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Long hours and high-pressure situations have long characterized the health care profession —  but in the wake of the pandemic, many workers are facing new challenges with regards to their mental health. (Nayak, 10/26)

Reps. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) and Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.) introduced a bipartisan piece of legislation to support additional funding for nursing programs in community colleges. Grants for Resources in Occupational and Workforce Training for Healthcare Act of 2023 — or the Growth Act of 2023 — expands eligibility to the Nurse Education, Practice, Quality, and Retention (NEPQR) — Pathway to Registered Nurse Program (PRNP). (Irwin, 10/26)

California's new law mandating a higher minimum wage for frontline healthcare workers takes effect in June and will have wide-ranging effects on employers and labor markets in and outside of the state. The bill, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Oct. 13, raises the state’s hourly minimum wage for healthcare workers from $15.50 to $25 over the next 10 years. Larger health systems, hospitals and dialysis clinics have until 2026 to implement the new rate. Rural independent hospitals and those with a high mix of Medi-Cal and Medicare patients have until 2033. (Devereaux, 10/26)

Health systems are eyeing high physician staffing fees as an area for improvement as they continue to battle inflated labor costs. Much of the wage inflation centers on such hospital roles as emergency physicians and anesthesiologists, positions often filled by staffing companies. But the failure of staffing companies such as Envision Healthcare and American Physician Partners has forced hospitals to rethink their business model and consider more cost-effective employment options. (Hudson, 10/26)

A cyberattack has shut down a diagnostic imaging firm based in South Florida, leaving patients unable to get scans and doctors unable to see images for diagnosis. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that the company, Akumin, has been hit with a ransomware attack that's compromised the health information of hundreds of thousands of patients. (DiMattei, 10/26)

A federal appeals court has rejected an effort by Home Depot and other employers to revise a $2.67 billion antitrust settlement with Blue Cross and Blue Shield. The plaintiffs argued that the deal, which a district court approved last year, favors fully insured Blue Cross and Blue Shield customers over self-insured employers. In a decision handed down Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit rejected their plea and ordered the agreement to proceed as the lower court instructed. (Tepper, 10/26)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Smaller Employers Weigh A Big-Company Fix For Scarce Primary Care: Their Own Clinics 

With his company’s health costs soaring and his workers struggling with high blood pressure and other medical conditions, Winston Griffin, CEO of Laurel Grocery Co., knew his company had to do something. So the London, Kentucky, wholesaler opened a health clinic. “Our margins are tiny, so every expense is important,” Griffin said. The clinic, he said, has helped lower the company’s health costs and reduce employee sick leave. (Galewitz, 10/27)

Democrats unilaterally drove major reforms to the health insurance and the pharmaceutical industries without a single Republican vote in recent years. But hospitals may be a health care giant they’re unable to confront alone. (Cohrs, 10/26)

Efforts to erase medical debt are gaining momentum as more healthcare systems and municipalities seek to relieve patients from billions of dollars in bills. Local governments from Los Angeles to Columbus, Ohio, are partnering with providers and others to establish debt relief plans, with some municipalities taking advantage of one-time federal assistance from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. In addition to short-term solutions, they also are looking for ways to prevent future debt and assessing how the programs can maintain momentum once federal dollars run out. (Hudson, 10/26)

People buying their own health insurance may see fewer plan choices when HealthCare.gov enrollment in 2024 coverage opens on Nov. 1 — but that's by design. Federal officials overseeing the Affordable Care Act marketplaces say they limited the number of plans health insurers can offer to reduce "choice overload." (Goldman, 10/27)

As the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health opened its hub in Kendall Square on Thursday, the head of the new federal agency said she was confident it will spawn transformative “moon shots” to cure diseases and improve health — even if it’s too soon to say exactly what they might be. ... “If we show that something is possible, it’s ready to leave ARPA-H,” said Wegrzyn. “We’re looking for creative ways to find follow-on investors that can participate in ARPA-H projects once they leave the agency.” (Weisman, 10/26)