KHN Weekly Edition: Jan. 27, 2023

Did Your Health Plan Rip Off Medicare?
By Fred Schulte KHN has released never-before-seen details of federal audits as the government weighs action against dozens of Medicare Advantage plans.

California’s Resolve Questioned After It Grants Medi-Cal Contract Concessions
By Bernard J. Wolfson and Samantha Young After the Department of Health Care Services canceled Medi-Cal contract awards under pressure from major insurers, some consumer advocates question the administration’s willpower to improve care in the safety-net program.

FDA Experts Are Still Puzzled Over Who Should Get Which Covid Shots and When
By Arthur Allen A single booster seems to prevent death and hospitalization in most people, but protection from the current vaccines wanes within months. FDA experts say they need to know more from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to decide the best long-term strategy.

More Californians Are Dying at Home. Another Covid ‘New Normal’?
By Phillip Reese The proportion of Californians dying at home, rather than in a hospital or nursing home, accelerated during the pandemic, a trend that has outlasted the rigid lockdowns linked to the initial shift.

Florida Gov. DeSantis Falsely Claims Bivalent Booster Boosts Chances of Covid Infection
By Yacob Reyes, PolitiFact Experts say the Florida governor's conclusion could not be drawn from the study he cited, adding that the research focused on health care workers, who are likelier to be exposed to covid and more likely to be vaccinated. Those findings should not be applied to the general public.

Wave of Rural Nursing Home Closures Grows Amid Staffing Crunch
By Tony Leys Many small-town care facilities that remain open are limiting admissions, citing a lack of staff, while a wave of others shutter. That means more patients are marooned in hospitals or placed far away from their families.

Unmet Needs: Critics Cite Failures in Health Care for Vulnerable Foster Children
By Andy Miller and Rebecca Grapevine More states are moving to specialized managed-care contracts solely to handle medical and behavioral services for foster kids. But child advocates, foster parents, and even state officials say these and other care arrangements are shortchanging foster kids’ health needs.

Latino Teens Are Deputized as Health Educators to Sway the Unvaccinated
By Heidi de Marco Some community health groups are training Latino teens to conduct outreach and education, particularly in places where covid vaccine fears linger.

Transgender People in Rural America Struggle to Find Doctors Willing or Able to Provide Care
By Helen Santoro Many health professionals in rural areas don’t know how to provide gender-affirming care, leaving transgender patients with few options.

Montana Pharmacists May Get More Power to Prescribe
By Keely Larson Supporters of a proposed law say it would fill a health provider gap in rural areas, while doctors worry it will give pharmacists power outside the scope of their education.

As States Seek to Limit Abortions, Montana Wants to Redefine What Is Medically Necessary
By Katheryn Houghton Montana officials are looking to tighten rules around medically necessary abortions for those who use Medicaid as their health insurance. Reproductive health advocates and Democratic lawmakers have said the move is part of a broader agenda to whittle away access to the procedure.

Abortion Debate Ramps Up in States as Congress Deadlocks
By Julie Rovner Abortion is a top issue for state lawmakers meeting for their first full sessions since Roe v. Wade was overturned.

Watch: Fifty Years after ‘Roe,’ Abortion Rights Battle Shifts to the States
By Sarah Varney On the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we asked people across the U.S. what the abrupt upending of abortion rights has meant to them, and we lay out the stakes in the battles ahead.

Watch: Anti-Abortion Activists Rally in DC in a Watershed Moment for Their Movement
By Sarah Varney Friday’s annual March for Life rally in Washington, D.C., held for the first time since Roe v. Wade was overturned, signals a new chapter in the anti-abortion movement.

Journalists Follow Up on Radon Mine Health Spas, Open Enrollment, and Health Fraud
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.