Modern Healthcare: Nursing Home Ownership Data Now Available From HHS
The Health and Human Services Department has unveiled a public database that provides unprecedented access to information about who owns nursing homes. The database, which debuted Monday, contains information about who owns the 15,000 skilled nursing facilities that Medicare reimburses and could offer regulators and the public with insights into the often opaque nature of nursing home company structures. (Berryman, 9/26)

USA Today: Nursing Homes Data Released By Biden Administration Shows Ownership
Officials said the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data is part of the Biden administration's effort to shine a light on an industry that receives substantial federal funding. The new ownership information follows a data release in April on more than 3,000 nursing homes that changed ownership through mergers or purchases since 2016. (Alltucker, 9/26)

McKnights Long-Term Care News: Federal Regulators Intensify Spotlight On Nursing Homes; Providers Ask For More Attention
CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure called it a “major step forward in improving transparency in healthcare." (Berklan, 9/27)

In Supreme Court news —

Reuters: Supreme Court Urged To Preserve Private Suits Against Public Nursing Homes
National medical groups, Democratic lawmakers and others have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to preserve the ability of residents of publicly owned nursing homes to sue for violations of their rights under a federal law regulating nursing homes that receive Medicaid funds. (Pierson, 9/26)

Axios: The Supreme Court's Latest Health Care Tempest
A Supreme Court case that takes up Medicaid recipients’ ability to sue providers is providing a new battleground over patients’ rights and could potentially open the door to erosion of the program's benefits. (Bettelheim and Owens, 9/27)

In other nursing home news —

Tampa Bay Times: As Ian Targets Tampa Bay, Hospitals, Nursing Homes Evacuate Patients
Several Tampa Bay area hospitals were evacuated while others across the region on Monday canceled noncritical surgeries and appointments ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Ian. (O'Donnell and Critchfield, 9/26)

AP: Nursing Home Complaints Rise In Wisconsin, Staffing Is Cited
Complaints against Wisconsin nursing homes continue to pile up and could surpass a record number filed last year as the state struggles to find enough nurses and nursing home inspectors. State officials have contracted with two private companies — Healthcare Management Solutions and Long Term Care Institute, Inc. — to help inspect nursing homes that have complaints against them. (9/26)

WTAE Pittsburgh: Turtle Creek Nursing Home Shuts Down Suddenly
Firefighters, paramedics and a port authority bus were seen outside of a Turtle Creek nursing home after the home had to be shut down suddenly. That’s according to the mayor of Turtle Creek Borough. Forty-seven residents were evacuated from Hillside Manor around 8:30 p.m. Sunday. Mayor Adam Forgie said the closing was caused by a number of issues, including a lack of staff, leaking pipes, an inoperative sprinkler system and detached smoke alarms. (9/26)

KHN: Britain’s Hard Lessons From Handing Elder Care Over To Private Equity 
A little over a decade ago, Four Seasons Health Care was among the largest long-term care home companies in Britain, operating 500 sites with 20,000 residents and more than 60 specialist centers. Domestic and global private equity investors had supercharged the company’s growth, betting that the rising needs of aging Britons would yield big returns. Within weeks, the Four Seasons brand may be finished. Christie & Co., a commercial real estate broker, splashed a summer sale across its website that signaled the demise: The last 111 Four Seasons facilities in England, Scotland, and Jersey were on the market. Already sold were its 29 homes in Northern Ireland. (Spolar, 9/27)

Ohio Capital Journal: Affidavits: 2 More Raped Minors Were Denied Ohio Abortions
At least two more minors made pregnant by sexual assault were forced to leave Ohio to avoid having their rapists’ babies, according to sworn affidavits filed by abortion providers. The affidavits were filed in Cincinnati as part of a lawsuit aimed at stopping the enforcement of Ohio’s strict new abortion law. Originally paused for two weeks, the enforcement delay was extended last week to at least Oct. 12. (Schladen, 9/26)

On Indiana's abortion ban —

The Hill: Satanic Temple Files Sues Indiana Over Abortion Ban
The Satanic Temple is challenging Indiana’s near-total abortion ban with a lawsuit that takes aim at Senate Enrolled Act 1 and claims the ban infringes on their followers’ religious rights and violates the U.S. Constitution. ... Despite often being confused with the Church of Satan or Satan worship, the Satanic Temple doesn’t believe in or worship the Biblical Satan. Instead, it venerates “the allegorical Satan described in the epic poem Paradise Lost — the defender of personal sovereignty against the dictates of religious authority.” (Christy and Nextar Media Wire, 9/26)

On Arizona's abortion ban —

AP: Arizona Abortion Clinics Send Women To Other States 
Providers in neighboring states, already seeing an increase in traffic from other conservative states that have banned abortion, were preparing to treat some of the 13,000 Arizona patients who get an abortion each year. (Cooper and Tang, 9/27)

CNN: One Of The Last Women To Get A Legal Abortion In Arizona Tells Her Story 
Her feet dangle off the exam table, anxiously swinging back and forth. The doctor will arrive soon for the ultrasound. The woman will see the first image of the baby growing inside of her – one she will never hold. The ultrasound doesn’t take long, and the image is unmistakable. “You can see the head and the little nose,” says the woman, pointing at the ultrasound picture. She asks the doctor if she can keep the image. “I want the picture because although I am deciding and taking this option, I still wanted to see my little baby,” she says. (Lah and Rappard, 9/26)

Updates from South Carolina, Kansas, and Texas —

AP: Major Abortion Law Changes Unlikely In S. Carolina After Roe
Whether conservative South Carolina changes its abortion laws at all in the wake of this year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision may be decided by divided conservatives Tuesday in the state House. (Collins, 9/27)

Kansas City Star: ‘Eye Of The Storm’: Planned Parenthood In Kansas Can’t Keep Up With Abortion Demand 
Demand for abortion is so high in Kansas right now, Planned Parenthood Great Plains can only see 10% to 15% of patients requesting appointments, officials told The Star. Planned Parenthood runs three of the five health centers that provide abortion services in the state. The KCK clinic, which opened in June, is the newest. (Gutierrez, 9/26)

Dallas Morning News: Texas AG Ken Paxton Ducked Subpoena In Abortion Rights Case, According To Affidavit
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton fled his home with his wife on Monday to avoid being served a subpoena in a legal battle over funding for abortions, according to an affidavit filed in federal court. A process server was attempting to serve Paxton with a subpoena for a court hearing scheduled for Tuesday in Austin. Several abortion rights organizations are seeking a court order barring state officials from pursuing criminal charges against their employees should they resume funding out-of-state abortions for Texas residents. (Mekelburg, 9/27)

How do abortion bans affect those suffering from cancer? —

ABC News: Amid Nationwide Abortion Debate, American Cancer Society Warns Fertility Preservation For Cancer Patients Could Be At Risk In The Future
More than 32,000 young patients newly diagnosed with cancer now live in states that have imposed or have impending abortion restrictions, according to a new study published Monday in The Lancet Oncology. Because many life-saving cancer treatments harm future fertility, many teens and young adults with cancer decide to freeze eggs, sperm or embryos in the hope of having a family later in life. (Jhaveri and DiMartino, 9/27)

The Washington Post: U. Of Idaho May Stop Providing Birth Control Under New Abortion Law
The University of Idaho’s general counsel issued new guidance on Friday about the state’s near-total abortion ban, alerting faculty and staff that the school should no longer offer birth control for students, a rare move for a state university. University employees were also advised not to speak in support of abortion at work. If an employee appears to promote abortion, counsel in favor of abortion, or refer a student for an abortion procedure, they could face a felony conviction and be permanently barred from all future state employment, according to an email obtained by The Washington Post. ... Condoms could be provided “for the purpose of helping prevent the spread of STDs,” according to the guidance — but not “for purposes of birth control.” (Kitchener and Svrluga, 9/26)

Idaho Capital Sun: University Of Idaho Releases Memo Warning Employees That Promoting Abortion Is Against State Law 
“We always knew extremists wouldn’t stop at banning abortion; they’d target birth control next. The University of Idaho’s announcement is the canary in the coal mine, an early sign of the larger, coordinated effort to attack birth control access,” said Rebecca Gibron, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, in a statement. “These attacks on birth control are not theoretical. They are already happening. And the University of Idaho’s new policy is just the latest example of extremists and draconian laws threatening to strip us of all control over their reproductive health care.” (Moseley-Morris, 9/26)

More on birth control and sex education —

AP: Teen Interest In Long-Lasting Birth Control Soars After Roe
Sixteen-year-old Adismarys Abreu had been discussing a long-lasting birth control implant with her mother for about a year as a potential solution to increasing menstrual pain. Then Roe v. Wade was overturned, and Abreu joined the throng of teens rushing to their doctors as states began to ban or severely limit abortion. “I’m definitely not ready to be pregnant,” said Abreu, who had Nexplanon — a reversible, matchstick-sized contraceptive — implanted in her arm in August. Her home state of Florida bans most abortions after 15 weeks, and not having that option is “such a scary thought,” she said. (Hollingsworth and Rodgers, 9/27)

HuffPost: The Rhythm Method Is All Over TikTok. Here's What Women Need To Know
Some call it the rhythm method, others talk about natural family planning, fertility awareness or natural contraception. Whatever name you know it by, it’s having a major moment on TikTok. Videos about the “rhythm method” have gained a staggering 905 million views on the platform, while videos about “natural family planning” have reached 61 million. (Moss, 9/26)

The State News: World Contraception Day: Students Reflect On Experiences, Sex Education 
Monday marked “World Contraception Day.” According to the World Health Organization, or WHO, the purpose of creating this day was to promote the rights of couples and individuals to make decisions about pregnancies. As of 2021, WHO found that using contraception may have reduced maternal mortality by 40%. However, students find that many of these methods, such as condoms, birth control and intrauterine devices (IUDs) are not taught in depth or at all in high school sexual education. (Woehrle, 9/26)

Chicago Tribune: Illinois Youth Write Handbook For Sex Education Curriculum
Northbrook resident Irene Sooah Park remembers educators and other adults treating sex education as something that should never be talked about outside the classroom. It was during middle school that she recalled a teacher standing in the back of the classroom when discussing the vagina and penis to avoid eye contact with students. And recently, during COVID, she said sex education was left out of her sophomore health class in favor of lessons about bones and muscles. (Rockett, 9/26)

NBC News: Biden Administration To Propose Nutrition Labels On Front Of Food Packaging In Push To Improve Health
The front-of-package labeling — which could come in the form of star ratings or traffic light images — would aim "to help consumers, particularly those with lower nutrition literacy, quickly and easily identify foods that are part of a healthy eating pattern," the White House said in a 44-page strategy report. The administration also said it would propose an update to the nutrition criteria for the “healthy” claim on food packages. (Richards, 9/27)

NPR: Why The White House Wants To Put Nutrition Labels On The Front Of Food Packages
The Biden administration is proposing that nutrition labels go on the front of food packages rather than the back. It's part of a strategy to end hunger and diet-related diseases in America in eight years – some 40 pages of ideas to try to make the nation healthier. (Bustillo, 9/27)

CNN: White House Outlines Proposal To Reduce Diet-Related Diseases And Health Disparities In The US 
The Biden administration is releasing its proposal Tuesday to help reduce diet-related diseases and health disparities in the United States with the goal of ending hunger by 2030. (Carvajal and Luhby, 9/27)

USA Today: Medical Tailored Meals Part Of Conference On Hunger, Nutrition, Health
The White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health, scheduled for Wednesday, will recommend a pilot program to cover medically tailored meals as part of Medicare Advantage plans. It is one of a laundry list of new plans proposed Tuesday by the Biden administration to "end hunger and reduce diet-related diseases and disparities." (Weintraub, 9/27)

In news about the Food and Drug Administration —

Stat: Democrats Concede To Clean User Fee Agreement To Fund FDA
Democrats have conceded to Republican demands and agreed to fund the Food and Drug Administration for five years without any extra policy reforms attached, according to four congressional aides, a move that will punt any additional fights over FDA policy to December. (Cohrs, 9/26)

The Washington Post: New Book Recounts The FDA’s ‘Unholy Birth’
Decades ago, people could hawk dangerous patent medicines and promise benefits — even when their concoctions might have catastrophic consequences. Then, several tragedies struck, killing and maiming children and adults in the name of health. Afterward, the United States created the Food and Drug Administration, the federal agency that today oversees and regulates prescription drugs, medical devices and other products. It was an “unholy birth,” writes Mikkael A. Sekeres, an oncologist and a former FDA Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee chairman, in his new book, “Drugs and the FDA: Safety, Efficacy and the Public’s Trust.” (Blakemore, 9/26)

AP: Insider Q&A: FDA Official On Vaping's "Promise Or Peril" 
There’s been no honeymoon period for the Food and Drug Administration’s new tobacco chief, Brian King, the public health scientist now responsible for regulating the nation’s multibillion-dollar cigarette and vaping industry. The problems facing FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products have only multiplied since King’s arrival in July from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The FDA missed a summer deadline to review nearly a million applications for e-cigarettes and other new products that use laboratory-made nicotine, some of which have become popular with teenagers. Meanwhile, the agency is still a year overdue in reviewing a backlog of hundreds of thousands of older e-cigarettes using traditional nicotine from tobacco. (Perrone, 9/26)

Reuters: U.S. FDA Clears Additional Lots Of Moderna's Covid Booster Amid Shortage 
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Monday it has authorized an additional five batches of Moderna Inc's updated Covid booster shots made at a Catalent facility in Indiana, after it deemed them safe for use. Last week, the health regulator had allowed use of ten batches of Moderna's updated booster shots made at the Bloomington, Indiana facility, owned by a unit of Catalent Inc, which is currently not a part of the company's emergency use authorization. (9/26)

Modern Healthcare: COVID-19 Treatment Bebtelovimab Supplies For Uninsured Boosted
The Health and Human Services Department is purchasing 60,000 COVID-19 monoclonal antibody treatment doses as federal funding runs dry, the department announced Friday. (Berryman, 9/26)

Pfizer has requested an EUA for its updated covid booster in kids —

Axios: Pfizer, BioNTech Ask FDA To Authorize New COVID Booster For Children
Pfizer and BioNTech announced Monday that they are seeking emergency use authorization from the FDA for its Omicron-specific COVID-19 booster for children ages 5-11. (Doherty and Bettelheim, 9/26)

AP: Pfizer Seeks To Expand Omicron Booster To 5- To 11-Year-Olds
Pfizer and its partner BioNTech also announced a new study of the omicron-focused booster in even younger children, those ages 6 months through 4 years, to test different doses. (9/26)

More on the covid vaccine rollout —

CIDRAP: Vaccines Protected Pregnant Women Against Severe COVID For 3 Months
Pregnant women who received two or three doses of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine were well protected against Delta- and Omicron-related hospitalization and emergency department (ED) and urgent care (UC) visits for more than 3 months, but protection appeared to wane to zero by 4 months, shows a US test-negative case-control study published today in JAMA Network Open. (9/26)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout Carries Lessons For Pharma Supply Chains, Says Pfizer Executive 
The concentrated effort to develop, manufacture and distribute vaccines as the Covid-19 pandemic began to rage across the world highlighted the importance of the supply chain and helped set a model for how lifesaving medicines will be rolled out in the future, a Pfizer Inc. executive said. “Supply chain has probably done just as much, if not more” than the innovative science that Pfizer and other drug companies used to produce the new vaccines that have been distributed around the world, Jim Cafone, Pfizer’s senior vice president of global supply chain, told a supply-chain industry conference this week. (Young, 9/24)

The Washington Post: Five Things About Covid We Still Don’t Understand At Our Peril
The virus has kept many of its secrets, from how it mutates so rapidly to why it kills some while leaving others largely unscathed — mysteries that if solved might arm the world’s scientists with new strategies to curb its spread and guard against the next pandemic. Here are some of the most pressing questions they are trying to answer. (Johnson, 9/26)

More on the spread of covid —

ABC News: COVID Cases Not Dramatically Rising With Schools Back In Session, But Experts Say Testing Is Down
Cases and hospitalizations do not appear to be dramatically rising and adults have the highest rate of weekly cases per 100,000, per CDC data. But experts said testing data is not robust as it was during the last two school years, making it difficult to compare current data to previous seasons. (Kekatos, 9/27)

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Wastewater Shows Virus Retreat Is Slowing, Wachter Says
While the official number of daily COVID-19 cases reported by San Francisco’s health department continues to fall, the virus levels in the city’s wastewater samples — which do not depend on individual testing — appear to have stopped declining. Dr. Bob Wachter, UCSF’s chief of medicine, noted the discrepancy on Monday and in a Twitter thread highlighted that the hospital’s asymptomatic test rate has also plateaued. (Fracassa and Vaziri, 9/26)

CIDRAP: Omicron Subvariants Linked To Reinfections
A new study based on COVID-19 patients in France shows high reinfection rates among people with different Omicron subvariants, including BA.1, BA.2, and BA.5. The study is published as a research letter in Emerging Infectious Diseases. ... The median age of patients was 32, and 70% were women. Time between two infections was less than 90 days for 50 patients (26.6%) and less than 60 days for 28 patients (14.9%). (9/26)

Maine Public: Maine Is Offering More Free COVID Tests As Hospitalizations Tick Up
Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services announced Monday it’s expanding access to COVID-19 tests. Residents can order a free pack of five COVID tests every month through the website  AccessCovidTests.org. (Wight, 9/26)

On vaccine and mask mandates —

Reuters: Truckers, Lawmaker Push For U.S. To Drop Foreign Visitor Vaccine Requirement 
A group representing truck drivers in North America and a New York lawmaker on Monday asked the Biden administration to rescind a requirement for foreign visitors to be vaccinated. The United States in June rescinded its requirement that people arriving in the country by air test negative for COVID-19 but has not lifted vaccination requirements for nearly all foreign visitors arriving by air or at land ports. (Shepardson, 9/26)

AP: Canada Won't Require Masks On Planes, Drops Vaccine Mandate 
The Canadian government announced Monday it will no longer require people to wear masks on planes to guard against COVID-19. Transport Canada said the existing rules for masks will come off Oct. 1“We are able to do this because tens of millions of Canadians rolled up their sleeves and got vaccinated,” Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said. (Gillies, 9/26)

CIDRAP: Monkeypox Vaccine 79% Effective, According To Israeli Preprint Study
According to a new non-peer reviewed study out of Israel, the Jynneos vaccine is 79% effective against monkeypox infection. ... Fifteen unvaccinated subjects and three vaccinated participants contracted monkeypox during the study. (9/26)

The New York Times: Monkeypox Appears To Recede, But Risks And Uncertainties Linger
Nearly four months after the first report of monkeypox in the United States, the virus is showing promising signs of retreat, easing fears that it may spill over into populations of older adults, pregnant women and young children. Supplies of the vaccine have improved, and federal health officials have begun clinical trials to gain a better understanding of who benefits, and how much, from both the vaccine and the drug used to treat those who become infected. That’s the good news. But unhappily, case numbers are accelerating in a few states and jurisdictions, including Indiana, Virginia and Massachusetts. (Mandavilli, 9/26)

Stat: 'It Is Sinking Us Even Further': Monkeypox Stretches STI Clinics To The Brink
At the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s sexual health clinic, patients are normally seen within 24 hours. Recently, amid the monkeypox outbreak, it’s been a five-day wait. (Joseph, 9/27)

KY3: Sexual Identity Dropped From Monkeypox Screening In Missouri
Missouri state health officials are changing requirements after local health officials told them some high-risk people could be avoiding the monkeypox vaccine. The forms have asked people about their sexual identities and if they’ve engaged in commercial or group sex. Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services officials said they are finding people at a high risk of monkeypox are avoiding the vaccine because of those types of questions. (Hennessy, 9/26)

In other news, researchers are working on a treatment for bubonic plague —

CIDRAP: Department Of Defense Funds Research Of Monoclonal Antibodies For Plague
German pharmaceutical company Evotec SE announced last week that its US subsidiary (Just – Evotec Biologics) has received nearly $5o million in funding from the US Department of Defense (DOD) to develop a monoclonal antibody (mAB)-based drug against bubonic plague. (9/26)

Bloomberg: Mental Health Crisis Leads Hospitals to Create a New Type of ER
With mental health treatment in short supply, Americans experiencing a psychiatric crisis frequently land in a hospital emergency room—brought in by the police or loved ones—and usually stay there until they can be safely discharged or transferred. That means patients can spend hours or even days stuck on a gurney until a spot opens in a psych ward, the only other setting deemed appropriate. (Tozzi, 9/26)

In other hospital news —

Modern Healthcare: Not-For-Profit Health Systems Navigate Lower Cash Reserves
Days cash on hand at not-for-profit hospital systems is trending downward as the sector recalibrates after last year’s higher-than-normal balances. For some, it's requiring tough choices to be made. (Hudson, 9/26)

AP: West Virginia University Children's Hospital Set To Open 
A new children’s hospital at West Virginia University is set to open in a matter of days. Officials held a ribbon cutting Saturday in Morgantown for the new WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital. The 150-bed, $215 million facility will open on Thursday. (9/26)

Stat: Google And Fitbit Launch New Cloud Tools To Help Hospitals Use Wearables
Google Cloud and Fitbit are rolling out a new offering they hope will ease some of the challenges hospitals face collecting and processing data from wearable devices. (Aguilar, 9/27)

On insurance and billing —

KHN: Health Plan Shake-Up Could Disrupt Coverage For Low-Income Californians 
Almost 2 million of California’s poorest and most medically fragile residents may have to switch health insurers as a result of a new strategy by the state to improve care in its Medicaid program. A first-ever statewide contracting competition to participate in the program, known as Medi-Cal, required commercial managed-care plans to rebid for their contracts and compete against others hoping to take those contracts away. The contracts will be revamped to require insurers to offer new benefits and meet stiffer benchmarks for care. (Wolfson, 9/27)

Crain's Detroit Business: Blue Cross Blue Shield To Sell Advantasure Subsidiary To California Firm
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is quietly selling off its Advantasure subsidiary. Last week, Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based health insurance administrator UST HealthProof announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to buy the Glen Allen, Va.-based Advantasure for an undisclosed sum. (Walsh, 9/26)

Axios: Providers Hit Biden Admin With New Surprise Billing Court Challenge
Providers are once again challenging the Biden administration on the surprise billing law and the method for deciding who picks up the tab in disputes over out-of-network care. (Bettelheim, 9/26)

The Boston Globe: Biogen Pays $900M To Settle Whistle-Blower Suit Over Kickbacks
After a decade of litigation, Biogen has agreed to pay $900 million to settle a federal whistle-blower lawsuit by a former employee who accused the Cambridge-based drug firm of paying kickbacks to hundreds of doctors to get them to prescribe its multiple sclerosis drugs. Under the terms of the settlement, Biogen will pay more than $843 million to the US government and more than $56 million to 15 states for overbilling Medicare and Medicaid insurance programs. (Saltzman, 9/26)

In other pharmaceutical industry news —

Modern Healthcare: Bias In Medical Device Results Raises Patient Safety Concerns
Racial biases continue to be exposed in medical devices clinicians commonly use to evaluate patients. From thermometers to oximeters to X-rays, people of color receive the most inconsistent results, and it's bad for their health. (Hartnett, 9/26)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Morehouse School Of Medicine Gets Grant To Advance Genomics Research
The partnership, known as the Accelerate Precision Health program, is supported by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, an organization created by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan to “solve some of society’s toughest challenges.” The grant is part of a multi-year, $500 million investment to support healthcare research advancing racial equity, diversity and inclusion efforts. (Thomas, 9/27)

Axios: Multimillion-Dollar Gene Therapies Offer Hope To Patients, But Huge Cost Concerns
The era of multimillion-dollar gene therapies has arrived, providing a ray of hope to patients with debilitating diseases — but also presenting huge affordability challenges. (Owens, 9/26)

The Boston Globe: Orthodontist Vs. Insurer: How Question 2 Could Bring Sweeping Changes To Dental Industry
When Massachusetts voters head to the polls in November, they’ll get the chance to settle an arcane dispute that could upend the dental industry. To boil it down: Question 2 would require dental insurers to spend no less for patient care than 83 percent of premiums they collect. It would be a sweeping change for an industry with no minimum threshold today, and one that could affect not just the insurers that do business here, but also the state’s dentists — not to mention anyone with dental insurance. It might even become a model that’s replicated in other states. (Chesto, 9/26)

In other news from across the U.S. —

AP: Alabama Eyes Fentanyl Penalties; Critics Say They Won't Work 
Alabama lawmakers may consider harsher penalties for traffickers and distributors of illicit fentanyl next year, but some say a comprehensive approach should also include more health services and helping drug users reduce overdoses. Republicans Reps. Matt Simpson of Daphne and Chris Pringle of Mobile tell Al.com they plan bills next year to increase penalties for distributing the deadly drug that accounted for 66% of all U.S. overdose deaths in 2021. (9/26)

New Hampshire Public Radio: N.H. Is Boosting Funding For Labor And Delivery Care. Will It Be Enough To Stem Closures?
Lawmakers and state health officials are boosting funding for birthing services, amid concerns that closures of labor and delivery units have made it harder for many New Hampshire residents to access that care. (Cuno-Booth, 9/26)

KHN: At This Recovery Center, Police Cope With The Mental Health Costs Of The Job 
Ken Beyer can’t think of a day in the past few months when his phone didn’t flutter with calls, text messages, and emails from a police department, a sheriff’s office, or a fire station seeking help for an employee. A patrol officer threatening to kill himself with his service weapon before roll call. A veteran firefighter drowning in vodka until he collapses. A deputy overdosing on fentanyl in his squad car. “It’s the worst that I’ve seen in my career,” said Beyer, co-founder and CEO of Harbor of Grace Enhanced Recovery Center, a private mental health and substance use recovery and treatment center for first responders in the waterfront Maryland town of Havre de Grace. Established in 2015, Harbor of Grace is one of only six treatment centers in the U.S. approved by the Fraternal Order of Police, the world’s largest organization of law enforcement officers. (Ridderbusch, 9/27)

On West Nile virus —

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: First Human Case Of West Nile Virus This Year Found In Sheboygan
Wisconsin's first human case of West Nile Virus this year was confirmed in a Sheboygan County resident, prompting state health officials to once again emphasize the importance of preventing mosquito bites. Earlier this year, the virus had been found in three animals: a horse in Trempealeau County, a horse in Monroe County and a bird in Milwaukee County. (Shastri, 9/26)

WMFE: Volusia County Reports Another Human Case Of West Nile Virus
The Florida Department of Health in Volusia County on Friday reported its second human case this year of the mosquito-borne West Nile virus. (Byrnes, 9/26)

Anchorage Daily News: Study Links Lack Of Running Water To Prevalence Of Ear Infections Among Rural Alaska Children
Data from screenings of more than 1,600 schoolchildren in various communities in that part of Western Alaska found that lack of running water -- a chronic problem in rural Alaska -- corresponded to a 53% higher rate of middle-ear infections, the study found. Young children, 3 to 6 years old, were most at risk, the study found. (Rosen and Beacon, 9/26)

San Francisco Chronicle: Women More Likely To Overdose During COVID Pandemic
Women were more likely than men to overdose during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., according to an analysis of private insurance claims by FAIR Health to be published Tuesday. (Fracassa and Vaziri, 9/26)

The New York Times: More Trans Teens Are Choosing ‘Top Surgery’
Michael, 17, arrived in the sleek white waiting room of his plastic surgeon’s office in Miami for a moment he had long anticipated: removing the bandages to see his newly flat chest. After years of squeezing into compression undershirts to conceal his breasts, the teenager was overcome with relief that morning last December. Wearing an unbuttoned shirt, he posed for photos with his mother and the surgeon, Dr. Sidhbh Gallagher, happy to share his bare chest with the doctor’s large following on social media. “It just felt right — like I’d never had breasts in the first place,” Michael said. “It was a ‘Yes, finally’ kind of moment.” (Ghorayshi, 9/26)

Southern California News Group: Aging Boom: Here’s A Look At Population Trends In The U.S., California By 2060
The world is getting really old, really fast. And while many economically developed countries (Japan, Italy, Germany) are ahead of us, the United States is not immune to the aging boom. Our new demography could mean big changes over the next few decades. (Snibbe and Mouchard, 9/26)

The Boston Globe: Candy Corn Recalled By Auburn Company Over Allergy Concerns
An Auburn-based snack company is withdrawing a candy corn product in New England due to allergy concerns, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Arcade Snacks issued a recall of its 15-ounce candy corn packages on Friday, per an FDA advisory, after it was found that the products may contain undeclared egg. No illnesses have been reported in connection to the products, the agency said. (Fonseca, 9/26)

Los Angeles Times: Climate Change Is Nudging Us Toward The Next Pandemic 
For years, scientists have been warning us about an unsettling reality: that climate change will make pandemics more likely in our collective future. (Arjun V.K. Sharma, 9/25)

Bloomberg: Progress On HPV Vaccines Is Too Important To Lose 
HPV vaccinations among teens in the US dropped precipitously during the early pandemic, a disappointing reversal for shots that can prevent more than 33,000 cases of cancer each year. Worse, efforts to get vaccinations back on track could be stymied by legal challenges. (Lisa Jarvis, 9/26)

The New York Times: Where Are All Our Post-Covid Patients?
Two years ago, during the worst of the Covid pandemic, my colleagues and I told ourselves what now seems like a naïve story. In the wake of this virus, we would develop a robust system of follow-up care for the patients who had been sickest in our hospital, many of whom were from medically underserved communities. (Daniela J. Lamas, 9/26)

The New York Times: Will Digital Technology For Therapy Increase Inequality In America? 
The way Americans receive mental health care has never changed as quickly as it has since the spring of 2020. When the Covid pandemic forced so many of us into our homes and onto Zoom, psychiatrists, psychotherapists and social workers followed. What started as a short-term fix is now becoming permanent. (Adrian Aguilera, 9/27)

The New York Times: My Year With Woebot, An A.I. Chatbot Therapist 
I first met Woebot, my A.I. chatbot therapist, at the height of the pandemic.I’m an anthropologist who studies mental health, and I had been doing fieldwork for my Ph.D. in China when news of the coronavirus started spreading. (Barclay Bram, 9/27)

Stat: Hold Accountable Doctors Who Knowingly Spread Covid-19 Lies
The California State Legislature has sent a bill to Gov. Gavin Newsom that strengthens discipline for doctors who knowingly spread Covid-19 misinformation. Legislation like this is sorely needed across the country. (Juliana E. Morris, 9/27)

Stat: The Inflation Reduction Act Will Improve Vaccine Access In The U.S. 
One of the many achievements in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which President Biden signed into law in August, is aligning Medicare’s vaccine coverage with that of all private health insurance in the United States. (Richard Hughes IV, 9/27)