Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
California To Drop Health Insurance Of DACA Recipients Due To Policy Changes
More than 2,300 Californians enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program will lose their health insurance next month due to a change in federal policy, state officials announced Thursday. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently revised its rules to exclude DACA recipients from the definition of 鈥渓awfully present鈥 under the Affordable Care Act. As a result, they are no longer eligible for coverage through federal health insurance programs. (Vaziri, 7/31)
Sierra Freeman has a rare genetic disorder that makes her prone to aneurysms and has sent her to the hospital repeatedly. In July 2022, the Stockton resident had surgeries to repair an aortic tear and a ruptured blood vessel in her brain and spent two months at Stanford Medical Center, which hosts one of the leading programs in connective tissue disorders like the one Freeman has. Over the next 18 months, she racked up more than $4 million in medical bills, most of which was paid through her employee health insurance. (Ibarra, 7/31)
In other health news from across the U.S. 鈥
Air quality alerts cover much of Minnesota, all of Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and portions of surrounding states on Thursday as the latest round of wildfire smoke out of Canada wafts over the region. Both Minneapolis and Chicago made it into the top three large cities for worst air quality on the globe, according to IQAir. Detroit wasn鈥檛 far behind at number six. (Livingston, 7/31)
In its weekly update yesterday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the United States has 14 more measles cases, raising the national total to 1,333 cases. The cases have been reported in 40 jurisdictions, and 87% of confirmed cases (1,156 of 1,333) are outbreak-associated. There have been 25 outbreaks (three or more related cases) this year in the United States. (Soucheray, 7/31)
As tick season continues to pick up steam across the U.S., a Maine resident has been diagnosed with a potentially serious tick-borne illness. The adult, who lives in Hancock County, was hospitalized with Powassan virus after developing "neurological symptoms," according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC). (Rudy, 7/31)
St. Louis residents unable to pay their water bills haven鈥檛 had to worry about their water being cut off since 2020, but the moratorium issued during the pandemic is now being lifted. (Wimbley, 7/31)
A death row prisoner in Tennessee can be executed despite having an implanted heart device that his lawyers say is likely to prolong his suffering, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday in a first-of-its-kind legal battle. A lower court had ruled that Byron Black could not be executed while his cardiac implantable electronic device 鈥 which acts as a pacemaker and a defibrillator 鈥 was on, because it could deliver painful shocks to his heart to try to revive him during a lethal injection. The Thursday ruling overturns that decision and allows Black鈥檚 scheduled execution Tuesday to proceed. (Bellware, 7/31)
