AP: Coronavirus Deaths Are Rising Again In The US, As Feared
Deaths per day from the coronavirus in the U.S. are on the rise again, just as health experts had feared, and cases are climbing in practically every state, despite assurances from President Donald Trump over the weekend that “we’re rounding the turn, we’re doing great.” With Election Day just over a week away, average deaths per day across the country are up 10% over the past two weeks, from 721 to nearly 794 as of Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Newly confirmed infections per day are rising in 47 states, and deaths are up in 34. (Pane and Stobbe, 10/26)

CNN: In Just A Week, The Fall Coronavirus Surge Added Nearly Half A Million Cases To The US Total
In just one week, the fall surge in Covid-19 infections added nearly half a million cases to the national total. The past seven days have been marked by daunting coronavirus records and upticks, with 489,769 new cases reported since October 20. More than 8.7 million people have now been infected since the pandemic again, according to Johns Hopkins University. (Holcombe, 10/27)

The Washington Post: Hospitals In Nearly Every Region Report A Flood Of Covid-19 Patients 
Hospitals in many regions of the country — the Upper Midwest, the Mountain West, the Southwest and the heart of Appalachia — are seeing record levels of patients suffering from covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. More than 42,000 people were hospitalized nationally with the virus Monday, a figure that is steadily climbing toward the midsummer peak caused by massive outbreaks in the Sun Belt. In the places hit the hardest, this is nudging hospitals toward the nightmare scenario of rationing care. (Achenbach, Brulliard, Shammas and Dupree, 10/26)

The Hill: Pediatricians Say Nearly 800K Children Have Had Coronavirus 
Almost 800,000 children in the U.S. have been infected by COVID-19 this year, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) said Monday, adding that current cases among children are rising. In their latest state-level data report, the AAP shared statistics that demonstrate a growing prevalence of coronavirus among youth. Currently there are about 8.4 million cases of the coronavirus in the U.S., with children now making up 11 percent of that number — about 1,053 cases per 100,000 kids. (Polus, 10/26)

In related news —

The Hill: Fauci On Latest Surge: 'No Matter How You Look At It, It's Not Good News' 
Top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said Monday that “no matter how you look at” the latest surge in COVID-19 cases in the U.S., “it’s not good news.” Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Yahoo Finance during an interview said the U.S. is “at the highest baseline we’ve ever been” for coronavirus cases, calling the situation “quite precarious.” (Coleman, 10/26)

The Washington Post: As The Coronavirus Surges, It Is Reaching Into The Nation’s Last Untouched Areas 
Few places would seem better able to ride out an infectious-disease pandemic than Petroleum County, Mont., whose 500 people spread over 1,656 square miles, much of it public lands and cattle ranches. For most of this year, it did just that, becoming the last county in the state and one of the final few in the nation to have logged no cases of the novel coronavirus. Then came October. Three residents tested positive, knocking Petroleum off zero-case lists, forcing the county’s lone school to close for a week and proving, as Sheriff Bill Cassell put it, that “eventually we were going to get it,” and that the virus “ain’t gone yet.” (Brulliard, 10/26)

Modern Healthcare: Senate Confirms Barrett To Supreme Court In Time For ACA Arguments
The Senate confirmed Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court on Monday evening, in time for oral arguments on an Affordable Care Act case on Nov. 10. Barrett, a former judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, was confirmed 52-48 without Democratic support. The full Senate vote comes a month after Barrett's nomination was announced at the White House on Sept. 26. The vote means Barrett will be seated in time for both the November election and for the court to hear oral arguments in California v. Texas, a case that could determine the fate of the ACA. (Cohrs, 10/26)

The Washington Post: Senate Confirms Amy Coney Barrett To Supreme Court, Cementing Its Conservative Majority 
Barrett solidifies a 6-to-3 conservative majority on the court and will be in a position to immediately hear contentious cases on elections and health care. A centerpiece of the Democrats’ strategy against Barrett was the pending case on the fate of the Affordable Care Act, set for oral arguments at the Supreme Court on Nov. 10. The Trump administration and Republican attorneys general argue that the entire 2010 health-care law and its protections for millions of Americans with preexisting medical conditions should be invalidated. (Min Kim, 10/26)

The Washington Post: Trump, Biden Both Campaign In Pennsylvania As Supreme Court Pick Confirmed 
After being sworn in Monday night, Barrett delivered remarks to the assembled crowd, an unusual move for a new Supreme Court justice. She spoke at length about the importance of judicial independence, saying "it is the job of a judge to resist her policy preferences. It would be a dereliction of duty for her to give in to them.” (Sonmez, Wagner and Firozi, 10/26)

The Washington Post: Angry Democrats Try To Focus On Health Care As They Watch Barrett Confirmation 
Democrats ended their opposition to the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett exactly as they began it 30 days ago, warning that her confirmation as a Supreme Court justice could overturn the Affordable Care Act. They focused their final speeches Monday on warning voters that millions would suffer if the ACA were tossed aside, choosing to make a political argument rather than going down the rabbit hole of fighting process issues that do not resonate with many voters. (Kane, 10/26)

Also —

AP: Barrett Swearing-In Differs Markedly From 'Superspreader'
This time they mostly wore masks. It’s been only a month since President Donald Trump’s Rose Garden event to announce he was nominating Amy Coney Barrett to serve on the Supreme Court. That packed celebration for friends and allies of the president and his high court nominee turned into a coronavirus superspreader event. When the just-confirmed Barrett returned to the White House on Monday to take her constitutional oath, the celebration was moved to the broader South Lawn, chairs for more than 200 guests were spread about 6 feet apart, and the mask-wearers greatly outnumbered those who declined to cover their faces. (Madhani and Jalonick, 10/27)

The New York Times: In Swearing In Barrett, Trump Defiantly Mimics ‘Superspreader’ Rose Garden Ceremony 
President Trump, who loves to boast of doing anything his predecessors have never done, pulled off such a historic first on Monday. He won confirmation of a Supreme Court justice only eight days before a presidential election, rushing his choice through the Senate before voters decide whether to give him four more years or kick him out of office. Mr. Trump then did something else no other president has done. He hosted a nighttime ceremony on the White House lawn to swear in Justice Amy Coney Barrett in a virtual do-over of the superspreader event blamed for infecting multiple people with the coronavirus a month ago to the day, including the president himself, who was forced to spend three nights in the hospital. (Baker, 10/26)

The Hill: Murkowski Predicts Barrett Won't Overturn Roe V. Wade 
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) just before the Senate vote to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court predicted the Trump nominee will not vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark case establishing a right to an abortion, once she is on the Supreme Court. “I don’t see her overturning the decision in Roe v. Wade, based on — based on the weighting of the reliance factors,” Murkowski, a GOP moderate who is voting for Barrett, said Monday evening. (Bolton, 10/26)

The Washington Post: Supreme Court Rejects Request To Extend Wisconsin's Deadline For Counting Mail-In Ballots 
The Supreme Court on Monday night rejected a pandemic-related request from Democrats and civil rights groups to extend the deadline for counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day in the key battleground state of Wisconsin. The vote was 5 to 3, with the Republican-nominated conservatives in the majority and the Democratic-nominated liberals in dissent. The court’s order showed the deep division within the court about the series of pandemic-related election cases that have come to dominate its agenda. (Barnes, 10/26)

Politico: In Wisconsin Decision, Supreme Court Foreshadows Election Night Cliffhanger 
As a divided Supreme Court on Monday resolved a fight over absentee voting rules in Wisconsin, the justices exchanged warnings about a troublesome scenario: the possibility that next week’s presidential election leads to days or even weeks of legal maneuvering and uncertainty about the winner. Justice Brett Kavanaugh conjured up the specter of such a protracted battle as he argued in favor of allowing states to maintain firm deadlines requiring absentee ballots to be received by election officials on Election Day. (Gerstein, 10/26)

In related news on mail-in ballots and voter safety —

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Cases Are Surging Again. These States Have Refused To Loosen Rules On Who Can Vote By Mail. 
Coronavirus cases are rising again in Texas, but most voters fearful of infection are not allowed to cast ballots by mail. For the limited number who qualify with a separate excuse, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott restricted drop-off locations to one per county. And when the Democratic stronghold of Harris County took steps to make voting easier, GOP leaders sued local officials. Texas is one of five red states that emerged as conspicuous holdouts this year as the rest of the country rushed to loosen voting rules because of the coronavirus pandemic. Many of the roughly 30 million registered voters who live there and in Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee have no choice but to cast ballots in person this fall, even as the rate of coronavirus infection in the United States approaches its third peak. (Viebeck and Hernandez, 10/26)

KHN: For People With Visual Impairments, Truly Secret Ballots Are Elusive
Norma Crosby remembers when she relied on blind faith to cast her vote. The 64-year-old Texan was born virtually without sight, a side effect of her mother catching rubella while pregnant with her. Friends and relatives stood beside her and filled out her ballot at polling precincts for more than half of her voting life. Then, accessible voting machines rolled out around the year 2000, enabling her to vote in person on her own. Now, the COVID-19 pandemic makes going to the polls a risky proposition for Crosby. She also has a condition called sarcoidosis that requires her to take immunosuppressant drugs, she said. However, the state does not have a mail-in voting system that accommodates Crosby’s visual impairment. (Heredia Rodriguez, 10/27)

AP: Ex-Postal Worker Charged With Tossing Absentee Ballots
A former U.S. Postal Service worker was charged with tossing dozens of absentee ballots and other mail that was found in a dumpster in Kentucky, the U.S. attorney’s office said. DeShawn Bojgere, 30, of Louisville, was charged with delay or destruction of mail, a news release from U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman’s office said in a news release Monday. (10/27)

The Washington Post: Boston Ballot Box Burned; Man Arrested And Charged, Police Say 
Worldy Armand, 39, was taken into custody after officers on patrol in the area concluded that he matched the description of the suspect, according to Boston police. Armand, who had an active arrest warrant for receiving stolen property, will be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court for willful and malicious burning, police said. (Elfrink and Villegas, 10/26)

The Washington Post: As Cases Soar, Trump Declares Pandemic Ending And Biden Criticizes His Handling Of It. 
Faced with record levels of U.S. coronavirus infections and a new White House outbreak, President Trump declared Monday that the pandemic was “ending anyway,” further tying his reelection bid to his ability to convince voters, including those at large rallies that defy health authorities, that the viral danger is fading. Financial markets fell as he spoke, with investors reacting to the growing infection rates and dwindling hope of a pre-election stimulus package. Vice President Pence canceled a planned appearance at the U.S. Senate for the expected confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett as a Supreme Court justice, after Democrats objected because he has been in close contact with at least one of the five staff members who tested positive for the disease in recent days. (Scherer and Dawsey, 10/26)

Politico: Caution And Confidence Keep Biden Close To Home In Final Days 
The last 10 days of a presidential campaign is typically a frenzied spectacle of barnstorming candidates hitting multiple swing states daily. That is not the type of campaign Joe Biden has been running. On Sunday, he held no campaign events. On Monday, he stayed close to home in Wilmington, Del. making only a brief local stop where he signaled he’d travel to swing states between then and Election Day. And that was after spending much of last week off the trail as he prepared for the final debate. (Korecki and Caputo, 10/26)

Another Trump tweet is labeled as misleading —

Politico: Twitter Labels Trump Post About Mail Ballots As ‘Disputed’ And ‘Misleading’
Twitter blocked a post by President Donald Trump on Monday that claimed, without evidence, there were “problems and discrepancies” with mail-in ballots “all over the USA.” “Must have final total on November 3rd,” Trump wrote at the end of his post. The social media company said the tweet was “disputed and might be misleading about how to participate in an election or another civic process.” (Ward, 10/26)

The Washington Post: Twitter Will Push Notices About Potential Misinformation To Users’ Timelines 
Twitter launched prominent new reminders warning people to be wary of potential misinformation on the social media site — the company’s latest effort to try to tamp down swirling rumors and potential misinformation during the election. Twitter started pushing two different prompts to the top of people’s main timelines Monday. One tells users, “You might encounter misleading information about voting by mail,” and directs to a page to find out more about mail-in voting, including tweets from outside sources. The other reminds users that election results might be delayed because of the increase in voting by mail. (Lerman, 10/26)

In news about Trump's health care plan and the ACA —

KHN: If Trump Wins, Don’t Hold Your Breath Waiting For That ACA Replacement Plan
If President Donald Trump wins reelection next week, it seems unlikely he will unveil the health plan he’s been promising since before his election in 2016. Still, other aspects of health care could be featured in his second-term agenda. Not having a replacement plan for the Affordable Care Act may be just fine with many of his supporters and conservatives. Most Republicans don’t want the federal government to remake the nation’s health system, said Grace-Marie Turner, of the conservative Galen Institute. “It’s a different philosophy from Democrats, who think it needs to be a big program,” she said. “Conservatives, we think of it in a more targeted way.” (Rovner, 10/27)

NPR: Is It Possible To Protect Preexisting Condition Without The ACA?
President Trump has tried to get rid of the Affordable Care Act since the first day of his presidency, but there's one part of Obamacare that he wants to preserve. "We will always protect patients with preexisting conditions — always," Trump told a campaign crowd on Sunday in Londonderry, N.H. — a message he's shared repeatedly in the final days and weeks before the presidential election. (Simmons-Duffin, 10/27)

AP: US Health Official Says Pandemic Clearly Can Be Controlled
A day after White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said “we’re not going to control the pandemic,” a top Trump administration health official said Monday that Americans have already proven they can do that through basic safeguards shown to work. “I think we can control the pandemic,” Assistant Secretary for Health Adm. Brett Giroir said on a call with reporters. “I want to be clear that what we have done — what the American people have done — has been able to put out very significant outbreaks ... all across the Deep South,” Giroir said. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 10/26)

The Hill: Meadows Doubles Down On White House Pandemic Response: 'We're Not Going To Control It' 
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Monday rejected the notion that the Trump administration has given up on fighting the spread of the coronavirus, but then doubled down on his controversial remarks that the U.S. will not control the virus. "We're going to defeat the virus; we're not going to control it," Meadows told reporters outside the White House. "We will try to contain it as best we can, but ... we need to make sure that we have therapeutics and vaccines." (Weixel, 10/26)

The Washington Post: Meadows Under Fire As Trump Chief Of Staff Amid Of Pandemic And Other Crises 
When touting his chief of staff Mark Meadows onstage in North Carolina this month, President Trump gave an unusual compliment for a risky move. “He follows me,” Trump said of his helicopter ride to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after testing positive for the coronavirus. “I said, ‘You know what? I just tested positive.’ He didn’t care. He was in that helicopter.” (Dawsey, 10/26)

Stat: WHO Warns Giving Up On Efforts To Control Covid-19 Would Be 'Dangerous'
The World Health Organization on Monday warned countries against giving up on efforts to control the coronavirus pandemic, with the head of the agency saying doing so would be “dangerous.” “Giving up on control is dangerous,” said Tedros Adhamon Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director-general. “Control should … be part of the strategy.” (Branswell, 10/26)

In other Trump administration news —

Politico: ‘A Mass Exodus’: HHS Staffers Jumping Ship Amid Pandemic, Fears Of Trump Loss
At least 27 political appointees have exited the embattled Health and Human Services department since the start of the Covid-19 crisis in February, according to a POLITICO review, and senior leaders are bracing for dozens more officials to depart swiftly if President Donald Trump loses re-election. Such a wave of departures would leave only a shell staff shepherding the department through a uniquely challenging winter of coronavirus outbreaks and drug and vaccine authorizations until Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, according to interviews with 17 current and former HHS officials, some of whom requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue. (Diamond, 10/26)

The New York Times: Kushner, Employing Racist Stereotype, Questions If Black Americans ‘Want To Be Successful’ 
President Trump has repeatedly bragged about what he has done for Black America, pointing to his administration’s funding for Black colleges and universities, the creation of so-called opportunity zones and criminal justice reform. But on Monday, Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, played into a racist stereotype by seeming to question whether Black Americans “want to be successful” despite what he said Mr. Trump had done for them. (Karni, 10/26)

Also —

Politico: Trump Fights In Court To Block Pandemic Food Aid For Lowest-Income Americans 
The Trump administration is fighting in federal court to block states from giving billions of dollars in emergency food stamps to the lowest-income Americans during the coronavirus crisis. Residents of Pennsylvania and California have sued President Donald Trump’s Agriculture Department over a policy that has kept roughly 40 percent of households who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program from receiving any emergency benefits during the pandemic. After being ordered by a federal judge last week to proceed with the payments in the Pennsylvania case, the department is continuing to appeal. (Bottemiller Evich, 10/26)

Politico: Medicare And Medicaid To Cover Early Covid Vaccine 
The Trump administration this week will announce a plan to cover the out-of-pocket costs of Covid-19 vaccines for millions of Americans who receive Medicare or Medicaid, said four people with knowledge of the pending announcement. Under the planned rule, Medicare and Medicaid will now cover vaccines that receive emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, the people said, which is a change from current policy. The regulations, which have been under development for weeks, are likely to be announced by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Tuesday or Wednesday. (Diamond and Cancryn, 10/26)

The Hill: Trump Admin To Announce Coronavirus Vaccine Will Be Covered Under Medicare, Medicaid: Report 
The administration has reportedly been working on the initiative for weeks and expects to announce the change in policy on Tuesday or Wednesday. At least two vaccine developers have said they intend to apply before the end of the year for an emergency use authorization, which allows the vaccine to be distributed before official FDA approval during a state of emergency. (Coleman, 10/26)

In other Medicare news —

The New York Times: UnitedHealth Ships Flu Kits To Medicare Recipients 
With Covid-19 hospitalizations spiking again in many parts of the country, public health officials have expressed concerns about a perennial source of strain on the health care system: seasonal flu. As threats of a “twindemic” loom, health care workers have stressed the need for vaccination and other preventive measures to slow the spread of flu. One insurance company is going further to try to mitigate the effects of flu season: UnitedHealthcare, the country’s largest health insurance company, plans to provide at-risk patients with 200,000 kits that include Tamiflu, the prescription antiviral treatment; a digital thermometer; and a coronavirus P.C.R. diagnostic test. (Goldberg, 10/24)

CNBC: Here Are Tips From Advisors For Getting Your Medicare Coverage Right
For the nation’s older residents, the stakes can’t be higher when it comes to choosing health-care coverage. That’s partly because under Medicare — you’re eligible at age 65 — changing plans can be challenging in some circumstances and costly if you get your choices wrong. So whether you’re giving your coverage an annual checkup during open enrollment (Oct. 15 through Dec. 7) or signing up for the first time, financial advisors say there are some key considerations to factor into your decision-making. (O'Brien, 10/23)

And in other Medicaid news —

Indianapolis Star: Healthy Indiana Plan Gets Federal Extension For 10 Years
Indiana has received federal approval to continue its Healthy Indiana Plan for another decade, making Indiana the first state to receive a 10-year extension for its Medicaid expansion alternative. The extension comes as more Hoosiers than ever are enrolled in the health coverage plan. More than 572,000 Indiana low-income residents receive their health insurance through the plan, about 100,000 more than at this time last year, officials for the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration said. Typically states receive only a two- or three-year extension of their Medicaid alternatives. (Rudavsky, 10/27)

Bloomberg Law: Indiana Gets 10-Year Extension For Medicaid Work, Premium Rules
Federal health authorities granted an unprecedented 10-year extension to Indiana’s Medicaid expansion program that requires beneficiaries to work and pay premiums, the state announced Monday. The waiver extension is more than twice as long as the three- to four-year period that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services normally provides to state programs. (Ebert, 10/26)

The Hill: Nursing Homes Prepare For Third COVID-19 Surge 
Nursing homes, long in the spotlight as a key battleground in the fight to prevent the spread of COVID-19, are making key structural changes to prepare for an expected third surge of the disease. Facilities have implemented increased testing, promoted mask use and changed clinical practices in an effort to protect older Americans who are at higher risk of complications from the coronavirus. (Gangitano, 10/26)

The New York Times: CDC Says Nurses Are At High Risk For Covid-19 
Among health care workers, nurses in particular have been at significant risk of contracting Covid-19, according to a new analysis of hospitalized patients by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The findings were released Monday as a surge of new hospitalizations swept the country, with several states hitting record levels of cases. (Abelson, 10/26)

NPR: They Work In Several Nursing Homes To Eke Out A Living, And That May Spread The Virus
To make ends meet, Martha Tapia works 64 hours a week at two Orange County, Calif., nursing homes. She is one of thousands of certified nursing assistants who perform the intimate and physical work of bathing, dressing and feeding the nation's fragile elderly. "We do everything for them. Everything you do for yourself, you have to do for the residents," Tapia says. (Fortier, 10/26)

In other news related to the elderly —

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Potentially Inappropriate Drugs Prescribed To Older Adults Tied To Hundreds Of Costs
Many older adults use prescription medications but according to a recent study, over a quarter of people age 65 and older have been prescribed potentially inappropriate drugs. An Oct. 22 press release from the University at Buffalo publicized the findings of a study, which was published in August in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. (Willis, 10/26)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area Seniors Struggle With Loneliness As Pandemic Drags On: ‘It’s Four Walls And A TV’
In the months since her death on May 20, Rhoda Goldman and facilities like it have lifted some restrictions for residents to help reduce isolation and loneliness. And in other places — from community centers and libraries to doctor and dentist offices — those who work with older adults are trying to combat the isolation and associated mental health issues that many are struggling with as the pandemic drags on. (Allday, 10/26)

The Wall Street Journal: Hospitals Balance Covid-19 Care With More-Lucrative Services During Latest Virus Surge 
Hospitals are holding off as long as possible before halting procedures to make room for fresh waves of Covid-19 patients, a reversal from earlier this year when facilities postponed care, leading to steep financial losses and public-health risks. National hospital chain Tenet Healthcare Corp. pushed ahead with procedures as states permitted, such as knee and hip replacements, colonoscopies, and surgery to implant pacemakers, through recent surges in Alabama, California and elsewhere. In southeast Wisconsin, where already rising Covid-19 hospitalizations jumped 35% in the first two weeks of the month, Advocate Aurora Health continues nonessential surgery across a dozen hospitals. (Evans, 10/26)

Modern Healthcare: Ballad Health Hospitals Postpone Elective Procedures Amid COVID-19 Surge
In the early months of the pandemic, hospitals nationwide postponed elective procedures to comply with governors' orders and federal guidance. The deferrals were meant to help conserve hospital beds, personal protective equipment and other resources in case of a surge of coronavirus patients. COVID-19 cases spiked in different areas of the country at different times, and so while some hospitals were full of coronavirus patients, others saw few cases. Their revenue dried up as patient visits plummeted. (Livingston, 10/26)

In other health care industry news —

Modern Healthcare: Intermountain And Sanford Announce Plans To Merge
Two sizable not-for-profit health systems, Intermountain Healthcare and Sanford Healthcare, said Monday they plan to merge to form the country's seventh-largest not-for-profit health system by revenue. Salt Lake City-based Intermountain and Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Sanford signed a letter of intent to form a 70-hospital system with about $15 billion in annual revenue. The CEOs of both systems said their boards unanimously approved the move last week, and they expect to close the deal by summer 2021. (Bannow, 10/26)

Crain's New York Business: Quest Diagnostics To Return CARES Act Funds, Upgrades Revenue Outlook Due To Strong Q3 Growth
Quest Diagnostics, a Secaucus, N.J.–based provider of lab testing and diagnostic services, upgraded its revenue outlook after experiencing solid growth in the third quarter, it announced Thursday. As a result, the company plans to return funding it received as part of the federal Cares Act. “Quest had a very strong third quarter, benefiting from continued demand for Covid-19 testing and the rapid recovery of health care utilization,” said Steve Rusckowski, chairman, CEO and president. (Sim, 10/26)

KHN: Telemedicine Or In-Person Visit? Pros And Cons
As COVID-19 took hold in March, U.S. doctors limited in-person appointments — and many patients avoided them — for fear of infection. The result was a huge increase in the volume of remote medical and behavioral health visits. Doctors, hospitals and mental health providers across the country reported a 50- to 175-fold rise in the number of virtual visits, according to a report released in May by the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. (Wolfson, 10/27)

KHN: ‘No Mercy’ Chapter 5: In Rural America, Cancer Care Is Often Far From Home 
Sixty-five-year-old Karen Endicott-Coyan is living with a blood cancer.  Her chemotherapy takes less than 30 minutes. Before the hospital closed, it was just a short drive into the small town of Fort Scott, Kansas, for her to get treatment. But these days getting to chemo means a trek on rural roads and narrow highways, driving help from her sister-in-law and some Ritz crackers tucked into her purse to steady her stomach on the way home. The whole trip should take less than three hours. Endicott-Coyan puts on her makeup, her diamond earrings and powers through. (Tribble, 10/27)

KHN: Savvy Patient Fought For The Price She Was Quoted − And Didn’t Give Up 
When Tiffany Qiu heard how much her surgery was going to cost her, she was sure the hospital’s financial department had made a mistake. Qiu, who already knew from a breast cancer scare earlier that year that her plan required a 30% coinsurance payment on operations, pressed the person on the phone several times to make sure she had heard correctly: Her coinsurance payment would be only 20% if she had the procedure at Palomar Medical Center in Poway, California, about 38 miles south of where Qiu lives. “I was kind of in doubt, so I called them a second time,” said Qiu. “They gave me the exact same amount.” (Almendrala, 10/27)

The Hill: Pelosi Blasts Trump For Not Agreeing To Testing Strategy 
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Monday blasted the Trump administration for declining to sign on to Democrats' plan for a COVID-19 testing strategy, despite earlier public statements from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin indicating that there was an agreement. "Today, we are waiting for an important response on several concerns, including on action to crush the virus. Ten days after Secretary Mnuchin went on CNBC to declare that he was accepting our testing plan, the Administration still refuses to do so," Pelosi wrote. (Marcos, 10/26)

AP: North Carolina To Get Nearly 3.2M BinaxNOW Virus Tests
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Monday it’s sending nearly 3.2 million rapid coronavirus tests to North Carolina. The Abbott BinaxNOW COVID-19 point of care antigen tests can diagnose coronavirus infection in as little as fifteen minutes. (10/26)

NPR: More And More Colleges Testing Student Poop For Coronavirus
Twice a week, mathematics professor Andrea Bruder squats in the sewage tunnels below South Hall, a mostly freshman dorm at Colorado College. She wears head-to-toe protective gear and holds a plastic ladle in one hand and a to-go coffee cup in the other. Bruder hovers above an opening in a large metal pipe and patiently waits for a student to flush. That flush will flood the pipes with just enough water to carry human waste down to her ladle, then to her coffee cup and eventually to a lab for processing. (Nadworny, 10/26)

In developments on COVID-19 tracing —

North Carolina Health News: Will People Use New NC Contact Tracing App? 
About a quarter of a million people in North Carolina have now downloaded a cell phone app that alerts them when they come into close contact with someone who has tested positive for the coronavirus. The idea behind the app, launched by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Sept. 22, is to help quickly track infections and slow the spread of COVID-19, which is increasing dramatically across the state and the country as the weather turns colder. (Barnes, 10/27)

ABC11 Raleigh-Durham: COVID-19 Contact Tracer Shares Difficulties: 'Just A Challenge Getting Them On The Phone To Begin With' 
Isaias Garcia doesn't know people he's talked to in the last couple of months. He's a bilingual contact tracer in Durham County. "I've had family members who have had COVID and they didn't know certain resources were available to them," he said. ... There are 1,500 full time and part-time staff supporting contact tracing efforts, including 951 Community Care of North Carolina tracers. Garcia said they still have issues with people picking up their calls. In the past month, the Department of Health and Human Services said 63% of people contacted by tracers responded or were helpful in some way. There were more problems when they started tracing because calls like Garcia's were coming up as spam. (Chapin, 10/26)

The Washington Post: D.C. Says 190,000 Have Activated DC CAN Coronavirus Contact-Tracing Tool 
About 190,000 D.C. residents have activated the contact-tracing option on their smartphones since the city joined a new program last week. The pace of residents joining the program, operated by Apple and Google, places D.C. among a group of cities that have most quickly embraced the technology, said city Health Director LaQuandra Nesbitt. It comes as several states nationwide are recording a surge in coronavirus infections, while numbers in the greater Washington region have mostly held steady in recent days. (Zauzmer, 10/26)

The Wall Street Journal: Study Shows Covid-19 Antibodies Waning Over Time, Suggesting Immunity Might Wear Off
A large English study showed the number of people with Covid-19 antibodies declined significantly over the summer, suggesting that getting the virus might not confer long-lasting immunity from future infection. The survey of 365,000 adults in England who tested themselves at home using a finger-prick test showed the proportion of people testing positive for Covid-19 antibodies declined by 26.5% between June 20—12 weeks after the peak of infections in the country—and Sept. 28. (Fidler, 10/26)

NPR: Eli Lilly Ends Antibody Trial In Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients, Other Trials Go On 
Eli Lilly & Co. is ending a clinical trial of its antibody drug bamlanivimab in hospitalized COVID-19 patients after federal researchers concluded the therapy produced no marked improvement. The study of the monoclonal antibody called bamlanivimab was initially paused by the company on Oct. 13 out of "an abundance of caution," because of a potential safety concern. For this particular study the therapy was being used in combination with remdesivir, an antiviral with emergency use authorization for the virus. (Romo, 10/26)

The Hill: AstraZeneca Says Its Vaccine Produces Immune Response In Older Adults 
AstraZeneca said Monday that its potential coronavirus vaccine provokes an immune response in older adults, which it touted as a positive development as clinical trials proceed. The immune response in older adults was similar to that in younger people, the company said, and adverse responses to the vaccine, known as reactogenicity, was lower in older people. (Sullivan, 10/26)

Bloomberg: Astra-Oxford Vaccine Stays Near Front Of Line Despite U.S. Delay
A seven-week halt to a U.S. trial of the Covid vaccine developed by AstraZeneca Plc and the University of Oxford bumped it from pole position in the race for a protective shot, but it’s still in the leading pack. High rates of infection as the pandemic regains strength and the large numbers of participants in other trials around the world should help keep the vaccine program on course, according to scientists. (Ring, 10/27)

CNBC: Pfizer's Late-Stage Trial Nears Complete Enrollment
Pfizer’s late-stage coronavirus vaccine trial has enrolled more than 42,000 volunteers, the company announced Tuesday when it released a mixed third-quarter earnings report. (Lovelace Jr., 10/27)

CNN: Despite The Trump Administration's New Policy, Many Pharmacies Still Won't Vaccinate Children Against Flu 
As a dark winter approaches with "twindemics" of Covid-19 and the flu, an effort by the Trump administration to increase the number of children receiving flu shots is not working, according to a CNN investigation. In August, the administration issued a declaration authorizing pharmacists nationwide to give flu shots to children ages 3 and older, which most states have not allowed. (Cohen, Bonifield and Jenkins, 10/26)

Scientific American: A Flu Shot Might Reduce Coronavirus Infections, Early Research Suggests  
A new study suggests that there could be another key reason to get a flu jab this year: it might reduce your risk of COVID-19. The research, released as a preprint that has not yet been peer-reviewed, indicates that a flu vaccine against the influenza virus also may trigger the body to produce broad infection-fighting molecules that combat the pandemic-causing coronavirus. The paper is in line with some other recent studies published in peer-reviewed journals that point to similar effects. But researchers caution the research is preliminary and needs to be bolstered by more rigorous experiments. (Wenner Moyer, 10/27)

New York Post: Drop In Flu Deaths May Indicate That Most At Risk Died From COVID-19
Flu deaths are down two-thirds from the five-year average, a drop that could indicate the most vulnerable Americans died in the first wave of COVID-19. New federal estimates show no flu deaths for the week ending Oct. 17. The federal five-year average for the same week is 17 fatalities. The state and the city recorded no flu deaths, which is also that week’s five-year average for each. (Gray, 10/24)

Bloomberg: Pharmacies See Record Flu Shot Demand In First Season With Covid
While the world awaits a vaccine for Covid-19, Americans are rushing to pharmacies in record numbers for seasonal flu shots. Public health officials say that may help avoid a “twindemic.” CVS Health Corp. has already surpassed the 9 million flu shots it gave during the entire previous season and expects to double that number by the end of this cycle, a spokesman said. Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. has administered 60% more doses in its U.S. stores than at this point last year, said Rina Shah, group vice president of pharmacy operations. (LaVito and Court, 10/26)

CNN: Diet Drinks Linked To Heart Issues, Study Finds 
If your heart goes pitter-patter for diet beverages, it may not be due to love. Artificially sweetened beverages, a new study has found, may be just as bad for your heart as the sugar-laden kind. (LaMotte, 10/26)

Fox News: Listeria Outbreak In Deli Meats Linked To Hospitalizations, 1 Death
A recent rash of illnesses involving contaminated deli meats has resulted in at least 10 hospitalizations and one death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The health agency said that 10 infected adults had been hospitalized as of Oct. 22 after ingesting listeria bacteria in New York, Florida and Massachusetts. The death involved a patient in Florida. (Rivas, 10/26)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Women Turning To Cannabis To Manage Menopause Symptoms
Recent studies have shown more older adults using cannabis to treat ailments, and it seems they aren’t the only ones. A study presented at the virtual annual meeting of the North American Menopause Society in September showed more women are turning to cannabis to manage hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia and other menopause symptoms. (Clanton, 10/26)

AP: New Guidelines Address Rise In Opioid Use During Pregnancy
Opioid use in pregnancy has prompted new guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics, aimed at improving care for women and newborns affected by their mothers’ drug use. The number of affected women and infants has increased in recent years but they often don’t get effective treatment, and the pandemic may be worsening that problem, said Dr. Stephen Patrick, lead author of the academy report released Monday. (Tanner, 10/26)

GMA: For People With Down Syndrome, The Best Medical Information Is Now Automated 
At 28 years old, Cristina Sanchez is living the life. She shares an apartment with her best friend Gracie and has a job she loves at the local Panera Bread. She's adored by her two sisters and her parents. She lives in a safe, walkable community in Austin, Texas, where people with disabilities live independently among the typically developing population. Sanchez told "Good Morning America" her independence is "a good thing." (Shaw Brown, 10/27)

In pediatric news —

The Hechinger Report: What Kindergarten Struggles Could Mean For A Child’s Later Years
Kindergarten is designed for young children, who learn best by doing. And while pre-literacy and math skills are covered, building block towers, playing make-believe and mastering the playground equipment are also key elements of this critical grade. (Mongeau, 10/27)

CNN: Halloween Safety During Covid-19: Q&A With Dr. Leana Wen 
Dr. Leana Wen and her husband have their hands full this Halloween in a time of pandemic. Wen spends a lot of her time talking about social distancing, wearing masks and socializing outside to reduce the risk of catching the virus... Wen hasn't given up on Halloween and doesn't think you should either. Here are her recommendations for reducing your risk while still having a fun Halloween season. (Hetter, 10/26)

CNN: YouTube Influencers Are Marketing Junk Food To Kids 
Kid influencers on YouTube are marketing junk food and sugary beverages to their fellow kids, and they're racking up billions of page views, according to a new study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics. The study demonstrates how advertisers are seeking to take advantage of new avenues to market their wares to children. (Prior, 10/26)

Also —

The Wall Street Journal: Why The Time Change Is Trickier When Working From Home 
After clocks turn back an hour Nov. 1, David K. Welsh, who works from home, plans a few changes. “I will make more of an effort to see daylight in the morning,” says Dr. Welsh, who studies the body’s internal clock as a professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Center for Circadian Biology at the University of California, San Diego. His reasoning? Going outside to take advantage of the extra hour of sunlight earlier in the morning can boost alertness and help synchronize circadian rhythms. The first clock shift since the pandemic’s arrival in earnest in the U.S. is coming at 2 a.m. Nov. 1—and for those no longer working in offices, the effects could be more intense than usual. (Smith, 10/26)

USA Today: Los Angeles Lakers Title Run May Have Contributed To COVID-19 Surge
The Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA Finals coincided with a spike in COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles County, and it’s "highly likely" watch parties held by Lakers fans and the victory celebration outside of Staples Center contributed to the spike, the L.A. County Department of Public Health said.  That has fueled concerns of another potential spike in COVID-19 transmission rates because the Los Angeles Dodgers are one victory away from winning their first World Series title in 32 years. (Peter, 10/26)

Detroit Free Press: Herd Immunity And COVID-19: Why It's Not A Viable Option
As COVID-19 case numbers continue to go up and up and up — in Michigan and nationally — a debate is brewing about whether it's time to abandon efforts to contain the spread of the virus and instead embrace a strategy of trying to reach herd immunity through infection. With other diseases, such as smallpox, polio and measles, vaccines helped the U.S. reach herd immunity, which occurs when the vast majority of a population is immune to a disease, making the likelihood of its spread to vulnerable people less likely. (Shamus, 10/27)

The Wall Street Journal: How Covid-Safe Is Dining In A Restaurant’s Outdoor Tent? 
As restaurants try to keep business afloat, many are putting up exterior structures for patrons. But dining tents and other temporary outdoor setups offer a false sense of security and pose just as many risks as indoor eating, professors say. Poor air circulation, proximity to other unmasked diners and time in a poorly ventilated enclosed outdoor space can heighten Covid risks. On the other hand, the transmission risk is higher inside a restaurant than in outdoor structures that are heated yet partially open, or in separate igloos for patrons. (Dizik, 10/26)

Politico: ‘It’s A Desperate Moment’: Newark Mayor Imposes New Covid Restrictions As Cases Surge
New Jersey’s largest city is starting to wind back the clock on its economic reopening, the clearest indication yet the Garden State’s recovery from the pandemic’s first wave is at risk of regressing. “We have to do whatever we need to do to drop those numbers now,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said during a press conference Monday afternoon. “It seems desperate but it’s a desperate moment. We got through this before, so we'll get through it again.” (Sutton, 10/26)

ABC News: North Carolina Church Ordered To Close Temporarily In Wake Of Deadly COVID-19 Outbreak
Health officials said they temporarily shut down a North Carolina church after it was connected to massive coronavirus outbreak that resulted in at least three deaths and more than 100 infections. The Mecklenburg County Health Department ordered United House of Prayer for All People in Charlotte to close for two weeks, halting in-person gatherings. The church's week-long convocation led to an estimated 121 COVID-19 infections across three counties, according to a department statement. (Allen, 10/26)

In news from Texas, Kansas, Virginia and Colorado —

Dallas Morning News: About 5% Of D-FW Residents Have Been Exposed To COVID-19, Say Experts At UT Southwestern And Texas Health
About 5% of Dallas-Fort Worth residents have been exposed to the virus that causes COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to early results from an ongoing study by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center and Texas Health Resources. (Kuchment, 10/26)

Houston Chronicle: 'A Perfect Storm': New Survey Links SW Houston Conditions To Greater Burden Of Chronic Disease 
Southwest Houstonians have a greater burden of chronic disease than residents of other parts of the county and state, according to a new survey. The survey, conducted by the Texas Health Institute, identified neighborhood conditions as a major reason why southwest Houston’s diabetes rate is 72 percent higher than Harris County’s overall rate and why its hypertension rate is 60 percent higher than Memorial Park’s and 33 percent higher than Hunter’s Creek’s. (Ackerman, 10/26)

Kansas City Star: KCPS May Wait Until 2021 To Reopen Classrooms Amid COVID-19
It could be January before Kansas City Public Schools children are back in classrooms, Superintendent Mark Bedell told his district’s board during a special meeting on Monday. Based on the COVID-19 infection numbers within the district’s boundaries, Bedell said, students will not begin returning to in-person classes by Nov. 9, the target date KCPS officials had set last month. (Williams, 10/26)

The Washington Post: VMI Superintendent Resigns After Black Cadets Describe Relentless Racism
The superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute resigned Monday morning, after Black cadets described relentless racism at the nation’s oldest state-supported military college and Gov. Ralph Northam ordered an independent probe of the school’s culture. Retired Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III, 80, had been superintendent of the 181-year-old school since 2003. During Peay’s tenure, multiple accounts of racist incidents have surfaced at VMI. ... This month, The Washington Post documented how one Black student filed a complaint against a White adjunct professor who reminisced about her father’s Ku Klux Klan membership last year in the middle of class. In 2018, a White sophomore who told a Black freshman during Hell Week he would “lynch” his body and use his “dead corpse as a punching bag” was suspended, not expelled. (Shapira, 10/26)

The Washington Post: Women Testify Of Trust Placed In Gynecologist Who Prosecutors Say Performed Unnecessary Procedures 
Over nearly 15 years, M.C., as she was identified in court, had annual checkups with Javaid Perwaiz, the obstetrician/gynecologist on federal trial on fraud charges. Again and again, she left with a date for surgery. She first came under his care in 2006 when she was 42, an immigrant from South Korea with a seventh-grade education and a limited understanding of English. (Morrison, 10/26)

Denver Post: Colorado Wildfire Update: Snow Prevents Growth On Cameron Peak, East Troublesome Fires
Snow and wintry weather in Colorado have aided firefighters battling the two biggest wildfires in Colorado history. The Cameron Peak fire, burning in Larimer County and the biggest fire in state history, has burned 208,663 acres, about 326 square miles, and is 64% contained. The East Troublesome fire, the second-largest fire in state history burning just north of Granby and into Rocky Mountain National Park, has burned 192,560 acres, almost 301 square miles, and is 15% contained. (Nicholson, 10/26)

In updates from California —

The New York Times: Silverado Fire In Irvine Prompts Thousands Of Californians To Evacuate 
Two firefighters were gravely injured and tens of thousands of Californians were forced to flee their homes on Monday as two new fires ripped through Orange County. About 90,800 residents in Irvine were put under mandatory evacuation orders because of the Silverado Fire and the smaller Blue Ridge Fire, said Shane Sherwood, a division chief for the Orange County Fire Authority. High winds and low humidity fueled the fires’ rapid growth. (Facio-Krajcer, Wright and Diaz, 10/26)

San Francisco Chronicle: Newsom Has Been Ordered To Halve San Quentin’s Population, But He May Not Release Inmates 
After state judges’ ruling last week that California acted with “deliberate indifference” in creating a COVID-19 “disaster” at San Quentin State Prison, Gov. Gavin Newsom has a big decision to make: Does he fight the ruling, or does he own up to his administration’s mistakes and take the medicine? According to the landmark court order — the first of its kind in the pandemic era — the state must reduce the population of San Quentin to 50% of what it was in June, to create proper space for social distancing and limit transmission of the coronavirus. (Fagone and Cassidy, 10/26)

The New York Times: Doctors Are Dreading The Third Coronavirus Wave
Nine months after the first Covid-19 cases were reported in the United States, it is a strange time in the hospital. We spent the summer in what felt like a sort of haze, treating the usual critical care diagnoses of cancer and heart failure and sepsis, under the shadow of the coronavirus. Perhaps it was the warm air and the bright sun, perhaps it was the sight of people outdoors, eating and drinking and laughing, but it was easier to feel that normalcy might be around the bend. But now, as the air grows crisp here in Boston and the nation endures an average of 59,000 new cases a day — levels that we have not seen since August — the threat of a “third wave,” or a winter surge, of this virus builds. And we find ourselves once again in limbo, haunted by the ghosts of the spring while steeling ourselves for the resurgence of illness and isolation that might come. (Daniela J. Lamas, 10/27)

Stat: Covid-19 Testing In Congregate Housing Reveals Wide Disparities
The path to establishing widespread Covid-19 testing in the United States has been slow and painful. There finally appear to be preliminary levels of success in some institutions with congregate housing where individuals cannot easily socially distance. These institutions are rapidly implementing routine testing to identify positive cases and mitigate the spread of Covid-19. Yet routine testing in congregate housing settings is not being universally or equitably implemented. (Parsa Erfani, Caroline Lee and Nishant Uppal, 10/27)

The Washington Post: How To Fix Our Covid-19 Testing Debacle? Create A Biomedical National Guard. 
We have had the capacity for millions more coronavirus tests since the beginning of the pandemic. Thousands of academic research labs, fully capable of meeting the need for critical testing in the United States, were sidelined because federal regulations governing laboratory oversight were not designed for emergencies. This deficiency cost countless lives. Let’s never let this happen again. We propose that Congress enact legislation to create a U.S. Biomedical National Guard. (Michael Kotlikoff and Jack Lipton, 10/27)

Stat: Colleges Need To Look Beyond Stopping Parties To Safely Reopen In Spring 2021 
As colleges and universities reopened in the fall of 2020, many emerged as hot spots of Covid-19 transmission. The narrative that has emerged to explain this centers on irresponsible, party-going 20-somethings who refuse to listen to reason. Some schools have expelled students who held gatherings in their dorms. A few governors have called out these students as drivers of the epidemic. With no national Covid-19 control plan in sight, it may be politically expedient to blame youths for the nation’s woes. (Jagpreet Chhatwal, Trisha Dwivedi and Benjamin Linas, 10/27)

The New York Times: Trump Tells Coronavirus, ‘I Surrender’
As we head into the final stretch of the election, Covid-19 is on a roll.Coronavirus cases keep hitting records — among other things, five aides to Vice President Mike Pence have tested positive. Hospitalizations, which lag behind cases, are soaring. And deaths, which lag even further behind, are starting to rise, too. Put it this way: Just between now and Election Day, we’re likely to lose almost twice as many Americans to Covid-19 as died on 9/11. So how is the Trump administration responding? Actually doing anything about the pandemic is apparently off the table. What we’re getting instead is a multilevel public relations strategy: We’re doing a great job. Anyway, there’s nothing anyone can do. And besides, doctors are faking the numbers so they can make more money. (Paul Krugman, 10/26)

The Washington Post: Trump Is Right: He Can’t Contain The Virus. But A Better President Could.
It did not not have to be this way. The United States, endowed with wealth, brains, advanced biomedical researchers and a robust biotech industry, did not have to end up as the nation with the highest death toll from the coronavirus. Yet last week the country was again shattering U.S. one-day records for new cases — and the White House was responding as it has from the start, in pathetic surrender.It does not have to be this way. (10/26)

Bloomberg: Let’s Not Fool Ourselves About Covid And Schoolkids
What to do about schools is perhaps the biggest dilemma facing policy makers right now. Closing them could lead to a “lost generation” of learners and make it harder for parents to get back to work. Keeping them open could further propagate the virus. Should governments choose the latter, they will need other ways to mitigate the impact on health. (Ferdinando Giugliano, 10/27)

Los Angeles Times: Barrett On Supreme Court Won't Necessarily Kill The ACA
Unable to stop Republicans from hastily confirming Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, Senate Democrats have spent much of the past two weeks predicting that she will push the high court to kill the Affordable Care Act. And that, in turn, will leave more than 20 million Americans without health insurance during a pandemic, while also eliminating key protections for people with preexisting conditions.It’s a scary possibility, yet whether Barrett is the ACA’s executioner is far from certain. That’s true despite her now well-known (and not subtle) criticism of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.'s reasoning when he voted in 2012 to uphold the ACA’s mandate that adult Americans maintain health insurance coverage. (John Healy, 10/26)

Boston Globe: Empty Promises Won’t Protect Americans’ Health Care
It’s not hyperbole to say that quality health care for millions of Americans with preexisting conditions hangs in the balance on Nov. 3. That should matter not just to them but to their relatives and families as well. If Democratic nominee Joe Biden wins the presidency and Democrats retake the Senate, the Affordable Care Act, along with its protections for those with preexisting conditions, stays. (10/26)

The Hill: The Painstaking, State-By-State Fight To Protect Abortion Access 
Today the Senate is set to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court in a move that is as significant as it was expeditious. This is about much more than one Supreme Court appointment. Trump’s three nominations have radically altered the balance of our nation’s highest court, setting it on a collision course with the needs and the will of the vast majority of this country. (Andrea Miller, 10/26)

The Washington Post: Amy Coney Barrett Joins A Supreme Court That’s Largely Out Of Step With The National Consensus
Justice Amy Coney Barrett joins a court dangerously out of sync with the country. The nation is roughly evenly divided politically and has been for decades. Yet the court — now even more so with Barrett’s arrival — is dominated not only by Republican-appointed justices but also by muscularly conservative ones. The last time the court had a majority of justices nominated by a Democratic president was in 1969, when Abe Fortas resigned. In the years since, Republican presidents have named 15 of 19 justices. That’s right, Democrats have had only four nominees confirmed in the past half-century.It would be one thing is this were a reflection of Republican electoral dominance. It’s not. During that time, Democrats have won five of 12 presidential elections, and a plurality or majority of the popular vote in two more. (Ruth Marcus, 10/26)

CNN: Donald Trump Takes Supreme Court Victory Lap While Deceiving Over Worsening Pandemic 
President Donald Trump claimed a place in history Monday when Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation secured a dominant conservative majority on the Supreme Court, but the pomp of his victory lap could not disguise the reality of a pandemic that has placed his presidency in deep peril a week before the election. A glittering ceremony on a crisp fall night at the White House carried deep political overtones that will only exacerbate the fury of Democrats who feel Republican maneuvering stole two Supreme Court seats. It will also inexorably drag the court further into toxic political combat that has already tainted its reputation for non-partisanship. (Stephen Collinson, 10/27)

The Hill: Americans Have A Choice: Socialized Medicine Or Health Care Freedom 
As an emergency room physician and cancer survivor, I understand that each minute counts in a medical emergency. And as our nation chooses a direction on health care this November, we need to remember the realities that follow from government-run socialized medicine — increased taxes, longer wait times, delayed care and fewer incentives to maintain a healthy lifestyle. (Rep. Mark Green, 10/26)

The Hill: Lost Cures And Innovation, Too High A Price For Democrats' Drug Pricing Proposals 
Democrats and Republicans alike can agree on one thing: prescription drug prices are unacceptably high. Predictably, however, we cannot seem to agree on a proper solution to this urgent issue. The Trump administration has, thankfully, kickstarted efforts and approved record numbers of generic drugs while simultaneously lowering overall prescription drug prices by 13 percent. It is our responsibility in Congress to keep this momentum going and establish permanent fixes to the current pharmaceutical pricing standards. Despite the efforts of Republicans to make bipartisan progress to reform the prescription drug standards, our Democrat colleagues refuse to collaborate. (Rep. Greg Steube, 10/26)

Los Angeles Times: Don't Shoo Homeless People Off Streets With Shelters 
Homeless encampments have mushroomed across the landscape of Los Angeles — a testament to the alarming year-over-year increase in the homeless population, the severe lack of affordable housing and the city’s failure to find housing for everyone who, through some combination of poverty, bad luck and personal demons, ends up on a sidewalk. Even after the city finishes building the permanent supportive housing to which it has committed more than a billion dollars, there will simply not be enough to go around. (10/27)