First Edition: Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024

KFF Health News: 9 States Poised To End Coverage For Millions If Trump Cuts Medicaid Funding
With Donald Trump’s return to the White House and Republicans taking full control of Congress in 2025, the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion is back on the chopping block. More than 3 million adults in nine states would be at immediate risk of losing their health coverage should the GOP reduce the extra federal Medicaid funding that’s enabled states to widen eligibility, according to KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News, and the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. (Galewitz, 12/4)

KFF Health News: Nursing Homes Fell Behind On Vaccinating Patients For Covid
It seems no one is taking covid-19 seriously anymore, said Mollee Loveland, a nursing home aide who lives outside Pittsburgh. ... Between her patients’ complex medical needs and their close proximity to one another, covid continues to pose a grave threat to Loveland’s nursing home — and to the 15,000 other certified nursing homes in the U.S. where some 1.2 million people live. Despite this risk, a CDC report published in April found that just 4 in 10 nursing home residents in the U.S. received an updated covid vaccine in the winter of 2023-24. (Boden, 12/4)

KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute'
This week on the KFF Health News Minute: Some hospitals are rethinking IV hydration amid a nationwide IV fluid shortage, and rattlesnake antivenom is cheap to make but expensive to receive. (12/3)

The Washington Post: Trump’s Pick To Head DEA Withdraws After GOP Criticism Of His Covid Policies 
Chad Chronister, the Florida sheriff tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to head the Drug Enforcement Administration, said Tuesday he would not seek the post, the second Trump pick to abandon his bid to serve in the Republican administration. Chronister, a career law enforcement officer who has spent little time on the national stage, announced his withdrawal from consideration on social media early Tuesday evening, just three days after Trump’s selection. Chronister said he planned to continue serving as the sheriff in Hillsborough County. (McDaniel, Ovalle and LeVine, 12/3)

Stat: Nonprofit Paid RFK Jr. $20,000 A Week Before His Leave Last Year
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made over $20,000 per week as chairman of Children’s Health Defense before stepping away from the nonprofit in 2023 to run for president, new tax filings show. (Cueto, 12/3)

NPR: How RFK Jr.’s Nonprofit Uses Legal Tools To Fight Vaccines
In November 2023, Robert F. Kennedy Jr took the stage at a conference put on by Children's Heath Defense, the anti-vaccination nonprofit he chairs and from which he's been on leave since announcing plans to run for president. "I feel like I've come home today to this organization," he told the cheering crowd. In a winding, nearly hour-long speech, Kennedy recounted his path to anti-vaccine advocacy and his vision for the government, including calling for a "break" in infectious disease research. (Bond, 12/4)

Axios: Trump's Immigration Crackdown Could Reduce Caregiving Workforce
Some of the earliest and lasting effects from President-elect Trump's promised immigration crackdowns would be in home health and long-term care, both of which rely on a substantial number of immigrants and undocumented workers. (Reed, 12/4)

The New York Times: Montana Lawmakers Reject Bid To Restrict Bathroom Use For Trans Legislators
State lawmakers in Montana on Tuesday rejected a proposal that could have restricted bathroom access for transgender lawmakers at the State Capitol in Helena. The decision came down to a narrow vote in the Legislature’s joint rules committee. All Democrats opposed the measure. Several Republicans argued against it, too. The debate over the measure came about a month after the re-election of Zooey Zephyr, a Democrat from Missoula and a transgender woman who is now beginning her second term in the State House. (Fortin, 12/3)

Politico: In Supreme Court Battle Over Transgender Rights, Conservatives Look To An Unlikely Ally: Europe 
When the Supreme Court hears oral arguments Wednesday in a major fight over Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors, conservatives defending the law plan to point to an unexpected place as a model: Europe. Two decades ago, Republicans appeared allergic to foreign influence on the U.S. legal system, decrying Supreme Court decisions that looked abroad — often to Europe — for guidance on culture-war issues like gay rights and the death penalty. (Gerstein, 12/3)

The New York Times: For Families Of Transgender Children, Tennessee’s Ban Forces Hard Choices 
The first families left as soon as they could, emptying homes and pulling out of school after Tennessee banned gender-transition care for their children. Others chose to remain, cutting back on vacations and Christmas spending to make it to doctor appointments out of state. Even some who have stayed say they have not ruled out the possibility of leaving Tennessee in the future. This is why the stakes for families feel impossibly high as the Supreme Court hears arguments on Wednesday in a challenge to the Tennessee law. They fear a ruling in favor of the ban, which passed last year, could further jeopardize care for their children at a moment when the incoming Trump administration has pledged to impose restrictions on life for transgender people. (Cochrane, 12/4)

AP: Judge To Consider First Lawsuit To Overturn Missouri's Near-Total Abortion Ban 
Abortion-rights advocates are asking a judge Wednesday to overturn Missouri’s near-total ban on the procedure, less than a month after voters backed an abortion-rights constitutional amendment. Jackson County Circuit Judge Jerri Zhang was set to hear arguments from Planned Parenthood and the state’s Republican Attorney General’s Office over whether to issue a temporary order blocking enforcement of Missouri’s numerous abortion laws. (Ballentine and Hollingsworth, 12/4)

AP: Lawsuit Seeks To Undo 15-Week Abortion Ban That Conflicts With Expanded Access In Arizona 
Reproductive rights advocates sued Arizona on Tuesday to undo a 15-week abortion ban that conflicts with a constitutional amendment recently approved by voters to expand access up to fetal viability. The American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights filed the lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court on behalf of the local chapter of Planned Parenthood and two physicians, arguing the law interferes with pregnant Arizonans’ fundamental right to abortion and individual autonomy. It’s the first step in efforts to dismantle existing laws they say are too restrictive. (Govindarao, 12/3)

The Atlantic: Out-Of-State Travel Is The Next Abortion Battlefront
Abortion policy in America is at a stalemate. Republicans will take control of Congress in January, ready to block any national protections—but with a slim majority, making a national ban unlikely. At the state level, pro-choice advocates have focused for the past two years on ballot measures to protect abortion rights. Most of those measures have passed; now there are only two states left that have severe restrictions, allow constitutional amendments, and haven’t already failed to pass constitutional protections. (Brown, 12/3)

San Francisco Chronicle: Can California Protect Against Idaho’s ‘Abortion Trafficking’ Law?
Less than an hour after California’s attorney general announced new plans to bolster the state’s protections for people seeking abortions, a federal appeals court reinstated part of an Idaho law that criminalizes efforts to help a minor obtain an abortion in another state without her parents’ consent. The dueling actions highlight the divergence between states seeking to protect reproductive freedoms and those clamping down on them. They also illustrate that laws like California’s, while shielding their residents from most legal actions by other states, cannot offer complete protection. (Egelko, 12/3)

The Guardian: Most Teenagers Recover From Long Covid After Two Years, Study Shows
Most teenagers who have suffered from long Covid recover within two years, according to the largest study of its kind. But the researchers said more work was needed to understand why some children still had ongoing health problems two years after infection. (12/4)

ABC News: Cases Of RSV, Flu Ticking Up Among Young Children In US As Respiratory Virus Season Begins
Cases of flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are ticking up across the United States even as overall respiratory virus activity remains low. Flu activity is increasing slightly among children while RSV activity is elevated in the southern, central and eastern U.S., according to data updated Monday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of the week ending Nov. 23, the latest date for which data is available, 0.6% of emergency department visits were for flu and 0.4% were for RSV. (Kekatos and Benadjaoud, 12/3)

AP: Nearly 30% Of US Drugstores Closed In One Decade, Study Shows 
Nearly three out of 10 U.S. drugstores that were open during the previous decade had closed by 2021, new research shows. Black and Latino neighborhoods were most vulnerable to the retail pharmacy closures, which can chip away at already-limited care options in those communities, researchers said in a study published Tuesday in Health Affairs. (Murphy, 12/3)

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Lobbying Targeted PBM Bills In 2024
Spending on healthcare lobbying has ticked up in 2024, with companies and associations in the healthcare sector again spending hundreds of millions and again putting the greatest attention on bills that involve pharmacy benefit managers. According to federal data compiled by OpenSecrets and analyzed by Modern Healthcare, lobbyist spending for the first three quarters of 2024 hit $562 million, up from $553 million in the same period last year. (McAuliff, 12/3)

American Heart Association News: First-Aid Guidelines Expanded To Include Opioid Overdoses, Seizures, Other Emergencies
First-aid guidelines for bystanders and emergency responders have long focused on issues like chest pain, bleeding and recognizing a stroke. Now, they have been updated and expanded to include recommendations for managing opioid overdoses, open chest wounds and other emergencies. The revised guidelines, developed by the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross, were published in the journal Circulation. It is the first comprehensive update since 2010. (12/3)

The Washington Post: GW Resident Doctors Plan To Strike, Citing Mental Health Needst
More than 450 resident doctors at George Washington University Hospital on Tuesday announced plans to strike, barring last-minute concessions from the medical school, potentially disrupting patient care at one of the D.C. region’s biggest hospitals. The residents — medical school graduates who are training in their specialty under the supervision of attending physicians — and fellows are demanding cost-of-living pay increases and more robust mental health benefits. (Portnoy, 12/3)

CBS News: Emergency Rooms At Crozer Chester Medical Center, Taylor Hospital Reopen After Temporarily Closing
The emergency rooms at two Delaware County hospitals have reopened after temporarily shutting down due to issues with their radiology systems, Delaware County officials told CBS News Philadelphia. The ERs at Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland and Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park, which are owned by Prospect Medical Holdings, reopened just before 1:45 p.m. after closing around 10 a.m. Tuesday, Delaware County officials confirmed to CBS News Philadelphia. (Holden and Simon, 12/3)

Modern Healthcare: Humana CFO Susan Diamond To Step Down In 2025
Humana Chief Financial Officer Susan Diamond will depart the health insurer after 18 years, the company announced Tuesday. On Jan. 11, investment firm executive Celeste Mellet will succeed Diamond, according to a news release. Mellet is CFO of Global Infrastructure Partners, the same job she previously held at the investment bank Evercore and the mortgage financing company Fannie Mae following 18 years at Morgan Stanley. (Berryman, 12/3)

Modern Healthcare: Soda Health Lands $50M For Managing Medicare Advantage Benefits
Soda Health, which helps health plans administer their supplemental benefits, received $50 million in a Series B funding round, the company said Tuesday. The round was led by venture capital firm General Catalyst. Former Humana CEO Bruce Broussard also invested along with venture capital firms Lightspeed Venture Partners, Define Ventures, Qiming Venture Partners USA and SVB Capital. (Perna, 12/3)

Modern Healthcare: Addus HomeCare Acquires Gentiva’s Home Care Business
Addus HomeCare closed its $350 million acquisition of Gentiva’s home care business, the company announced late Monday. The addition of Gentiva’s non-medical personal care business will add 16,000 customers a day across Arizona, Arkansas, California, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, the company said in a news release. Addus also said it expects the new business to add approximately $280 million in annual revenue. (Eastabrook, 12/3)

The Conversation: Taxpayers Spend 22% More Per Patient To Support Medicare Advantage
Medicare Advantage — the commercial alternative to traditional Medicare — is drawing down federal health care funds, costing taxpayers an extra 22% per enrollee to the tune of $83 billion a year. (McCormack and Duffy, 12/3)

The Boston Globe: Health Agency ARPA-H Brings $276 Million To Mass. In First Year
When state officials celebrated the announcement that a new federal health agency would be coming to Cambridge, they boasted that it could bring an influx of research dollars for the state’s life sciences sector. After a year in operation, we now have an idea of just how much money has come this way. A tally by ARPA-H for The Boston Globe shows that various companies and nonprofits in the state have collectively received $276 million in federal funds, out of more than $2 billion in allocations, since September 2023 — essentially ARPA-H’s first year. (Chesto, 12/3)

AP: Are You A Former SmileDirectClub Customer? You Might Be Eligible For A Refund
When SmileDirectClub shut down a year ago, scores of existing customers of the teeth-straightening company were left in limbo. Now, tens of thousands are set to get some relief. New York Attorney General Letitia James has announced that her office recovered $4.8 million to distribute nationwide to more than 28,000 consumers. SmileDirectClub illegally charged those customers after it ceased operations, James said. (Grantham-Philips, 12/3)

Stateline: State Prisons Turn To Extended Lockdowns Amid Staffing Shortages, Overcrowding
Across the United States, state prison systems are grappling with chronic understaffing and overcrowding — dual crises that are keeping incarcerated people confined to their cells for far longer periods than in recent decades. Lockdowns are common in jails and prisons nationwide, but most usually last only a few hours or days. During lockdowns, access to rehabilitative classes, religious activities, work and visitation is limited or completely suspended. Incarcerated people on lockdown can lose their usual routines, which may include exercise, calls to loved ones and other structured activities. And meals are typically eaten inside the prisoner’s cell, further isolating them. (Hernández, 12/3)

The Boston Globe: Older Black People Are More Likely Than Others To Live To 100
Imagine two neighbors, both in their mid-to-late 80s. One is Black and the other is white. Which one might have a better chance of reaching 100 years old? Conventional wisdom would suggest the white octogenarian would have a leg up on that climb to 100, because of the mountains of research showing better access to health care and other opportunities for white Americans. ... But a novel new study from Boston and Canadian researchers adds important depth to an unusual reversal of that death equation. (Lazar, 12/4)

ABC News: Lifestyle Choices At 60 Linked To Dementia Risk Decades Later, Study Shows
Early predictors of dementia are emerging as critical tools for guiding health and lifestyle decisions long before symptoms appear. The Health and Retirement Study, which looked at more than two decades of data from over 45,000 older adults in the United States, suggested that lifestyle, genetics and other factors at 60 years old can help predict brain health at 80. (Bhavsar, 12/3)

CNN: Research Shows More Than 150 Million Mental Diagnoses May Be Linked To Lead In Gasoline 
Gasoline used to be a common source of lead exposure in the US. Now, millions of people’s mental health may be feeling the impacts. (Holcombe, 12/4)

AP: A Twice-Yearly Shot Could Help End AIDS. But Will It Get To Everyone Who Needs It?
Drugmaker Gilead said it will allow cheap, generic versions to be sold in 120 poor countries with high HIV rates, mostly in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean. (Cheng and Verza, 12/2)

AP: Health Officials Investigate Mystery Disease In Southwest Congo After 143 Deaths 
A flu-like disease that has killed dozens of people over two weeks is being investigated in southwestern Congo, local authorities said. The deaths were recorded between Nov. 10 and Nov. 25 in the Panzi health zone of Kwango province. Symptoms include fever, headache, cough and anaemia, provincial health minister Apollinaire Yumba told reporters over the weekend. (Kamale, 12/3)