Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Life Insurers Start Screening For Covid; College Campuses Launch Testing Labs
Axios: Life Insurers Screen For COVID-19
Because of the pandemic, more people than ever are seeking out life insurance — just as insurers seek ways to identify people who have had COVID-19, and in some cases deny them coverage. ... Alarmed at clampdowns by underwriters in Europe, the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) just sent a letter to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners urging that U.S. insurance firms establish clear and transparent rules on life insurance eligibility and COVID-19. (Kingson, 2/1)
In other covid testing news —
Clarion-Ledger: COVID-19 Testing: College Campuses Creating Their Own Testing Labs
To an outsider, the large, brown metal structure sitting in a non-descript passageway on the Belhaven University campus in Jackson might seem a bit out of place. The only indication of what's actually inside are signs marking how much longer students wait to get inside and stickers on the sidewalk showing six feet of distance. Belhaven has installed the COVID-19 testing center — and a full lab — to not only keep students and staff safe, but to also keep them on campus. Several colleges and universities across the U.S. made the decision to go virtual in the fall due to the pandemic and while some have since returned to physical classrooms, many remain shuttered. Belhaven chose not to be one of them. (Rowe, 2/1)
Boston Globe: Frustrated With The Government’s Virus Response, Citizens Are Building Their Own Testing Programs. And It’s Working
If you want fast, reliable, accessible COVID-19 testing in Massachusetts, it helps if you know a guy who knows a guy. Especially if you have the time and money — and that guy is a scientist. Frustrated by the lack of an overarching state or federal strategy for COVID-19 testing, an increasing number of local organizations are rolling up their sleeves and figuring out how to create their own testing programs, part of a desperate effort to return to normalcy as the pandemic drags on and solutions — amid a bumpy vaccine rollout — still seem far off. In Needham, one woman launched a Jewish temple school’s testing program, serving about 400 students and teachers, and is now considering buying lab equipment. In Brookline, staff at a low-income senior housing complex secured rapid tests for staff, residents, and their visitors. And in Wellesley, a group of parents pioneered their own surveillance testing program to monitor COVID’s presence in the public school district there, complete with a barcode scanning app to link names and samples that they built themselves. (Krantz, 1/31)
The Wall Street Journal: The NFL’s Covid-19 Finding That Saved The Season
People were testing positive for the virus even though they had spent far less than 15 minutes or weren’t within six feet of an infectious person—and the league had the contact-tracing technology to prove it. “That was a wake-up call,” said Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer. “We had to be more precise in our definition of high-risk close contacts because clearly transmission could occur outside those basic boundaries of time and distance.” (Beaton and Radnofsky, 1/31)
In obituaries —
The Hill: Rutgers Researcher Who Developed First COVID-19 Saliva Test Dies
A Rutgers University research professor who developed the first COVID-19 saliva test died of a heart attack earlier this month in New York City, The New York Times reported on Sunday. Andrew Brooks died at age 51 on Jan. 23, about 10 months after changing the game for COVID-19 testing with his spit test that allowed testing to increase significantly. (Coleman, 1/31)
