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Senior Biden health officials on Tuesday briefed congressional committees and leadership, telling them that the risk to the general public from the avian flu remains low. ... Officials from the FDA, CDC, Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response and U.S. Department of Agriculture largely repeated publicly available information, according to one of the congressional aides who relayed details of the briefing. (Lim, 4/2)

Dr. Peter Marks, the FDA’s top vaccine regulator, said Monday he’s confident the U.S. stockpile of avian flu-specific vaccines would work well if deployed. ... “We believe that, if we needed to, they would be reasonably good matches,” Marks said at the World Vaccine Congress in Washington, responding to Lauren’s question about whether the stockpiled vaccines would be effective against the avian flu strain. Whether the federal government would activate new vaccine production depends on how the situation unfolds, Marks indicated. (Lim and Gardner, 4/2)

Federal officials are preparing for the possibility of additional human cases of bird flu, testing components to create a vaccine after a Texas dairy worker was infected with the highly virulent virus, even as they stress the United States remains far from needing to activate a full-blown emergency response. Two candidate vaccine viruses — essentially the building blocks manufacturers use to produce a vaccine — appear well matched to protect against the H5N1 strain circulating among dairy cattle and birds, according to federal health officials. (Roubein and Sun, 4/2)

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service yesterday announced that tests have now confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a New Mexico dairy herd. ... And in another development, Texas officials yesterday said that cats showing illness signs in the dairy farm settings were also positive for the virus. So far, the virus has now been confirmed on seven Texas farms, along with two in Kansas, and one each from New Mexico and Michigan. (Schnirring, 4/2)

The largest producer of fresh eggs in the U.S. said Tuesday it had temporarily halted production at a Texas plant after bird flu was found in chickens, and officials said the virus had also been detected at a poultry facility in Michigan. Ridgeland, Mississippi-based Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. said in a statement that approximately 1.6 million laying hens and 337,000 pullets, about 3.6% of its total flock, were destroyed after the infection, avian influenza, was found at a facility in Parmer County, Texas. (Miller, 4/3)

“This is absolutely devastating news for Cal-Maine and the entire Panhandle region which has already suffered so much already,” Commissioner Sid Miller said, referring to devastating wildfires in recent months. “Given this latest development, all producers must practice heightened biosecurity measures,” he continued. “The rapid spread of this virus means we must act quickly.” (Robertson, 4/2)

CMS said Tuesday it shot down drugmakers’ price offers for 10 pharmaceuticals subject to Medicare price negotiations, kicking off talks expected to stretch through the summer. The agency’s decision is the latest development in a negotiation process created by the Inflation Reduction Act. Officials touted the prospect of savings for those on Medicare, but the final prices won’t take effect until 2026. (King, 4/2)

The agency overseeing Medicare, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), picked the first 10 drugs for negotiation in August and sent its initial price offers in February. The companies involved had until March 1 to respond and all did so. Each company can meet with CMS up to three times for further negotiations before a final price is announced on Aug. 1. The negotiated prices will come into effect in 2026. (4/2)

Shares of U.S. health insurers fell Tuesday after the Biden administration didn’t boost payments for private Medicare plans as much as the insurance industry and investors had hoped. (Constantino, 4/2)

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services made some tweaks to the health insurance exchanges in a final rule published Tuesday. The regulation establishes network adequacy standards based on the time and distance patients have to travel for in-network care beginning in 2026 and aligns the annual open enrollment period for state-based exchanges with the federal sign-up campaign. The final rule is consistent with what the agency proposed in November. (Berryman, 4/2)

Medicare Advantage plans had already been facing an unusual rise in medical costs. Now, the payments they get from the government also are squeezing them from the other side. Late Monday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced it would leave an earlier payment proposal unchanged, which came as a big disappointment to investors who had expected an increase. On Tuesday morning, insurance giants were tumbling, with Humana declining nearly 10%. Centene and UnitedHealth were down by less. (Wainer, 4/2)

Rapid enrollment growth in Medicare managed care plans is creating another layer of economic uncertainty for beleaguered rural hospitals. The number of rural beneficiaries enrolled in private Medicare Advantage plans jumped nearly 48%, from 6.3 million to 9.2 million, between 2019 and 2023, according to health consulting firm Chartis. By 2023, 44% of rural beneficiaries were enrolled in MA plans, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. But rural hospitals say MA plans often pay less than traditional Medicare, don’t cover as many services, and are more likely to deny or delay coverage through prior authorization. (Pugh, 4/3)

Independent pharmacists on Tuesday urged lawmakers to take action to boost their Medicaid reimbursement rates to help them stay afloat financially. Without a lifeline, a group representing pharmacists said some around the state would have to close their doors in coming months. The request comes as more independent pharmacies face financial strains. Roughly 34 percent of independent pharmacies closed between 2018 and 2023, compared to 20 percent of retail pharmacy chains. (Ferguson, 4/2)

A federal judge has given the green light for a whistleblower lawsuit contending that Walgreens violated U.S. and Illinois false claims statutes by steering Medicare and Medicaid patients to its own pharmacy by waiving co-pays. In a case that's been kicked around for about a decade after several amendments and the U.S. and Illinois governments trying to hop aboard, Judge John F. Kness, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled on March 29 that the complaint brought by two former Walgreens pharmacy technicians could continue. (Asplund, 4/2)

With rates of suicide and opioid deaths rising in the past decade and children's mental health declared a national emergency, the United States faces an unprecedented mental health crisis. But access to mental health care for a significant portion of Americans — including some of the most vulnerable populations — is extremely limited, according to a new government report released Wednesday. The report ... finds that Medicare and Medicaid have a dire shortage of mental health care providers. (Chatterjee, 4/3)

The White House at long last published a plan to stem drug shortages, and it involves basing Medicare pay to hospitals on whether hospitals adopt business practices that avoid shortages. The White House formed a task force at the beginning of 2023 to deal with the issue of persistent drug shortages, including cancer drugs. As of late last summer, lawmakers working on drug shortage legislation hadn’t spoken to the task force and didn’t know who was in charge of it. (Wilkerson, 4/2)

Four doses of Eli Lilly's diabetes drug Mounjaro would remain in tight supply through 2024 due to soaring demand, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's website showed. The regulator noted limited availability of 7.5, 10, 12.5, and 15 milligram doses through April, while lower doses were listed as "available". The FDA had previously said that three doses would have limited availability through early March. (4/2)

Shortages of commonly prescribed drugs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have stretched on for nearly 18 months, with no clear end in sight for many Americans who've found it difficult if not impossible to get the treatments. Why it matters: As demand for stimulants like Adderall and Vyvanse soared, the fill rate for such prescriptions has dropped more than 10% in two years, according to a new analysis from health analytics firm Truveta. (Reed, 4/3)

The U.S. FDA approved Vanda Pharmaceuticals' drug to treat manic and mixed episodes associated with a type of bipolar disorder, the company said on Tuesday, marking the second approval for the treatment. Shares of the Washington, D.C.-based company jumped 16% after the bell. Fanapt, which was initially approved in 2009 as a treatment for schizophrenia, faces a potential loss of exclusivity in 2027. (4/2)

Abbott Laboratories, opens new tab said on Tuesday the U.S. FDA has approved its heart valve repair device for patients with a potentially fatal heart disease, just months after rival Edwards Lifesciences, opens new tab received the regulator's nod for its device. The Abbott device, TriClip, aims to treat tricuspid regurgitation (TR), which occurs when the valve separating the right lower chamber of the heart from the right upper does not close properly, causing blood to flow backwards. (Singh, 4/2)

The Joint Commission is considering whether its hospital accreditation standards should include more requirements tied to suicide prevention efforts.The accrediting body already has standards intended to prevent suicide among patients treated for behavioral health conditions once they are discharged. However, there are no standards for other patients related to detailed safety planning, including how individuals are transitioned to outpatient care providers and how access to lethal weapons is restricted. (Devereaux, 4/2)

The Alaska Department of Health (ADH) announced that it has been consulting with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to change the name of the Alaskapox virus to “borealpox virus,” with the renaming taking effect with the start of April. ADH said the name references the ecosystem where the virus was found in humans and small animal reservoirs. (Schnirring, 4/2)

Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), chair of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, issued letters to the editors of three major science journals on Tuesday, asking them to testify on the relationship between their publications and the federal government. ... In his letters, Wenstrup stated that the hearing would be to examine “whether these journals granted the federal government inappropriate access into the scientific review or publishing process.” (Choi, 4/2)

The U.S. government was sued on Tuesday by anti-smoking groups that want a ban on menthol cigarettes and blame the Biden administration for delaying it. ... The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in April 2022 had proposed banning menthol. Health officials originally planned to publish a final rule by last August, and after missing that deadline pushed back the target date to last month. (Stempel, 4/2)

A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the dismissal of a proposed class action by parents who say they overpaid for Abbott Laboratories' (ABT.N) baby formula before one of its plants was shuttered for unsanitary conditions. The parents had urged the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to conclude they had legal standing to sue Abbott, arguing that they would not have paid the purchase price for Similac and other Abbott brands if they had known of the safety risks that led to the plant shutdown and a subsequent recall. (Raymond, 4/2)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Attacks On Emergency Room Workers Prompt Debate Over Tougher Penalties

Patients hurl verbal abuse at Michelle Ravera every day in the emergency room. Physical violence is less common, she said, but has become a growing threat. Ravera, an ER nurse at Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento, recalled an incident in which an agitated patient wanted to leave. “Without any warning he just reached up, grabbed my glasses, and punched me in the face,” said Ravera, 54. “And then he was getting ready to attack another patient in the room.” (Parekh, 4/3)

More than 80,000 women get an abortion in Florida in a typical year — accounting for about 1 in 12 abortions in the country. Now, most of those women will need to find somewhere else to go. With the Florida Supreme Court’s decision Monday night upholding an existing 15-week ban and allowing a strict new six-week ban to take effect in 30 days, the court has cut off nearly all abortion access across the South, where all other states have either implemented similar bans or outlawed abortion entirely since Roe v. Wade was overturned. (Kitchener, 4/2)

"Floridians now face a near-total abortion ban," says state House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskall. Driskall blames former President Donald Trump for creating the atmosphere that allowed the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022, saying that led to the Florida Supreme Court's decision that "threatens the health and lives of women in Florida and across the South." The six-week ban is set to go into effect in May. (McCarthy, 4/3)

It’s a nearly 10-hour car drive from Tampa to a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Wilmington, North Carolina. By plane, it’ll take about two hours to fly to the Washington, D.C., area — then another 20 minutes to drive to an abortion provider in Virginia. (O'Donnell and Ogozalek, 4/3)

President Biden on Tuesday called a decision by the Florida Supreme Court to uphold a restrictive abortion law “outrageous” and “extreme,” saying that it had effectively eliminated access to the procedure across the American South. The president said in a statement that the restrictions in Florida and others enacted by Republicans across the country “are putting the health and lives of millions of women at risk.” (Rogers, 4/2)

The nation’s third-largest state, once the biggest battleground in presidential politics, has become less important as its election results have trended repeatedly toward the political right. Few consider it a true swing state anymore.But three rulings from the Florida Supreme Court on abortion and marijuana, released on Monday, may inject new life into Democratic campaigns before the general election on Nov. 6. (Mazzei, 4/2)

Groups working to enshrine abortion rights in Arizona’s constitution said Tuesday they have collected enough signatures to put the amendment on the ballot in November. Arizona for Abortion Access — a coalition of organizations including the ACLU of Arizona, Reproductive Freedom for All Arizona and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona — announced they have so far collected more than 500,000 voter signatures, with more than three months left until the July 3 submission deadline. (Weixel, 4/2)

Health workers at Planned Parenthood’s Fairview Heights clinic this week began offering patients sedation before they undergo procedures to insert intrauterine devices, which are placed in the uterus to prevent pregnancy. The devices have been used for decades, but many patients describe waves of pain when a nurse or doctor inserts them. Patients have long endured the uncomfortable procedure, but providers are now considering offering women the option of sedation to make the insertion less unpleasant. (Fentem, 4/2)

Congressional Democrats are strategizing over legislation to repeal the Comstock Act, the 19th century anti-vice law that’s being eyed by conservative activists to potentially enact a national abortion ban. Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) said in a New York Times op-ed Tuesday that she wants to introduce a bill “to take away the Comstock Act as a tool to limit reproductive freedom.” (Weixel, 4/2)

Donald J. Trump, appearing in two crucial swing states on Tuesday, avoided discussing abortion but teased that he would address the issue “next week,” once again demurring on taking a clear position on the issue after two Florida Supreme Court rulings shook up the 2024 campaign in the former president’s home state. (Cameron, 4/2)

A new survey found that LGBTQ Americans are twice as likely to experience discrimination in their health care. The survey, conducted by �鶹Ů��, noted that members of the LGBTQ community have historically faced disparities while receiving health care, including challenges to accessing mental and physical health care. (Irwin, 4/2)

The Department of Justice (DOJ) sued the state of Utah and its corrections department on Tuesday over alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for discriminating against an incarcerated transgender woman. The Utah Department of Corrections failed to grant the woman, who is not named in court documents, equal access to health care services and imposed “unnecessary barriers” to treatment for gender dysphoria, according to a complaint filed Tuesday in Utah district court. (Migdon, 4/2)

transgender man’s medical providers repeatedly used his birth name, even though he changed it during his transition. A doctor insulted a Latina woman while she was receiving mental health care, telling her she “needs to change her beliefs now” that she’s living in America. In parts of rural Colorado, there are so few health care providers, and so much turnover, people of color and LGBTQ people struggle to find providers from a similar background who can understand their needs. (Flowers, 4/3)

New Hampshire’s independent child advocate is opposing a set of Republican-backed bills that she says would harm LGBTQ+ youth. State lawmakers have put forward a series of bills this year targeting transgender students’ access to school sports, bathrooms and gender-affirming medical care, and requiring schools to disclose information about sexual orientation or gender identity to parents who ask. (Cuno-Booth, 4/2)

According to Thomas Prevoznik, deputy assistant administrator for the Drug Enforcement Administration. ... “The biggest thing I heard and continue to hear from prescribers and pharmacists … is they continue to call those who suffer from opioid use disorder ‘them,’ like they don’t want ‘them,’ they don’t want to treat ‘them’ in their practice,” Prevoznik said. That attitude was an eye-opener for the DEA, he said, noting that people with opioid use disorder are “our family members, our neighbors, our friends. … They’re dying. This has to become part of mainstream health care,” he said. (Paun, Reader and Schumaker, 4/2)

Dr. Nora Volkow, who has led the National Institute on Drug Abuse for more than two decades, said she is convinced America will overcome the ongoing drug overdose death crisis that killed nearly 110,000 people last year. “We are much better than fentanyl, we are much, much better than the drug dealers,” she told participants at the Rx and Illicit Drug Summit Tuesday. (Paun, 4/2)

Since weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro first hit the market, patients have shared horror story symptoms and even complained of how the pounds pile back on when they stop taking the medication. Nausea, diarrhea, constipation, stomach pain and other gastrointestinal issues are just some of the common side effects listed. However, even if you make it through these, some patients say the weight loss goes into reverse once you're off the drug again. (Blake, 4/2)

The first few years of the Formerly Incarcerated Transitions (FIT) Wellness program were limited to helping people in Wake County with mental illness who had recently been released from state prison. Evan Ashkin, a family physician from UNC Health who helped found the program in 2017, said that FIT Wellness was able to serve 45 to 50 people a year in this “very vulnerable population.” That meant helping them get connected to psychiatric services, housing and employment — in short, services that would enable them to succeed. (Hoban, 4/3)

If you’re between the ages of 45 and 85, you should have a colorectal cancer screening routine in place, per the American Cancer Society (ACS). But a colonoscopy isn’t the only option to take charge of your gastrointestinal health. You can choose from noninvasive screening methods: computed tomography (CT) colonography and/or a stool-based test. ... In short, it’s an X-ray exam that doesn’t require sedation or anesthesia. (Leake, 4/3)

The aftermath of last year’s fiery train derailment in eastern Ohio doesn’t qualify as a public health emergency because widespread health problems and ongoing chemical exposures haven’t been documented, federal officials said. The Environmental Protection Agency never approved that designation after the February 2023 Norfolk Southern derailment even though the disaster forced the evacuation of half the town of East Palestine and generated many fears about potential long-term health consequences of the chemicals that spilled and burned. (Funk, 4/3)

Scientists have made a breakthrough discovery in our understanding of how cancer cells evade our immune systems. The findings, published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, open new avenues for drug development in cancer research to better support our immune systems in killing cancer cells. Cancer cells have three main ways of interacting with our immune systems: They can hide, fight back or erect a physical barrier. It is this third tactic that the team at University of Texas Southwestern has been investigating. (Dewan, 4/2)

A decolonization program implemented at a network of healthcare facilities in southern California significantly reduced the prevalence of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) on patients' skin, researchers reported yesterday in JAMA. But the overall impact of the intervention went beyond reduced MDRO colonization. The regional collaboration ... also resulted in reduced infections, hospitalizations, hospitalization-related costs, and deaths. (Dall, 4/2)

People who use e-cigarettes are 19 percent more likely to develop heart failure, compared to those who have never used them, a new study published Tuesday revealed. The data point was included in one of the largest prospective studies to date on the link between vaping and heart failure. The findings of the study are being presented at the American College of Cardiology’s (ACC) annual scientific session. (Fortinsky, 4/2)

Children visiting the emergency department (ED) for mental health crises during the pandemic had longer stays and more severe diagnoses, according to a new study in Academic Emergency Medicine. The study was based on ED visits to nine US hospitals participating in the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network Registry from 2017 to 2022. (Soucheray, 4/2)

Roivant Sciences' (ROIV.O) experimental drug to treat non-infectious uveitis helped reduce symptoms of the inflammatory eye disease in a mid-stage study, sending the biotech firm's shares up nearly 8% on Tuesday. At least three analysts said the data surpassed their expectations and showed that the drug could benefit patients more than Abbvie's (ABBV.N) Humira, which is the only targeted therapy approved for the condition. (Satija, 4/2)

Why are some people left-handed while most are righties? That is an area of active research, and a new study sheds light on a genetic component of left-handedness in some people. Researchers identified rare variants of a gene involved in controlling the shape of cells and found them to be 2.7 times more common in left-handed people. ... The researchers said the study shows that this gene, called TUBB4B, may play a role in the development of the brain asymmetry that underlies the determination of a dominant hand. (Dunham, 4/2)

Scientists have created a 6-legged mouse embryo with an extra pair of hindlimbs at the expense of their external genitalia. But far from creating a monster, this rudimentary rodent provides important insights into the early stages of animal development and uncovers secrets about our own evolution. ... A team of researchers at the Gulbenkian Science Institute in Oeiras, Portugal, inactivated the gene encoding the Tgfbr1 receptor halfway through the development of mouse embryos. Their results were published in the journal Nature Communications. (Dewan, 4/2)

On some level, the human liver in the operating room at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago was alive. Blood circulating through its tissues delivered oxygen and removed waste products, and the organ produced bile and proteins that are essential to the body. But the donor had died a day earlier, and the liver lay inside a boxy plastic device. The organ owed its vitality to this machine, which was preserving it for transplantation into a needy patient. (Alcorn, 4/2)

Bavarian Nordic today announced the commercial launch of its vaccine against mpox and smallpox, which means the vaccine will now be available outside of designated clinics that were tapped to administer doses from the US government's vaccine supply. The development comes as US mpox cases are outpacing activity reported last year at this time. (Schnirring, 4/2)

The Danish firm Genmab said Wednesday it would acquire ProfoundBio for $1.8 billion in cash, the latest in a string of 10-figure deals tied to the booming field of targeted chemotherapies. The purchase will give Genmab ProfoundBio’s three drug candidates in trials, including one called Rina-S that is in a Phase 2 study for ovarian cancer, as well as preclinical programs. Rina-S is also being explored as a therapy in other solid tumors. (Joseph, 4/3)

Providence is spinning off a patient portal company from its incubator program, the health system said Tuesday. The Renton, Washington-based Catholic health system Providence is spinning out consumer engagement technology company Praia Health. Praia also received a $20 million Series A funding round as part of the spinoff. (Turner, 4/2)

Nine health systems, including Northwell Health and Memorial Hermann Health, System joined a digital consortium led by startup studio Aegis Ventures. Aegis, which creates, invests and operates digital health companies, said Tuesday the consortium will develop, invest in and deploy digital health solutions. (Perna, 4/2)

Kaiser Permanente has acquired Geisinger Health and folded it into Risant Health, a new nonprofit formed to create a national value-based care network. The deal between Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, part of Kaiser Permanente, and Geisinger closed Sunday, almost a year after it was announced. It may be more years before it's known whether Kaiser's ambitious strategy, which hinges on the acquisitions of multiple health systems into Risant, is achievable. (Hudson, 4/2)

Four care sites formerly operated by Intermountain Health's shuttered multispecialty physician group Saltzer Health are under new ownership. Boise, Idaho-based Saint Alphonsus Health System has acquired Saltzer's Ten Mile Ambulatory Surgery Center in Meridian, Idaho, along with two urgent care centers, according to a Monday news release.  (DeSilva, 4/2)

Picture a room with 100 people in it — just regular adults, people with jobs and monthly bills and credit scores. In America, if that room contains a sufficient cross section of the population, as many as 40 people will have debt stemming from medical or dental care, according to one national survey. Two out of every five. Now zoom in and apply that to Colorado, which national data suggests is fairly average when it comes to the number of people with medical debt. That’s potentially well over 1 million adults in the state with outstanding health care bills or medical debt. (Ingold, 4/3)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Medical Debt Affects Much Of America, But Colorado Immigrants Are Hit Especially Hard

In February, Norma Brambila’s teenage daughter wrote her a letter she now carries in her purse. It is a drawing of a rose, and a note encouraging Brambila to “keep fighting” her sickness and reminding her she’d someday join her family in heaven. Brambila, a community organizer who emigrated from Mexico a quarter-century ago, had only a sinus infection, but her children had never seen her so ill. “I was in bed for four days,” she said. Lacking insurance, Brambila had avoided seeking care, hoping garlic and cinnamon would do the trick. (Bichell and Toomer, 4/3)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Heat Protections For California Workers Are In Limbo After Newsom Abandons Rules

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration has abandoned proposed protections for millions of California workers toiling in sweltering warehouses, steamy kitchens, and other dangerously hot workplaces — upending a regulatory process that had been years in the making. The administration’s eleventh-hour move, which it attributed to the cost of the new regulations, angered workplace safety advocates and state regulators, setting off a mad scramble to implement emergency rules before summer. (Hart and Young, 4/3)

State lawmakers on Tuesday pushed Department of Health officials for more details on how hospitals might be affected by Gov. Phil Murphy’s budget proposal to reroute charity care funds to a new Medicaid program. Murphy’s FY25 budget proposes a total of $137.2 million for charity care funding for hospitals, a reduction of $204.8 million compared to the FY24 budget. The state's charity care program reimburses hospitals for care provided to uninsured and underinsured patients. (Han, 4/2)

North Carolina State University alumni who attended classes at Poe Hall may have been exposed to a possible carcinogen as reported cancer cases among the former students have risen to 150, according to reports. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were detected in building materials in October or November 2023 prompting Chancellor Randy Woodson and Vice Chancellor Warwick Arden to close Poe Hall and "bring in professionals to conduct more comprehensive testing," Arden said during a 39-minute webinar last week. (Limehouse, 4/2)

Nearly four months after the Hennepin County Board implemented more financial oversight of the organization that runs HCMC, nurses say working conditions have not changed and the hospital needs new leadership. They want commissioners to take back control of the safety-net hospital from Hennepin Healthcare System, an organization created by the County Board over a decade ago to run the county's health care facilities. (Magan, 4/2)

America’s approach to health care is an outlier among the world’s rich countries, and not in a good way. Extraordinarily complex and hideously expensive, it still manages to leave some 26 million people without coverage. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 made notable progress, but failed to solve the pressing problems of high costs and less-than-universal access. (4/2)

It was May 2013 when I was diagnosed with "the summer flu." I was bedridden with fevers, chills, and body aches. My hands, feet, and face started tingling, and I could no longer turn my head. It was my boss who first suggested I might have Lyme disease. A long-time resident of Martha's Vineyard, she knew something I didn't—the Vineyard is infested with ticks. Even still, I struggled to find a doctor who would treat me. (Lindsay Keys, 4/2)

Dengue, a mosquito-borne illness, is surging through Latin America and the Caribbean, including in Puerto Rico, where a public health emergency was declared last week. This year is likely to be the worst on record, in part because of El Niño-driven temperature spikes and extreme weather linked to climate change. As temperatures rise and precipitation patterns grow more erratic, the problem will get only worse. (Deborah Heaney, 4/3)

Republicans’ zealotry for forced-birth laws might be the best thing ever to happen to the pro-choice movement. “A record 59 percent of surveyed Americans believe abortion should be legal, according to a new Fox News poll,” the Hill reported last week. “Support for abortion rights has increased by double digits since early 2022, just before the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision.” The Supreme Court’s decision shredding Roe v. Wade “created a cascading effect of abortion restrictions in Republican-controlled states nationwide and sparked a new movement of abortion rights activism.” (Jennifer Rubin, 4/2)

The Medicare Advantage program — under which private companies are paid to administer Medicare health plans — has proved a remarkably profitable business over the past couple of decades. Now, the Biden administration is taking responsible steps to rein in the gravy train a bit, and the industry and its investors are losing their minds. (Jonathan Levin, 4/3)