First Edition: Friday, Nov. 8, 2024
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
KFF Health News:California Expanded Medi-Cal To Unauthorized Residents. The Results Are Mixed California this year took the final step in opening Medi-Cal, its Medicaid program, to every eligible resident regardless of immigration status. It's a significant expansion for an already massive safety net program. Medi-Cal's annual spending now stands at $157 billion, serving about 15 million low-income residents, more than a third of Californians. Of those, about 1.5 million are immigrants living in the U.S. without authorization, costing an estimated $6.4 billion, according to the Department of Health Care Services. (Sánchez, 11/8)
KFF Health News:Watchdog Calls For Tighter Scrutiny Of Medicare Advantage Home Visits A new federal watchdog audit is ratcheting up pressure on government officials to crack down on billions of dollars in overcharges linked to Medicare Advantage home visits. But so far, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has rejected a recommendation from the Health and Human Services Inspector General to limit payments stemming from house visits that don't result in any medical treatment — a potential red flag that may signal overcharges. (Schulte, 11/8)
CNN:Bird Flu Infections In Dairy Workers Went Undetected, New Study Shows Seven percent of tested workers on dairy farms where cows were infected with bird flu caught the virus themselves, according to a new study. The study proved that more workers were catching bird flu after contact with infected animals than the numbers reflected in official counts, something veterinarians working these farms had warned about since the outbreak began in March. The research was led by disease detectives at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in partnership with state health departments in Colorado and Michigan. It was published Thursday in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. (Goodman, 11/7)
AP:CDC Calls For Expanded Testing For Bird Flu After Blood Tests Reveal More Farmworker Infections Federal health officials on Thursday called for more testing of employees on farms with bird flu after a new study showed that some dairy workers had signs of infection, even when they didn't report feeling sick. Farmworkers in close contact with infected animals should be tested and offered treatment even if they show no symptoms, said Dr. Nirav Shah, principal director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Aleccia, 11/7)
The New York Times:Trump Names Susie Wiles As His White House Chief Of Staff President-elect Donald J. Trump on Thursday named Susie Wiles, the Florida strategist who has run his political operation for nearly four years, as his White House chief of staff for his incoming administration. It is the first job announcement Mr. Trump has made since winning the election on Tuesday. His decision to choose someone in his inner circle is a sharp contrast to his choice after first winning the presidency in 2016. Her appointment will help move along the transition process. In the coming days, Mr. Trump is set to begin reviewing names for the most important jobs in government, including cabinet posts. (Haberman and Swan, 11/7)
The New York Times:Trump Is On Track To Win The Popular Vote President-elect Donald J. Trump has already sealed a comfortable majority in the Electoral College. But he is also on course to do something he didn't do in his first successful campaign for the White House: win the popular vote. The latest count, as of Thursday morning, suggests Mr. Trump will win more votes nationally in the presidential election than his defeated rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, making him the first Republican to prevail in the popular vote in 20 years. (Bigg, 11/7)
NBC News:Millions At Risk Of Losing Health Insurance After Trump's Victory Millions of Americans risk losing subsidies next year that help them pay for health insurance following President-elect Donald Trump's election win and Republicans' victory in the Senate. The subsidies — which expire at the end of 2025 — came out of the 2021 American Rescue Plan, and increased the amount of assistance available to people who want to buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. The American Rescue Plan also broadened the number of people eligible for subsidies, extending them to many in the middle class. (Lovelace Jr., 11/7)
The New York Times:Will Trump Have A New Opening To Repeal The ACA? The fact that Republicans have gained control of the Senate — and possibly the House — could give Mr. Trump an opening to try and transform the 2010 health law and remake the nation's health care system. Key to that strategy, health policy experts said, is simple inaction. Major subsidies that lawmakers approved during President Biden's term that have lowered the cost of plans are set to expire next year. Republicans could allow them to sunset, a move that could deprive roughly 20 million Americans of extra financial help for coverage on the Affordable Care Act's marketplaces. (Weiland, 11/7)
Stat:Trump Policies On Health, Science: Some Scientists Fear 'All-Out War' STAT asked experts in heart disease, health equity, epidemiology, and more about their thoughts on how the new administration may affect the future of health and scientific research. (Cooney, Cueto, McFarling, Oza and Wosen, 11/8)
Stat:How Trump And RFK Jr. Might Undermine Vaccines After Donald Trump's victory on Tuesday, longtime vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is poised to have tremendous influence over the way the United States regulates and distributes its vaccines. (Lawrence and Broderick, 11/8)
Reuters:Africa Health Body Calls On Trump To Honour US Vaccine Pledges Africa's main public health body said it is seeking assurances that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's administration will provide the funding and mpox vaccines promised by his predecessor. In September, U.S. President Joe Biden pledged $500 million and 1 million vaccine doses to an mpox response plan led by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, which is battling an mpox outbreak on the continent. Africa CDC Director John Kaseya said he would push the new administration to honour existing promises. "If they don't do that, the mistrust that we have today in Africa will lead to a major issue between the U.S. and the continent." (11/7)
NBC News:Will Fluoride Go Away When Trump Takes Office? Fluoride — long heralded as one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century — could be removed from public water systems under the influence of one of President-elect Donald Trump's advisers, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy — who has no training in either medicine or dentistry — called fluoride "an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss" and other problems on the social media platform X. "I think fluoride is on the way out," Kennedy said Wednesday on MSNBC. "The faster that it goes out, the better." (Edwards, 11/7)
San Francisco Chronicle:Fluoride In Water: An S.F. Judge Has Already Ruled On Removing It Opponents of adding fluoride to drinking water, where it can protect teeth but may also pose a threat to the mental health of newborn children, scored a recent victory in a San Francisco federal court. Now they may have gained a pair of unlikely allies — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and President-elect Donald Trump. (Egelko, 11/7)
Stat:Trump Policy On Health Care AI Likely To Diverge From Biden's A lot has happened with artificial intelligence since President-elect Donald Trump was last in the White House. Nudged into action by the advent of generative AI, the Biden administration has spent the past year rushing to set up guardrails for the technology's use in health care. It reorganized its health agencies, launched a task force to consider regulatory changes, and promised to set up mechanisms to monitor safety risks and potential bias. (Ross and Aguilar, 11/8)
Roll Call:A Look At The Health Priorities Of Incoming Senate Democrats Republicans took control of the Senate with Tuesday's elections, but a handful of new Democrats will also be going to the Senate in January. The tight races between Republican Kari Lake and Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego in Arizona and between Democrat Jacky Rosen and Republican Sam Brown in Nevada had not yet been called by Thursday evening. Here's a look at the health care portfolios of incoming Democratic senators so far. (Hellmann, 11/7)
The Washington Post:Man Sentenced In Leak Of Justice Ginsburg's Medical Records A former medical worker who was convicted of illegally accessing Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's hospital records as she underwent cancer treatment in 2019 was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison after a judge excoriated his "truly despicable conduct" and "stunning lack of empathy." Trent J. Russell admitted he was active on 4chan, an online message board known for trafficking in dark conspiracy theories. A screenshot showing the dates and types of cancer treatments Ginsburg received at George Washington University Hospital in the final years of her life appeared on the message board shortly after Russell accessed the same data. (Rizzo, 11/7)
NBC News:FDA Proposes Ending Use Of Decongestant Found In Many Cold, Allergy Medicines The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday proposed ending the use of a common ingredient found in many popular over-the-counter cold and allergy medications. The agency said an extensive review of available data determined that the ingredient, oral phenylephrine, doesn't actually relieve nasal congestion. It comes more than a year after advisors to the FDA unanimously reached the same conclusion. (Kim Constantino, CNBC, 11/7)
The Washington Post:Dozens Of Monkeys On The Loose After Escaping Research Center Police in South Carolina are on the hunt for 43 rhesus monkeys that escaped from a research facility on Wednesday. The "skittish" animals, belonging to local primate research company Alpha Genesis, have been wandering the Yemassee area for about a day, according to a Thursday press release from the Yemassee Police Department. ... The escaped rhesus monkeys are all young and female, weighing about six or seven pounds each. Because of their age and size, the monkeys have not yet been tested on and carry no disease, according to police. The Alpha Genesis facility breeds cynomolgus, rhesus and capuchin monkeys for government, university and private industry research projects. It has worked on vaccine development for decades, including projects related to the coronavirus vaccine. (Lee, 11/7)
Becker's Hospital Review:North Carolina Hospital Files For Bankruptcy Plymouth, N.C.-based Washington Regional Medical Center sought Chapter 11 protection Oct. 29 to help the hospital restructure its finances while ensuring care to patients. The 25-bed critical access hospital will remain open following the filing with daily operations remaining uninterrupted and no effect on employees and patients, according to a news release shared with Becker's. (Ashley, 11/7)
Becker's Hospital Review:MaineHealth Hospital To End Labor And Delivery Services Belfast-based MaineHealth Waldo Hospital has shared plans to restructure its obstetrics and end its labor and delivery services, effective April 1, 2025, according to a Nov. 7 news release shared with Becker's. The hospital, which is part of Portland-based MaineHealth, will still offer and expand comprehensive pre- and post-natal care and partner with MaineHealth Pen Bay Hospital and other local hospitals for labor and delivery services. (Ashley, 11/7)
Modern Healthcare:Aetna, OptumHealth Settle 'Dummy Code' Class-Action Lawsuit Aetna and OptumHealth have agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging they used a "dummy code" to inflate workers' medical expenses. A settlement would put to rest a nine-year-long dispute between the companies and plaintiff Sandra Peters, who alleges Aetna and OptumHealth failed to uphold their fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, which governs large-group health plans such as employee benefits. (Tepper, 11/7)
Modern Healthcare:Enhabit To Downsize Following Home Health Rule For 2025 Home care and hospice provider Enhabit said it plans to close or consolidate eight to 10 of its branches as a result of financial challenges caused in part by a recent home health rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The company, which is lowering its guidance for full-year 2024 net service revenue, said its primary focus now is to grow cash flow and pay down debt. Enhabit also said it will try to consolidate facilities rather than close them, but will evaluate each of its branches based on their performance. (DeSilva, 11/7)
Modern Healthcare:HATCo, Summa Health Sign Definitive Agreement In $485M Deal General Catalyst's Health Transformation Company has signed a definitive agreement to buy Summa Health for $485 million, the organizations said Thursday. The purchase price combined with Summa's current cash will allow the Akron, Ohio-based health system to pay off its debt, which is around $850 million. With the leftover money, Summa Health CEO Dr. Cliff Deveny said the company will launch a separately governed community foundation to support healthcare in the surrounding region. (Perna, 11/7)
Modern Healthcare:Private Equity Shifts Investments From Providers To IT: Pitchbook Private equity firms are shifting their focus from providers to healthcare information technology and pharmaceutical services. State and federal regulatory scrutiny has deterred private equity investment in healthcare providers, PitchBook analysts said in the company's latest healthcare services report. But regulatory oversight of healthcare-related private equity deals has slightly cooled as certain state bills stalled in the 2024 legislative session, and the report says analysts expect more private equity activity through the rest of the year. (Kacik, 11/7)
ospitals Saw Declines In Healthcare-Associated Infections Last Year A progress report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that rates of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) at US hospitals fell in 2023. The declines, primarily seen in acute-care hospitals, reflect a continuing downward trend in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with some HAIs falling below pre-pandemic levels. (Dall, 11/7)
Military.com:VA Doctor Found Guilty Of Sexually Assaulting Patient At Georgia Facility A jury found a primary care doctor at the Atlanta VA Medical Center in Decatur, Georgia, guilty of sexually assaulting a patient during a routine medical exam, the Justice Department announced Wednesday. Dr. Rajesh Motibhai Patel, 69, of Lilburn, Georgia, had been charged with sexually assaulting four female patients during appointments that took place between 2019 and 2020. (Kime, 11/7)
AP:The Colorado Funeral Home Owners Accused Of Letting 190 Bodies Decompose Are Set To Plead Guilty The husband and wife owners of a funeral home accused of piling 190 bodies inside a room-temperature building in Colorado while giving grieving families fake ashes were expected to plead guilty Friday, charged with hundreds of counts of corpse abuse. The discovery last year shattered families' grieving processes. The milestones of mourning — the "goodbye" as the ashes were picked up by the wind, the relief that they had fulfilled their loved ones' wishes, the moments cradling the urn and musing on memories — now felt hollow. (Bedayn, 11/8)
The Boston Globe:Medications, Treatments, For Kids In DCF Care Was Poorly Managed Massachusetts' child protection agency failed to properly manage the care of children in its custody with serious mental health conditions, the state auditor found, a systemic oversight that included missed or delayed therapy sessions for 35 percent of children whose cases were reviewed, and several others who received antipsychotic medications without proper authorization. Virtually all the Department of Children and Families cases examined in the audit released Thursday had information missing from their files, making it more difficult for doctors and nurses to safely and effectively treat those children. (Laughlin, 11/7)
The Hill:New Federal Partnership Announced To Target Food Insecurity Among College Students The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Education announced an agreement aimed at addressing food insecurity among college students in a press release issued Thursday. The partnership between the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service and the Education Department's office of Federal Student Aid attempts to increase awareness among college students of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides assistance to low-income individuals and families to purchase food. (Ventura, 11/7)
The Texas Tribune:Texas A&M Cuts LGBTQ+ Studies Minor, Overruling Faculty The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents on Thursday unanimously directed its flagship university to disband an LGBTQ+ studies minor, months after conservative lawmakers and websites accused the program of promoting "liberal indoctrination" on campus. (McGee, 11/7)
CBS News:Residents Ask Denver Health To Relocate Program That Pays Drug Users Cash To Take HIV Tests, Surveys Homelessness, street crime and vandalism are nothing new along the Broadway corridor south of downtown Denver. But Chris Specht, who owns a condominium at the Broadway Flats building at 2nd and Broadway, contends Denver Health is aggravating the problems by operating a community site in Specht's building that pays people who inject drugs to come into the building for HIV testing and to take a survey about their lifestyles. (Maass, 11/7)
The Seattle Times:Influx Of Mobile Methadone Clinics Brings Treatment To The Streets There's a small line forming outside a plain white box truck in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood. A half-dozen folks are waiting on a gusty October morning for their turn to go inside and receive red liquid in a cup, medication that will help them get through the next 24 hours without opioids. Or if they do use, to keep them alive. It's life-changing for some, this treatment program on wheels, and it has faced obstacles in the past, but fentanyl's grip on Washington has given methadone distribution more urgency. (Patrick, 11/7)
CBS News:UC Davis Study Finds Narcan Improves Survival Rates Of Overdose Patients In Cardiac Arrest A study into Narcan could shape how first responders treat overdose patients. First responders across America, and in Northern California, continue to deal with a deluge of opioid overdose cases. How to treat some of them is still evolving. "Opiate overdose usually leads to a problem with your breathing, so you don't breathe as well," Dr. David Dillon with UC Davis Health said. "And if you can catch it where your heart is still beating but you're not breathing, Narcan is the antidote." (11/7)
Axios:U.S. Diabetes Burden Grew Since 2000 Roughly 1 in 6 American adults are thought to have diabetes, including undiagnosed cases, up from 10% at the turn of the century, new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show. Even as the U.S. pays more attention to metabolic diseases and is consumed with diabetes and anti-obesity drugs, the burden of the disease is growing and complicating care in an already taxed health care system. (Reed, 11/7)
This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations..
