Biden Administration Pushes Insurers For Better Mental Health Coverage
July 25, 2023
Morning Briefing
New regulations, to be proposed today, require insurers to investigate if their customers have equal access to medical and mental health benefits, and to fix imbalances. Also in the news: a suit against Cigna’s claims denials, a grant to help schools remove lead from drinking water, and more.
Lower Covid Vaccine Uptake Linked To Excess Republican Deaths In Florida, Ohio: Study
July 25, 2023
Morning Briefing
Researchers have found that in the months after the covid vaccine was released that Republicans in Florida and Ohio experienced “significantly higher” excess death rates than Democrats, when compared to the rates before vaccines were available.
First Edition: July 25, 2023
July 25, 2023
Morning Briefing
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Hospitals Ask Congress to Delay ACA Medicaid Funding Cuts — For the 14th Time
By Phil Galewitz
July 25, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Congress has until October to avert cuts to a Medicaid program intended to support safety-net hospitals that, in practice, improves the bottom lines of other hospitals, too. Hospital leaders say now is not a good time for the cuts — which lawmakers have so far postponed 13 times.
New Weight Loss Drugs Carry High Price Tags and Lots of Questions for Seniors
By Judith Graham
July 25, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Although nearly 40% of Americans 60 and older are obese, Medicare doesn’t cover weight loss medications. Meanwhile, studies haven’t thoroughly examined new drugs’ impact on older adults.
Viewpoints: Tech Can Help Alleviate Health Care Burnout; Drug Production Needs Manufacturing Changes
July 24, 2023
Morning Briefing
Editorial writers discuss burnout, drug manufacturing, heat deaths and more.
2-Year-Old Killed By Brain-Eating Amoeba In Nevada
July 24, 2023
Morning Briefing
The child died after a visit to a natural hot spring where he could have been exposed to Naegleria fowleri. Also in state health news, a hack in Texas exposed patients’ health information, Medicaid redeterminations, heat-related illnesses, and more.
Gilead Accused Of ‘Slow-Walking’ HIV Therapy For More Profit
July 24, 2023
Morning Briefing
A New York Times report highlights an alleged plan at Gilead to delay the release of a promising new HIV drug to maximize profits. Separately, GSK was given marketing authorization for an HIV prevention drug in Europe. Other industry news concerns cosmetics research, industry deals and more.
Palo Alto VA Medical Center To Become First Full-5G Enabled Hospital In US
July 24, 2023
Morning Briefing
5G could bring many benefits, Axios reports, including enabling more smart technology in and around hospitals. In other research news: statin use for people with HIV; a finger prick that could detect Alzheimer’s; how TV watching as a child could hurt later health; AI; and more.
3 Killed, 5 Sickened Overall In Washington State Listeria Outbreak
July 24, 2023
Morning Briefing
News outlets report on a spate of deaths in Washington over recent months from food-borne listeria infections. Though genetic testing on bacteria from all five patients revealed they were likely infected from the same source, that source remains unidentified.
Morning Briefing for Monday, July 24, 2023
July 24, 2023
Morning Briefing
Pandemic preparedness, drug pricing, Medicaid, maternal deaths, misinformation, medical shortages, HIV, outbreaks, and more are in the news.
Texas Has Worst Maternal Mortality Rate; Births Among Over-30s Slip
July 24, 2023
Morning Briefing
The Houston Chronicle reports on data that show maternal death rates in Texas rose from 10 per 100,000 births in 1999 to nearly 22 deaths in 2019. The Boston Globe, meanwhile, reports that births among people over 30 fell for the first time in 10 years during 2020.
FTC Signals Growing Appetite For Greater PBM Oversight
July 24, 2023
Morning Briefing
The Federal Trade Commission is reviewing “outdated” agency statements and policies when in comes to regulation of pharmacy benefit manager practices. In other drug pricing news, pharmaceutical companies ratchet up their efforts to halt Medicare negotiations, and a bill capping insulin prices hits hurdles in Congress.
White House Opens Permanent Pandemic Preparedness Office
July 24, 2023
Morning Briefing
The Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy launched on Friday with retired Major General Paul Friedrichs at the helm. The new effort will take over the federal response to covid and mpox and look ahead to future health crises.
Drug Supply Chain Mostly Safe As Tornado-Hit Pfizer Plant Is Assessed
July 24, 2023
Morning Briefing
News outlets report that despite concerns over possible disruption to national and global supply chains caused by a tornado impact in North Carolina, the impact on a Pfizer plant that sustained damage was mostly to warehousing, not drug manufacturing facilities. Some drugs are affected but efforts to return production to full speed are already underway.
First Edition: July 24, 2023
July 24, 2023
Morning Briefing
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
FDA Head Robert Califf Battles Misinformation — Sometimes With Fuzzy Facts
By Darius Tahir
July 24, 2023
KFF Health News Original
FDA Commissioner Robert Califf has called misinformation one of the deadliest killers in the United States. As the FDA tries to fight that scourge, it sometimes stumbles.
Everything Old Is New Again? The Latest Round of Health Policy Proposals Reprises Existing Ideas
By Julie Appleby
July 24, 2023
KFF Health News Original
House Republican legislation promises more health insurance options but fewer protections, even as the Biden administration seeks to rein in short-term plans, which were expanded in the Trump era.
Journalists Discuss Abortion Lawsuits and the Pros and Cons of Health Care Sharing Plans
July 22, 2023
KFF Health News Original
KFF Health News 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.
Giant Health System Almost Saved a Community Hospital. Now, It Wants to ‘Extract Every Dollar.’
By Bernard J. Wolfson and Melissa Montalvo, The Fresno Bee
July 21, 2023
KFF Health News Original
A bankruptcy judge will soon decide whether a Central Valley hospital needs to liquidate to repay its creditors. Its largest creditor, St. Agnes Medical Center, is the very entity that backed out of purchasing the Madera Community Hospital last December.