KHN Weekly Edition: Sept. 24, 2021

A Daily Pill to Treat Covid Could Be Just Months Away, Scientists Say
By JoNel Aleccia At least three promising antiviral treatments for covid-19 are being tested in clinical trials, with results expected as soon as late fall or winter.

California Moves on Climate Change, but Rejects Aggressive Cuts to Greenhouse Emissions
By Samantha Young Drought, wildfires, extreme heat: California lawmakers cast climate change as the culprit in an emerging series of public health threats, setting aside billions to help communities respond. But they stopped short of more aggressively reducing the state’s share of the greenhouse emissions warming the planet.

Mounting Covid Deaths Fuel School Bus Drivers’ Fears
By Andy Miller and Phil Galewitz Since August, school bus drivers and monitors have died of covid-19 in at least 10 states, including Georgia and Florida. Masks are required on school buses, but enforcing the rules in districts without school mask mandates is especially hard to do.

Low Wages and Pandemic Gut Staffing Support for Those With Disabilities
By Andy Miller Group homes and facilities that serve people with intellectual and developmental disabilities were hurting for staffers before the pandemic. Now the nationwide job crunch and pandemic pressures are making it even worse.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Autumn of Democrats’ Discontent
Congress is back in session with a short time to finish a long to-do list, including keeping the government operating and paying its bills. Hanging in the balance is President Joe Biden’s entire domestic agenda, including major changes proposed for Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, the new Texas abortion law that bans the procedure early in pregnancy is prompting action in Washington. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb about his new book on the covid-19 pandemic.

Democrats Roll the Dice on Sweeping Abortion Rights Bill — Again
By Julie Rovner Capitol Hill lawmakers mobilize to support a bill that would write abortion protections into federal law. Unlikely to succeed, the exercise follows a tactic that proved unsuccessful in 1992.

The Checkup Is in the Mail? Soliciting Letter Carriers to Help Deliver Health Care
By Elisabeth Rosenthal Here’s an out-of-the-box idea: Have letter carriers spend less time delivering mail and take time to perform home visits and basic health checks on the growing population of frail and elderly.

Biosimilar Drugs Are Cheaper Than Biologics. Are They Similar Enough to Switch?
By Michelle Andrews Biologic drugs, made from living organisms, and the cheaper biosimilar drugs that mimic them are more complex than chemical drugs and their generic counterparts. The Food and Drug Administration says biosimilars are as safe and effective as the biologics, and doctors agree — but they are cautious about changing the treatment regimen of patients doing well.

Home Births Gain Popularity in ‘Baby Bust’ Decade
By Phillip Reese Over the past decade, California has seen a sustained rise in the proportion of people who opt to give birth at home or in midwife-run birthing centers rather than in a hospital. Covid has further fueled that trend.

At an Overrun ICU, ‘the Problem Is We Are Running Out of Hallways’
By Nick Ehli Billings Clinic in Montana is past the tipping point as it looks for places to add intensive care unit beds and is on the cusp of rationing care to deal with the surge of sick covid patients in a state with significant anti-vaccination sentiment.

Public Health Experts ‘Flabbergasted’ That Biden Still Hasn’t Picked an FDA Chief
By Rachana Pradhan The Food and Drug Administration has been mired in controversies related to drug approvals and covid vaccines, all without a permanent leader.

Will ‘Dr. Disinformation’ Ever Face the Music?
By Victoria Knight Some of the top spreaders of spurious covid-19 and vaccine information are physicians with active medical licenses. Are medical oversight boards ready to step up to stop them?

California’s Reboot of Troubled Medi-Cal Puts Pressure on Health Plans
By Bernard J. Wolfson Photos by Heidi de Marco The nine commercial insurers in Medi-Cal must reapply by submitting bids for new contracts. The state hopes the process will improve care for low-income residents and tighten accountability, something critics say has been missing.

The Solution to Au Pairs’ Health Coverage Gaps May Be Simple: ACA Plans
By Bryce Covert Private agencies that bring young adults to the U.S. to care for children generally offer basic health insurance, but plans may exclude many types of necessary care. What the agencies might not mention is that au pairs are eligible to enroll in comprehensive coverage on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces and likely qualify for premium subsidies that would make the insurance affordable.

‘An Arm and a Leg’: They Turned Grief Into Action
By Dan Weissmann This episode highlights how New York enacted a charity care law, one of the precursors to the federal provision on charity care in the Affordable Care Act.  

Congress Cites KHN Investigation in Probe of National Academies
By Christina Jewett and JoNel Aleccia The House oversight committee is requesting conflict-of-interest disclosure forms from a National Academies committee studying organ transplants. KHN previously reported on apparent conflicts among members of a committee studying drug waste. 

Ask KHN-PolitiFact: Is My Cloth Mask Good Enough to Face the Delta Variant?
By Amanda Michelle Gomez Public health experts increasingly urge people to upgrade to surgical masks, but also maintain that cloth masks still offer protection.

I Got a ‘Mild’ Breakthrough Case. Here’s What I Wish I’d Known.
By Will Stone I was miserable for five days, am fully recovered a month later and have learned even more about what we do and don’t know about covid now.