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HEALTHCARE & GOVERNMENT
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California Becomes First State to Offer Health Insurance to All Undocumented Immigrants |
As of Jan. 1, all undocumented immigrants, regardless of age, will qualify for Medi-Cal, California's version of the federal Medicaid program for people with low incomes. Previously, undocumented immigrants were not qualified to receive comprehensive health insurance but were allowed to receive emergency and pregnancy-related services under Medi-Cal, as long as they met eligibility requirements, including income limits and California residency in 2014. In 2015, undocumented children were able to join Medi-Cal under a bill signed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown. In 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law an expansion of full-scope Medi-Cal access for young adults ages 19 through 25, regardless of citizenship or immigration status. Access was then further expanded to allow older adults aged 50 and older to receive full benefits, also regardless of immigration status. This final expansion which is now in effect, makes approximately 700,000 undocumented residents between ages 26 and 49 eligible for full coverage, according to California State Sen. María Elena Durazo. (https://abcnews.go.com/Health/california-1st-state-offer-health-insurance-undocumented-immigrants/story?id=105986377)
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PLUS, Other States Expand Health Coverage for Immigrants |
A growing number of states are opening taxpayer-funded health insurance programs to immigrants, including those living in the U.S. without authorization. Eleven states and Washington, D.C., together provide full health insurance coverage to more than 1 million low-income immigrants regardless of their legal status, according to state data compiled by KFF Health News. Most aren't authorized to live in the U.S., state officials say. Enrollment in these programs could nearly double by 2025 as at least seven states initiate or expand coverage. In January, Republican-controlled Utah will start covering children regardless of immigration status, while New York will join California in covering more adults. (https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/states-health-coverage-medicaid-immigrants-expansion/)
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New 2024 California Laws Remove "Retarded" and "Addict" from Official Terminology |
Signed into law by Governor Newsom, effective as of Jan. 1, Assembly Bill 248, aka the Dignity for All Act, removes the words and phrases "mentally retarded persons," "mentally retarded children," "retardation" and "handicap" from existing laws to eliminate "obsolete terminology," as per the bill's text. Instead, terms like "individuals with disabilities" or "individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities" will be used. The bill was authored by Assemblymember Devon Mathis, R-Visalia. Also effective Jan. 1, Assembly Bill 1130 replaces the word "addict" with "a person with substance use disorder" in the California Uniform Controlled Substances Act text, which is part of the 2022 state health and safety code. (https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/new-2024-california-laws-remove-retarded-and-addict-from-official-terminology/)
MEANWHILE, California Healthline shared, "How Other New Laws Will Affect Your Health" - Hundreds of new laws are taking effect in California, including regarding reproductive rights, paid sick leave, nursing home residents, and marijuana use: https://californiahealthline.org/morning-briefing/tuesday-january-2-2024/
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CMS Provides Tools to Help Improve Access for Millions who Receive Medicaid Home- and Community-based Services |
HHS, through CMS, recently reminded states of tools to better connect direct support workers to individuals receiving Medicaid-covered HCBS, such as individuals with disabilities and older adults. The agency's new guidance focuses on building and maintaining worker registries - worker management platforms that make qualified health workers easier to find - so more individuals receiving Medicaid-covered services can receive care in a setting of their choice. The guidance also notes significant federal funding available to help states build these registries. (https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-provides-critical-tools-help-improve-access-millions-who-receive-medicaid-home-and-community)
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FDA to Issue First Approval for Mass Drug Imports to States from Canada |
The FDA has decided to allow Florida to import millions of dollars' worth of medications from Canada at far lower prices than in the US, overriding fierce decades-long objections from the pharmaceutical industry, according to a senior administration official. The approval is a major policy shift for the US, and supporters hope it will be a significant step forward in the long and largely unsuccessful effort to reign in drug prices. Individuals in the US are allowed to buy directly from Canadian pharmacies, but states have long wanted to be able to purchase medicines in bulk for their Medicaid programs, government clinics and prisons from Canadian wholesalers. (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/05/health/drug-imports-canada-florida.html)
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HEALTHCARE BUSINESS NEWS
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Cigna Nears Deal to Sell Medicare Business |
Cigna is in advanced talks to sell its Medicare business in an about-face for the health-insurance giant, which had been expanding its footprint in the fast-growing sector. Cigna, which has been running an auction for the business, known as Medicare Advantage, is now in exclusive talks to sell it to Health Care Service Corp. for between $3 billion and $4 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. Cigna is offering Medicare plans in 29 states for 2024. Cigna had about 599,000 Medicare Advantage members at the end of September. The business had roughly $7.9 billion in revenue in 2022. (https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/cigna-nears-deal-to-offload-medicare-business-124a9583)
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Patients Can Soon Get Weight Loss Drugs Direct from Lilly; Meanwhile, Insurers Expand Coverage of Bariatric Surgery |
Eli Lilly & Co. has launched a service to sell its weight-loss drugs directly to the public, pitting the company against startups such as Ro and Noom that have fed the frenzy over GLP-1 medications by making them easy to access online. The drugmaker's new digital health-care platform, dubbed LillyDirect, will help connect patients with obesity, diabetes and migraines to doctors who can prescribe medications including Mounjaro and Zepbound, the company said in a statement. It will also offer direct home delivery of certain drugs through third-party pharmacies. The company suggested that by purchasing directly from the drugmaker, patients might wind up saving money on drugs still often not covered by insurance. (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-04/lilly-warns-against-cosmetic-use-of-popular-weight-loss-drugs)
MEANWHILE, health insurance companies are expanding their coverage of bariatric surgery amid rising demand for pricey new weight loss drugs. Geisinger Health Plan and Blue Cross and Blue Shield carriers in Massachusetts, Michigan and Vermont are among those easing access to bariatric surgery over the past year as patients seek medicines such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Ozempic and Eli Lilly's Trulicity that can cost about $1,000 a month in perpetuity. (https://www.modernhealthcare.com/insurance/ozempic-bariatric-surgery-insurance-coverage-glp-1-wegovy)
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Health Insurers Invest in Digital to Boost Drug-by-Mail Delivery |
Health insurance companies say they want to offer more services directly to customers. But that requires dropping the cumbersome technology that has defined the industry in favor of the smartphone-app experience users have come to expect. A number of firms are revamping technology in the hopes of encouraging more people to get their medications through the mail rather than picking them up in retail pharmacies. Insurers face increasing competition from digital-pharmacy contenders like Amazon as well as hungry startups. To hang on to their existing mail-order businesses and grow them, insurers need better user interfaces. (https://www.wsj.com/articles/health-insurers-invest-in-digital-to-boost-drug-by-mail-delivery-d8927a8b?mod=hp_minor_pos4)
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CHOC to Merge with San Diego Hospital - To Be Called Rady Children's Health |
Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) recently announced plans to merge with Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego "to transform pediatric health in Southern California." The two hospitals, which will be called Rady's Children Health, said they are merging to accelerate research and innovation that lead to new treatments and cures; retain and attract top talent across all functions and specialties; increase access to pediatric care; promote health equity; and train the next generation of pediatric physicians and healthcare workers. CHOC's Chief Executive Kimberly Chavalas Cripe and Rady Children's CEO Dr. Patricio A. Frias will be appointed co-CEOs of the new parent company. The proposed merger will undergo customary regulatory review and the transaction is expected to close in 2024. (https://www.ocbj.com/healthcare/choc-to-merge-with-san-diego-hospital/)
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HEALTHCARE & AI
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A Nonprofit Forms to Test AI Tools Used in Healthcare, Backed by Mayo Clinic & Microsoft |
A group of academic hospitals and technology companies will form a new nonprofit venture to oversee a nationwide network of laboratories to test artificial intelligence tools designed for use in health care. The nonprofit will establish the laboratories at Mayo Clinic, Duke, Stanford, and other major universities and institutions around the country. Its goal is to create a system to certify and register AI models, and publish details about their performance before they are widely adopted. The labs are expected to begin operating within the next few months. (https://www.statnews.com/2024/01/08/ai-tools-health-care-nonprofit-chai-artificial-intelligence/)
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PERSONAL HEALTH NEWS & TRENDS
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Owning Pets May Help Slow Cognitive Decline Among Seniors Who Live Alone - Study |
A large cohort study of adults ages 50 and older living in the United Kingdom showed pet owners had less verbal memory and verbal fluency declines compared to people who lived alone without a pet. The findings from researchers at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China, were published in JAMA Network Open, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Medical Association. The study, which doesn't prove pet ownership causes the slower declines but rather is associated with them, builds on existing evidence that preventing isolation, loneliness and stress can reduce risk of Alzheimer's disease and other related dementias, said Dr. Thomas Wisniewski, director of NYU Langone Health's Division of Cognitive Neurology, in New York. (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2023/12/27/study-elderly-pet-owners-cognitive-decline/72041618007/)
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42% Higher Dementia Risk Linked to "Good Cholesterol"; Also, Smoking Drives Up Alzheimer's Risk - Study |
Despite its nickname as the "good cholesterol" because of its cardiovascular benefits, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol was linked to as much as a 42 percent increased risk for dementia in older people with very high levels of HDL, according to research published in a Lancet journal, the Lancet Regional Health - Western Pacific. For adults, an HDL level of 40 mg/dL or higher is considered healthy for men and 50 mg/dL or higher is considered a healthy level for women. For the study, very high levels of HDL were considered to be 80 mg/dL or higher. The researchers wrote that the increased dementia risk from high HDL levels "appeared to be independent of traditional dementia risk factors, including physical activity level, alcohol intake, education, diabetes or smoking," as well as genetic influences. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2024/01/01/good-cholesterol-hdl-dementia-aging/)
ALSO, Smoking shrinks the brain and drives up Alzheimer's risk, new study finds: Researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine (WashUMed) in St. Louis, Missouri, analyzed the brain scans, smoking history and genetic risk of 32,094 participants of European descent from the UK Biobank database. Those who smoked one pack daily were found to have decreased brain volume compared to those who never smoked or had smoked fewer than 100 total cigarettes. With each additional year of smoking, the shrinkage was greater. The study, published in the January 2024 issue of Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science, helps to explain why older people who smoke are at a higher risk of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, according to the researchers. (https://www.foxnews.com/health/smoking-shrinks-brain-drives-alzheimers-risk-study-finds)
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