. Congress passed a short-term spending bill Thursday that established two deadlines: one on March 8 to pass a half-dozen full-year appropriations bills, including the Food and Drug Administration's, and a second on March 22 to approve the remaining six spending bills. (McAuliff, 3/1)

The Hill: Congress Unveils Long-Awaited Funding Bills Ahead Of Shutdown Threat
Congressional leaders on Sunday finally revealed long-awaited bipartisan bills to fund parts of the government for most of the year, setting off a bicameral sprint to avert looming shutdown threat in less than a week. The weekend rollout entails six full-year spending bills to fund a slew of agencies until early fall, including the departments of Agriculture, Interior, Transportation (DOT), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Veterans Affairs (VA), Justice (DOJ), Commerce and Energy. (Folley, 3/3)

Modern Healthcare: Change Healthcare Opens Backup Pharmacy System As Outage Continues
Nine days after a cyberattack that disrupted pharmacy services across the U.S., UnitedHealth Group has established an alternate system and created a financial assistance program for healthcare providers, the company announced Friday. Change Healthcare, part of UnitedHealth Group's Optum subsidiary, opened a temporary version of its Rx ePrescribing service at 2 p.m. EST Friday for drugstores, hospital and nursing home pharmacies, and other affected providers. (Berryman, 3/1)

Bloomberg: UnitedHealth Hack Poses Financial Challenges For Smaller Pharmacies
As the ripple effects from a hack on a UnitedHealth Group Inc. unit extend for more than a week, some health-care providers face an increasingly difficult dilemma: whether to deny medication to patients or risk not being paid for costly treatment. For days, providers have been unable to verify if a patient’s health insurance will cover the cost of their prescription. ... However, operators of smaller pharmacies say they can only cover the cost of prescriptions — while they wait to be reimbursed — for so long. (Pashankar, 3/1)

The Seattle Times: Why Health Care Has Become A Top Target For Cybercriminals
Cyberattacks of all sorts have plagued large corporations, small businesses and individuals for decades now, but in the past several years, health care has become a top target, according to federal and local cybersecurity experts. These organizations hold a massive amount of patient data — including medical records, financial information, Social Security numbers, names and addresses. They’re also among the few businesses that stay open 24/7, meaning they might be more likely to prioritize avoiding disruptions and, therefore, more likely to pay a hacker’s ransom. (Takahama, 3/1)

Vox: What The CDC’s New COVID Guidelines Could Mean For You 
“It’s a reasonable move,” said Aaron Glatt, an infectious disease doctor and hospital epidemiologist at Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital on Long Island. “When you’re doing public health, you have to look at what is going to be listened to, and what is doable.” Guidelines that adhere to the highest standards of infection control might please purists in public health who don’t have to make policies for the real world. However, guidelines that seem to acknowledge that workers often don’t have paid sick leave and emergency child care, and that social interactions are important to folks, are more likely not only to be followed but to engender trust in public health authorities. (Landman, 3/1)

The Washington Post: How To Know You're No Longer Contagious With Covid, According To Experts 
The United States has entered a different stage in the pandemic. Four years after the virus emerged, the covid-19 landscape has changed dramatically. ... So now you’ve got covid-19. When can you exit isolation? If you do resume activities outside your home, can you be sure you’re no longer contagious? The important thing to consider, experts say, is that every person and every case of covid is unique. There is no hard-and-fast rule for how sick a person will get or how long a person remains infectious. The guidelines offer a framework, but patients should take into account their circumstances, priorities and resources to assess risk. (Sun and Achenbach, 3/2)

CIDRAP: US Respiratory Virus Levels Remain High As Flu Rises In Central States 
Respiratory illness levels in the United States remained high but stable last week, with flu activity rising in some regions of the country and indicators declining for both COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its latest data updates. (3/1)

AP: CVS, Walgreens Plan To Start Dispensing Abortion Pill Mifepristone In Few States
The drugstore chains CVS Health and Walgreens plan to start dispensing an abortion pill in a few states within weeks. CVS Health will start filling prescriptions for mifepristone in Rhode Island and neighboring Massachusetts “in the weeks ahead,” spokeswoman Amy Thibault said Friday. Walgreens will begin dispensing the medication within a week, spokesman Fraser Engerman said. The chain will start with some locations in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, California and Illinois. (Murphy, 3/1)

Military.com: VA Set To Make Its Abortion Policy Official On Monday, Despite Opposition From Republicans In Congress 
The Department of Veterans Affairs on Monday will finalize its policy of providing abortions to veterans and other beneficiaries in certain cases, including in states that have banned the procedure, according to a federal notice. The move will make the abortion policy official, but the VA has been providing veterans and covered dependents abortions on an interim basis since September 2022 -- just months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade -- if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, or their life or health is at risk because of the pregnancy. The policy also allows VA doctors to provide abortion counseling to any patient. (Kheel, 3/1)

The Washington Post: Louisiana’s Ban On Destruction Of IVF Embryos Strips Patients’ Options 
A 1986 Louisiana law has led IVF clinics to ship patients’ embryos out of state for decades, which some say makes an already taxing medical process more difficult. (Kaur, 3/3)

Axios: IVF Alabama Ruling: Why Discarding Embryos Is Important For Fertility Treatment
In vitro fertilization typically takes more than one embryo to safely achieve pregnancy — and unused embryos are often discarded. Alabama's Supreme Court ruled in February that frozen embryos created through IVF are children under state law, meaning fertility clinics in the state could be held legally liable for disposing of surplus embryos. (Mallenbaum, 3/3)

The Washington Post: Conservative Christian Women In Red States Are Rising Up To Defend IVF 
Across red-state America, conservative Christian women have become outspoken, even angry advocates. They’ve decried the Alabama ruling on their social media pages, galvanized to defend both their values and in vitro fertilization. Their comments have often appeared amid photos of the babies that IVF made possible. (Hennessy-Fiske, 3/1)

NBC News: CVS To Pay Ohio $1.5 Million In Penalties Over Understaffing And Other Safety Issues At Pharmacies
CVS Health, one of the nation’s largest operators of retail chain pharmacies, will pay Ohio $1.5 million in penalties for problems largely related to understaffing and make changes that may soon be mandatory for all the state’s retail pharmacies, the Ohio Board of Pharmacy said Thursday. The penalties, the largest ever imposed by the state board, are part of the settlement of 27 safety cases the board was investigating at 22 CVS pharmacies. (Kaplan, 3/1)

Stat: Study: Many Costly Generic Drugs Are Unavailable At Alternative Pharmacies
A growing number of alternative pharmacies — such as those run by Costco, Amazon, and Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs — may be increasingly popular with American consumers, but a new analysis finds many of the most expensive generic medicines are unavailable, prices vary widely, and savings can be modest. (Silverman, 3/1)

Stat: RaDonda Vaught, Nurse Who Accidentally Killed Patient, To Speak At CommonSpirit Event On Patient Safety
CommonSpirit Health is hosting an educational event this month featuring RaDonda Vaught, the Tennessee nurse who was criminally prosecuted for accidentally killing a patient by injecting the wrong medication. (Bannow, 3/1)

Axios: Medicare Advantage Patients Get Less Home Health Care: Study
Medicare Advantage patients were found to get skimpier home health care and worse outcomes than their counterparts in traditional Medicare in a study published in JAMA Health Forum. With more than half of Medicare beneficiaries in MA plans, there's growing concern about how the plans are run, including whether their guardrails around coverage are reducing access to care. (Reed, 3/4)

Stat: Why Talkspace Is Targeting Medicare, A Tricky Market
Over the last few years, virtual mental health company Talkspace has been on a relentless quest to conquer the insurance market. The next step in that journey, Medicare, may prove the most challenging yet. (Aguilar, 3/4)

Modern Healthcare: Penn Medicine To Build Cancer Center In $400M Project
Penn Medicine plans to build a 195,000-square-foot cancer facility at its Princeton Medical Center in Plainsboro, New Jersey. The $401 million project is expected to include an outpatient imaging center and parking garage. The cancer center would have more than 40 exam rooms, about 30 infusion chairs and two radiation oncology linear accelerators, a spokesperson said Friday. (DeSilva, 3/1)

Reuters: Flying Dutchman Recognised As Longest-Surviving Heart Transplant Patient 
Four decades after being diagnosed with a serious heart condition and given just six months to live, Bert Janssen has set a Guinness World Record as the longest-surviving transplant patient. "I want to be an example for people," said the Dutchman, who was 17 when he was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a heart muscle disease which makes it harder for the heart to pump blood around the body. (Van Campenhout, Fiorin and Van Der Wouw, 3/4)

Bloomberg: UnitedHealth, Mount Sinai Dispute Threatens New Yorkers' Healthcare Access
Thousands of New Yorkers face disruptions to their medical care after one of the country’s biggest hospitals left insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s private health insurance network on Friday amid an escalating dispute. The move pits the nation’s biggest health insurer against a powerhouse medical system in New York City that operates the country’s ninth-largest hospital. Because Mount Sinai Health System wants to be paid more for its services and UnitedHealth won’t agree, the hospital operator has terminated its contract with the insurer. (Tozzi and Denham, 3/1)

The Wall Street Journal: California Homelessness Measure Pits Newsom Against Mental-Health Advocates 
As Californians grow increasingly frustrated with the mental illness, drug abuse and homelessness evident on streets from San Francisco to San Diego, Gov. Gavin Newsom is staking his political capital on a multibillion-dollar ballot measure aimed at addressing all three problems. Some of his most likely supporters, including some advocates for the mentally ill, aren’t on the Democrat’s side, complicating his sales pitch to voters. (Mai-Duc, 3/3)

The New York Times: Texas Judge Blocks Paxton’s Request For Transgender Minors’ Records 
A judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Texas attorney general from forcing an L.G.B.T.Q. organization to turn over documents on transgender minors and the gender-affirming care they may be receiving. In Texas, medical care for gender transition is prohibited for minors under a law passed last year. As part of an investigation into violations of the ban, the office of Attorney General Ken Paxton demanded early last month that the nonprofit PFLAG National, which supports families in accessing gender-affirming care for children, provide information on minors in the state who may have received such treatments. (Edmonds, 3/3)

Wyoming Public Radio: “Chloe’s Law” Would Ban Gender-Affirming Care For Kids In Wyoming. Advocates Worry About The Results 
On a frigid winter day in Cheyenne, lawmakers and Wyomingites filed into a wood-paneled committee room underneath the State Capitol. They came to give testimony — or to hear it — on legislation that aims to regulate the medical options available for kids under the age of 18 in the state. (Clements, 3/1)

Bloomberg: DeSantis Rejects Bill To Restrict Social Media Access For Teens
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed a bill that would have barred social media companies, including Meta Platforms Inc. and TikTok Inc., from serving users under the age of 16, a move that would have made Florida the first state to enact such a ban. (Smith, 3/1)

North Carolina Health News: Fentanyl Deaths Rising Among NC Children
In North Carolina, fentanyl contributed to the deaths of 10 children age 5 or younger in 2022. Just seven years prior, the state recorded only one death in that age group. For children ages 13 to 17, fentanyl deaths increased from four to 25 in that same time period, according to data shared with Child Fatality Task Force members. (Fernandez, 3/4)

Fox2 Detroit: 2 More Measles Cases Detected In Michigan
Two more cases of measles were confirmed by Michigan health officials after the state detected its first positive case in more than four years last week. Wayne County Public Health says they have a confirmed case associated with international travel in an adult residing in Wayne County. Washtenaw County Health Department also confirms a case of measles in an adult with recent international travel. (Wynn, 3/3)

Bloomberg: Monsanto Wins Mistrial In Roundup Case After Jury Deadlocks
A Bayer AG trial in Delaware over claims that the company’s Roundup weedkiller causes cancer ended with the jury unable to reach a verdict. Jurors in state court in Wilmington deliberated for about three days before saying Friday they couldn’t reach an agreement on whether Anthony Cloud’s non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma was caused by exposure to Roundup made by Bayer’s Monsanto. Judge Vivian Medinilla declared a mistrial and dismissed the panel. (Feeley, 3/1)

The Washington Post: How To Recognize Mild Cognitive Impairment, And What To Do About It 
More than occasional forgetfulness, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) causes problems that disrupt daily life but don’t make it impossible to function, said Ronald Petersen, director of the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging. It is often but not always a precursor to dementia, he added. (Ellison, 3/3)

NPR: Swapping Red Meat For Plant-Based Protein Boosts Longevity And Climate Health
A new study published in Nature Food, finds that if people swap red and processed meat for plant protein a few times a week, it's good for their health – and can also reduce their diet-related carbon footprint. The study found cutting red meat consumption by half leads to significant changes. For instance, eating it twice a week instead of four times a week will shrink your carbon footprint by 25% and may also boost longevity. (Aubrey, 3/3)

WBAL: Trader Joe's Recalling Chicken Soup Dumplings, May Contain Hard Plastic
Trader Joe's Steamed Chicken Soup Dumplings are being recalled nationwide as the product may be contaminated with plastic that comes from a permanent marker pen, according to the Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service. (Camponovo, 3/3)