FDA To Covid Vaccine Makers: Target KP.2 Strain In Next Fall’s Shot
June 14, 2024
Morning Briefing
The FDA is advising the makers of covid vaccines that they should update the next round of shots to target KP.2, a strain of JN.1 which was last winter’s dominant variant. Related news is on nasal covid vaccines and shot efficacy.
Morning Briefing for Friday, June 14, 2024
June 14, 2024
Morning Briefing
Abortion pill and IVF access, Medicare Advantage plan ratings, bird flu, covid vaccines, hospital staffing, and more. Plus, weekend reads.
Abortion Pill Ruling Raises Stakes For Election: Do We Want Access Or Not?
June 14, 2024
Morning Briefing
The next president would hold sway over federal agencies with the authority to restrict access to mifepristone. Both sides of the abortion issue are gearing up for future fights.
House Adds Measure To Defense Bill That Would Overturn Abortion Policy
June 14, 2024
Morning Briefing
House Republicans pushed through an addition to the National Defense Authorization Act that would reverse Pentagon policy ensuring abortion access to troops and their families. The move threatens bipartisan support for the overall legislation and risks passage.
Senate Republicans Block Bill To Protect IVF Access Nationwide
June 14, 2024
Morning Briefing
Senate Democrats’ proposed measure failed Thursday in a 48-47 vote. The bill would have provided federal protections for in vitro fertilization access and required insurance coverage for federal employees.
Feds Will Redo This Year’s Medicare Advantage Quality Ratings
June 14, 2024
Morning Briefing
The decision, announced late Thursday, comes in the wake of two court rulings that faulted the agency’s ratings, The Wall Street Journal reported. Also: Legionella bacteria are detected at CMS headquarters near Baltimore.
First Edition: June 14, 2024
June 14, 2024
Morning Briefing
Here are today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
California Lawmakers Preserve Aid to Older, Disabled Immigrants
By Vanessa G. Sánchez
June 14, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Lawmakers passed a budget that rejected Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to save nearly $95 million by eliminating in-home support services for qualifying older, blind, and disabled immigrants lacking legal residency. Advocates say Newsom’s plan would have cost more in the long run. Newsom has not indicated whether he’ll veto.
Indiana Weighs Hospital Monopoly as Officials Elsewhere Scrutinize Similar Deals
By Samantha Liss
June 14, 2024
KFF Health News Original
If Indiana officials approve a proposed hospital merger in western Indiana in the coming months, the state will have its first hospital monopoly created by a “Certificate of Public Advantage.” Other such deals have resulted in government reports documenting diminished care in Tennessee and North Carolina.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': SCOTUS Rejects Abortion Pill Challenge — For Now
June 13, 2024
Podcast
The Supreme Court has dismissed a challenge to the FDA’s approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, ruling unanimously that the anti-abortion doctor group that filed the suit lacked standing. But abortion opponents are expected to pursue other strategies to ban or restrict the medication. Meanwhile, the Biden administration moves to stop the inclusion of medical debt on individual credit reports, and former President Donald Trump tries to claim credit for $35 insulin. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Rachana Pradhan of KFF Health News, and Emmarie Huetteman of KFF Health News join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF president and CEO Drew Altman about KFF’s new “Health Policy 101” primer.
Supreme Court Upholds Access To Abortion Pill
June 13, 2024
Morning Briefing
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Thursday that a group of anti-abortion doctors and activists lacked standing to challenge the FDA’s more than 20-year-old approval of mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortions.
Viewpoints: More Dairy Workers Must Use PPE Against H5N1 Threat; Congress Can Open IVF Accessibility
June 13, 2024
Morning Briefing
Editorial writers discuss H5N1, ‘Right To IVF’, Dr. Fauci, and more.
In Wake Of Change Healthcare Hack, Ransomware Incidents Escalated
June 13, 2024
Morning Briefing
Meanwhile, Ascension said it thinks a recent cyberattack might have compromised patient health information. That attack was enabled by an employee downloading a “malicious file,” the company said. UPMC, Washington Health, Sutter Health, and more are also in the news.
Michigan Insurer Will Curtail Coverage Of Weight Loss Drugs
June 13, 2024
Morning Briefing
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan will drop coverage of GLP-1 obesity drugs like Wegovy from many of its plans, affecting some 10,000 people. The reason: cost. In other news, a research project at the University of California, Berkeley, into the visual effects of psilocybin will include human subjects.
Opioid-Related Deaths Fell 10% In Massachusetts Last Year
June 13, 2024
Morning Briefing
It’s the largest decline in more than a decade, the Boston Globe says, and comes after two years of record death rates. Meanwhile, a new study shows that communities closer to marijuana dispensaries in Oregon have lower opioid prescription rates.
Another 34 Salmonella Cases Related To Cucumbers Reported
June 13, 2024
Morning Briefing
The CDC says 196 people have now been sickened, with cases reported in three new states. Several varieties of cookie cough are also being recalled due to Salmonella contamination — nearly 30,000 cases of Rise Baking Company products are affected.
Research Roundup: Lung Cancer; Sepsis; MIS-C; Chronic Wasting Disease
June 13, 2024
Morning Briefing
Each week, KFF Health News compiles a selection of health policy studies and briefs.
Lawmakers Take FDA, DOJ To Task Over Continued Sale Of Illegal Vapes
June 13, 2024
Morning Briefing
“E-cigarette companies addicted a new generation of children to nicotine, erasing the hard work so many of us undertook to convince kids not to smoke tobacco cigarettes,” Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., said at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Other news looks at gun violence and medical debt.
Southern Baptists Vote No To IVF
June 13, 2024
Morning Briefing
The convention’s vote comes as Texas lawmakers block a Republican amendment to protect the procedure and as Democrats prepare to put forth legislation that would make it a right to have access to in vitro fertilization and other treatments.
Antiviral-Resistant ‘Dual Mutant’ Flu Virus Is Now On US Radar, CDC Says
June 13, 2024
Morning Briefing
Vaccination can still offer protection from these strains of H1N1 influenza, which have sickened two people in the U.S. Meanwhile, a new nasal swab, produced by Roche Diagnostics, will be available to help sick people determine if they have covid, the flu, or RSV.
