First Edition: Nov. 4, 2022

KHN: Centene Showers Politicians With Millions As It Courts Contracts And Settles Overbilling Allegations 
On Nov. 2, 2021, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak’s reelection campaign received 10 separate $10,000 contributions from what appeared to be unrelated health insurance plans from across the country. The Buckeye Community Health Plan of Ohio, Louisiana Healthcare Connections, and Peach State Health Plan of Georgia were among the companies that sent money to the Democrat, according to state campaign finance records, even though only one, SilverSummit Healthplan, provided insurance in the Silver State. But a thread connects the companies: Each is a subsidiary of Centene Corp., ranked 26th on the Fortune 500 list, and the nation’s largest private managed-care provider for Medicaid, the government insurance program for people with low incomes or disabilities. (Young, Miller and Grapevine, 11/4)

KHN: For Republican Candidates, Talk About Moms And Babies Is A Thorny Issue
A month before Election Day, as Republicans in Congress dodged questions about a proposal to ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) tweeted that he wanted to talk about moms and babies. Grassley, in the midst of what may be his closest race since becoming a senator in 1980, said he hears a lot about a lack of prenatal care in rural Iowa. He introduced his answer, called the Healthy Moms and Babies Act. “This bill will help fill those voids in rural America to make sure that we can deliver health care for high-risk pregnancies,” he said. (Huetteman, 11/4)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: ACA Open Enrollment Without The Drama
It’s open enrollment time for Affordable Care Act health coverage. And for the first time, people are enrolling with comparatively little controversy, as most Republicans have moved on from trying to repeal the law. On the campaign trail, meanwhile, Democrats are charging that if Republicans win majorities in the U.S. House or Senate, they will try to cut Social Security and Medicare. (11/3)

The Washington Post: CDC Releases New, More Flexible Guidelines For Prescribing Opioids 
Responding to a backlash from pain patients, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released updated guidelines Thursday that offer clinicians more flexibility in the way they prescribe opioids for short- and long-term pain. The new recommendations eliminate numerical dose limits and caps on length of treatment for chronic pain patients that had been suggested in the landmark 2016 version of the agency’s advice, which was aimed at curbing the liberal use of the medication and controlling a rampaging opioid epidemic. Those guidelines cautioned doctors that commencing opioid therapy was a momentous decision for patients. (Bernstein, 11/3)

USA Today: Amid Backlash, CDC's New Opioid Guidance Aims To Curb Addiction And Treat Patients
The new guidance avoids strict figures on dosage and length of opioid prescriptions, recommends how and when to prescribe opioids, and describes harms and benefits. But the CDC emphasized the recommendations are voluntary and flexible and should not be used to support a one-size-fits-all policy. (Alltucker, 11/3)

AP: US Agency Softens Opioid Prescribing Guidelines For Doctors 
A draft released in February received 5,500 public comments. Some modifications were made, but several main changes stayed in place, including: The CDC no longer suggests trying to limit opioid treatment for acute pain to three days; The agency is dropping the specific recommendation that doctors avoid increasing dosage to a level equivalent to 90 milligrams of morphine per day. (Stobbe, 11/3)

The Hill: Manchin Calls For Deal On Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid In New Congress 
Centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Thursday called for a broad bipartisan deal to protect the solvency of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, popular programs that face serious funding issues over the next few decades. ... Manchin, who sank Biden’s ambitious $3 trillion Build Back Better agenda in December, has often talked about the financial challenges facing Social Security and Medicaid. (Bolton, 11/3)

Politico: The Health Policy Rand Paul And Elizabeth Warren Agree On 
In a bipartisan letter sent Wednesday, 46 senators — from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — asked leadership to address looming Medicare payment cuts to providers before the new year, when they would take effect. “It is essential in the coming weeks that we make sure providers have the resources they need to keep their doors open for seniors and families,” the senators wrote. The letter comes a day after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released its final rule confirming the cuts, which are required by law. (Payne and Mahr, 11/3)

The New York Times: Voters Have Expanded Medicaid In 6 States. Is South Dakota Next? 
Progressives have helped bring health coverage to tens of thousands of uninsured Americans with an exercise in direct democracy: They have persuaded voters to pass ballot measures expanding Medicaid in six states where Republican elected officials had long been standing in the way. Now comes the latest test of this ballot box strategy: South Dakota. (Stolberg, 11/3)

The Hill: Congressional Report Finds Health Care Sector ‘Uniquely Vulnerable’ To Cyber Attacks
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, released a report on Thursday outlining cybersecurity threats in the health care sector and ways the federal government can improve security standards in the industry. The report, which is divided into three sections, recommends that the federal government improve the country’s cybersecurity risk posture in the health care sector, help the private sector mitigate cyber threats and assist health care providers in responding and recovering from cyberattacks.  (Kagubare, 11/3)

Politico: Biden Officials To Get Key Data On New Covid Booster's Effectiveness 
The Biden administration [was] slated Thursday to receive new data on the effectiveness of its updated Covid vaccines, offering officials the clearest look yet at how well the booster shots protect against the virus. The findings submitted by vaccine maker Pfizer-BioNTech are expected to detail the booster’s efficacy against the nation’s dominant Covid strains, three people with knowledge of the matter told POLITICO. Crucially, they’re likely to show whether the shots represent a sizable improvement over the first-generation vaccines the government rolled out in late 2020. (Cancryn, 11/3)

ABC News: Pfizer, BioNTech Launch Phase 1 Trial On Combined COVID-19 And Flu Vaccine
Pfizer and BioNTech have launched a clinical trial on a vaccine targeting both COVID-19 and influenza, the companies announced Thursday. The phase 1 trial is being done in the United States with 180 participants between the ages of 18 and 64, with the first participant dosed this week, the companies said. The follow-up period for each participant will be six months. (Deliso, 11/3)

Los Angeles Times: Are The Unvaccinated Still A Danger To The Rest Of Us?
“Clearly, the unvaccinated are a threat to themselves,” said Dr. Jeffrey Shaman, an infectious disease specialist at Columbia University. As recently as August, their risk of dying of COVID-19 was six times higher than for people who were fully vaccinated and eight times higher than for people who were vaccinated and boosted, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Healy, 11/3)

CNBC: Fauci: U.S. At Covid Pandemic Crossroads As Omicron Subvariants Emerge
Fauci, in a radio interview Thursday, said the pandemic has clearly eased since last winter, but deaths, which average more than 2,600 per week, remain far too high. At the same time, the new omicron variants are knocking out key tools used to protect the most vulnerable. (Kimball, 11/3)

CIDRAP: Report: COVID-19 Likely Spread Through Floors, Walls Of Quarantine Hotel
The Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant was likely transmitted through the floors and walls of a quarantine hotel in Taiwan in December 2021, adding to a large body of evidence that aerosol transmission plays a significant role in outbreaks and clusters, according to a report yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases. (11/3)

CNN: Treatment Approved In Europe To Prevent RSV In Infants Could Be Coming To The US Soon
A preventive treatment for lower respiratory tract infections caused by RSV got the go ahead from the European Commission on Friday, according to one of the companies that make it. The treatment is the first of its kind to protect all infants in their first year of life. (Christensen, 11/4)

NPR: Indiana Doctor Sues AG To Block Him From Obtaining Patient Abortion Records
An Indiana abortion provider who came under attack by the state attorney general has filed a lawsuit to block him from subpoenaing her patients' medical records – including those of a 10-year-old rape victim she treated. (McCammon, 11/3)

AP: Abortion Clinic That Opened Days After Roe Fell Is Inundated 
This clinic and other Planned Parenthood centers in Kansas have been doing their best to help by lengthening hours, hiring staff and flying in physicians. Still, they have only been able to take about 10% to 15% of the patients seeking abortions. “The ecosystem, it’s not even fragile. It’s broken,” said Emily Wales, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains. “I think there’s a perception that if you are seeking care, you can find it somewhere. And that’s not true.” (Hollingsworth, 11/4)

Bloomberg: Roe V. Wade: US Women Turn To Cheap Abortion Pills From India
Angry over the US Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade in June, Deborah Willoughby wanted to do more than attend a rally or make a donation. So she sat down at her computer and placed an order for a pack of abortion pills from India sold under the brand name Unwanted. (Einhorn and Pandya, 11/3)

Chicago Tribune: Mobile Vasectomy Clinic Offers Free Procedures In The Midwest
A few days a month, Dr. Esgar Guarín hits the road in his mobile vasectomy clinic, crisscrossing the Iowa heartland to reach patients throughout the state, sometimes traveling hundreds of miles from his Des Moines-area office. (Lourgos, 11/4)

NBC News: A Michigan Judge Tried To Block An Abortion Rights Measure. His Ex-Wife Says He Helped Her Get An Abortion In College
When Brian Zahra learned that he had impregnated his 20-year-old girlfriend in May 1983, he grabbed the Yellow Pages, found an abortion clinic in the Detroit suburbs and made an appointment, the woman told NBC News in an interview last month. (Allen, 11/3)

The 19th: Groups Work To Get Doctors, Nurses To Vote In Wake Of COVID-19 And Dobbs
Four days after the Supreme Court issued its decision that ended a federal right to an abortion, Kimberly Fleary took to TikTok to share what happened in the 12-hour shift she’d just finished. She’s a forensic nurse in San Antonio who specializes in working with victims of sexual violence. (Gilyard, 11/3)

Houston Chronicle: Doctors Threaten Legal Action Over Stalled Maternal Death Report
A group of the country's leading maternal health doctors is threatening legal action against the Texas Department of Health and Human Services over its delayed release of a long-awaited report on pregnancy-related deaths. (Blackman and Gill, 11/3)

AP: Alcohol Death Toll Is Growing, US Government Reports Say 
Two reports from the CDC this week provided further details on which groups have the highest death rates and which states are seeing the largest numbers. “Alcohol is often overlooked” as a public health problem, said Marissa Esser, who leads the CDC’s alcohol program. “But it is a leading preventable cause of death.” (Stobbe, 11/4)

USA Today: Alcohol May Increase Risk Of Stroke In Young People, Study Finds
When most people think of a stroke patient, they often picture someone over 65. But experts say the rate of strokes is increasing among young people, and a new study suggests alcohol consumption may have something to do with it. (Rodriguez, 11/3)

CNN: Gepotidacin: New Antibiotic Appears To Be Effective Against UTIs, Company Says
The first new type of antibiotic developed in more than 20 years to treat urinary tract infections (UTIs) appears to be so effective that the pharmaceutical company stopped testing and will soon submit its data to the US Food and Drug Administration for approval. (Goodman, 11/3)

ABC27: Gov. Wolf Signs Bill To Decriminalize Fentanyl Test Strips
On Nov. 3, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf approved House Bill 1393, which decriminalizes fentanyl test strips. The bill amends the Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act of 1972 to no longer define fentanyl test strips as drug paraphernalia, a release from the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs and the Department of Health explained. (Van Etten, 11/3)

AP: Judge Sets Steps For More NC Disabled People To Live At Home
North Carolina’s health agency is weighing whether to challenge a judge’s order demanding that the state ramp up services for people with intellectual and development disabilities to allow more of them to live at home or in their communities. In 2020, Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour ruled that too many such people were forced to live in institutions in violation of state law. (Robertson, 11/3)

AP: Judge Blasts Treatment Of Mentally Ill At Louisiana Prison 
A Louisiana prison’s treatment of its mentally ill prisoners — including inadequate care, incomplete medical records and prolonged stints in solitary confinement — violates federal law and the Constitution, a federal judge has ruled. (McGill, 11/3)

News Service of Florida: Hospital Employees Face Turning Over Personal Text Messages In Malpractice Case 
An appeals court Wednesday rejected an attempt by employees of Ascension St. Vincent’s hospital to shield text messages from being disclosed in a medical malpractice case against a former physician at the Jacksonville medical center. (11/3)

The Boston Globe: Boston Is A Health Care Mecca. But Not For Everyone. New Federal Money Will Help Change That, Mayor Wu Says
Nearly a half million dollars of new federal funding will be used to expand access to critically needed health services for Boston residents who struggle with homelessness, addiction, and, too often, racism, Mayor Michelle Wu said Thursday. (Lazar, 11/3)

Bay Area News Group: Santa Clara County Resident Dies From West Nile Virus
A Santa Clara County resident died from West Nile virus after a long illness, according to the Public Health Department.While the death was recorded in the county, the person contracted the virus in Contra Costa County, the department said in a statement to the Bay Area News Group on Thursday. (Green, 11/3)

The Washington Post: Samuel L. Katz, Doctor Who Helped Develop Measles Vaccine, Dies At 95 
In the summer of 1955, an outbreak of polio hit the Boston area just months after a vaccine was approved, but not in time to stop the surge. More than 2,000 polio cases quickly overwhelmed the city’s pediatric units. At Children’s Hospital, the lines outside were so long that medical teams worked into the night with flashlights to evaluate children, some limp and feverish in their parents’ arms. Helping with the triage was a third-year resident, Samuel L. Katz. He had found his life’s work. (Murphy, 11/3)