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Lawmakers are considering increasing doctors’ Medicare pay in an upcoming government funding package, but their policy would only partially offset cuts providers saw earlier this year, three lobbyists and two sources familiar with the talks told STAT. (Cohrs, 2/13)

Rep. Larry Bucshon on Tuesday told doctors upset about Medicare reimbursement cuts that began in January that there’s a good chance at least part of those cuts could be addressed in a spending package Congress is supposed to pass next month. “Do I think we’ll get the full 3.4 percent?” the Indiana Republican said, referring to the level of cuts that doctors have dealt with this year, during an appearance before the American Medical Association’s national advocacy conference. “I don’t know, but people in both political parties and on both sides of the Capitol know this has to be fixed.” (Hellmann, 2/13)

Beneficiaries with Medicare Part D are poised to reap significant savings with the implementation of a $2,000 out-of-pocket spending cap for prescription drugs covered under the program, which is slated to take effect in 2025. This provision, signed into law as part of 2022's Inflation Reduction Act, aims to alleviate financial burdens for millions of beneficiaries by curbing excessive out-of-pocket costs and reducing Medicare expenditures on prescription medications. (Eddy, 2/13)

Slightly more than half of Medicare-eligible people are enrolled in Medicare Advantage — but hospitals around the country have been dropping Medicare Advantage plans due to issues with prior authorizations and denials. Hospitals and health systems in at least 11 states announced in 2023 that they would be out-of-network for some or all Medicare Advantage plans in 2024, according to reporting from Becker’s Hospital Review, a medical industry trade magazine. (Ashford, 2/13)

Major insurance companies like UnitedHealthcare and Humana have edged out private equity firms from investing in Medicare Advantage, according to a new report. (Trang, 2/13)

Baptist Health has filed a lawsuit against Humana for allegedly underpaying it for outpatient drugs purchased through the 340B drug discount program and given to Medicare Advantage patients. The lawsuit may hinge on whether federal regulations on the 340B drug discount program apply to commercial insurers that manage Medicare Advantage contracts. The 340B program offers estimated 25%-50% discounts on outpatient prescription medicines to safety-net hospitals and other providers that treat low-income and uninsured patients. (Kacik, 2/13)

Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcies in the United States, and more than 2 in 5 American adults have some. In many cases, the money people owe to health care providers forces them to cut spending on food or utilities, forgo other medical care or take on even more debt. Medical debt can make it impossible to buy a home, pay for college or save for retirement. To address the problem, Connecticut, New Jersey and a growing list of counties and cities are using public money to purchase and forgive millions of dollars of their residents’ medical debt. (Claire Vollers, 2/13)

People who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid — a group that is generally low-income with complex health needs — are expected to generate billions in profit for health insurers in the coming years, despite being a group that typically racks up expensive health care bills. (Owens, 2/14)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Listen To The Latest '�鶹Ů�� Health News Minute' 

This week on the �鶹Ů�� Health News Minute: The Federal Trade Commission says drugmakers are misusing patents to keep prices high on medication delivery devices like inhalers and injectors, and some providers are using a loophole in the Affordable Care Act to charge patients for preventive care that’s supposed to be free. (2/13)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: For The Love Of Health Care And Health Policy

Nothing melts our hearts like a health policy valentine. Readers made us swoon this season, writing poetic lines about prescription drug pricing, medical debt, primary care shortages, and more. Here are some of our favorites, starting with the grand prize winner and first runner-up, whose entries were each turned into a cartoon by staff illustrator Oona Tempest. (2/14)

People who test positive for Covid should still isolate for five days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, even though many Americans are already ignoring the policy. That guidance is likely to change at some point, however. Following reports that the CDC was considering easing Covid isolation restrictions — including guidelines that people can leave their homes after being fever-free for 24 hours — the agency refused to confirm that such plans were in the works. The potential change was first reported by The Washington Post. (Edwards and Lovelace Jr., 2/14)

New research presented at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine’s (SMFM) annual meeting this week suggests that 1 in 10 pregnant women who contract COVID-19 during pregnancy develop long COVID. The study abstract is published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. (Soucheray, 2/13)

Before she developed long covid, Fran Haddock, 33, enjoyed birdwatching, foraging for seasonal plants and mushrooms, and enjoying the changing seasons. Her partner, Dan Kenny, 35, shares her love for the outdoors and often accompanied her on nature walks or trips to watch wildlife. But after becoming sick with covid in November 2022, Haddock rarely leaves her bed, and nature walks are a distant memory. Among her many symptoms, she experiences debilitating fatigue so severe that she can’t walk more than a few steps. (Morris, 2/13)

US adults aged 45 and older who were physically active before the pandemic were 10% less likely to contract COVID-19 and 27% less likely to be hospitalized if they were infected, a Brigham and Women's Hospital–led study suggests. (Van Beusekom, 2/13)

The latest data from the CDC shows that only 16 percent of eligible pregnant people got vaccinated for RSV. Among the over 60 population, it was just over one in five. And among babies and eligible young children, the uptake was “low,” the CDC said. Four years after Covid hit and fueled growing vaccine hesitancy, the rollout of the RSV vaccine this fall and winter offered a case study unfolding in real time. At issue was whether the public health and medical communities had acquired the skills, speed and agility needed to counter malicious misinformation before it took hold in the public’s mind. (Kenen, 2/13)

Measles is once again on the rise, and doctors should be on the lookout for symptoms as more unvaccinated people travel and potentially bring the highly contagious disease back from countries where it is more common and then pass it onto unvaccinated individuals here, California state epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan said Tuesday. The United States declared measles eliminated in 2000, but in the past decade there have been a number of large outbreaks following dips in vaccination rates worldwide — including the 2014 Disneyland outbreak that resulted in 125 cases, largely attributed to a failure to vaccinate. (Ho, 2/13)

“It’s a popular misconception that it’s an ‘old’ medieval disease,” Steve Atkinson, associate professor of molecular and cellular bacteriology at the University of Nottingham in Britain, told The Washington Post by email Tuesday. “In reality it’s still around and is endemic in rodent populations in many parts of the world including the USA, parts of South America, Africa, Asia.” “One key hotspot is Madagascar,” Atkinson said, adding that the island nation had a prolonged epidemic in 2017 for three months starting in August, with 2,417 confirmed cases and 209 fatalities. “There are still cases every year throughout the world,” he added. (Suliman, 2/13)

A company allegedly tracked people’s visits to nearly 600 Planned Parenthood locations across 48 states and provided that data for one of the largest anti-abortion ad campaigns in the nation, according to an investigation by Sen. Ron Wyden, a scope that far exceeds what was previously known. The details in Wyden (D-Ore.)’s letter, sent Tuesday morning, reveal what’s believed to be the largest publicly known location-driven anti-abortion ad campaign. Abortion rights supporters have feared this type of data could also be used by certain state governments to prosecute women who get the procedure after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled there is no constitutional right to an abortion. (Ng, 2/13)

Tennessee state legislators moved on Tuesday to advance a bill that would ban people from taking minors for an abortion without parental permission – an act that the bill has dubbed “abortion trafficking”. If someone illegally “recruits, harbors, or transports a pregnant unemancipated minor” for an abortion, they could face three to 15 years in prison under the proposed bill, which has now advanced out of a state house subcommittee after a hearing. (Sherman, 2/13)

As advocates push this year for ballot measure initiatives aiming to protect abortion rights, key differences have emerged in the language of proposed measures. Among them is the inclusion of mental health exceptions. A Missouri proposal would allow lawmakers to restrict abortions after a fetus is considered viable, except if an abortion “is needed to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person.” A similar measure has been proposed in Arizona. In 2022, Michigan voters passed an abortion rights amendment with a mental health exception for viability limits. (Fernando, 2/13)

When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with their now infamous ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the adverse disruptions to both the legal landscape of abortion and the quality of life of both abortion seekers and pregnant patients across the country were nearly immediate. But, the dystopia of Dobbs holding isn’t limited to reproductive freedoms—it has also endangered other constitutional privacy matters that determine the right to purchase and use contraception, the right of same-sex intimacy and marriage, and the right to marry across racial lines.  However, what’s become clear is that the far right intends to test the judicial system for future breaches by first targeting transgender people’s access to gender-affirming care. (McNeill, 2/14)

More than half of Black transgender and nonbinary young people reported having seriously considered suicide in the past year, and more than 20 percent said they had attempted suicide, according to data released Tuesday by The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ youth suicide prevention organization. Black LGBTQ young people experience elevated rates of discrimination related to both their race and ethnicity and their LGBTQ identities, according to Tuesday’s report, which analyzed survey responses from over 28,000 LGBTQ teens and young adults in the U.S. (Migdon, 2/13)

Funding for women-led health startups surged more than 2,000% last year, helping drive fund raising of $167 million for the industry, according to a report sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and prepared by consulting firm Salient Advisory. Companies founded solely by women received $52 million in funding, representing 31% of all funding dollars allocated last year, according to the report. (Olurounbi, 2/13)

Sanford Health and Good Samaritan Society are looking to integrate onsite care into senior living through a $200 million South Dakota community, as providers increasingly partner with senior living operators to keep residents healthy. Integrating healthcare into senior living facilities has been gaining traction in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as operators look for ways to prevent infections from spreading and keep residents out of the hospital. (Eastabrook, 2/13)

Behavioral health companies Merakey and Elwyn ended their plans to merge and form a $1 billion organization. The decision to not move forward with the deal was amicable, said a Merakey spokesperson who declined to share additional details. Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania-based Merakey, a behavioral and developmental education services organization, and Media, Pennsylvania-based Elwyn, a behavioral health service provider, entered into a non-binding merger agreement in March. (DeSilva, 2/13)

Redesign Health, which helps create and invests in healthcare startups, laid off 77 employees on Tuesday. In an email to employees, Redesign Health CEO Brett Shaheen said the restructuring is due to slower than expected recovery in the U.S. venture capital market that has affected the pace of new company creation. Redesign Health declined to disclose its number of employees prior to the cuts. In April, the company posted a blog on its website that said it had around 200 employees. (Turner, 2/13)

HCA Healthcare said Tuesday it is realigning the responsibilities of its C-suite to implement strategies faster. The move comes as HCA works to bring more than $2 billion in capital projects online this year, part of the Nashville, Tennessee-based system’s aggressive push to take market share in both inpatient and outpatient care. The for-profit system said starting April 1, its three operating groups will report to Chief Operating Officer Jon Foster, who was named to the role just over a year ago. (Hudson, 2/13)

State officials reported more than 1,000 security incidents last year, hitting schools, universities, and government offices. Hospitals and health clinics have also been on the defensive. Yan Kravchenko, Director of Core Technology and Information Security at Hennepin Healthcare, said his team manages more than 50,000 devices. "Quite literally every aspect of health care at this point has some technology component to it, which is to say nothing of all the medical devices that we rely on every single day," he added. "An attacker has to be right once, but someone responsible for defending our systems we have to be right 100% of the time. We have to always be prepared. It never stops." (Kaplan, 2/13)

Charles Montorio-Archer stepped in to lead St. Mary’s Home for Children just two days after a shocking report exposed abuse, neglect, poorly trained staff, and chaos at the residential home for troubled and abused youths. The longtime executive director, Carlene Casciano-McCann, hastily retired in the wake of the report by the state Office of the Child Advocate, in which she was quoted as telling investigators that she wouldn’t let her own dog stay at St. Mary’s. (Milkovits, 2/13)

Seven months after US drug regulators fully approved Biogen’s treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, only about 2,000 patients are taking the medicine nationwide, the company said Tuesday. (Saltzman, 2/13)

An advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration voted in favor of a new device from Abbott meant to treat patients with tricuspid heart valve disease. All but one of the 14 panelists said the treatment’s benefits outweighed its risks. The FDA tends to follow advisory panel recommendations. (Lawrence, 2/13)

After three years being incubated by California VC Westlake Village BioPartners, a new biotech launched Wednesday with $135 million and plans to compete with Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The startup is called Latigo Biotherapeutics, and it’s launching having already started a Phase 1 trial for a non-opioid pain medicine, LTG-001. The oral therapy is designed to silence pain-signaling neurons by blocking a sodium channel called NaV 1.8. (DeAngelis, 2/14)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday it has sent warning letters to two online vendors for selling unapproved and misbranded versions of semaglutide and tirzepatide, the active ingredients in popular diabetes and weight-loss drugs. The letters were issued earlier this month to Synthetix, which sells drugs on a website called Helix Chemical Supply, and US Chem Labs after the U.S. regulator conducted a review of their respective websites in October. (2/14)

Australian researchers may have found a breakthrough treatment for lupus.In a study published in Nature Communications on Feb. 6, scientists at Monash University revealed that they were able to "fix" defective cells that can cause lupus, an autoimmune disease. They accomplished this by infusing human cells — called regulatory T cells — harvested from healthy people, which then triggered a protective mechanism that helps to prevent autoimmunity, according to a press release from the university. (Rudy, 2/14)

KalVista Pharmaceuticals said Tuesday that its oral, on-demand treatment for the swelling “attacks” commonly experienced by patients with a genetic condition called hereditary angioedema achieved the goals of a Phase 3 clinical trial. (Feuerstein, 2/13)

One out of every two adults will develop high blood pressure, which can lead to a host of problems including heart disease, stroke, and blindness. Many patients either can't or won't take medication, but a new surgical procedure could treat help hypertension for life. ... Three-quarters of people with high blood pressure don't have it under control. David Leifer enrolled in a clinical trial investigating whether a surgical procedure called ultrasound renal denervation could safely and effectively treat hypertension. ... Four years later, Leifer remains off medication with good readings. Doctors are hopeful he may never have to take medication again. (Marshall, 2/13)

Maternal syphilis rates in the United States tripled from 2016 to 2022, according to new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data published this week. During the 6-years analysis, maternal infections rose 222%, reaching 280.4 per 100,000 births in 2022. (Soucheray, 2/13)

Virtual cancer care companies are seeing the benefits from President Biden’s cancer moonshot. The cancer moonshot initiative began under President Barack Obama in 2016, and in 2022 Biden set a goal of reducing cancer deaths by 50% over the next 25 years. The program also aims to expand payment pathways for cancer navigation services, an area of increasing focus among digital health startups. (Perna, 2/13)

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was released from the hospital on Tuesday after being treated for a bladder issue. Austin was admitted to Walter Reed Medical Center on Sunday "with discomfort and concern from a bladder issue related to his December 2023 prostate cancer surgery," per a Tuesday evening statement from doctors at the hospital. (Falconer, 2/13)

Victor Taylor is proud to be known around New Bern as “Mr. Prostate Cancer Man.” That’s because ever since he was diagnosed with prostate cancer 18 years ago, he’s been a vocal force working to educate others on the disease. He doesn’t want to scare people, he wants to raise awareness — particularly among Black men, who are nearly two times more likely to develop prostate cancer than white men. (Crumpler, 2/14)

A recent study published in The British Journal of Sports Medicine offered a glimpse of how regular physical activity affects the risk of prostate cancer, the second most common and second most fatal cancer in the United States for men. (Minsberg, 2/12)

Study after study has shown that people with depression have trouble recalling specific memories. ... “It’s not that depressed patients don’t have memories — it’s that they’re having trouble accessing them," said Kymberly Young, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh.Young may have found a key: A study published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open from her and her team suggests that familiar scents could help unlock those memories. (Bendix, 2/13)

This Valentine's Day, more people are thinking about love — beyond monogamy. Media coverage, a buzzy new memoir and shows like "Couple to Throuple" are bringing polyamory into mainstream conversations, but limited laws are only beginning to protect people from the stigma that can come with being in a relationship with more than one person. (Mallenbaum and Montgomery, 2/14)

A transboundary sewage stream that regularly flows from Tijuana, Mexico, into San Diego County may be creating a multifrontal public health crisis — as a noxious mix of chemicals and pathogens makes their way into households not just via water, but also through air and soil. The cross-border contamination — a result of inadequate infrastructure and urbanization — poses a persistent public health threat with significant socioeconomic and legal implications, according to a white paper shared with The Hill prior to its public release Tuesday. (Udasin, 2/13)

The Biden administration announced Tuesday that it is expanding a program to help rural communities with serious sewage problems get technical help to plan improvements and apply for funding. Eleven communities in the South and Southwest were chosen in 2022 for a pilot program, and another 150 will be able to apply for assistance, which will be granted on a rolling basis, said Radhika Fox, assistant administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s water office. (2/13)

California cities and counties still don’t know how much they’ll have to pay for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pandemic program to house homeless people in hotel rooms after the Federal Emergency Management Agency said in October that it was limiting the number of days eligible for reimbursement. State and local officials say they were stunned to learn via an October letter that FEMA would only pay to house homeless people at risk of catching COVID-19 for at most 20 days — as opposed to unlimited — starting June 11, 2021, which is when Gov. Gavin Newsom rescinded the sweeping stay-at-home order he issued in March 2020. (Har, 2/13)

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom is urging voters to approve a ballot initiative that he says is needed to tackle the state’s homelessness crisis, a change social providers say would threaten programs that keep people from becoming homeless in the first place. In 2004, voters approved legislation that imposed a tax on millionaires to finance mental health services, generating $2 billion to $3 billion in revenue each year that has mostly gone to counties to fund mental health programs as they see fit under broad guidelines. (Nguyen, 2/14)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: California Prison Drug Overdoses Surge Again After Early Treatment Success 

Drug overdose deaths in California state prisons rebounded to near record levels last year even as corrections officials touted the state’s intervention methods as a model for prisons and jails across the United States. At least 59 prisoners died of overdoses last year, according to a �鶹Ů�� Health News analysis of deaths in custody data the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is required to report under a new state law. That’s more than double the number who died of overdoses in each of 2020 (23) and 2021 (24). (Thompson, 2/14)

The shooter who opened fire at a Houston megachurch before being gunned down by security officers used an AR-style rifle that police say she legally purchased despite a years-long criminal record, a history of mental illness and allegations she threatened to shoot her ex-husband. Key questions remained Tuesday about Genesse Moreno’s motive in the shooting, and police have given no details about where and how she obtained the rifle in December. The shooting joins others in Texas and elsewhere that have involved shooters who legally obtained guns despite criminal history and mental health problems. (Lozano and Vertuno, 2/13)

"This is an option for a person to be able to have a choice in how they leave this world," Ginal told Colorado Politics. "This is not suicide. We've worked very hard to make sure that this is an option for people who are terminally ill and want to go out on their terms in their way. If they want that choice, it should be there." In addition to allowing out-of-state access, the bill would allow advanced practice registered nurses to prescribe medication for assisted suicide, rather than just physicians. (Hagstrom, 2/13)

The facility, part of D.C.’s response to a worsening opioid epidemic, exceeded 1,000 admissions in just over three months since it opened late last year. (Portnoy, 2/13)

The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to start issuing urns and commemorative plaques to the families of deceased veterans this year, but the move has drawn criticism that it could block those veterans from being buried with their spouses, among other concerns. The National Funeral Directors Association and the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as others, recently submitted public comments objecting to the VA's proposed rule change, which was published for public comment before being implemented. (Miller, 2/13)

Parents of infants who died while sharing a bed with them complain that the response of state officials to such tragedies is too often focused on assigning blame in a way that can be emotionally devastating. ... The state’s top child welfare official has been listening and said she may press for change. “There are people who have indicated that they are not happy with the experience of the way they were treated, and we take those complaints seriously,” said Maria Mossaides, the director of the Massachusetts Office of the Child Advocate. (Fernandes, 2/13)

CARB-X announced today that it is awarding researchers at Harvard University $1.2 million to develop oral antibiotics for antibiotic-resistant lower respiratory tract and skin and other soft-tissue infections (SSTIs). (Dall, 2/13)

A study presented yesterday at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's (SMFM) annual conference shows that giving an oral dose of azithromycin to pregnant women who deliver vaginally is a cost-saving way to reduce maternal sepsis, death, and infection. (Dall, 2/13)

David Reese calls it a “hinge moment” — the turning point when biotech and big tech merge to attack human disease with artificial intelligence. At Amgen, where he’s led drug research and development since 2018, Reese said this moment has finally arrived. The proof lies not only in organizational changes, such as his recent appointment as the company’s first chief technology officer, but also in Amgen’s broader push to embed AI into every aspect of the drug discovery process. (Ross, 2/7)

The Colombian government has taken a significant step toward issuing a compulsory license for a widely used HIV treatment, the latest instance in which cash-strapped governments battle with the pharmaceutical industry over the cost of medicines. (Silverman, 2/6)

In 2022, a large U.S.-based study examined whether a daily polypill could benefit people who have already had a heart attack or stroke (and are therefore at very high risk of having another one). Among 2,500 patients followed a median of three years, those randomized to a daily polypill had substantially fewer events than those in the usual care group. On the strength of the evidence, the World Health Organization recently added a cardiovascular polypill to its list of essential medicines. (Arthur L. Kellermann, 2/14)

In 2001, Gilead secured FDA approval of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), one of first medicines to treat HIV — a product still on the market, despite the potential side effect of causing skeletal and kidney damage. In the years that followed, the company invested in research leading to additional TDF-based regimens critical to the fight against HIV. (Dan Troy, 2/13)

It’s been one year since the launch of the first adalimumab biosimilar for Humira in the United States, which was followed by eight additional adalimumab biosimilar launches. These nine FDA-approved products offer lower-cost alternatives to the world’s bestselling drug, Humira, used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and other autoimmune disorders. This made 2023 a watershed year for millions of U.S. patients paying too much for their necessary medications. (Juliana M. Reed, 2/14)

In January the Florida Select Committee on Health Innovation approved House Bill 1639 (HB 1639), which dramatically restricts treatment for transgender individuals. If the bill becomes law, it will make it easier for insurers to refuse to cover gender-affirming care, will require those that cover gender transition to also offer policies that do not and will bar transgender people from updating their driver’s license. (Steve Silberman, 2/13)

At a time when the idea of bodily autonomy is being challenged across the United States, right-to-die legislation keeps gathering momentum. To date, 10 states and Washington D.C. have authorized medical assistance in dying, enabling terminally ill, mentally competent patients to end their life by ingesting a lethal dose of medication. (Anita Hanning, 2/13)

On Wednesday, Flint will celebrate the launch of Rx Kids, the nation’s first citywide cash prescription program for pregnant moms and infants. This year, every expectant mom in the city will receive $1,500 during mid-pregnancy and, once their babies are born, $500 per month until they turn 1 year old. (Mona Hanna-Attisha and Luke Shaefer, 2/14)

Children’s Health System of Texas and UT Southwestern Medical Center just announced plans to build a brand-new hospital for kids. The new facility will be significantly bigger and more advanced than the current Children’s Medical Center Dallas. It will cost $5 billion and will not require taxpayer money. (Michael L. Davis, 2/13)

As of today across the United States, I am one of more than 100,000 people waiting for a lifesaving organ, nearly 90,000 of whom are in need of a kidney like me, with another person added to the transplant waiting list every 10 minutes. (Yono Purnomo, 2/14)