First Edition: Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024

KFF Health News: Fearing The Worst, Schools Deploy Armed Police To Thwart Gun Violence
A false alarm that a gunman was roaming one Catholic high school and then another in March 2023 touched off frightening evacuations and a robust police response in the city. It also prompted the diocese to rethink what constitutes a model learning environment. Months after hundreds of students were met by SWAT teams, the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh began forming its own armed police force. (Spolar, 9/11)

KFF Health News: Longtime Head Of L.A. Care To Retire After Navigating Major Medi-Cal Changes
For nearly a decade, John Baackes has led L.A. Care Health Plan, a publicly run insurer primarily serving low-income Los Angeles County residents on Medi-Cal. It is by far the largest Medi-Cal plan in the state. Baackes, 78, who will retire after the end of the year, helped transform L.A. Care into a major market player following its expansion under the Affordable Care Act. He implemented a new administrative structure and promoted a new internal culture. (Wolfson, 9/11)

KFF Health News: US Uninsured Rate Was Stable In 2023, Even As States’ Medicaid Purge Began
The proportion of Americans without health insurance remained stable in 2023, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday, close to the record low the Biden administration achieved in 2022 through expansions of public programs, including the Affordable Care Act. About 8% of Americans were uninsured, a statistically insignificant increase of just 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier. (Galewitz, 9/10)

KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute'
“Health Minute” brings original health care and health policy reporting from the KFF Health News newsroom to the airwaves each week. (9/10)

ABC News: Trump Does Not Commit To Vetoing National Abortion Ban In Debate With Harris 
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump presented different visions for the future of abortion rights during their presidential debate Tuesday. A back-and-forth between the candidates ended with Harris saying the government shouldn't be deciding what women do with their bodies, but that is what Trump wants — a claim he denied. Harris promised to sign a bill that reinstates protections for abortion rights that existed under Roe v. Wade if it reaches her desk as president while Trump would not commit to vetoing a national abortion ban if it comes to his desk. (El-Bawab, 9/10)

The 19th: Debate: Trump Doubles Down On Abortion Lies, After-Birth 'Execution' Misinformation
When White House rivals Kamala Harris and Donald Trump met on the debate stage Tuesday night, it took less than 15 minutes for the topic to turn to abortion — and former President Trump immediately launched into an oft-told lie. (Becker, 9/10)

Stat: Presidential Debate: Trump Still Has No ACA Replacement Plan 
Eight years after he was elected president on a promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, former President Donald Trump still hasn’t decided how he wants to do it. In a presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday, Trump said he had “concepts of a plan” to replace the Affordable Care Act, but offered no details. (Zhang, 9/11)

Huffpost: Trump Served Up Revisionist History On Obamacare During Debate
Donald Trump spent the 2016 presidential campaign promising to repeal the Affordable Care Act. He spent most of his first year in office trying to do just that. Now he wants you to believe he is responsible for saving the law. This novel reinterpretation of history emerged on Tuesday evening at the ABC News presidential debate between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee. (Cohn, 9/11)

Politico: Harris, Trump Try To Relitigate The Pandemic 
The Covid-19 pandemic resurfaced in the debate just as many voters are trying to move on from the issue. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris tried to relitigate the Covid-19 pandemic, with Harris going after Trump, who defended his record. Harris accused Trump of leaving the Biden administration "the worst public health epidemic in a century.” Trump claimed the U.S. made ventilators for "the entire world." (Leonard, 9/10)

The Washington Post: What Kamala Harris Learned From Embracing, Abandoning Medicare-For-All 
Standing on a Miami debate stage five years ago and seeking the presidency, Kamala Harris raised her hand and joined a pledge to abolish private health insurance in favor of a government-run plan. Harris, then a Democratic senator from California, later said she misunderstood the moderator’s question, clarifying that she would abolish her own private health insurance — not every American’s. The moment was one of Harris’s stumbles in 2019 as she struggled to navigate Democrats’ fight over Medicare-for-all, the transformative proposal to provide government health coverage to all Americans, and explain her own evolving position. (Diamond, 9/10)

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Costs, Reproductive Rights Top Issues In 2024 Election
More than 40% of voters say the cost of care, prescription drugs and insurance premiums are the most pressing healthcare concerns for the presidential candidates to address, according to a KFF survey released Tuesday. As the 2024 presidential election draws near, voters are weighing in on how policies under Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump could impact individuals’ access to healthcare. (Devereaux, 9/10)

Kansas City Star: Missouri Abortion Rights Amendment Stays On November Ballot
Missouri voters will decide on Nov. 5 whether to overturn the state’s abortion ban after the state Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared away a final effort by anti-abortion activists to block a vote on a landmark proposal enshrining a right to abortion in the state constitution. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the proposed amendment to the state constitution – called Amendment 3 – will remain on the general election ballot. The decision came less than three hours before a 5 p.m. deadline to finalize the ballot. (Shorman and Bayless, 9/10)

Reuters: Republican States Ask 9th Circuit To Revive Their Bid To Limit Abortion Pill Access
A group of Republican-led states have asked the full 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to consider their effort to impose restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone, including a ban on prescribing it by telemedicine and dispensing it by mail. The states, led by Idaho, in a petition for en banc rehearing on Monday urged the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit to rehear their motion to intervene in, and oppose, a lawsuit by Democratic states that seeks to preserve and expand access to the drug. A three-judge panel of the court ruled in July that they do not have standing to join the case because they have not shown how they are harmed by mifepristone's availability, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expanded in 2021 by allowing it to be dispensed by mail. (Pierson, 9/10)

The New York Times: Doctors Give Black Women Unneeded C-Sections To Fill Operating Rooms, Study Suggests 
Obstetricians are more likely to give Black women unnecessary cesarean sections, putting those women at higher risk for serious complications like ruptured surgical wounds. That’s the conclusion of a new report of nearly one million births in 68 hospitals in New Jersey, one of the largest studies to tackle the subject. The additional operations on Black patients were more likely to happen when hospitals had no scheduled C-sections, meaning their operating rooms were sitting empty. (Kliff, 9/10)

CNN: First On CNN: US Faces Maternity Care Crisis, With 1 In 3 Counties Lacking Obstetric Doctors To Provide Care, Report Warns
The United States is facing an ongoing maternity health crisis in which 1 in every 3 counties does not have a single obstetric clinician, affecting women’s access to care, according to a new report. The report, released Tuesday by the infant and maternal health nonprofit March of Dimes, says that in many parts of the country, obstetrician/gynecologists and family physicians who deliver babies are leaving the workforce, which worsens access to care. (Howard, 9/10)

The Hill: Girls May Be Starting Puberty Earlier Due To Chemical Exposure: Study
Girls exposed to certain chemicals that are common ingredients in household products may be starting puberty comparatively early, a new study has found. Substances of particular concern include musk ambrette — a fragrance used in some detergents, perfumes and personal care products — and a group of medications called cholinergic agonists, according to the study, published on Tuesday in Endocrinology. (Udasin, 9/10)

USA Today: 'Just Lose Weight': Women With PCOS Are Going Untreated Due To 'Weight-Centric Health Care'
As a teenager, Pamela Everland suffered from irregular and excessively heavy periods that lasted for six to eight weeks. At 19-years-old, a gynecologist finally placed her on birth control to regulate her periods, but new symptoms arrived; Everland experienced rapid weight gain throughout her 20s despite committing to various diets, including Weight Watchers and the low-carb Atkins diet, and suffered from acne well into her 30s. But at every doctor’s visit, she was just told to lose weight. (Goldberg, 9/10)

NBC News: Are The Toxic Metals In Tampons Harmful? FDA Launches Research To Learn Risk
The Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that it has begun a research project examining the possible effects of toxic metals in tampons and that it is launching an independent review. ... “Although toxic metals are ubiquitous and we are exposed to low levels at any given time, our study clearly shows that metals are also present in menstrual products, and that women might be at higher risk for exposure using these products,” study co-author Kathrin Schilling, an assistant professor at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, wrote in a news release. Researchers from UC Berkeley School of Public Health were also involved. (Edwards, 9/10)

ABC7 New York: More Members Of FDNY Have Died From 9/11-Related Illness Than Were Killed On Day Of Attack
Illnesses linked to the September 11 terror attack on the World Trade Center have now killed more members of the New York City Fire Department than were killed on the day of the attack itself. "Those insurmountable losses did not end at the World Trade Center site," Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker said Monday. "Instead, we have seen our members become sick because of time they spent working in the rescue and recovery." There were 343 members of the FDNY that died on 9/11. In the 23 years since, more than 370 have died of World Trade Center-related illnesses, the department said. (9/10)

PIX11: 9/11 Health Care Fund Once Again Running Out Of Money 
Survivors of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are once again pressuring lawmakers to fully fund their health care. Congress intended to resolve the recurring issue back 2019, but the number of people registered with the 9/11 health care fund has ballooned, as has the cost of new state-of-the-art cancer drugs, and inflation is not helping things. A stopgap funding measure was passed last year. (Rosoff, 9/9)

AP: Jon Stewart Presses For A Breakthrough To Get The First 9/11 Troops Full Care 
The first U.S. troops to deploy after the Sept. 11 attacks are suffering from radiation exposure that the government has yet to officially recognize 23 years later. ... Thousands of "K2" veterans have reported cancers, kidney problems and other medical conditions, some of which are known to be connected to radiation exposure. But exposure from K2 is not covered under a major veterans aid bill known as the PACT Act that President Joe Biden signed in 2022. (Copp, 9/10)

USA Today: CDC: Suicides Tied To Lack Of Health Insurance, Income, Internet
People with health insurance, higher income and internet access may be less likely to die by suicide, a new study found. Counties with lower levels of health insurance coverage, broadband internet access and household income had higher suicide rates, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report published Tuesday. (Cuevas, 9/10)

Reuters: US Incomes Rose Last Year But Poverty Rates Changed Little, Census Data Shows 
U.S. inflation-adjusted household income increased but poverty rates showed only modest changes last year, the U.S. Census Bureau reported on Tuesday, offering a mixed snapshot of how American households fared as the economy returned to pre-coronavirus pandemic growth levels, job growth boomed and inflation eased. Real median household income rose to $80,610 in 2023, up 4.0% from 2022, back to the peak reached in 2019, while earnings for workers as a whole were higher than before the pandemic, a boost to households after multiple years in which workers' wages were outpaced by high inflation. (9/10)

The Wall Street Journal: Social Security COLA Expected To Be 2.6% Next Year
Social Security recipients are on track for a smaller cost-of-living adjustment next year. The cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, that retirees receive each year is tied to the average inflation data for July, August and September, so the actual increase won’t be clear until October. There was a 2.9% increase in July, and economists expect the August figure to have risen at an annual rate of 2.6%. The Labor Department reports inflation Wednesday morning.  (Tergesen, 9/11)

The Washington Post: Andrew Cuomo, Once A Covid Star, Grilled By Congress Over Pandemic Missteps 
Democrats joined Republicans to insist that former New York governor Andrew Cuomo explain whether his administration slow-walked accurate data on nursing home deaths, in a hearing room packed with attendees who lost family members to covid in New York nursing homes. (Diamond, 9/10)

The New York Times: Transgender Lawmaker Wins Democratic Primary For Delaware’s Only House Seat
Sarah McBride, a state legislator, won the Democratic primary for Delaware’s only U.S. House seat, The Associated Press reported, making her the heavy favorite to win in November in the deep-blue state. If elected, she would become the first openly transgender member of Congress. (Harmon, 9/10)

The New York Times: Rep. Joe Wilson Is Hospitalized
Representative Joe Wilson, Republican of South Carolina, was taken to a hospital on Tuesday, according to a social media post. Alan Wilson, Joe Wilson’s son and the attorney general of South Carolina, said in a separate post that “doctors have confirmed to us that he has experienced stroke-like symptoms.” ... Mr. Wilson, 77, came to prominence after shouting “you lie” at President Barack Obama during a joint session of Congress in 2009. (Petrei, 9/10)

San Francisco Chronicle: Kaiser Permanente To Close California Nursing Home, Sees 249 Layoffs
Kaiser Permanente has announced the closure of its last free-standing company-owned skilled nursing facility — also known as a nursing home — in California, leading to 249 job losses. Regulatory filings reveal that the Kaiser Permanente Post Acute Care Center at 1440 168th Ave. in San Leandro will be permanently closed by mid-November, affecting a range of employees including administrators, physical therapists, dietitians, licensed vocational nurses and, primarily, certified nursing assistants. (Vaziri, 9/10)

The Boston Globe: Boston Nurses Union Approves New Contract, Averts Strike
Nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital “voted overwhelmingly” on Tuesday to ratify a new contract that will increase wages and avert a threatened strike, union officials said in a statement. The Massachusetts Nurses Association, the union for 4,000 nurses, negotiated a wage increase of up to 30 percent over the next two and a half years for Brigham nurses, and a quadrupled hourly rate for some on-call nurses, the statement said. (Alanez, 9/10)

Health News Florida: A Bankruptcy Judge OKs Orlando Health's Purchase Of Steward's Space Coast Hospitals
Orlando Health’s bid to purchase three Space Coast hospitals from the financially ailing Steward Health Care was approved Tuesday by a Texas-based bankruptcy judge. Orlando Health will pay $439 million for Melbourne Regional Medical Center and Rockledge Regional Medical Center in Brevard County and Sebastian River Medical Center in Indian River County. The sale also includes certain Steward Medical Group practices in Florida. (Mayer, 9/11)

Axios: Aetna's Denial Of Gender-Affirming Care Taken To Court
A class-action complaint claims Aetna violated federal non-discrimination law by denying coverage of certain gender-affirming surgeries. The lawsuit filed Tuesday cites civil rights protections in the Affordable Care Act that are currently being challenged by conservative-led states. (Goldman, 9/11)

Stat: Medical Debt Forgiveness Could Mean Big Paydays For Hospitals 
The largest health system in North Carolina simply wasn’t interested in canceling its patients’ medical debt. That is, until the state government dangled billions of dollars in incentive payments. (Zhang, 9/11)

Modern Healthcare: Why Medicare Advantage Plans Are Losing More Providers
Medicare Advantage enrollment and profitability surged in recent years as a growing number of seniors sought plans with minimal copays and extra benefits not offered in traditional Medicare. However, Medicare Advantage enrollment growth has slowed and insurance companies' earnings per member have declined over the past year as insurers grapple with stiffer competition, higher medical costs and utilization, lower reimbursement rates and stricter regulatory oversight. (Kacik, 9/10)

Modern Healthcare: AMA Releases New CPT Codes For 2025
The American Medical Association released its updated list of Current Procedural Terminology codes for 2025, adding 270 new universal codes used for billing healthcare services and reimbursing providers. The organization announced 420 updates to its list Tuesday, with several revisions and additions for genetic testing, digital health services like remote patient monitoring and care involving artificial intelligence. (DeSilva, 9/10)

Reuters: UnitedHealth To Remove AbbVie's Humira From Some US Drug Reimbursement Lists Next Year
UnitedHealth Group said on Tuesday it will remove AbbVie’s blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira from some of its lists of preferred drugs for reimbursement as of Jan. 1, 2025, and recommend less expensive biosimilar versions of the medicine instead. UnitedHealth said Amgen's (Amjevita will be among the biosimilars covered on its lists for commercial health plans, which are managed by its pharmacy benefits unit, Optum Rx. (Wingrove, 9/10)

Stat: Sanofi And Regeneron’s Dupixent Succeeds In Trial Of Chronic Hives
Sanofi and Regeneron’s blockbuster drug Dupixent successfully treated patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria, an inflammatory skin disease, in a late-stage trial, the companies announced on Wednesday, bringing the firms closer to securing Food and Drug Administration approval after the agency rejected their application last year. (Wosen, 9/11)

Reuters: GSK's Experimental Herpes Vaccine Fails To Meet Main Goal In Trial 
British drugmaker GSK said on Wednesday its experimental herpes simplex virus (HSV) vaccine candidate failed to meet the main goal of a mid-stage trial and would not be taken forward to a late-stage trial. (9/11)

Reuters: Baltimore Settles With Walgreens Ahead Of Scheduled Opioid Trial
Baltimore said on Tuesday that it has settled with Walgreens over claims that the pharmacy operator fueled opioid addiction in the Maryland city, the latest in a series of settlements totaling $402.5 million ahead of a trial scheduled to begin next week. (Pierson, 9/10)

The Boston Globe: State Reports Three New Human Cases Of West Nile Virus In Mass.
Health officials on Tuesday announced three new human cases of West Nile virus detected in the state, raising the total to 10 for the year. The state Department of Public Health said all three cases were detected in people who are in their 60s. One is a woman who was exposed in Bristol County, another is a man who was exposed in Suffolk County, and the third is a man who was exposed in Barnstable County, the department said. Six human cases of the virus were reported in the state last year, health officials said. (Stoico, 9/10)

The Washington Post: Babesiosis, Another Disease Spread By Ticks, Is On The Rise
If you spot a blacklegged tick crawling up your leg — or worse, attached to your skin — you might be worried about getting Lyme disease. That’s reasonable because Lyme is the most commonly reported illness spread by ticks. But it is far from the only one: The blacklegged ticks that carry Lyme can spread at least six different illnesses. The tick-borne illness babesiosis is one of the next most common after Lyme. And it is on the rise, especially in the Northeast, according to a 2023 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Loria, 9/9)

The New York Times: ‘Imminent Threat’ Found At Boar’s Head Plant 2 Years Before Listeria Outbreak 
Two years before a deadly listeria outbreak, U.S. inspectors warned that conditions at a Boar’s Head plant posed an “imminent threat” to public health, citing extensive rust, deli meats exposed to wet ceilings, green mold and holes in the walls. But the U.S. Agriculture Department did not impose strict measures on the plant, in Jarratt, Va., which could have ranged from a warning letter to a suspension of operations. (Jewett and Rosenbluth, 9/10)

The New York Times: Cholera Deaths Soar Worldwide Despite Being Easily Preventable
The cholera outbreaks spreading across the globe are becoming more deadly. Deaths from the diarrheal disease soared last year, far outpacing the increase in cases, according to a new analysis by the World Health Organization. Cholera is easy to prevent and costs just pennies to treat, but huge outbreaks have swamped even well-prepared health systems in countries that had not confronted the disease in years. The number of cholera deaths reported globally last year increased by 71 percent from deaths in 2022, while the number of reported cases rose 13 percent. Much of the increase was driven by conflict and climate change, the W.H.O. report said. (Nolen, 9/11)