Weekly Edition: May 7, 2021

This Small Canadian Drugmaker Wants to Make J&J Vaccines for Poor Nations. It Needs More Than a Patent Waiver.
By Sarah Jane Tribble and Arthur Allen All agree that covid vaccines are urgently needed to stop the pandemic, but simply waiving patents fails to provide technological know-how and address supply chain challenges.

For Kurdish Americans in Nashville, a Beloved Leader’s Death Prompts Vaccine Push
By Blake Farmer, Nashville Public Radio Some immigrant groups are closing the ethnic gap on COVID-19 shots. For many Kurdish Americans, their fears about vaccination are entangled with their experiences in refugee camps after fleeing Iraq.

Covid Shot in the Arm Not Enough to Keep Pharmacies in Business
By Markian Hawryluk Pandemic lockdowns exacerbated long-standing economic pressures on pharmacies — and forced many owner-operated shops to evolve or risk closing their doors.

Detecting Rare Blood Clots Was a Win, But US Vaccine Safety System Still Has Gaps
By JoNel Aleccia With some 100 million Americans fully vaccinated, the U.S. is relying on a patchwork network of vaccine monitoring systems that lack the breadth and depth of large, population-based programs, experts said.

CVS and Walgreens Have Wasted More Vaccine Doses Than Most States Combined
By Joshua Eaton and Rachana Pradhan More than 200,000 doses of covid vaccine have gone to waste since December, KHN has learned. Two national pharmacy chains account for most of it.

As Vaccine Demand Slows, Political Differences Go on Display in California Counties
By Anna Almendrala California officials are optimistic they can vaccinate millions more before hitting a hard wall of vaccine resistance.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Sharing Vaccines With the World
The Biden administration is bucking the drug industry and backing a waiver of covid-19 vaccine patent protections to help the rest of the world vaccinate its populations. Here at home, the Food and Drug Administration wants to ban menthol flavorings for cigarettes, setting off a fight with the tobacco industry. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN and Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.

Covid Testing Has Turned Into a Financial Windfall for Hospitals and Other Providers
By Jay Hancock and Hannah Norman Because there are no caps on cost, consumers and insurers often get billed hundreds of dollars for the most reliable PCR covid test. Prices are rising and they can’t fight back.

Covid ‘Doesn’t Discriminate by Age’: Serious Cases on the Rise in Younger Adults
By Will Stone With older adults vaccinated, doctors say a growing share of their covid patients are in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s, as more contagious variants circulate among people who remain unvaccinated.

Hit by Higher Prices for Gear, Doctors and Dentists Want Insurers to Pay
By Rachel Bluth The costs of personal protective equipment and disinfecting offices while seeing fewer patients have some doctors and dentists demanding that insurance companies step up.

As Schools Spend Millions on Air Purifiers, Experts Warn of Overblown Claims and Harm to Children
By Lauren Weber and Christina Jewett A KHN investigation found that more than 2,000 schools have spent millions of dollars for systems, lured by air purifier companies’ claims that experts say mislead or obscure the potential for harm from toxic ozone.

Mental Health Services Wane as Insurers Appear to Skirt Parity Rules During Pandemic
By Emmarie Huetteman A report from the Government Accountability Office paints a picture of an already strained behavioral health system struggling after the pandemic struck to meet the treatment needs of millions of Americans with conditions like alcohol use disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Telemedicine Is a Tool — Not a Replacement for Your Doctor’s Touch
By Elisabeth Rosenthal The pandemic has demonstrated that virtual medicine is great for simple visits. But many new types of telemedicine promoted by start-ups more clearly benefit providers’ and investors’ pockets, rather than yielding more convenient, high-quality and cost-effective medicine for patients.

5 Things to Know About Health Care Changes in Montana
By Matt Volz The covid pandemic drove major changes to Montana health policies, including the permanent expansion of telehealth regulations, a pullback on local public health officials’ authority and the easing of vaccination requirements for workers and students.

In Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta, Millions Face Long Drives to Stroke Care
By Aneri Pattani and Hannah Recht and Jamie Grey, InvestigateTV Across Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta, where death rates from stroke are above the national average, routing patients from rural areas to the right level of care can be an intricate jigsaw puzzle. The closest hospital might not offer the full scope of stroke treatments, but hospitals with more advanced care could be hours away.

Salesforce, Google, Facebook. How Big Tech Undermines California’s Public Health System.
By Angela Hart California Gov. Gavin Newsom has outsourced his way through the covid-19 pandemic, tasking his private-sector allies in Silicon Valley and the health care industry with fundamental public health duties such as testing, tracing and vaccination. Among the losers: the state’s weakened public health system.

Covered California Says Health Insurance Just Got Too Cheap to Ignore
By Bernard J. Wolfson Californians who passed up health coverage in the past may be pleasantly surprised by the lower prices available thanks to the new federal relief act.

‘I Just Feel Like Myself’: A Nonbinary Child in Their Own Words
By Martha Bebinger, WBUR When they were 6, Hallel told their parents they are a boy-girl. At 9, they are helping their parents, grandparents and friends understand what it means to be nonbinary.

Trouble Managing Money May Be an Early Sign of Dementia
By Michelle Andrews Long before they receive a dementia diagnosis, many people begin to mismanage their finances as their memory, organizational skills and self-control falter.

A Primary Care Physician for Every American, Science Panel Urges
By Noam N. Levey It’s time to consider primary care a “common good” akin to public education and shore up the foundation of the pandemic-battered U.S. health system, report says.

Democrats Disagree About How to Spend Potential Prescription Drug Windfall
By Julie Rovner After a year of uncharacteristically being on the same page when it comes to health care, Democratic lawmakers are at loggerheads about what to do next. Most agree the time is ripe to tackle high drug prices. But they divide over whether to take savings from that to move to a ‘Medicare for All’ insurance system, enhance the current Medicare program or strengthen benefits under the Affordable Care Act.

Journalists Track Biden’s First 100 Days
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.