Health Care

Health Care — Boosters prevent thousands of deaths: research

FILE - A member of the Philadelphia Fire Department prepares a dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site setup in Philadelphia, on March 26, 2021. On Friday, April 29, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly claiming a recent outbreak of unexplained hepatitis cases among children is being caused by the adenovirus vector used in some COVID-19 vaccines, including the Johnson & Johnson shot.(AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

👶 The Million Dollar Baby is having two of her own! Hilary Swank announced today that she’s pregnant with twins

Today in health care, new projections from the Commonwealth Fund found that the bivalent BA.4/BA.5 COVID booster could prevent tens of thousands of deaths and billion of medical costs. 

Welcome to Overnight Health Care, where we’re following the latest moves on policy and news affecting your health. For The Hill, I’m Joseph Choi. Someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

COVID boosters could save 90K lives

The omicron-specific bivalent COVID-19 boosters could potentially prevent tens of thousands of deaths in the U.S. and save billions of dollars in health care costs if a successful immunization campaign is carried out, according to new research. 

New projections released by the Commonwealth Fund on Wednesday showed that roughly 90,000 deaths due to the coronavirus could be prevented if 80 percent of eligible people receive the updated booster by the end of this year. 

Only about half of the U.S. population has received their first boosters and only about two-thirds of the population has completed the primary two-dose regimen needed to be eligible for the bivalent booster. 

September polling data from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that only about a third of adults said they planned on getting the updated booster, and about 5 percent said they had already received it. 

Read more here

Governor signs bill barring gender-affirming care 

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) on Tuesday signed into law a measure blocking one of the state’s largest hospital systems from receiving federal funds if it continues to offer gender-affirming care to transgender youth. 

The bill signed Tuesday was passed last week by state lawmakers during a special session to appropriate the state’s $1.87 billion in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.  

Under the proposal by two Republican state House members and two Republican senators, University of Oklahoma (OU) hospitals will only be permitted to receive $108 million in ARPA funds — including nearly $40 million earmarked for a pediatric mental health facility — if Oklahoma Children’s Hospital ceases to provide gender-affirming care. 

On Tuesday, Stitt said signing the bill was only the first step toward shielding children from “permanent gender transition surgeries and therapies.” 

The Oklahoma governor called on the legislature to enact a total ban on gender-affirming care for minors when it reconvenes in February. Some state legislators had urged Stitt to call another special session for the purpose of passing legislation to outlaw such care for youth. 

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9 IN 10 LABEL MENTAL HEALTH A CRISIS IN US: SURVEY 

A new poll from CNN and the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) found that 9 out of
10 adults believe that there is a mental health crisis in the U.S. The organizations surveyed about 2,000 adults this past summer.  

This subset of people included a larger proportion of adults under 30 years old, people who identify as LGBT and people whose annual income was less than $40,000. Out of this group, 60 percent say that they are not able to get the care that they need for their mental health.  

This survey is in alignment with other work that suggests mental health is trending worse. A study from earlier this year found that insurance claims for children and adolescents for mental health reasons rose during the pandemic. 

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ALMOST 3 IN 4 MARYLAND VOTERS FAVOR LEGALIZING MARIJUANA: POLL  

An overwhelming majority of Maryland voters said in a new Washington Post-University of Maryland survey that they are in favor of legalizing marijuana ahead of November’s midterm election.  

Maryland could become the 20th state, alongside Washington, D.C., to legalize adult recreational weed use if state voters pass the measure.  

The proposed referendum will allow residents to legally possess up to 1.5 ounces of the recreational drug and will create cannabis business assistance and community reinvestment and repair funds.  

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Judge orders Texas AG to testify in abortion lawsuit 

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) to testify in an abortion lawsuit, reversing course after Paxton was accused of fleeing to avoid a subpoena.  

U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman — who initially granted Paxton’s request to quash the subpoena over its last-minute nature — ordered the Texas attorney general to testify after it was made clear that there were several attempts to serve him with the subpoena in advance. 

On one occasion, a process server said the Texas attorney general ran away from him to avoid the subpoena. 

How we got here: The group that filed suit in the case — which comprises several nonprofit abortion funds and an OB-GYN — requested Paxton’s testimony to clarify his previous statements about the enforcement of Texas’s trigger law in regard to out-of-state abortions. 

After the abortion funds sued Paxton in August, claiming that his statements have infringed on their abilities to facilitate out-of-state abortions, Paxton responded that there is “no imminent threat of enforcement.” However, he also said his office views out-of-state abortions as illegal. 

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THE HILL OP-EDS

Rethinking birth control and pregnancy planning as a national priority 

That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s Health Care page for the latest news and coverage. See you tomorrow.

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