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Northwell Health Inc., one of New York state’s largest hospital systems, has signed a deal with a major labor union intended to lower costs and expand access to thousands of doctors for its members in the New York area. The pact with 32BJ Health Fund aims to reduce the role of traditional health insurance companies, officials from the fund and Northwell said. Instead, the health fund will contract directly with Northwell, a move both sides said will cut out layers of bureaucracy. They called it the largest deal of its kind in the US. (Tozzi, 12/16)

When new state treasurer Brad Briner walked into his new office at the beginning of 2025, he had a problem. After almost a decade of no premium increases for 750,000 state employees and their dependents, outgoing treasurer Dale Folwell had left the State Health Plan — one of the programs embedded in the treasurer’s office — with a deficit. (Hoban, 12/17)

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) opened a new clinic in Rock Springs on Dec. 11. The new building is right down the street from the old location, with an additional 2,500 square feet of space and on-site physical therapy services. (Habermann, 12/16)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: In The Vast Expanses Of Indian Country, Broadband Gaps Create Health Gaps, Too
Standing atop Ferry Butte, Frances Goli scanned the more than half a million acres of Shoshone-Bannock tribal land below as she dug her hands into the pockets of a pink pullover. The April wind was chilly at one of the tribes’ highest vistas in remote southeastern Idaho. “Our goal is to bring fiber out here,” Goli said, sweeping one hand across the horizon. The landscape below is scattered with homes, bordered in the east by snowcapped mountain peaks and to the west by “The Bottoms,” where tribal bison graze along the Snake River. (Tribble, 12/17)

On the gun violence epidemic —

It is rare for a gunman in a high-profile shooting to get away, and many are apprehended within days. The authorities shared grainy video and begged for tips as the search stretched into its fourth day. (Dewan, 12/17)

Some school safety and privacy experts said the recent incident at the Florida middle school is part of a trend in which threat detection systems used by schools misfire, putting students under undue suspicion and stress. (Wu and Rozsa, 12/17)

On substance abuse —

A doctor who pleaded guilty in a scheme to supply ketamine to actor Matthew Perry before his overdose death was sentenced Tuesday to 8 months of home confinement. Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett handed down the sentence that included 3 years of supervised release to 55-year-old Dr. Mark Chavez in a federal courtroom in Los Angeles. (Ding, 12/16)

Health officials in St. Louis County want more people to carry the overdose reversal drug naloxone as deaths due to a super-potent opioid are becoming more common in the region. Although the number of opioid-related deaths in St. Louis County has been decreasing since 2022, health officials are concerned about the local emergence of carfentanil, a lab-made drug similar to the opioid fentanyl. (Fentem, 12/16)

Canada wants to work more closely with China to stop the chemicals used to create the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl from reaching North America, said Prime Minister Mark Carney’s point person for fighting the opioid crisis. “We’re looking to collaborate with China, because it’s not an indictment against the Chinese government, per se,” Kevin Brosseau, the Canadian government’s fentanyl czar, said in an interview. (Seal, 12/16)