Monday, August 5, 2024 - KFF Health News (2024)

South Dakota Searchlight:State Supreme Court Revives Legal Challenge To Abortion-Rights Ballot Measure
An anti-abortion group won the latest round in a court battle over South Dakota’s abortion-rights ballot question. The Life Defense Fund is attempting to disqualify the measure from the Nov. 5 ballot. A circuit court judge in Minnehaha County dismissed the group’s lawsuit last month. But on Friday, the state Supreme Court reversed that decision and sent the case back to the circuit court for further proceedings. (Tupper, 8/2)

Axios:Abortion Ballot Group Alleges Bait-And-Switch By Arkansas Secretary Of State
Both parties in the fight over a proposed constitutional abortion amendment for Arkansas' November ballot filed briefs with the state supreme court Friday. Why it matters: The clock is ticking. Progress to getting the measure on the ballot — or rejecting it with finality — has been stalled for nearly a month while parties argue over paperwork. (Sparkman, 8/2)

Daily Montanan:Gianforte Revives Debunked Abortion Claim For Ballot Initiative
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte claims that Constitutional Initiative 128, which would enshrine reproductive rights and abortion in the state constitution, would allow abortion even until birth. (Ehrlick, 8/2)

Axios:Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson Pivots On Abortion In A New Campaign Ad
North Carolina's Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee for governor, released a TV ad Friday in which he and his wife tearfully describe their decision to get an abortion 30 years ago. Why it matters: Robinson has previously rebuked abortions and expressed support for a ban with no expressions, equating the procedure to "murder" and "genocide." (Sherman, 8/2)

On the lack of women's care —

CNN:Iowa Abortion Ban: State’s Maternity Care Deserts Continue To Grow
Dr. Emily Boevers is the only full-time OGBYN at a critical access hospital in a rural city in Iowa about 10 miles from the farm she grew up on. She’s the only full-time OBGYN in the county, in a state that just banned most abortions. Iowa enacted a law last week banning abortion once fetal cardiac activity can be detected, around six weeks into pregnancy, before many people even know they’re pregnant. The law includes exceptions for rape, incest and medical emergencies that threaten the life of the mother, and fetal abnormalities that are incompatible with life. (Mascarenhas, 8/5)

WFAA:New Mexico Asks Healthcare Workers To Move, Citing Abortion Laws
Advertisem*nts published in the Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram this morning asked North Texas medical professionals to consider moving to nearby New Mexico amid Texas' abortion bans.The ads, which feature an open letter from New Mexico Gov. Lujan Grisham, urge Texas doctors to consider moving to New Mexico if they can not tolerate Texas' restriction on abortion access. Similar ads were published in the Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News and Austin American-Statesman. (Behrndt, 8/4)

In the aftermath of Roe v. Wade, should the Supreme Court be reformed? —

Politico:Neil Gorsuch On Biden Supreme Court Proposals: ‘Be Careful’
Justice Neil Gorsuch is pushing back against President Joe Biden’s recent proposals to restructure the Supreme Court. “I just say: Be careful,” Gorsuch warned in an interview that aired on “Fox News Sunday.” Less than a week after Biden announced he was reversing course and supporting 18-year term limits for justices and legislation to create a binding ethics code for the high court, the first of President Donald Trump’s three Supreme Court appointees encouraged Americans to think long and hard before taking steps that might undermine the independence of the judicial system. (Gerstein, 8/4)

AP:After The End Of Roe, A New Beginning For Maternity Homes
There has been a nationwide expansion of maternity homes in the two years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and the federal right to abortion. “It’s been a significant increase,” said Valerie Harkins, director of the Maternity Housing Coalition, a nonprofit anti-abortion network of 195 maternity homes that has grown 23% since the court’s ruling. There are now more than 450 maternity homes in the U.S., according to Harkins; many of them are faith-based. As abortion restrictions increase, anti-abortion advocates want to open more of these transitional housing facilities, which often have long waitlists. It’s part of what they see as the next step in preventing abortions and providing long-term support for low-income pregnant women and mothers. (Stanley, 8/2)

AP:What Are Maternity Homes? Their Legacy Is Checkered
Maternity homes have seen a resurgence in the two years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Across the country, homes are sprouting up or expanding. Christian anti-abortion advocates want to open more of these transitional housing facilities, believing they are the next step in helping women who carry pregnancies to term. Maternity homes differ from emergency shelters: They typically provide longer-term housing and wraparound services for pregnant women, sometimes for months or even years after birth. Many of them are faith-based, with founders who are Catholic or evangelical. (Stanley, 8/2)

In other reproductive health news —

NBC News:Finding Cheap Birth Control Is Becoming Harder For Many In States With Abortion Bans
A renewed spotlight on protecting access to birth control may not help women who are already struggling to find affordable contraception in some states with the strictest abortion laws. At a family planning clinic in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, that largely helps low-income women, executive director Robin Marty has to make sure the clinic, WAWC Healthcare, has a variety of contraceptives on hand, including pills, patches, implants and IUDs, so patients can get free or low-cost birth control during their appointments. (Sullivan, 8/3)

NBC News:Fentanyl Misuse During Pregnancy Can Cause Severe Birth Defects
The number of babies born with severe birth defects affecting their growth and development is rising, as researchers now have strong evidence that illicit fentanyl is causing the problems. Hospitals have identified at least 30 newborns with what has been identified as “fetal fentanyl syndrome,” NBC News has learned. The babies were born to mothers who said they’d used street drugs, particularly fentanyl, while pregnant. (Edwards, 8/2)

AP:Surgical Castration, 'Don't Say Gay' And Absentee Regulations. New Laws Go Into Effect In Louisiana
A slew of Louisiana legislation, including a first-of-its-kind law that allows judges to impose the punishment of surgical castration for offenders guilty of certain sex crimes against children, went into effect Thursday. Between new Republican Gov. Jeff Landry and a GOP supermajority in the Louisiana Legislature, measures mirroring national conservative priorities had a clear path forward into law this year. From anti-LGBTQ+ bills, tough-on-crime policies and additional regulations on absentee ballots, here is a closer look at some of the legislation that officially took effect Thursday. (Cline, 8/1)

Stat:Medicare Adds Extra Subsidies To Keep Part D Premiums Stable
Medicare officials are offering private insurers big subsidies to keep premiums for prescription-drug plans stable as the elections approach. (Wilkerson, 8/5)

The Wall Street Journal:The One-Hour Nurse Visits That Let Insurers Collect $15 Billion From Medicare
Millions of times each year, insurers send nurses into the homes of Medicare recipients to look them over, run tests and ask dozens of questions.The nurses aren’t there to treat anyone. They are gathering new diagnoses that entitle private Medicare Advantage insurers to collect extra money from the federal government.A Wall Street Journal investigation of insurer home visits found the companies pushed nurses to run screening tests and add unusual diagnoses, turning the roughly hourlong stops in patients’ homes into an extra $1,818 per visit, on average, from 2019 to 2021. Those payments added up to about $15 billion during that period, according to a Journal analysis of Medicare data. (Mathews, Weaver, McGinty and Maremont, 8/4)

Jacobin:How Kamala Harris Ditched Medicare For All
Kamala Harris once championed Medicare for All, calling the US’s current system “inhumane.” As the 2024 election approaches, questions about Harris’s stance on health care have a new urgency. (Barshad, 8/2)

In Medicaid news —

Axios:Conservatives Put A Target On Medicaid Spending
Conservatives are targeting the hundreds of billions of dollars in federal spending that's led to the highest insured rate in U.S. history — and no program is more in the crosshairs than Medicaid. The Affordable Care Act expansion of Medicaid for low-income adults helped drive enrollment to nearly 75 million people as of April. But the safety-net health program now costs more than $800 billion annually, with the federal government footing about 70% of the bill. (Goldman, 8/5)

Denver Post:UCHealth Sues Colorado's State Medicaid Agency Over Classification
UCHealth sued the agency overseeing Medicaid in Colorado on Friday, alleging it mislabeled two of the health network’s hospitals, costing it the fair share of a fee to offset uncompensated care. The lawsuit, filed in Denver District Court, alleges the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing mislabeled two UCHealth facilities as publicly owned, rather than private nonprofit hospitals. (Wingerter, 8/3)

The Wall Street Journal:Ecstasy Drug Trials Missed Suicidal Thoughts Of Subjects
Studies being used to decide whether the U.S. should authorize an ecstasy-based drug for traumatized patients missed serious side effects and were marked by bias. The Food and Drug Administration is expected within days to decide whether to approve the drug, known as MDMA, for treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. Approval would be a milestone in decades of efforts to decriminalize the use of psychedelics. Three people who were subjects in the studies told The Wall Street Journal that their thoughts of suicide worsened during or after testing, but their downward slides weren’t captured in trial data and therefore not reflected in the final results. (Whyte, 8/5)

Politico:How A 3-Star General Came To Believe In Psychedelic Medicine
A 77-year-old retired Marine Corps general has emerged as an unlikely advocate for treating veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder with the psychedelic drug ecstasy. Jack Bergman flew helicopters in Vietnam, earned three stars, and is now in his fourth term representing a northern Michigan district in the House. A Republican, he sees promise in psychedelics that a group of mostly psychiatry professors who advise the FDA didn’t when they recommended the nation’s drug regulator turn down a pharmaceutical company’s application to offer MDMA along with therapy as a PTSD treatment. (Schumaker, 8/5)

Vox:MDMA Is On The Brink Of Becoming Medicine
The psychedelic drug is at a make-or-break point, with the FDA scheduled to make an announcement this month on whether it is ready to move forward as a PTSD treatment. In a three-part series, Today, Explained’s Haleema Shah reports on the promise and precarity of MDMA. Starting with the rogue chemist and therapists in the 1980s who believed it could change psychotherapy, the series traces the decades-long effort to make a dance-floor drug medicinal, journeying through the war on drugs, the rave era, and the psychedelic renaissance to explain how a once-maligned drug became an emblem of healing — and how, no matter what the FDA decides, therapy will never be the same. (Shah, 8/2)

In other news about illegal drug use —

The Boston Globe:Narcan To Combat Overdoses Now Stocked At Some MBTA Stops
There are no simple solutions to the ongoing opioid crisis, which last year claimed more than 2,100 lives in Massachusetts alone. But making sure naloxone is within arms reach is as good a strategy as any, say Harvard students behind an effort to put the overdose reversal drug — commonly referred to by the brand name Narcan and usually given via disposable nasal spray — in as many public places as possible. (Buell, 8/4)

Stat:Politics Is Holding Back The Best Tool For Treating Meth Addiction
When it comes to treating methamphetamine addiction, the use of behavioral incentives is settled science. Offering financial rewards, like gift cards, to people who demonstrate that they’ve reduced or stopped their meth use, is highly effective: Studies show that contingency management, as it is known, can promote abstinence from drugs, increase utilization of health care services, and even reduce high-risk sexual behavior. (Facher, 8/5)

The Washington Post:Chronic Pain Patients’ Mental Health Needs Often Go Unrecognized
People living with chronic pain are more likely than their peers without pain to need mental health treatment, yet less likely to get it, a new analysis suggests. The study, published in the journal PAIN, relied on data from the 2019 National Health Interview Survey, which tracked population-wide health in the United States by surveying a nationally representative sample of about 32,000 adults. (Blakemore, 8/4)

The Washington Post:How Time In Nature Builds Happier, Healthier And More Social Children
Being outdoors goes hand in hand with active play, which can improve physical health and coordination, says Stephen Cook, a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics and a professor of pediatrics at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. It also increases children’s exposure to vitamin D, which the body produces in response to sunlight and which is necessary for growth and bone health. (Serrano, 8/4)

If you need help —

Dial 988 for 24/7 support from the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. It's free and confidential.

Mental health news from California —

San Bernardino Sun:California Needs To Do More To Prevent Suicide Among Native Americans, Tribal Leaders Say
In 2020, Assemblymember James C. Ramos, D-San Bernardino, celebrated the creation of the state’s new Office of Suicide Prevention. Four years later, more work remains to be done, he and other Native American leaders say. Despite making up only 3.6% of Californians in 2020, American Indians or Alaskan Natives made up 9.8% of those who killed themselves that same year, according to the California Department of Public Health. (Yarbough, 8/4)

Bay Area News Group:Santa Clara County: Independent Living Homes For Mental Health Go Unregulated
Santa Clara County officials believe there are at least a hundred privately owned and operated independent living homes tucked in residential neighborhoods throughout San Jose and the county. ... Counties routinely rely on such facilities to house the most vulnerable, but operators are not required to obtain a license. ... Disability rights advocates and local officials say that’s left many tenants languishing in inhospitable conditions and, in some cases, unable to get the care they need. (Varian, 8/4)

The Boston Globe:Risk Of Eastern Equine Encephalitis Raised In Several Communities South Of Boston
State public health officials have raised the risk of contracting Eastern equine encephalitis in five communities south of Boston after mosquito samples collected in Bristol and Plymouth counties tested positive for the virus. The risk was raised to high in Carver and Middleborough and to moderate in Bridgewater, Lakeville, and Rochester, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health said in a statement Friday. (Cabral Leite, 8/3)

Houston Chronicle:Galveston County Urges Caution After Vibrio Bacteria Cases Increase
A public health alert has been issued by the Galveston County Health District warning of an increase in flesh-eating bacteria-related illnesses after surveillance found cases from Galveston Beach.Vibrio infection reports have raised concerns about the health risks associated with exposure to the bacteria, the health district said in a statement.(Johnson, 8/2)

CIDRAP:Washington State Confirms First CWD Case
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) was confirmed yesterday in an adult female white-tailed deer found dead in Spokane, Washington. It's the state's first case of CWD. (Dall, 8/2)

Medical Xpress:WHO Chief Mulls Calling Emergency Committee On Mpox
The World Health Organization's chief said Sunday he was considering convening an expert committee to advise on whether the growing mpox outbreak in Africa should be declared an international emergency. (8/4)

On covid and shingles —

Bloomberg:CVS Covid Test In Short Supply In Some Cities As Covid Cases Rise
Some CVS Health Corp. pharmacies are selling out of at-home Covid tests as a summer surge in infections drives up demand. As of Friday afternoon, CVS’s website showed that all brands of tests were out of stock at many locations in cities including Houston, Austin and Reno, Nevada. (Vahanvaty, 8/2)

Minnesota Public Radio:Minnesota Sees Increase In COVID-19 Hospitalizations, Experts Say They’re Not Surprised
Minnesota has seen an upward trend of hospitalizations from COVID-19, and it’s a little earlier than last year, when hospitalizations started to increase later in the summer toward the end of August, according to APM Research Lab data.Minnesota Department of Health experts still don’t have enough data to find a clear pattern or trend for the virus. Senior epidemiologist Keeley Morris said Minnesota does tend to experience a “summer increase” and that it appeared that the number of cases happened earlier this season. (Yang, 8/2)

KFF Health News:Shingles Vaccine May Stall Dementia, And Vaccine Mandates Save Lives, Studies Suggest
KFF Health News senior fellow and editor-at-large for public health Céline Gounder discussed vaccines in a couple of recent media appearances. (8/3)

The Boston Globe:Steward To Lay Off Nearly 1,250 Workers As It Closes Two Hospitals In Mass.
Steward Health Care has notified the state that nearly 1,250 workers will lose their jobs as thecompany, which is in bankruptcy proceedings, moves to close acute care hospitals in Dorchester and Ayer by the end of the month. The notices said 753 workers at Carney Hospital and 490 workers at Nashoba Valley Medical Center will be out of work. In a statement Saturday, Steward said it is “acutely aware” of the difficulties its “dedicated and hardworking” employees face because of the hospital closures. (Crimaldi, 8/3)

Modern Healthcare:Ascension, Steward Health Shed Hospitals As M&A Picks Up In 2024
Hospital acquisitions are expected to increase in the year's second half, fueled by improving finances at many large health systems. Last week, Universal Health Systems raised its 2024 guidance after rising inpatient and surgery admissions boosted the King of Prussia, Pennsylvania-based for-profit provider's operating income. Also, the 70-hospitalCommunity Health Systemssaid its second-quarter surgery volumes continue to grow. (Kacik, 8/2)

Minnesota Public Radio:Hennepin Healthcare’s New Emergency Chair Says More Diverse Staff And Public Health Approach Helps Patients
Hennepin Healthcare’s emergency department has a new chair, one of the first tribally enrolled people to lead an academic emergency department in the U.S. Dr. Thomas Wyatt (Shawnee/Quapaw) is believed to be the first Indigenous physician to chair an emergency department in Minnesota. (Zurek, 8/3)

Modern Healthcare:Hims & Hers, Teladoc Face High Ad Costs In DTC
The optimism that began the year for many direct-to-consumer telehealth companies has given way to a tougher reality.Businesses that offerdirect-to-consumer telehealth, companies that prescribemedications and other treatments to patients through subscription plans, are struggling withhigh advertising costs and a decline in consumer demand. (Turner, 8/2)

Also —

Modern Healthcare:NCQA Updates HEDIS Measures For 2025
The National Committee for Quality Assurance is emphasizing follow-up care, particularly for hypertension and breast cancer assessments,with its newest measure additions to the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set. Starting next year, NCQA will be adding three new measures on which health plans will need to report. It will also remove four others and make a series of changes to existing measures, the organization announced Thursday. (Devereaux, 8/2)

KFF Health News:Harris’ California Health Care Battles Signal Fights Ahead For Hospitals If She Wins
When Kamala Harris was California’s top prosecutor, she was concerned that mergers among hospitals, physician groups, and health insurers could thwart competition and lead to higher prices for patients. If she wins the presidency in November, she’ll have a wide range of options to blunt monopolistic behavior nationwide. The Democratic vice president could influence the Federal Trade Commission and instruct the departments of Justice and Health and Human Services to prioritize enforcement of antitrust laws and channel resources accordingly. (Wolfson and Galewitz, 8/5)

KFF Health News:‘I Feel Dismissed’: People Experiencing Colorism Say Health System Fails Them
Jonnae Thompson has felt for a long time that her dark brown skin and natural hair have made finding work in Hollywood especially hard. “It’s like this negative connotation,” said the 37-year-old actress, singer, and stand-up comedian, who said she is often asked to audition for villainous roles such as a bully, drug dealer, or pimp. Her quest for more equitable representation on the big screen isn’t just professionally exhausting. Thompson says anxiety about her skin complexion has affected her health. (Giles, 8/5)

Chicago Tribune:Drugstores Tinker With New Looks
America’s drugstores are testing smaller locations and more ways to offer care as price-sensitive shoppers look elsewhere. Customers may see Walgreens stores that are one-fourth the size of a regular location or CVS drugstores with entire primary clinics stuffed inside. If these experiments succeed, the new stores might improve access to care and create a more lasting connection with customers, analysts say. (Murphy, 8/4)

On weight loss drugs —

Reuters:US FDA Says All Doses Of Lilly's Weight-Loss And Diabetes Drug Are Now Available
All doses of Eli Lilly's weight-loss drug Zepbound and diabetes drug Mounjaro are now available, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's updated shortage list showed on Friday. However, the regulator has not yet removed the drugs off its shortage list. (Satija and K, 8/2)

NBC News:Nearly Half Of Online Pharmacies Selling Weight Loss Drugs Are Operating Illegally, Study Finds
Consumers who try to buy popular weight loss drugs online without a prescription risk being scammed or receiving unsafe products, a new study shows. About 42% of online pharmacies that sell semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s anti-obesity drug Wegovy, are illegal, operating without a valid license and selling medications without prescriptions, according to a study published Friday in JAMA Network Open. (Szabo, 8/2)

Crain's Chicago Business:Ozempic, Other GLP-1 Costs Vexing Employers: Gallagher Survey
Cost increases for medical services and specialty drugs, like GLP-1s and other weight loss medications, have U.S. employers looking for ways to change workers' use of healthcare services. In a nationwide survey by insurance broker Gallagher, employers ranked the high costs of medical services and specialty drugs as the top two healthcare cost management challenges. (Asplund, 8/2)

On artificial intelligence —

BBC:'Game Changer' AI Detects Hidden Heart Attack Risk, Say Scientists
Technology that identifies people at risk of a heart attack in the next 10 years has been hailed as "game changing" by scientists. The artificial intelligence (AI) model detects inflammation in the heart that does not show up on CT scans, which involve a combination of X-rays and computer technology. (Da Costa, 8/5)

San Francisco Chronicle:AI Could Be Listening In On Your Next Doctor’s Appointment. Here’s Why
The next time you go to the doctor, don’t be surprised if an artificial intelligence program is listening in and transcribing what you and your doctor say. And if a summary of your next X-ray or MRI scan pops up more quickly than expected in your health app, AI could be the reason why. Technology boosters talk of AI’s potential to improve and accelerate medicine, from constructing new proteins to improving disease diagnostics. (DiFeliciantonio, 8/2)

Stat:Are Many Performance-Enhancing Drugs Actually Placebos?
With Chinese swimmers getting 200 drug tests over 10 days ahead of the Paris Olympics, all eyes are on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Anti-doping is being politicized and some important questions are being asked with this Chinese fiasco. We believe an important question is this: Do performance-enhancing drugs actually work, or are they just placebos? (Jo Morrison and Eric Moore, 8/4)

The New York Times:The Nonsense Over Secondhand Fentanyl Overdoses Must End
For the past few years, over 70,000 overdose deaths in the United States have involved synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl and its analogues. Most families grieving these deaths won’t have a doctor in the family to dispute misconceptions perpetuated by law enforcement, funeral homes and others. How many American families are being unnecessarily deprived of a somber, sacred moment based on stigma and rumors? (John Woller, 8/4)

Stat:The Case Against DEI Considerations In STEMM Grant Funding
Federally funded research in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) is a crown jewel of American higher education that confers enormous benefits upon the U.S. and the world. The integrity of the processes by which funding decisions are made is critically important to the success of the enterprise and its support by the public who pay for this research. (Jeffrey S. Flier, 8/5)

Stat:It's Time To Phase Out 'Dementia' From The Alzheimer's Lexicon
As I roamed the meeting rooms and halls of the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Philadelphia last week, I kept hearing a word — dementia — I’ve come to loathe as someone with early Alzheimer’s. (Mike Zuendel, 8/5)