The Wall Street Journal: Trump, Biden Locked In Close Election Contest 
President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden remained locked in a tight race that was expected to come down to a few key states that were still counting votes Wednesday morning. The president won Ohio, Iowa, Texas and the key prize of Florida, while Mr. Biden flipped an electoral vote in Nebraska and won Arizona, the first time the state has gone to a Democratic presidential candidate since 1996. That set up a showdown in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, which, along with states such as Georgia and North Carolina, weren’t yet called. (Bender, Siddiqui and Lucy, 11/4)

USA Today: Trump Falsely Claims He Has Won Election, Even Though Ballots Are Still Being Counted
President Donald Trump falsely claimed he had won the presidential election early Wednesday morning and threatened to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the counting of legally cast absentee ballots he described as a "fraud." Trump pointed to his early lead in the pivotal battleground of Pennsylvania and said it would be "almost impossible" for Democratic nominee Joe Biden to catch up there and in other states. In fact, there were enough votes outstanding in those states to swing the total back to Biden's favor. (Jackson, Jansen and Fritze, 11/4)

Politico: Biden: The Election ‘Ain’t Over Until Every Vote Is Counted’ 
Former Vice President Joe Biden early on Wednesday urged his supporters to remain patient as votes continue to trickle in in a nail-biter race, but he asserted that the presidential election “ain’t over until every vote is counted, every ballot is counted.” Speaking to supporters in his hometown of Wilmington, Del., just before 1 a.m., Biden asserted that despite President Donald Trump’s winning several key battleground states, “we believe we’re on track to win this election.” (Oprysko, 11/4)

KHN: No Winner For President Yet And Health Care Hangs In The Balance 
With the winner of the presidency and party control of the Senate still unclear the morning after Election Day, the future of the nation’s health system remains uncertain. At stake is whether the federal government will play a stronger role in financing and setting the ground rules for health care coverage or cede more authority to states and the private sector. Should President Donald Trump win and Republicans retain control of the Senate, Trump still may not be able to make sweeping changes through legislation as long as the House is still controlled by Democrats. But — thanks to rules set up by the Senate GOP — the ability to continue to stack the federal courts with conservative jurists who are likely to uphold Trump’s expansive use of executive power could effectively remake the government’s relationship with the health care system even without signed legislation. (Rovner, 11/4)

And a 9 a.m. update on the vote tally shows Biden making headway —

The New York Times: Joe Biden Has A Narrow Lead In Wisconsin
Joseph R. Biden Jr. pulled into a narrow lead in Wisconsin early Wednesday after absentee ballots were counted from the cities of Milwaukee and Green Bay. Mr. Biden’s lead in the state is about 11,000 votes statewide out of more than three million cast — though absentee ballots remain to be counted and reported from Kenosha a Democratic city with an absentee electorate expected to skew Democratic. (Epstein, 11/4)

The New York Times: The Remaining Vote In Pennsylvania Appears To Be Overwhelmingly For Biden 
Joe Biden has won absentee ballots counted in Pennsylvania by an overwhelming margin so far, according to data from the Secretary of State early Wednesday. If he carried the remaining absentee ballots by a similar margin, he would win the state. President Trump leads by nearly 700,000 votes in Pennsylvania as of 5 a.m. on Wednesday, and Mr. Biden’s chances depend on whether he can win a large percentage of the more than 1.4 million absentee ballots that remain to be counted. So far, Mr. Biden has won absentee voters in Pennsylvania, 78 percent to 21 percent, according to the Secretary of State’s office. The results comport with the findings of pre-election surveys and an analysis of absentee ballot requests, which all indicated that Mr. Biden held an overwhelming lead among absentee voters. (Cohn, 11/4)

The New York Times: Nevada, Where Biden Narrowly Leads, Will Not Update Results Until Thursday
Nevada, where Joseph R. Biden Jr. held a narrow lead early Wednesday, will not announce any new updates on election results until 9 a.m. Pacific time on Thursday, state election officials said. So far, all in-person votes and all mail-in ballots through Nov. 2 have been counted, the election division of the secretary of state’s office said in a tweet on Wednesday morning. Mail-in ballots received on Election Day, mail-in ballots received over the next week and provisional ballots still need to be counted. (Gross, 11/4)

Also —

AP: News Organizations Rebuke Trump On Election Results Claim
In a stunning scene in the middle of the night, news organizations rebuked President Donald Trump after he falsely said on live television that he had won reelection even as votes were still being counted. With reporters and supporters gathered at the White House at 2:20 a.m. Eastern, the president said it was “a major fraud on our nation” that he hadn’t been declared the winner. “As far as I’m concerned, we already have won this,” he said. The words were barely out of his mouth before television anchors rushed to refute him. (Bauder and Elber, 11/4)

Politico: Twitter Flags Trump Tweet On Election Results For ‘Misleading’ Content 
Twitter pinned a warning label to President Donald Trump's early Wednesday tweet claiming he is "up BIG" in the presidential race and once again casting doubt on election results even as votes were still being counted across the country. "Some or all of the content shared in this Tweet is disputed and might be misleading about an election or other civic process," read the label Twitter attached to Trump's tweet. (Seligman, 11/4)

CNN: Crush Of Mail-In Ballots Slows Count In Key States; Some Battlegrounds To Resume Counting Wednesday
Four key battleground states -- Pennsylvania, Nevada, Michigan and Georgia -- began Wednesday with tens of thousands of absentee ballots uncounted, leaving the White House race between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden up in the air. Election officials in some states, including Nevada and Georgia, called it a night and planned to resume the count in the morning, while some counties in Pennsylvania weren't even to start tabulating their mail-in votes until later Wednesday morning. The mail-in ballots, which smashed records this year as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, are expected to favor Biden, whose campaign encouraged Democrats to vote early, while in-person votes on Election Day may have given Trump an advantage. (Schouten and Herb, 11/4)

USA Today: US Postal Service Blows Court-Ordered Deadline To Check For Missing Ballots. About 300,000 Can't Be Traced
The U.S. Postal Service blew a court-ordered deadline Tuesday to sweep mail-processing facilities in more than a dozen states for missing election ballots that could number in the hundreds of thousands. U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington ordered the sweep Tuesday morning after the Postal Service said its delivery performance had dropped over the past five days and could not say whether more than 300,000 ballots received in its facilities had been delivered. The sweep was to happen in 12 postal districts, including in battleground states Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin. (Voyles Pulver, 11/4)

The Washington Post: Here’s What We Know About Key States That Are Still Counting Ballots 
As expected, the decision by a record number of Americans to vote by mail this year has slowed ballot counting in many parts of the country, with election officials cautioning that some results may not be available until Wednesday or later. Here’s where things stand in several closely watched states. (Kornfield, Ye Hee Lee and Thebault, 11/4)

In related news on mail-in ballots —

USA Today: Fact Check: Trump Ballots Were Not Thrown Out As Claimed By Fake Poll Worker
Fears surrounding ballots have circulated widely this election season and one viral social media post claims they are true. "Been working at a poll station in Erie county, PA all morning. A lot of people have already voted today :)" writes @omg_seabass in an Instagram story shared Tuesday. The innocuous comment is then followed by a remark of grave concern. "I've thrown out over a hundred ballots for trump already!! Pennsylvania gonna turn blue 2020!!" Screenshots of the story were quickly shared all over Twitter, where it gained significant attention among the Trump campaign's fanbase in a now deleted tweet, and Facebook, the latter especially where it has received over 650 shares. (Fauzia, 11/3)

Fox News: Was My Vote Counted? A State-By-State Guide To Tracking Your Absentee Ballot
Many states offer online tools where voters can check their ballot status, while others require voters to contact local election offices and representatives. Here's how to see whether your absentee ballot has been counted. (Conklin, 11/3)

NPR: Democrats' Hopes For Senate Majority Fade As GOP Beats Back Challenges
Republicans appear poised to retain a narrow Senate majority after winning a number of tough races and with others remaining too close to call. The GOP currently holds a 53-47 seat majority (with 2 Independents — Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont — caucusing with Democrats). Democrats need to win four seats to flip the chamber, after Alabama Sen. Doug Jones lost to Republican Tommy Tuberville, the former Auburn football coach. Jones' reelection chances were always tough competing in a state that overwhelmingly backs President Trump. The Democrats' target would shrink to three seats if Joe Biden wins the White House, because his vice president would break the tie in a 50-50 Senate. (Walsh, 11/4)

USA Today: Democrats Are Expected To Retain Control Of The House, But It's Not The Broad Expansion Analysts Predicted
Democrats are expected to retain control of the House of Representatives but optimistic projections that they would be expanding their already robust margin are falling short. Instead, Republicans have enjoyed some bragging rights, unseating freshmen incumbents in South Florida, New Mexico, Oklahoma and South Carolina, while successfully defending what looked to be several vulnerable seats in Texas and elsewhere. And early Wednesday, the GOP claimed its biggest prize by knocking off 15-term Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota. (Hayes, Morin and King, 11/4)

NPR: Marjorie Taylor Greene, Who Endorsed QAnon, Wins House Seat In Georgia
Marjorie Taylor Greene, a controversial Republican who has expressed support for the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory, has won her campaign in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District. Her victory had been expected ever since Greene won her party’s nomination; the district is heavily Republican, and her long-shot Democratic rival dropped out of the race in September. He still won 21% of the vote, according to The Associated Press. (11/3)

Also, in state legislative races —

NPR: Delaware’s Sarah McBride Becomes Nation’s First Openly Transgender State Senator
Transgender activist Sarah McBride has defeated Republican Steve Washington in Delaware to become the nation’s first openly transgender state senator. McBride previously made history in 2016 when she spoke at the Democratic National Convention, becoming the first transgender person to do so at a major-party convention. McBride interned at the White House during the Obama administration and served as the national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign. She celebrated her win tonight, saying on Twitter, “I hope tonight shows an LGBTQ kid that our democracy is big enough for them, too.” (Saxena, 11/3)

Politico: GOP State Legislature Candidate In North Dakota Who Died Of Covid Wins Election 
A Republican in North Dakota has won a seat in the state legislature — nearly a month after he died of complications from Covid-19. David Andahl was 55 when he died on Oct. 5, after winning a heated primary with an incumbent committee chairman. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) had endorsed the Bismarck rancher, saying, “we need more Trump Republicans in the State Legislature.” (O'Donnell, 11/4)

The Wall Street Journal: How Coronavirus Changed Election 2020 Voting And Polling Stations 
Dennis Randall showed up to vote Tuesday at the Blue Valley High School gymnasium here and checked in with a poll worker seated behind a plexiglass shield. Then he waited for someone to disinfect the voting machine before stepping up to mark his choices with a disposable pen emblazoned with an “I Voted” slogan. “The thing that impressed me is you don’t have any physical contact with anything except the pen,” said Mr. Randall, 68 years old, who was one of the first to vote in this Kansas City, Mo., suburb after the school doors opened at 6 a.m. Tuesday. (Carlton, 11/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Voting in a Pandemic Brings Plexiglass, Cotton Swabs and Constant Cleaning
The lines to vote moved more slowly than usual in this Kansas City, Mo., suburb Tuesday, as poll workers wearing masks sprayed and wiped down the machines after each voter finished. For people used to the same election ritual every four years, it wasn’t the only strange sight. Election officials sat behind plexiglass shields, distributed masks to anyone who wanted them and gave each person a disposable pen emblazoned with “I Voted” to mark their choices. (Carlton, 11/3)

Stat: Snapshots Of Covid-19 Precautions At The Polls 
As voters went to the polls Tuesday across the country, they encountered an array of precautions meant to keep the presidential election from becoming a Covid-19 superspreader event. Masks and hand sanitizer were ubiquitous, of course, as was grousing about masks. (Ross, McFarling, St. Fleur and Lang, 11/3)

AP: Record Early Vote Leads To Tranquil Election Day At Polls
Despite fears of clashes at polling places, chaos sparked by the coronavirus pandemic and confusion due to disinformation and swiftly-changing voting rules, millions across the U.S. cast ballots in a historically contentious election with few problems. About 103 million votes were cast before Election Day, an early voting push prompted by the pandemic. That took some of the pressure off polling places on Tuesday, which generally saw short or no lines as coronavirus cases were on the rise. Daily confirmed cases were up 43 percent over the past two weeks in the U.S., according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (Cassidy and Riccardi, 11/4)

The Washington Post: Some Des Moines Voters Used Hand Sanitizer Before Casting Ballots, Jamming A Polling Scanner
Hand sanitizer meant to ward off the coronavirus caused havoc in a polling place in Iowa on Election Day when some voters disinfected their hands before handling their ballots, causing the wet paper to temporarily jam the ballot scanner. The machine at a voting location in Des Moines was fixed in about an hour, Iowa secretary of state spokesperson Kevin Hall confirmed to The Washington Post. Hall was unable to say how many ballots were involved in the mishap and referred The Post to Polk County election officials. The county auditor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Kornfield, 11/3)

The New York Times: Exit Polls Showed The Vote Came Down To Covid-19 Versus The Economy 
Reflecting a pervasive pessimism, nearly two-thirds of voters said they believed the country was heading in the wrong direction, according to an Associated Press canvass of those who had cast ballots — and those voters overwhelmingly picked Mr. Biden. And while Mr. Trump had attempted to focus the campaign on anything other than the pandemic, it remained a defining issue: More than four in 10 voters said it was the most important problem facing the country, far more than any other issue. (Medina and Russonello, 11/3)

The Washington Post: As The Coronavirus Continues To Spread, Covid-19 Trails The Economy As Top Issue For Voters, Exit Polling Shows 
The virus that has confined many Americans to their homes for much of 2020 trailed the economy as the leading issue for voters, who cast ballots in huge numbers by mail and in person, early exit polls showed Tuesday. About 2 in 10 voters said the pandemic that has left more than 232,000 Americans dead and upended life around the globe was the most important issue on their minds as they selected a president and other officials to lead the United States out of its more than nine-month public health crisis. About the same number cited racial inequality, according to the data collected by Edison Research, a consortium of television networks. (Bernstein and Achenbach, 11/3)

NPR: Voter Survey: U.S. Is On Wrong Track, COVID-19 Not Under Control
Almost two-thirds of Americans say the country is on the wrong track, a majority disapprove of the job President Trump is doing and more than half do not think the COVID-19 pandemic is under control, according to early data from AP VoteCast. VoteCast is not an exit poll. It is a massive set of pre-election polls that runs up through when voting closes Tuesday. VoteCast is conducted nationally and in key states and surveys some 140,000 voters. By comparison, a statistically significant and rigorously conducted national poll typically surveys about 1,000 people. We will be updating with results through the night. (Montanaro, 11/3)

Also —

ABC News: Managing The Psychological Effects Of The 2020 Election 
For many Americans already coping with heightened stress levels because of COVID-19, the 2020 presidential election is amplifying that anxiety and uncertainty. About 68% of U.S. adults said the presidential election is a significant source of stress in their lives, up from 56% who said so in 2016, according to a survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of the American Psychological Association. (Safai, 11/3)

NPR: Louisiana, Colorado Voters Take Different Stances On Abortion Measures
Should Roe be overturned, the amendment would prevent the state courts from declaring abortion restrictions unconstitutional at the state level. The state isn't the first to amend its constitution this way -- Alabama and West Virginia did so in 2018, as did Tennessee in 2014. (11/4)

The Advocate: Voters Approve Abortion Measure, Reject Local Tax Plan In Tallies On Constitutional Amendments
The abortion measure — Amendment 1 — was touted as a way to ensure that, if the landmark U.S. Supreme Court Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortions is overturned, state residents would clearly be on record opposing the procedure if the issue returns to individual states. The new wording is aimed at making clear that Louisiana opposes abortion and public funding for abortions. It was backed by 62% of voters with about two million votes cast, roughly the same vote total as the other amendments. (Sentell and Ballard, 11/3)

The Colorado Sun: Colorado Measure To Ban Abortions After 22 Weeks Of Pregnancy Fails 
A measure that would ban abortions in Colorado after 22 weeks of pregnancy, except in cases where the mother’s life is at risk, failed Tuesday night. Both supporters and opponents of Proposition 115 had predicted a tight battle over what supporters of the ban call “late-term abortion,” but opponents declared victory about an hour after the polls closed. The measure went down 41% to 59%, according to unofficial returns. The Associated Press called the race at 9:42 p.m. (Brown, 11/3)

AP: Push To Relax Drug Laws Gains Big Victories On State Ballots
A nationwide push to relax drug laws took a significant step forward Tuesday as more states legalized marijuana for adults and voters made Oregon the first state to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of street drugs such as cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. The drug measures were among 120 proposed state laws and constitutional amendments that were on the ballot in 32 states. They touched on an array of issues that have roiled politics in recent years — voting rights, racial inequalities, abortion, taxes and education, to name a few. (Lieb, 11/4)

Politico: 1 In 3 Americans Now Lives In A State Where Recreational Marijuana Is Legal 
Some 16 million Americans were added to the list of places that allow adults to use marijuana legally, after voters in New Jersey, Arizona, South Dakota and Montana on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved ballot measures on weed. They will join about 93 million Americans who live in states that already have legalized weed, meaning about 1 in 3 Americans now live in states where marijuana is legal for anyone at least 21 years old. South Dakota and Mississippi voters also approved measures to legalize medical marijuana on Election Day. (Fertig and Zhang, 11/4)

On specific state ballot initiatives —

The Wall Street Journal: Oregon Votes To Decriminalize All Drugs, Allow Psilocybin For Mental Health Treatment 
Oregon became the first state in the nation to decriminalize the possession of all illegal drugs and also legalize the use of psilocybin—the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms—for mental health treatment, after voters passed a pair of ballot measures this week. Both are the first of their kind in any U.S. state and represent the next frontier in the relaxation of drug laws beyond marijuana. (Morrison, 11/4)

Philadelphia Inquirer: New Jersey Approves Legal Weed For Adults In Historic Marijuana Vote
New Jersey approved a constitutional amendment legalizing marijuana for adult use on Tuesday by a ratio of about 2 to 1. With the historic vote, New Jersey became the first state in the Mid-Atlantic region to adopt legal cannabis, creating a potential $2 billion market and making it likely that criminal arrests for marijuana will be curtailed. The decision represents a potential bonanza for state taxpayers and will put pressure on Pennsylvania and New York to follow suit, experts say. (Wood, 11/4)

Arizona Republic: Arizona Prop. 207 To Legalize Marijuana Passed By Voters
Arizona's ballot measure to legalize marijuana passed Tuesday with voters deciding to join 11 other states that have done so despite a conflict with federal law, according to The Associated Press. Proposition 207 would legalize possession of as much as an ounce of marijuana for adults 21 and older and set up a licensing system for retail sales of the drug, starting with the medical-marijuana dispensaries already operating in the state. Sales could begin in March under the measure. (Randazzo, 11/3)

Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi's Initiative 65 On Medical Marijuana Approved By Voters
Voters have overwhelmingly approved medical marijuana in Mississippi. Voters approved the citizen-led Initiative 65 by a 74% majority that will allow doctors to prescribe medical marijuana for 22 debilitating conditions. (Gates, 11/4)

San Francisco Chronicle: Prop. 23: California Measure To Stiffen Regulations At Dialysis Clinics Fails
California voters have rejected Proposition 23, a ballot initiative that would have created new safety regulations for kidney dialysis clinics that serve 80,000 patients. The initiative sought to require that clinics always have a doctor on site during treatments, which patients with kidney failure must receive routinely to stay alive. Prop. 23 was behind by a wide margin in unofficial returns, with a simple majority needed for passage. (Gardiner, 11/3)

Los Angeles Times: Prop. 14 Leading In Early Results On Stem Cell Bond
A ballot measure to authorize $5.5 billion in new funding for stem cell research was leading in early returns Tuesday. Proposition 14 asked voters to approve an infusion of cash for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, known as CIRM, for stem cell studies and trials. California voters created CIRM in 2004 after approving a bond measure that year for $3 billion. CIRM used that bond money for research grants, new laboratories and training programs, but unallocated funds ran out last year, prompting supporters of the agency to return to taxpayers for additional money. (Gutierrez, 11/3)

Los Angeles Times: A Close Race On Proposition 15 To Loosen California’s Business Property Tax Rules
The fate of Proposition 15, an effort to remove high-value business properties from the low-tax protections enacted by California voters more than four decades ago, was unclear in early election returns Tuesday, after an expensive and fierce campaign over how much to spend on government services and the economic effects of raising taxes. The ballot measure was opposed by a razor-thin majority with more than 9.5 million ballots counted, a shortfall that was far from certain with millions of votes left to count. (Myers, 11/3)

Los Angeles Times: More Money For Social Services? L.A. County Voters Will Decide On Measure J
Los Angeles County voters on Tuesday were strongly favoring passage of a ballot measure that would divert more county funds to social services and jail diversion program, according to early results from the L.A. County registrar-recorder’s office. With 18% of the in-person ballots counted along with 81% of mail-in ballots, 58% of voters had cast ballots in favor of the proposal, called Measure J, according to the results. (Cosgrove, 11/3)

The Oklahoman: Oklahoma State Question 814 Election Results: Voters Reject TSET Changes
Mere months after Oklahomans voted to expand Medicaid, they rejected an option to help pay for the state’s share of the expansion. Oklahoma voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly opposed State Question 814 to redirect a portion of Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust funds to help pay for the state’s 10% share of Medicaid expansion. (Forman, 11/4)

Norman Transcript: Voters Reject Tapping Of TSET For Medicaid Expansion 
Voters decided Tuesday that they don’t want lawmakers to pay for Medicaid expansion by tapping the state’s constitutionally protected tobacco settlement funds. Nearly 60% voted against the ballot measure. The resounding rejection of State Question 814 dealt a blow to legislators. Lawmakers had proposed reducing the amount of the annual payment that flows into the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) by 50% to offset some of the expense of the upcoming Medicaid expansion approved by voters earlier this year. (Stecklein, 11/3)

Dallas Morning News: As COVID-19 Leaves Texans Jobless And Lacking Health Insurance, Lawmakers Mull Expanding Medicaid
Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Texas already had the highest number of people in the country without health insurance. Since then, thousands of Texans have lost their jobs -- and their health insurance -- raising concerns about how many people will have coverage by next year. There’s an option on the table to get at least 1 million more people covered, mostly at the federal government’s expense. And now, Republicans in control of the Legislature are starting to show interest, especially after a raft of red states went ahead and expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. (Morris, 11/2)

On another subject, industry groups are pushing for changes in federal rules on Medicare.

Modern Healthcare: Nursing Homes, Hospitals Urge Easing COVID-19 Testing, Reporting Rules
Hospital and nursing home leaders didn't hold back in their blunt criticism of CMS' new requirements around COVID-19 testing and data reporting, characterizing them as overly burdensome. CMS received almost 170 comments by yesterday's deadline on its interim final rule, which requires nursing homes to routinely test staff and residents for COVID-19. The rule also requires hospitals to report COVID-19 data daily or face losing their Medicare reimbursement, a penalty the industry said is unnecessarily harsh. (Bannow, 11/3)

Modern Healthcare: Medical-Device Industry, MedPAC Oppose CMS' Proposed Coverage Determination Changes
Medical-device associations are urging CMS to withdraw its proposal changing how Medicare determines if a service or item will be covered. In a proposed rule released in late August, CMS would modify Medicare's long-standing standards for coverage. Currently, CMS considers a service for coverage if it's a recognized Medicare benefit and "reasonable and necessary" for treatment or diagnosis, which isn't currently defined. CMS is proposing to define the "reasonable and necessary" stipulation as meaning an item or service is safe and effective, not experimental and appropriate. CMS then gave appropriateness several definitions including if a service or item is currently covered by commercial insurance. (Castellucci, 11/3)

AP: Virus Hospitalizations Surge As Pandemic Shadows US Election
Americans went to the polls Tuesday under the shadow of a resurging pandemic, with an alarming increase in cases nationwide and the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 reaching record highs in a growing number of states. While daily infections were rising in all but three states, the surge was most pronounced in the Midwest and Southwest. Missouri, Oklahoma, Iowa, Indiana, Nebraska, North Dakota and New Mexico all reported record high hospitalizations this week. Nebraska’s largest hospitals started limiting elective surgeries and looked to bring in nurses from other states to cope with the surge. Hospital officials in Iowa and Missouri warned bed capacity could soon be overwhelmed. (Olson, 11/4)

Reuters: U.S. Coronavirus Hospitalizations Hit Three-Month High Over 50,000: Reuters Tally
The number of coronavirus patients in U.S. hospitals breached 50,000 on Tuesday, the highest level in nearly three months, as a surge in infections threatens to push the nation’s health care system to the edge of capacity. Texas reported the highest number of currently hospitalized patients with 5,936, followed by Illinois with 3,594 and California with 3,270 patients, according to a Reuters tally. While California has three times as many people as Illinois, new cases have been the highest per capita in the Midwest. (Abraham and B, 11/3)

CNN: The US Reported Its Second Highest Number Of New Covid-19 Cases On Election Day, With More Than 91,000 Infections
The US recorded 91,530 new Covid-19 infections on the day many Americans cast their ballots, adding to a series of staggering case numbers reported within just the past week. The country's five highest days of coronavirus cases have all been recorded since October 29, affirming experts' warnings another surge is well on its way and will only get worse. (Maxouris, 11/4)

New Jersey and Utah try to cope with a surge in cases —

The Hill: New Jersey COVID-19 Hospitalizations At Four-Month High As Cases Rise 
New Jersey reported more than 1,800 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, marking 17 straight days of more than 1,000 new cases as the state battles a fall resurgence of COVID-19. According to the state dashboard, hospitals reported 1,133 patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases as of Nov. 2, the highest in four months. (Weixel, 11/3)

The Salt Lake Tribune: Utah COVID-19 Hospitalizations Shatter Record Again, With 1,669 New Cases Tuesday 
Coronavirus hospitalizations blew past previous record highs on Tuesday, with 366 Utahns currently hospitalized and 1,669 new diagnoses statewide. Nearly 500 Utahns have been admitted to hospitals in the past week alone — a record high. In total, 5,665 patients have been hospitalized in Utah for COVID-19, up a record 89 from the day before. (Alberty, 11/3)

The New York Times: Covid Experts Fear The Worst With Trump In Charge And Winter Coming
Regardless of the election’s outcome this week, President Trump will be the one steering the country through what is likely to be the darkest and potentially deadliest period of the coronavirus pandemic, and he has largely excluded the nation’s leading health experts from his inner circle. Mr. Trump will still have control of the nation’s health apparatus and the bully pulpit that comes with the Oval Office until Jan. 20, as infections approach 100,000 a day and death rates begin to rise as hospitals are strained to their breaking points. (Shear and Gay Stolberg, 11/3)

Roll Call: Next President Will Need To Repair Trust In Health Agencies 
The winner of this week's presidential contest, regardless of the outcome, will be faced next year with the challenge of leading agencies whose reputations have suffered badly during the pandemic under the direction of President Donald Trump. Two agencies in particular, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, have been among the most high-profile during the COVID-19 pandemic, and have also been among the most heavily politicized, scrutinized, and criticized — even by Trump himself. (Siddons, 11/3)

Also —

Modern Healthcare: Trump Exec Order Could Stuff HHS With His Political Allies
A recent move by the Trump administration could further politicize HHS, severely disrupt the agency's decision-making and cause sizable policy swings each time there's a new president. Those changes would create significant uncertainty for providers, payers and the public, according to experts. President Donald Trump last month signed an executive order that would make it easier for federal agencies to hire and fire career officials "in positions of a confidential, policy-determining, policymaking or policy-advocating character … not normally subject to change as a result of a presidential transition" by reclassifying them under a new category of federal workers called Schedule F. It would let agencies sack attorneys, public health experts, regulators, scientists and other officials without cause, according to Donald Kettl, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin's Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. (Brady, 11/3)

Stat: Critics Say New NIH Policy On Scientific Data Sharing Falls Short
After a five-year effort, the National Institute of Health late last week released its final policy for managing and sharing publicly funded scientific data. But some critics say the approach falls short, because the language may still make it possible for researchers to withhold their data. (Silverman, 11/3)

CNBC: There's No Extra Covid Risk From Living With Kids, Study Finds
If you live with children, you’re not at a greater risk of contracting Covid-19, according to a large study carried out in the U.K. In fact, living with children was associated with a lower risk of dying from the coronavirus compared to those that didn’t live with children, researchers from the University of Oxford and London’s School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found. (Ellyatt, 11/4)

In other COVID developments —

Fox News: Researchers Find Autoantibodies Behind Coronavirus Blood Clotting 
A new study suggests doctors have found the culprit behind serious blood clotting in up to half of hospitalized coronavirus patients. Researchers at Michigan Medicine studied blood samples from 172 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in search of eight types of clot-causing autoimmune antibodies. Autoimmune disease refers to when the immune system attacks healthy cells by mistake, per Johns Hopkins Medicine. Findings were published Monday in Science Translational Medicine. (Rivas, 11/3)

Live Science: COVID-19 Infects The Mouth. Could That Explain Patients' Taste Loss? 
The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 can infect cells in the mouth, which may spur the virus's spread both in the body and to other people, according to a preliminary study. In the new study, posted Oct. 27 to the preprint database medRxiv, researchers predicted which mouth tissues might be most vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. So the team examined RNA — a kind of genetic material that tells the cells' protein-making factories what to build — for different cell types in the mouth. They found that, compared with other oral tissues, cells of the salivary glands, tongue and tonsils carry the most RNA linked to proteins that the coronavirus needs to infect cells. Namely, these include the ACE2 receptor, which the virus plugs into, and an enzyme called TMPRSS, which allows the virus to fuse its membrane with that of the host cell and slip inside. (Lanese, 11/2)

Live Science: AI Can Detect COVID-19 From The Sound Of Your Cough
People with COVID-19 who are asymptomatic can spread the disease without any outward signs that they're sick. But a newly developed AI, with a keen algorithmic ear, might be able to detect asymptomatic cases from the sounds of people's coughs, according to a new study. A group of researchers at MIT recently developed an artificial intelligence model that can detect asymptomatic COVID-19 cases by listening to subtle differences in coughs between healthy people and infected people. The researchers are now testing their AI in clinical trials and have already started the process of seeking approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for it to be used as a screening tool. (Saplakoglu, 11/3)

CNN: Covid-19 Testing: Here's Why You Can Be Contagious But Still Test Negative
If you think a negative test result means you don't have coronavirus, you could be wrong. It can take days before a new infection shows up on a Covid-19 test." We know that the incubation period for Covid-19 is up to 14 days. And before that, you can be testing negative, and have no symptoms," emergency medicine physician Dr. Leana Wen told CNN. "But you could actually be harboring the virus and be able to transmit it to others." (Yan, 11/3)

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Expect Minimal Risks From Potential Election Turmoil
Hospitals are taking few, if any, extra precautions to prepare for any potential election-related civil unrest, deeming the threat unlikely or minimal. Hospitals and physician practices in New York, Illinois, California, Washington, Ohio, Washington D.C. and North Carolina are keeping an eye on their facilities, employees and patients, but haven't significantly bolstered their safety protocols. Most providers don't see the need for any "extraordinary measures" to address potential election-related issues. (Kacik, 11/3)

ABC News: Rhode Island Health System Halts Hospital Visits As COVID Outbreak Worsens 
Rhode Island's largest health care system, Lifespan, has suspended visitation in its hospitals as the state's COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and positivity testing rate continue to rise. "Care teams will encourage the use of devices such as smartphones to communicate with patients remotely, and, when available, the use of iPads for virtual visits," Lifespan said on its website. If patients don't have a device to use for virtual visits, according to its website, Lifespan will provide one. (Schumaker, 11/3)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: COVID Vaccination Volunteers Needed In Nevada, Nurses Helping
The state is seeking an unspecified number of medical volunteers to supplement a network of 4,000 vaccine providers who have stated their intent to provide COVID-19 immunizations at hospitals, doctor’s offices, pharmacies and elsewhere across Nevada. More than 600 nurses have volunteered to be part of the medical corps, with more than 100 specifically designating interest in the vaccination effort, said volunteer manager Rachel Marchetti. (Hynes, 11/3)

Billings Gazette: Hi-Line Hospitals See Shortage Of Health Care Workers Amid COVID-19 Surge 
A surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations in critical care hospitals across the Hi-Line has corresponded with a statewide shortage in healthcare workers. COVID-19 cases began to creep up in Eastern Montana during the summer, and like most of Montana ballooned in September and October. (Sukut, 11/3)

KHN: ‘Is This Worth My Life?’: Traveling Health Workers Decry COVID Care Conditions 
David Joel Perea called from Maine, Vermont, Minnesota and, ultimately, Nevada, always with the same request: “Mom, can you send tamales?” Dominga Perea would ship them overnight. That’s how she knew where her 35-year-old son was. The traveling nurse had “a tremendous work ethic,” routinely putting in 80 hours a week, said his brother, Daniel. But when Perea took a job at Lakeside Health & Wellness Suites — a Reno nursing home that has received dozens of safety citations since 2017 from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — Dominga was “scared silly.” (Cahan, 11/4)

In other health industry news —

Stat: Industry Payments To Physicians Have Changed Little Since OpenPayments Launch
Since the 2014 launch of a federal database to disclose industry payments to doctors, the share of physicians who received such funds has decreased, although the total value of those payments remained the same across all specialties, except for primary care, according to a new analysis in JAMA. In 2014, 52.2% of doctors accepted at least one industry payment from a drug or device maker, compared with 45% in 2018. (Silverman, 11/3)

Stat: Omada Reports Encouraging Results On Virtual Diabetes Prevention Program
Digital health company Omada Health presented encouraging research results on Tuesday suggesting its diabetes prevention platform — which virtually connects prediabetic patients with health coaches and clinicians — could help curb the symptoms of the disease as well as an equivalent program delivered in person. (Brodwin, 11/3)

Bloomberg: McKesson Says Opioid Distributors May Pay $21 Billion In Deal
McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc. and AmerisourceBergen Corp. may pay as much as $21 billion -- $3 billion more than they offered last year -- to resolve lawsuits accusing them of mishandling deliveries of opioid painkillers and fueling a public-health crisis in the U.S. In a regulatory filing on Tuesday, McKesson said a group of state attorneys general have proposed the companies pay $21 billion over 18 years to settle more than 3,000 lawsuits filed by state and local governments seeking compensation for the costs of the opioid epidemic. The filing was first reported by Reuters. (Feeley, 11/3)

Becker's Hospital Review: Mylan, Pfizer Get Federal OK For Merger With Upjohn
Mylan and Pfizer said they have received approval from the Federal Trade Commission for their deal to combine Mylan with Pfizer's off-patent drug business, Upjohn. The new combined business will be called Viatris, and its debut is expected to be Nov. 16. (Anderson, 11/3)

Stat: Bristol's Psoriasis Treatment Meets Study Goals, Beats Rival Amgen Drug
Bristol Myers Squibb said Tuesday that an oral drug designed to treat psoriasis differently from currently approved medicines demonstrated superiority to placebo and a competing drug from Amgen — achieving the goals of a large Phase 3 clinical trial. The safety profile of the Bristol drug called deucravacitinib, was “consistent” with previously conducted studies, the company added. (Feuerstein, 11/3)

North Carolina Health News: Dentists Deal With Jaw-Clenching Year 
To say 2020 has been a stressful year is one of those “well duh” statements that won’t send you running for your most trusted fact-checker for confirmation. This campaign season, which began long before the start of this most unusual year, has brought much jaw clenching with the seemingly endless political rhetoric. (Blythe, 11/3)

AP: More Americans On Diets From A Decade Ago, Report Finds
A higher percentage of Americans said they’re on a special diet to lose weight or for other health reasons compared with a decade ago, according to a report Tuesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The increase comes as obesity rates have continued to climb. The CDC report found that 17% of Americans said they were on diets during the 2017-2018 survey period, up from 14% a decade earlier. Over the same period obesity rates rose in the U.S. to 42% of Americans, up from 34%. (Choi, 11/3)

Houston Chronicle: Patients Are Flocking For Flu Shots Amid COVID-19 Vaccine Talk
Doctors across Houston say the number of patients asking for and getting flu shots are running well ahead of last year. The national pharmacy chain Walgreens said it so far has administered 60 percent more flu shots than during the same period last year. Dr. Gary Sheppard, president of the Harris County Medical Society and a primary care doctor in southwest Houston, said he usually gets about 75 percent of his patients to agree to a flu shot during their check-ups; this year, he estimates that 90 percent of the patients he’s seen since the beginning of September have opted for the vaccine. (Wu, 11/3)

In other public health news —

The Washington Post: Cruises Wont Sail With Passengers In U.S. Waters Until 2021 
Cruise ships will not return to U.S. waters with passengers onboard until 2021, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), announced Tuesday. The group has extended through Dec. 31 a voluntary suspension of U.S. operations that expired Saturday. CLIA includes Carnival Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean, and makes up 95 percent of the global cruising industry. (McMahon, 11/3)

The Washington Post: Utah Officials Say Halloween Rave Partygoers ‘Absolutely Will Become Ill’ With Coronavirus 
Thousands of people gathered in the desert to party in costumes, many without masks, in Utah on Saturday at a rave that broke the state’s pandemic restrictions. They may have gotten away with it, too, if a crowd-surfing woman hadn’t fallen on her head, prompting other partygoers to call 911 after she was knocked unconscious for several minutes, KSTU reported. (Shepherd, 11/3)

KHN: Lions And Tigers And Anteaters? US Scientists Scan The Menagerie For COVID
As COVID-19 cases surge in the U.S., one Texas veterinarian has been quietly tracking the spread of the disease — not in people, but in their pets. Since June, Dr. Sarah Hamer and her team at Texas A&M University have tested hundreds of animals from area households where humans contracted COVID-19. They’ve swabbed dogs and cats, sure, but also pet hamsters and guinea pigs, looking for signs of infection. “We’re open to all of it,” said Hamer, a professor of epidemiology, who has found at least 19 cases of infection. (Aleccia, 11/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Remote Learning? In Person? Families Second-Guess Their School Choices As Covid Cases Rise 
Over the summer, Jennifer Parnell told her kids’ school that she would send her second- and fourth-graders back as soon as their Denver elementary school reopened for in-person learning in late October. But as coronavirus cases mounted in the fall, she second-guessed her decision. “Cases were going up and we were entering colder season,” she recalls. “Things are still very uncertain.” She worried not only about catching the virus, but also about disrupting her kids’ routines once more if the school had to go all-remote again. By October, she had changed her mind: “I called them up and said, ‘I think we want to stay virtual.’” (Dizik, 11/3)

The New York Times: Betty Dodson, Women’s Guru Of Self-Pleasure, Dies At 91
Betty Dodson, a feminist sexologist and evangelist of self-pleasure who taught generations of women how to masturbate in workshops, books and videos, seeing the do-it-yourself climax as a liberating social force, died on Saturday at a nursing home in New York City. She was 91. The cause was cirrhosis of the liver, said Carlin Ross, her business partner. (Green, 11/3)

In sports news —

The New York Times: Wisconsin Football Cancels Over Virus Cases. Again. 
For the second consecutive week, the University of Wisconsin canceled a football game because of a coronavirus outbreak in the program. Wisconsin, ranked No. 10 in The Associated Press poll, said on Tuesday that it would not host Purdue on Saturday. Wisconsin reported on Tuesday that at least 15 players and 12 staff members, including Coach Paul Chryst, had tested positive since Oct. 24. (Blinder and Brassil, 11/3)

The Washington Post: John Elway Tests Positive For The Coronavirus; Cowboys’ Andy Dalton On Covid-19 List 
The NFL continued to grapple with coronavirus-related issues Tuesday: John Elway and another top Denver Broncos executive tested positive, and the Dallas Cowboys placed quarterback Andy Dalton on their covid-19 reserve list. (Maske and Jhabvala, 11/3)

Alaska Public Media: On Masks, Alaska Gov. Dunleavy Tells Local Leaders To Use Power They Say They Don’t Have 
While more than half of U.S. states have their own [mask] mandates for indoor public spaces, Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy has resisted imposing one and maintains that such decisions are best made by local governments. But municipal officials say there’s a problem with the governor’s position: They argue that Dunleavy is asking local elected leaders to exercise power that they don’t have. In both the Kenai Peninsula Borough and Matanuska-Susitna Borough — two of the places where COVID-19 cases are rising the most quickly — government officials say they lack the legal power to impose a mask mandate. (Herz, 11/3)

Anchorage Daily News: New COVID-19 Outbreak Reported At Goose Creek Correctional Center, Alaska’s Largest Prison 
Alaska’s largest prison is now home to the latest outbreak of the coronavirus in the state’s correctional system. Twenty-two inmates and five staff at Goose Creek Correctional Center near Wasilla have tested positive for COVID-19, according to Sarah Gallagher, a spokeswoman for the Alaska Department of Corrections. It’s not clear how many, if any, are showing symptoms of the virus, Gallagher said Monday. None have required hospitalization. (Hollander, 11/3)

From Nevada and California —

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Clark County Declares Systemic Racism A Public Health Crisis
The Clark County Commission declared Tuesday that systemic racism is a public health crisis “causing the single most profound economic and social challenge” facing the county and state. In standing with Nevada lawmakers who passed a nearly identical resolution in August, commissioners essentially acknowledged that racism continues to be a pervasive issue that has been magnified by the pandemic. The resolution highlights that the coronavirus crisis has disproportionately affected minorities, pointing to racial and ethnic disparities in the health care system and a digital divide. (Johnson, 11/3)

KHN: It’s Open Enrollment. Here’s What You Need To Know
California’s annual health insurance enrollment season for individuals and families kicks off this week against a dramatic backdrop: the hotly contested presidential election; a pandemic raging out of control in much of the U.S.; and, on Nov. 10, a Supreme Court hearing of a case that could end the Affordable Care Act and strand millions without coverage. The massive unemployment caused by the pandemic has already stripped employer-based health insurance from millions nationwide and induced severe financial anxiety as families struggle to pay rent and buy food. (Wolfson, 11/4)

AP: Poland Delays Implementing Abortion Ruling Amid Protests
Poland’s right-wing government is delaying the publication and implementation of a high court ruling that tightens the abortion law and that has triggered almost two weeks of nationwide protests. A government official said Tuesday that the leaders are taking time to debate the contested ruling and find a solution. (Scislowska, 11/3)

AP: South Korea OKs Single Test For COVID-19 And Flu
Health officials in South Korea have approved a new test that’s designed to detect both COVID-19 and seasonal influenza from the same samples, which would help prevent disruption at hospitals as the pandemic stretches into the flu season. The country has struggled to stem the spread of the coronavirus, which some experts say could spread more broadly during cold weather when people spend more time indoors. (11/4)

The New York Times: Coronavirus Study In Germany Offers Hope For Concertgoers 
Researchers in Germany may have some good news for frustrated concertgoers across the world whose activities have been constrained by the spread of the coronavirus. Analysis of an indoor concert staged by scientists in August suggests that the impact of such events on the spread of the coronavirus is “low to very low” as long as organizers ensure adequate ventilation, strict hygiene protocols and limited capacity, according to the German researchers who conducted the study. (Kwai, 11/3)

Reuters: A Biden Presidency Could Bring Better Gas Mileage, Cheaper Drugs, Less Doom Scrolling 
If former Vice President Joe Biden wins the race for the U.S. president, his promises to change Corporate America range from more strict regulation on auto emissions to helping lower prices for prescription medicine. ... Biden has vowed to reduce drug costs and to allow Medicare, a U.S. government health insurance program, to negotiate drug prices. He has support from Congressional Democrats to pass such legislation, which the Congressional Budget Office has said could cost the industry more than $300 billion by 2029. (11/3)

Salon.Com: Trump Touts His War On Drug Prices As Costs Continue To Climb 
As the days to Nov. 3 dwindle down, the president of the United States has been hand selecting his points of emphasis for rallies and Twitter posts. Often, those choices go against the wishes of his own advisers. Veering away from core issues, Donald Trump has repeatedly invoked Hunter Biden's name, doubled down on unsupported allegations of mail-in ballot vote fraud, suggested he'll leave the country if he loses the election and repeated debunked claims that masks are not effective in preventing COVID-19.At most stops, however, Trump has at least attempted to broach one topic that pollsters have repeatedly found to be resonant with voters: the high cost of prescription drugs. And time and again, Trump has not only promised to cut them – "Drug prices will be coming down 80 or 90 percent," he said during the first presidential debate – but insisted that, functionally, he has already done so. (Kreidler, 10/31)

AP: Expect A Lot More Of The Same If Trump Wins A Second Term
On prescription drugs, Trump came into office promising change so Americans would see the lower costs common in other economically advanced countries. But he backed away from a 2016 campaign promise to authorize Medicare to negotiate prices. And a big, bipartisan deal with Congress to reduce costs for Medicare recipients and restrain price increases eluded him. His administration did reach a narrower, yet significant agreement with drug companies and insurers to limit out-of-pocket costs for insulin for seniors to $35 a month. A series of regulations to try to curb drug costs remains a work in progress. (11/2)

FiercePharma: As Trump, Biden Face Off, Could Drug Pricing Reforms Await? Experts Are Split, But Pharma Is Watching Closely 
During most political campaigns, the subject of drug pricing is front and center. And in recent years, despite promises by politicians in both parties, efforts to lower U.S. prices have mostly come up short. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, though, the issue of pricing has never taken center stage on the 2020 campaign trail. But thanks to the health and financial challenges affecting millions of Americans, it’s as important as ever. So how can patients and their families expect drug prices to change depending on the results?No matter who wins the White House and Senate, fighting high drug prices is going to be “near the list of the top of the priorities for the government next year,” said David Mitchell, founder of Patients for Affordable Drugs. (Sagonowsky, 11/2)

Also —

The Motley Fool: Is Drug Pricing Backlash A Serious Risk For Big Pharma Stocks?
Drugs in the U.S. are estimated to cost around 56% more on average than in similarly industrialized countries, and Americans are fed up. With prices for life-saving medications rising consistently, it's no surprise that people are irate and desperate for change. But should investors fear that public backlash will harm the share prices of their healthcare investments? The sole way that backlash over drug prices would dent pharma stock prices is from policy change, whether it's through new laws or changes to the U.S. regulatory landscape. So far, political action to address rising drug prices has been scant, though congressional investigations into the causes of price hikes have been ongoing since at least 2015. At the end of September, the U.S. House of Representatives held hearings with testimonies from the CEOs of major pharmaceutical companies, including Bristol Myers Squibb and Amgen. Congressional researchers assembled a substantial set of reports that document how drug price increases were handled at each of the companies whose CEOs were scheduled to testify, and the findings were very illuminating. (Carchidi, 10/31)

Military.com: Tricare Prescription Drug Costs Won’t Rise In 2021 | Military.Com
Some good news for Tricare beneficiaries facing increasing costs in Tricare enrollment fees and premiums, next year: Your prescription drug costs will not change. Under the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, copayments for medications available at retail pharmacies and through the Tricare mail-order system will not increase next year. Under the fee structure, 30-day prescriptions at Tricare network pharmacies for generic drugs will remain at $13, and for brand names, $33. (Kime, 10/28)

The Hill: America Heads Closer To Medical Price Transparency With New Rule 
It is official that health insurance companies across the nation will soon be mandated to disclose the real prices of their covered medical treatments and procedures. The new rule marks a huge step forward in medical price transparency and is estimated to assist over 200 million Americans. Health Secretary Alex Azar said Americans have to be “able to work with their doctor to decide on the health care that makes sense for them” and that “those conversations cannot take place in a shadowy system where prices are hidden.” Americans will garner “vastly more control over their care” with lower costs and more choices promised by the president. (Robert Moffit, 11/2)

Los Angeles Times: While Decrying 'Socialized Medicine,' Trump Spends Billions On COVID Drugs 
On Wednesday, the Trump administration announced it will spend $375 million in taxpayer funds to purchase 300,000 doses of an experimental coronavirus antibody drug from pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co. ... Just a few things to consider here. This pledge of $375 million in government funding comes days after Lilly said it was ending a study of the new drug after “trial data” revealed the drug, bamlanivimab, “is unlikely to help hospitalized COVID-19 patients recover from this advanced stage of their disease.” You read that right. It may not work. (David Lazarus, 10/29)

Omaha World-Herald: Midlands Voices: Nebraska Hospitals Speak Out Against Effort To Undermine Drug-Cost Help 
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to create serious challenges for every Nebraskan in every community across our state. Our safety-net hospitals, with their health care providers, have provided heroic care for Nebraskans stricken by the virus, saved many lives and protected their communities from harm. As COVID-19 hit our communities, we postponed elective procedures to preserve PPE, create bed capacity and ventilator availability. While the resultant lost revenue was significant, our hospitals did the right thing and responded quickly to prepare for those with COVID-19 requiring hospitalization. One way hospitals have been able to weather the serious financial impact of COVID-19 is the 340B Drug Pricing Program. (Harris Frankel and Olivia Little, 10/29)

Forbes: What I Bet You Don’t Know About Prescription Drugs
Over the past year we have probably seen more news articles about prescription drugs than in the previous ten years combined. The reason, of course, is Covid-19. The trouble is that most articles about drugs used to treat Covid tend to raise more questions than they answer. Here are some questions that struck me, reading through daily newspapers. (John C. Goodman, 10/28)

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette: Care At Risk
Arkansas continues to be hammered by covid-19, but it seems the big drug manufacturers, for some ill-conceived reason, have chosen this time to attack a prescription drug program that benefits thousands of low-income Arkansans. Our society demands quality, dependable health care now more than ever. People shouldn’t stress over affording their prescriptions. (LaShannon Spencer, 10/30)

NBC News: 2020 Election Results May Influence Trump's Treatment Of Dr. Fauci. That Matters.
On Sunday, goaded by his supporters and chants of "Fire Fauci," President Donald Trump indicated that he would try to sack Dr. Anthony Fauci after the election. The tension between the White House and many members of its coronavirus task force, particularly Fauci, has become obvious to most Americans over the course of the pandemic. And yet, despite the president's chastisements — not to mention death threats — Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, has managed to remain an effective voice for applying an evidence-based approach in the government's pandemic response. (Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, 11/4)

CNN: Dr. Deborah Birx's Stern Warning Is A Wakeup Call 
Dr. Deborah Birx has a dire warning for Americans: The Covid-19 pandemic is going to get much, much worse before it gets any better. And there's one clear takeaway from her warnings: whatever happens on election day, we're largely on our own. It's up to us to keep the number of Covid-19 infections as low as possible as we head into a difficult season that will last far beyond the results of the 2020 election. (Filipovic, 11/3)

The Washington Post: Days Of Deception Are Over. It Is Time For Truth On The Pandemic. 
The voting is ending but the pandemic is not. In the final days of the campaign, President Trump produced a flurry of deception and denial. Nothing is more important now than getting an honest handle on the runaway virus that is killing more than 800 Americans every day. The nation’s trust must be rebuilt for the difficult battle ahead. (11/3)

Stat: Paying More Attention To Nutrition Can Make America Healthy Again 
Health care and health care policy were centerpieces of the 2020 presidential and congressional campaigns. It’s a shame that neither party focused on the underlying issue: the poor health of the American people, largely attributed to poor nutrition. (Vanita Rahman and Matthew Rees, 11/4)

The Hill: America Heads Closer To Medical Price Transparency With New Rule
It is official that health insurance companies will soon be mandated to disclose the real prices of their covered medical treatments and procedures. The new rule marks a huge step forward in medical price transparency and is estimated to assist over 200 million Americans. (Robert Moffit, 11/2)

Stat: Health Care Needs Ethics-Based Governance Of Artificial Intelligence 
Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform health care. It can enable health care professionals to analyze health data quickly and precisely, and lead to better detection, treatment, and prevention of a multitude of physical and mental health issues. (Satish Gattadahalli, 11/3)

The Washington Post: We’ve Created Cartoonish Narratives About People In The Opposite Party. They’re Not True.
“Polarization takes on a life of its own,” says Dan Vallone, the U.S. director for More in Common and a veteran of the war in Afghanistan. “It fuels its own logic. The more threatening you see the other side, the more you see indicators of the threat.” I’ve spent the past four years learning about our political conflict, talking to groups of people who rarely talk to one other. What I’ve realized is that both sides are motivated by fear. Some of that fear is based in fact. But a startling amount is based on myth. I’ve heard people describe their neighbors and fellow Americans in ways that reveal how little they understand them. Both sides do this, and it is heartbreaking. (Amanda Ripley, 11/2)

The Washington Post: Why I Hope The Supreme Court Sides With Catholic Social Services In Fulton V. Philadelphia
On Wednesday, when the Supreme Court hears our case, the justices will decide not only CSS’s fate but the fate of thousands of children across the country — children just like mine. If CSS’s foster program is closed permanently, I will be devastated. Families could be left, as the city testified, to start over again and find someone else to work with — if that is even possible. For any foster parents who can’t, the city has acknowledged, their foster children “would have to be removed” — no matter the trauma it causes. And faith-based foster care programs will face an existential choice: surrender your beliefs or surrender your ministry. (Toni Simms-Busch, 11/3)

Fox News: Trump Will Change Dems' Racial Disparity Mantra Into Republican Reality Of Racial Opportunity
When the Trump campaign first created the Black Voices for Trump coalition, many naysayers laughed and name called. When I called President Trump, “the first Black president,” many more laughed and name called. When I predicted the Black awakening ahead of the upcoming election, many more laughed and name called. As we enter Election Day 2020, the laughing and name-calling is fading away. My colleagues and I have helped Black Voices for Trump become the largest Trump campaign coalition. (Jack Brewer,

The Wall Street Journal: Britain Locks Down, Again
Less than a year ago Boris Johnson won a historic victory, and an 80-seat parliamentary majority, in the U.K.’s last general election. You might have forgotten, because now Mr. Johnson is lurching from one political misstep to another. The new Covid-19 lockdown he announced over the weekend may be the worst. Everything about this second lockdown is going wrong for Mr. Johnson so far. His announcement was botched—pre-empted by leaks to the media from within his own government, which forced him to unveil the measures days earlier than planned. He looks muddled and indecisive because he is imposing a month-long lockdown when only weeks ago he argued a two-week lockdown would be a “disaster.” (11/3)

The Hill: The Real Coronavirus Risk On Airlines 
Some American airlines have upped the ante in describing how safe it is to fly during the pandemic. United Airlines declared that the coronavirus risk is “nearly nonexistent” even on its full flights, while Southwest Airlines has proclaimed the risk “virtually nonexistent” on its aircraft. The airlines argue that high efficiency particulate air filters and universal masking have reduced transmission risk essentially to zero. To say the least, however, their assertions are highly exaggerated. (Arnold Barnett, 11/3)

The Detroit News: Overprotecting Kids From COVID-19 In School Has Other Dangers
Healthy kids are relegated to the loneliness of their homes and computer screens because dutiful schools are following state and national protocols that don't seem to be based on much of the scientific research around how this illness spread among young kids, especially when those kids are masked and "socially distanced." (Cynthia M. Allen, 11/3)

The Hill: COVID-19 Could Become A Widespread Pre-Existing Condition In A Post-ACA World 
On Nov. 10, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in California v. Texas, a case that asks: When Congress eliminated the penalty for not carrying health insurance, did that make the whole Affordable Care Act (ACA) unconstitutional? In the midst of the pandemic, this question takes on urgency for COVID-19 survivors. (Carter C. Price and Raffaele Vardavas, 11/3)

Hartford Courant: We Flattened The Coronavirus Curve In Connecticut Once. We Now Need To Keep Each Other Safe, Again. 
That night in March before I headed off to cover my first COVID-19 shift in the hospital, I tucked my kids into bed, lingering there a little longer than usual. I had spent that afternoon making sure our family papers were in order, only to make the rude discovery that my life insurance had somehow lapsed. There was no time to get a new policy. Who would offer coverage to a hospitalist worker now anyway? How could I not have noticed that in the blur that is working life with four kids? (Kirsten Ek, 11/3)

The Oklahoman: Oklahoma Leaders Have Embraced Mental Health As Priority Health Concerns
Oklahoma leaders and policymakers have embraced these diseases as priority health concerns, and even during a difficult economic stretch have been finding ways to invest in targeted initiatives that are gaining traction. In fact, Oklahoma has made vast improvements in its statewide behavioral health system in recent years, and we are beginning to realize what that means for us as a state specifically. (Carrie Slatton-Hodges, 11/4)

Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Social Security Crisis Gets Little Attention
American voters occupied themselves during the 2020 presidential and congressional campaign cycle, talking about COVID-19, the Amy Coney Barrett nomination to the Supreme Court, national social justice strife, and an uncertain economy. What didn’t get much attention or discussion is the looming national crisis facing the Social Security system or the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance system as it is formally known. For all their flowery talk of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” Social Security was not the province of our nation’s founders. (Sid Salter, 11/4)