Eli Lilly To Offer Lower Cost, Low-Dose Zepbound; It Comes With Conditions
August 27, 2024
Morning Briefing
Patients will have to fill their own vials before they give themselves shots. They also will have to order supplies directly from the company, and they’ll have to pay in cash. Separately, researchers find GLP-1 drugs may work differently than they thought.
Planned Parenthood Files Complaints Against Missouri’s Medicaid Law
August 27, 2024
Morning Briefing
Missouri Planned Parenthoods are challenging a new law in Missouri that bans any funding — including for preventive care like cancer screenings or pap smears — from going to the reproductive health care organization. Related news comes from Oklahoma, Arkansas, and elsewhere.
2,325 People Died From Heat Last Year, Mostly In The Desert Southwest
August 27, 2024
Morning Briefing
The lead author of the report, which was published Monday in JAMA, told USA Today that the deaths were overwhelmingly concentrated in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Texas. The death toll is likely an undercount.
First Edition: Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024
August 27, 2024
Morning Briefing
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations. Note to readers: KFF Health News’ First Edition will not be published for the rest of the week. Look for it again in your inbox on Tuesday. Have a nice Labor Day weekend!
Public Voices Often Ignored in States’ Opioid Settlement Money Decisions
By Aneri Pattani Henry Larweh Ed Mahon, Spotlight PA
August 27, 2024
KFF Health News Original
In many places, victims of the opioid epidemic are silenced in decision-making about how to use opioid settlement money, a first-of-its-kind survey conducted by KFF Health News and Spotlight PA found.
An Arm and a Leg: Don’t Get ‘Bullied’ Into Paying What You Don’t Owe
By Dan Weissmann
August 27, 2024
Podcast
In this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann speaks with Caitlyn Mai, a woman in Oklahoma who received a six-figure bill for a surgery her insurance promised to cover. This episode is an extended version of the “Bill of the Month” series, produced in partnership with NPR.
With Only Gloves To Protect Them, Farmworkers Say They Tend Sick Cows Amid Bird Flu
By Rae Ellen Bichell
August 27, 2024
KFF Health News Original
A Colorado picnic celebrated Farmworker Appreciation Day. But some dairy workers there said they aren’t feeling appreciated: They don’t have basic protective gear, even as bird flu spreads through area farms.
Feds Killed Plan To Curb Medicare Advantage Overbilling After Industry Opposition
By Fred Schulte
August 27, 2024
KFF Health News Original
A private 2014 decision by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services faces new scrutiny in a multibillion-dollar Justice Department fraud case against UnitedHealth Group.
Trabajadores dicen que cuidan a vacas enfermas en medio de la gripe aviar usando solo guantes
By Rae Ellen Bichell
August 27, 2024
KFF Health News Original
En Colorado, los departamentos de Salud y Agricultura dan equipos de protección gratis. Pero dicen que hasta ahora solo el 13% de los productores en tambos los han solicitado.
Trump-Vance Ticket Expresses A More Moderate Note On Abortion
August 26, 2024
Morning Briefing
While the Republican presidential nominee pledges to be “great for women and their reproductive rights,” his running mate indicates a federal ban on abortion isn’t their goal. Democrats are skeptical: “American women are not stupid,” said Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Harris-Walz Platform Includes Effort To Wipe Out Americans’ Medical Debt
August 26, 2024
Morning Briefing
Details about how the plan would work are few, and bringing it to fruition would require Congress and the states to work together. Also in the news from the Capitol: FDA delves deeper into Ecstasy studies; a judge blocks an EPA pollution effort; and more.
J&J’s New Move Against Drug Discounts Is Charging Hospitals Full Price
August 26, 2024
Morning Briefing
The Wall Street Journal reports Johnson & Johnson informed certain hospitals that they’ll now have to pay full price for two drugs that were previously sold at discount rates — then claim a rebate. But the government is already said to have described the plan as “inconsistent” with the law.
Researchers Raise Alarm Over Levels Of Plastic Found In Human Brains
August 26, 2024
Morning Briefing
Samples of brain tissue collected early this year contain more shards of plastic than samples collected eight years ago, a study found. Also in the news: a possible microbiota-based treatment for recurrent C Diff.
Steward Health Care Closures To Hit Over 900 Hospital Staff In Ohio
August 26, 2024
Morning Briefing
In other news from across the country, UNC Health tries a new “transparent” PBM system for employers; essential health information sharing in North Carolina through barbershops and beauty salons; gun laws in California; and more.
Walmart Great Value Apple Juice Recalled For High Arsenic Levels
August 26, 2024
Morning Briefing
Also in public health news: a diarrhea-causing parasite in Yellowstone County, Montana; a wildlife biologist contracts tularemia; the challenges of tracking heat-related deaths; and more.
Morning Briefing for Monday, August 26, 2024
August 26, 2024
Morning Briefing
New covid shot, Trump vs. Harris on drug prices, abortion law, West Nile virus, medical debt, plastics found in the brain, and more
Fauci Still Recuperating After Bout With West Nile Virus
August 26, 2024
Morning Briefing
“By far, this is the worst I’ve ever been with an illness,” the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said. Separately, some Massachusetts communities are closing outdoor areas after dusk in hopes of halting the spread of eastern equine encephalitis.
Fresh Round Of Free Covid Tests, Treatments Coming This Fall
August 26, 2024
Morning Briefing
In response to the latest covid wave, the federal government will reopen in late September its order-by-mail program for four free covid tests. Supplies of the antiviral drug Paxlovid also will be available at no charge for people with Medicare or Medicaid as well as those who are uninsured.
