FDA Experts Are Still Puzzled Over Who Should Get Which Covid Shots and When
By Arthur Allen
January 27, 2023
KFF Health News Original
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.
Montana Pharmacists May Get More Power to Prescribe
By Keely Larson
January 27, 2023
KFF Health News Original
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.
California’s Resolve Questioned After It Grants Medi-Cal Contract Concessions
By Bernard J. Wolfson and Samantha Young
January 27, 2023
KFF Health News Original
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.
Did Your Health Plan Rip Off Medicare?
By Fred Schulte
January 27, 2023
KFF Health News Original
KHN has released never-before-seen details of federal audits as the government weighs action against dozens of Medicare Advantage plans.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Part I: The State of the Abortion Debate 50 Years After ‘Roe’
By Terry Byrne
January 26, 2023
Podcast
In Part I of this special two-part episode, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Sarah Varney of KHN join KHN chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss how the abortion debate has evolved since the Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to abortion in 2022, and what might be the flashpoints for 2023. Also in this episode, Rovner interviews Elizabeth Nash of the Guttmacher Institute, about changing reproductive policies in the states.
In North Carolina, Elsewhere, GOP Lawmakers Target Trans Health Care
January 26, 2023
Morning Briefing
Reuters and AP focus on a case concerning North Carolina’s health insurance plan for state workers, challenging whether the state can exclude coverage for gender reassignment surgery and hormone therapy. The New York Times explains other legal efforts to regulate trans people’s lives.
Study Explains Genes May Have Role In Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
January 26, 2023
Morning Briefing
In other news, autism rates have tripled among children in the New York and New Jersey metropolitan area from 2000 to 2016 according to a new study. While genetic and environmental factors play a part, better diagnosis techniques are key, NBC News explains. Also: memory storage research and more.
Juul Trying To Sell Itself To Large Tobacco Companies
January 26, 2023
Morning Briefing
While the Wall Street Journal reports that the e-cigarette maker is seeking a potential sale, investment, or partnership with Philip Morris International Inc., Japan Tobacco Group, or Altria Group Inc., the Daily Mail reports on study results that show vaping causes DNA damage.
Research Roundup: H. Pylori; Covid Vaccine; Prostate Cancer; CPR
January 26, 2023
Morning Briefing
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
Morning Briefing for Thursday, January 26, 2023
January 26, 2023
Morning Briefing
Today’s roundup covers record ACA signups, the FDA, abortion pills, covid boosters, mass attacks, health worker shortages, vaping, and more.
US Suffering ‘Dire’ Shortage Of Infectious Disease Specialists
January 26, 2023
Morning Briefing
Fox News reports that the Infectious Diseases Society of America warns the staffing shortage is caused by “complex” reasons, including new doctors not showing a strong interest in the field. Meanwhile, in Texas, doctors successfully separated conjoined twins after an 11-hour operation.
Secret Service Traces Half Of Mass Attacks To Personal Or Work Disputes
January 26, 2023
Morning Briefing
A new Secret Service report aimed at preventing mass-violence events examined incidents from 2016 to 2020. Researchers found that three-quarters of perpetrators behaved or communicated in a way that raised concerns for others ahead the attack.
Federal Watchdog Finds Errors In NIH Tracking Of Group Studying Covid
January 26, 2023
Morning Briefing
The New York Times says an internal watchdog found “significant errors” in the National Institutes of Health’s oversight of grants to a nonprofit group researching covid. Meanwhile, the San Francisco Chronicle notes that Georgia Republican and covid conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene will join the panel investigating the government’s handling of the pandemic.
Updated Covid Boosters Protect Effectively Against XBB.1.5 Strain: CDC
January 26, 2023
Morning Briefing
Early data published by the CDC Wednesday offers evidence that Moderna and Pfizer’s updated bivalent booster shots — tailored last summer for the omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 omicron strains that were predominant at the time — remains protective against the XBB.1.5 subvariant that is currently spreading.
Lawsuits Target States That Restrict Abortion Pill Sales, Postal Delivery
January 26, 2023
Morning Briefing
News outlets report on a set of lawsuits that hinge on the difference between federal and state legal positions on abortion pills, challenging restrictive state laws limiting access to the drugs. Conversely, a third case from a conservative group is aimed at undoing the FDA’s approval of mifepristone itself.
FDA Official In Charge Of Food Safety Resigns
January 26, 2023
Morning Briefing
Frank Yiannas, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for the office of food policy and response, will step down next month. On the heels of the baby formula shortage, Yiannas in his resignation letter called for a new, “fully empowered” deputy commissioner for foods position, in order to avoid such future crises.
ACA Enrollment Hits Record High Of 16.3 Million Insured
January 26, 2023
Morning Briefing
HHS released final numbers Wednesday from the 2023 open enrollment period for the federal exchange. 3 million of those who signed up this year are new to Obamacare. A few state exchanges remain open until the end of the month.
First Edition: Jan. 26, 2023
January 26, 2023
Morning Briefing
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Florida Gov. DeSantis Falsely Claims Bivalent Booster Boosts Chances of Covid Infection
By Yacob Reyes, PolitiFact
January 26, 2023
KFF Health News Original
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.