Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
California Lawmakers Push To Install Guardrails On AI 'Therapists'
CalMatters: California Lawmakers Try To Set Limits On AI 'Therapists'
In the matter of a few clicks and keystrokes, anyone can find themselves deep in conversation with “Psychologist,” a chatbot character that describes itself as an expert in “empathy” and “active listening.” It responds to messages of anxiety and sadness with reassurance. It asks questions and offers advice; it even responds with italicized nonverbal cues: “The psychologist’s expression softens with compassion.” In smaller font, a disclaimer reads: “This is A.I. and not a real person. Treat everything it says as fiction.” (Ibarra, 8/6)
Health news from Colorado and Texas —
Wyoming Public Radio: Colorado Hospitals Are Seeing More Patients Without Insurance
Millions of people in Colorado and across the nation lost their health insurance after the pandemic wind-down ended automatic re-enrollment in Medicaid. An increasing number of Coloradans without coverage have been unable to pay their medical bills, according to a new analysis from the Center for Improving Value in Health Care, which has left hospitals holding the tab. (Galatas, 8/6)
The Texas Tribune: Texas Rural Clinics Turn To Telehealth
The Davis Mountain Clinic is not your typical rural medical clinic. It doesn’t have windows or a big waiting room, and there aren’t teams of physicians and nurses waiting on patients. Instead, there’s one nurse, Carol Brewer, who connects patients to psychologists and physicians online. What’s even more remarkable is where Brewer runs the clinic — a renovated shipping container. (Carver, 8/6)
The New York Times: Child Whose Family Sued to Stop Brain Death Test After Drowning Has Died
Annelise Camp, a 2-year-old girl whose family tried to block a Texas hospital from testing whether she was brain-dead after she drowned, died this week after life support was removed. Her death on Monday, confirmed in a post online by the family and by a Texas lawmaker, ended a monthslong legal battle over where life ends and whether doctors must obtain consent to perform a brain death evaluation, which allows hospitals to remove a patient’s life support. (Salhotra, 8/6)
From Minnesota, Illinois, and Michigan —
The Washington Post: Senior Home Hosts First Happy Hour After Resident Fought To Change Law
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) signed the bill — known among lawmakers as the “Grandparents’ Happy Hour” bill — on July 14 allowing state nursing homes and assisted-living facilities to serve alcohol without an additional license. The new law went into effect Saturday. (Melnick, 8/6)
Pioneer Press: Oak Park Fire Department Joins U Of I Fire Institute Cancer Study
The Oak Park Fire Department has partnered with the University of Illinois Fire Institute for a study to evaluate how the job affects firefighters’ health, with a focus on cancer screenings. Participating firefighters will provide blood and urine samples and complete a baseline health questionnaire, an annual cancer survey and an exposure log form. (Hardy, 8/6)
Chicago Tribune: Teen's Death In North Center Highlights Danger Of E-Scooters
Alex Blacio wasn’t scheduled to work Monday afternoon, but when a shift opened up at the indoor trampoline park where he’d recently been hired, he grabbed it. The 16-year-old was saving every paycheck to buy his mom a new house someday. But the rising senior at Lake View High School never made it back to Albany Park that evening. (Hempel-Edgers, 8/6)
KFF Health News: KFF Health News’ ‘What The Health?’: The Return Of ‘Medicare For All’
Democratic primary voters in Michigan chose former Detroit public health director Abdul El-Sayed as their Senate nominee this week. El-Sayed is one of several high-profile candidates around the country who have been pushing “Medicare for All,” again elevating the issue, at a time when millions of Americans are losing their health coverage because of high costs. (Rovner, 8/6)
From Maryland and Washington, D.C. —
Maryland Matters: Former Holy Cross CEO Kevin Sexton Tapped To Lead HSCRC
Kevin Sexton, former president and CEO of Holy Cross Health hospitals, has been tapped to chair a powerful state commission charged with setting hospital rates in Maryland, the Moore administration announced Thursday. (Brown, 8/6)
The Baltimore Sun: Baltimore Awards $300K To Expand Parenting, Child Care Support
Parents in Baltimore will have another helping hand courtesy of the city government, with a $300,000 grant given to The Family Tree by the city on Wednesday to help strengthen families and prevent abuse. (Pryce, 8/6)
KFF Health News: Budget Battle Erupts In Nation’s Capital Over Opioid Settlement Money
For years, Washington, D.C., has paid for Medicaid — the state-federal health insurance program for low-income people — out of its general budget. But next year, the city is shifting part of that recurring multimillion-dollar cost to a new funding source: opioid settlement dollars. That’s raising red flags for addiction recovery advocates, people directly affected by the crisis, and the commission in charge of recommending how the city uses its share of the settlement money. (Spears and Pattani, 8/7)
From North Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana —
North Carolina Health News: WakeMed, Atrium Leaders Leave Public In Dark As They Brief Small Groups Of Commissioners About Proposed Partnership
Hours before several hundred people packed the pews of a southeast Raleigh church to air their concerns about a potential combination of WakeMed and Charlotte-based Atrium Health, the heads of the health care systems and their lawyers met privately with three Wake County commissioners. (Blythe, 8/7)
AP: Labeling Mix-Up Led To Unneeded Hysterectomy, Lawsuit Says
An Atlanta-area woman alleges that she was wrongly diagnosed with cancer and underwent an unneeded hysterectomy because of a labeling error. Cassandra Barksdale and her attorneys filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Kaiser Permanente alleging the mix-up led to the surgery and months of physical and emotional pain. According to the lawsuit, another patient’s tissue sample was mistakenly labeled as belonging to Barksdale, who at age 43 then underwent a full hysterectomy on May 15, 2025, and was told she would get instructions about chemotherapy. (Chandler and Megnien, 8/6)
KFF Health News: Watch: Why Abortions Are On The Rise Since ‘Roe’ Was Overturned
Say you live in deep-red Louisiana, a state that has effectively banned abortion. It may be easier for you to get abortion pills now than before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Here’s why — and what it means for future battles over abortion access. And as a federal court mulls a case that could result in significant restrictions on a pill used in most abortions, healthcare providers say they have alternatives to preserve access even in states with bans in place. (Wells and Norman, 8/7)
