First Edition: Oct. 12, 2022

KHN: Climate Change Magnifies Health Impacts Of Wildfire Smoke In Care Deserts 
Smoke began billowing into the skies of northwestern Nevada in September, clouding the mountains, dimming the sun — and quashing residents’ hopes that they would be spared from wildfires and the awful air quality the blazes produce. The lung-irritating particles were blowing in from burning forests in California and settling in Douglas County, Nevada, home to nearly 50,000 people, prompting warnings that air quality had reached hazardous levels. (Appleby and Orozco Rodriguez, 10/12)

KHN: ‘Separate And Unequal’: Critics Say Newsom’s Pricey Medicaid Reforms Leave Most Patients Behind 
It wasn’t exactly an emergency, but Michael Reed, a security guard who lives in Watts, had back pain and ran out of his blood pressure medication. Unsure where else to turn, he went to his local emergency room for a refill. Around the same time, James Woodard, a homeless man, appeared for his third visit that week. He wasn’t in medical distress. Nurses said he was likely high on meth and just looking for a place to rest. (Hart, 10/12)

KHN: BMI: The Mismeasure Of Weight And The Mistreatment Of Obesity 
People who seek medical treatment for obesity or an eating disorder do so with the hope their health plan will pay for part of it. But whether it’s covered often comes down to a measure invented almost 200 years ago by a Belgian mathematician as part of his quest to use statistics to define the “average man.” That work, done in the 1830s by Adolphe Quetelet, appealed to life insurance companies, which created “ideal” weight tables after the turn of the century. By the 1970s and 1980s, the measurement, now dubbed body mass index, was adopted to screen for and track obesity. (Appleby, 10/12)

KHN: Abortion Bans Are Motivating Midterm Voters, Poll Shows
Half of voters say the Supreme Court’s decision overturning the constitutional right to an abortion has made them more motivated to vote in next month’s midterm elections, with enthusiasm growing especially among Democrats and those living in states with abortion bans, according to a new poll from KFF. The survey also showed that most voters, whether they are Democrats or Republicans, do not think abortion should be prohibited in cases of rape or incest, nor do they support laws that set criminal punishments for abortion providers and women who have abortions. (Huetteman, 10/12)

KHN: Watch: What Experts Advise For Seniors Living Under The Long Shadow Of Covid 
The covid-19 pandemic casts a long shadow over the lives of older adults and their family caregivers in the United States, even as many people resolve to move on and resume normal activities. Even President Joe Biden declared “the pandemic is over” in a recent interview, a controversial statement he later sought to clarify. Judith Graham, KHN’s “Navigating Aging” columnist, invited a panel of experts from across the country to talk candidly about the intractable challenges seniors face. (10/11)

CNN: Biden Finalizes Plan To Open Up Obamacare Subsidies To More Families
The announcement comes less than a month before the start of open enrollment for 2023 coverage on the Obamacare exchanges. Americans can start signing up on November 1. (Luhby, 10/11)

AP: New Rules Fix 'Flaw' For Families Seeking Obamacare Coverage 
“Today’s action resolves a flaw in prior ACA regulations to bring more affordable coverage to about one million Americans,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “Our goal is simple: leave no one behind, and give everyone the peace of mind that comes with health insurance.” The number of uninsured Americans has dipped to a historic low of 8% this year, with an estimated 26 million people in the U.S. still without health insurance. (10/11)

Reuters: Biden Administration Finalizes Obamacare 'Family Glitch' Fix 
The problem was that employer-based health plans have been considered affordable as long as the coverage was within the financial means of an employee, regardless of whether it was too expensive for family members. As a result, the family members were not eligible for the subsidies they may have needed, the White House said. The open enrollment period for health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act starts on Nov. 1. (Aboulenein, 10/11)

CBS News: Supreme Court Declines To Take Up Fetal Personhood Dispute
The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned away a dispute over whether the unborn are entitled to constitutional protections, sidestepping an issue that could be at the center of the next big battle over abortion after high court's conservative majority reversed the nearly 50-year-old Roe v. Wade decision. The court declined to hear an appeal from two pregnant women, filed on behalf of their then-unborn fetuses, and a Catholic organization of a Rhode Island Supreme Court decision. The state court left intact a Rhode Island abortion rights law and found the unborn babies, Baby Mary Doe and Baby Roe, did not have legal standing to challenge the law because they were not "persons" under the 14th Amendment. (Quinn, 10/11)

Reuters: U.S. Supreme Court Rebuffs Fetal Personhood Appeal
The justices turned away an appeal by a Catholic group and two women of a lower court's ruling against their challenge to a 2019 Rhode Island law that codified the right to abortion in line with the Roe precedent. The two women, pregnant at the time when the case was filed, sued on behalf of their fetuses and later gave birth. The Rhode Island Supreme Court decided that fetuses lacked the proper legal standing to bring the suit. (Raymond, 10/12)

The Boston Globe: US Supreme Court Declines To Hear Appeal Of R.I. Abortion Ruling
An attorney for the plaintiffs, Diane Messere Magee, tweeted about the Supreme Court denying the petition, saying, “It means that they will not take up our case to determine whether unborn human beings have any rights or guarantees of protection under the US Constitution. While we are extremely disappointed with this outcome, we are confident that #SCOTUS will eventually have to answer the question in the future.” (Fitzpatrick, 10/11)

AP: Arizona Abortions Won't Stop For A Month While Case Proceeds 
Legal abortions that restarted in Arizona this week after a court blocked enforcement of a pre-statehood ban will be able to continue for at least five weeks while an appeals court considers the case. A schedule set Tuesday for Planned Parenthood and the Arizona attorney general’s office lawyers to file their legal briefs in the case means the Arizona Court of Appeals can’t decide the case until at least Nov. 17. The appeals court blocked enforcement of the Civil War-era law on Friday, reversing at least for now a Sept. 23 ruling from a judge in Tucson. (Christie, 10/11)

AP: Hawaii Won't Cooperate With States Prosecuting For Abortions 
Hawaii Gov. David Ige signed an executive order Tuesday that aims to prevent other states from punishing their residents who get an abortion in the islands and stop other states from sanctioning local doctors and nurses who provide such care. “We will not cooperate with any other state that tries to prosecute women who receive abortions in Hawaii. And we will not cooperate with any other state that tries to sanction medical professionals who provide abortions in Hawaii,” Ige, a Democrat, said at a news conference. (McAvoy, 10/11)

The 19th: Kentucky Proposes Anti-Abortion Amendment On November Ballot
When Kansas voted two-to-one against a proposal that would have said there was no right to an abortion in the state, the resounding victory suggested that abortion bans are a losing issue. But it wasn’t clear whether that argument could apply to red states beyond Kansas. Now comes the next test: Kentucky, which is already enforcing a near-total ban on the procedure. (Luthra, 10/11)

The Hill: Poll: Abortion Grows As Key Motivator For Voters
Half of American voters said the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade has made them more motivated to vote in this year’s elections, according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) poll. About two-thirds of Democrats and half of independents cited the Supreme Court’s decision as a motivator for voting, as did a third of Republicans. (Weixel, 10/12)

Politico: Medical Experts Reject Florida Surgeon General’s Covid-19 Vaccine Guidance
Florida’s surgeon general faced major blowback from the medical community after warning men against taking the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines and highlighting an analysis claiming the shots increase the risk of cardiac-related deaths. The guidance from Joseph A. Ladapo even prompted Twitter to temporarily block a social media post from the surgeon general promoting the analysis, though the social media company restored it. (Sarkissian, 10/11)

AP: White House: Get New Booster By Halloween For Safer Holidays
The White House on Tuesday said eligible Americans should get the updated COVID-19 boosters by Halloween to have maximum protection against the coronavirus by Thanksgiving and the holidays, as it warned of a “challenging” virus season ahead. Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House COVID-19 coordinator, said the U.S. has the tools, both from vaccines and treatments, to largely eliminate serious illness and death from the virus, but stressed that’s only the case if people do their part. “We are not helpless against these challenges,” he said. “What happens this winter is up to us.” (Miller, 10/11)

San Francisco Chronicle: U.S. Tracking Several New Variants But Risk Of Dying “Almost Zero” For Boosted
Health officials in the U.S. are keeping a close watch on several coronavirus omicron subvariants that may evade immunity, the White House said at a Tuesday briefing. Dr. Ashish Jha, head of the White House Covid task force, said sublineages such a BA.2.75, BA.4.6 and BF.7 are gaining traction across the country. But he assured that updated booster shots should protect against them. “We are not helpless against these challenges,” Jha said. “What happens this winter is up to us.” (Fracassa and Vaziri, 10/11)

CIDRAP: 80% Of COVID Omicron Patients Still Positive 5 Days After Symptom Onset
Among 63,000 US adults and children tested for COVID-19, cough and sore throat were reported more often during the Omicron BA.1 period than amid the pre-Delta and Delta eras, and 80% of those retested during Omicron remained positive for 5 days after symptom onset. (10/11)

The Atlantic: Medium COVID Could Be The Most Dangerous COVID
Just how much of a threat is medium COVID? The answer has been obscured, to some extent, by sloppy definitions. A lot of studies blend different, dire outcomes into a single giant bucket called “long COVID.” Illnesses arising in as few as four weeks, along with those that show up many months later, have been considered one and the same. (Mazer, 10/11)

CIDRAP: New Global Estimate Suggests 6.2% Had Long-COVID Symptoms
A new global estimate of people who experienced long-COVID symptoms after having symptomatic COVID infection suggests that 6.2% reported one of three long-term symptom clusters, an international research group reported yesterday in JAMA. (10/11)

CIDRAP: Researchers Find Monkeypox Virus On Hospital Surfaces, In Air 
A new study from the United Kingdom shows widespread monkeypox DNA surface contamination in healthcare settings, with 93% of surfaces in occupied patient rooms contaminated, and significant contamination on healthcare worker personal protective equipment (PPE). (Soucheray, 10/11)

Modern Healthcare: Bright Health To End Insurance, Medicare Advantage Plans In 9 States
The affected states are Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Nebraska, North Carolina, Texas and Tennessee. Bright Health, which in April announced plans to exit six other markets, said the move will reduce costs and free up about $250 million after settling medical liabilities. The insurtech company has sought to exit expensive markets as the COVID-19 pandemic drove up medical costs for members gained during the special enrollment period. (Hudson, 10/11)

AP: A Major Hospital Merger In New Orleans Means Big Change 
A New Orleans health care nonprofit is acquiring three hospitals from a national chain in a deal that will leave two major players on the city’s hospital care scene. New Orleans-based LCMC Health will acquire three Tulane hospitals from HCA Healthcare. The deal includes Tulane Medical Center in downtown New Orleans, along with two suburban hospitals, Tulane Lakeside Hospital and Lakeview Regional Medical Center. (10/11)

Crain's Detroit Business: Beaumont-Spectrum Rebrands As Corewell Health
Michigan's largest in-state health system finally has a permanent name: Corewell Health. The announcement comes more than 8 months after the merger of Spectrum Health and Beaumont Health. The two systems merged on Feb. 1 after announcing the intent to merge more than a year ago. The two entities previously operated under the BHSH parent company while maintaining the Spectrum and Beaumont names on hospitals. (Walsh, 10/11)

Stat: As Large Health Systems Bleed Money, Children’s Hospitals Are Faring Well
Children’s hospitals were spared from the worst ravages of the pandemic, putting them in a much stronger financial position than their acute-care peers. (Bannow, 10/11)

Noticias Telemundo for Axios: Latinos Living In "Pulmonology Deserts" Must Drive Hours For Care
Latinos in many communities in the Southwest live in "pulmonology deserts" and have to drive up to 14 hours to access care, a new study found. (Franco, 10/11)

Modern Healthcare: Walmart To Compete With CVS, Walgreens For Clinical Trial Participants
Walmart said Tuesday it will begin helping pharmaceutical companies, clinical research organizations and academic medical centers recruit people for clinical research trials. (Devereaux, 10/11)

Modern Healthcare: Walgreens To Fully Acquire CareCentrix For Another $392M
The Deerfield, Illinois-based company is paying a total of $722 million to quickly boost its presence in the industry. Walgreens completed its initial $330 million deal with CareCentrix in late August, taking a 55% share in the company that helps transition patients from hospitals to their homes. The remaining stake will cost the company $392 million and the transaction is expected to close by March 2023, according to a news release. (Berryman, 10/11)

Bloomberg: Older Diabetes Drugs Linked To Reduced Dementia Risk In Study
An older class of diabetes drugs appeared to lower the risk of developing dementia in a study, suggesting the inexpensive medicines could be researched to help combat the growing societal burden of cognitive decline. (Loh, 10/11)

Stat: Triplet Therapeutics, Biotech Focused On Huntington’s, Quietly Shuts Down
A biotech company co-founded by venture capital firm Atlas Venture has shut down after running into problems with its lead drug and raising new funding. The goal was to develop drugs for what are known as repeat expansion disorders — genetic diseases that are caused when short chunks of the DNA sequence repeat over and over again in the DNA strand. (DeAngelis, 10/12)

York Daily Record: Woman Surprised By $50,000 Medical Bill For Asthma Medication
Patrick Keenan, director of policy and partnerships at the Pennsylvania Health Access Network, a nonprofit focused on pricing and accessibility of the health care system in the state, weighed in on Eckard's situation. "We've seen an explosion of prices, really over the past decade, with a lot of these blockbuster drugs that the price just seems to go up and up and up," Keenan said. (Panyard, 10/11)

NBC News: Anxiety Screening Should Start In Kids As Young As 8, Health Panel Says
Pediatricians should screen children as young as 8 for anxiety and kids 12 and older for depression during routine well checks, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said Tuesday. (Edwards, 10/11)

Axios: Making It Through Midlife
The midlife crisis is real, new research tells us. People in their 40s and 50s, in rich countries, are prone to a rise in suicidal thoughts, job stress, depression and alcohol dependence, according to a new paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research. (Pandey, 10/11)

The Washington Post: Yes, Your Dog Really Can Sniff That You’re Upset
Dogs see the world through their noses. Their exceptional ability to recognize specific scents — vastly better than humans’ — helps them find bombs, guns, drugs and human remains, and point to some diseases. Now a study has found that dogs can do something just as remarkable: sniff out stress in people. (Cimons, 10/11)

AP: Mississippi Could Renew Effort For Fentanyl Testing Access
Some Mississippi legislators say they will renew efforts to clarify that people may possess chemical strips to detect traces of the deadly drug fentanyl. A bill to decriminalize the test strips died early this year. But the House Drug Policy Committee chairman, Republican Rep. Lee Yancy of Brandon now supports the effort, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported. (10/11)

CalMatters: Congenital Syphilis Rates Soar Across California As Public Health Funding Dwindles
In the Central Valley, where two-thirds of the nation’s fruit and nuts are grown, the pastoral landscape masks entrenched racial and economic disparities. Life expectancy in Fresno County drops by 20 years depending on where you live, and it’s those who live in historically poor, redlined or rural neighborhoods who are most impacted by a resurgence of maternal and congenital syphilis. (10/11)