The Opioid Crisis and Addiction Issues
- The opioid overdose epidemic has burned through the U.S. for nearly 30 years. Yet for all that time, the country has had tools that are highly effective at preventing overdose deaths: methadone and buprenorphine. These medicines are cheap and easy to distribute. People who take them use illicit drugs at far lower rates and are at far lower risk of overdose or death. Read more here.
- Insurance network coverage dramatically impacts whether a person remains in treatment for opioid use disorder, according to results shared by treatment provider Ophelia. A new study finds that 72.3% of patients receiving opioid treatment through network insurance stayed in treatment for at least six months. Most insured members were Medicaid beneficiaries. Medicaid redeterminations, now at more than 17 million nationally, could seriously impact where individuals are able to get the treatment they need. Read more here.
- On a recent Saturday, family members gathered at a North Carolina church to share stories of loved ones lost to fentanyl. “Our whole world is turned upside down,” said Michelle, a Forsyth County mother who lost her 19-year-old son to fentanyl poisoning. She doesn’t think her son knew he had taken fentanyl, which has become more common as drug dealers add it to everything from heroin to fake prescription medications. In 2021, fentanyl was involved in 83% of fatal medication or drug overdoses in the state, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. Read more here.
Health Insurance and Health Care Costs
- For-profit insurers led by CVS Health's Aetna are gobbling up the majority of new Medicare Advantage patients, despite new restrictions on marketing, higher medical costs, and other headwinds, a new analysis of enrollment data found. An aging population and the perceived attractiveness of MA plans over traditional Medicare bode well for the big insurers, while nonprofit health plans like Blue Cross Blue Shield are seeing market shares slip. Read more here.
- The cyber-attack on Change Healthcare that's reverberated across the medical system is now spawning threats of litigation from patients. Patients left scrambling to determine if insurance will cover drugs or treatments could seek damages from the UnitedHealth Group subsidiary, whose stricken payment network is a mainstay of hospitals, pharmacies, and physician offices and processes 15 billion transactions annually. Read more here.
- The White House plans to announce a new federal task force focused on easing health care costs, according to three people with direct knowledge of the matter. The move comes as President Joe Biden seeks new ways to show voters he’s cracking down on the so-called corporate greed that he has increasingly blamed for high prices. Read more here.
Research
- The increasing use of various tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, vapes, and hookahs, among children and adolescents is a critical public health problem worldwide. Smoking, especially when started at a young age, has been associated with lifelong negative mental health outcomes, ranging from diminished neurocognition to neurodevelopmental alterations to increased risk of delinquent behaviors and addiction in later life. Read more here.
- Concrete programmatic and policy changes are needed to reduce perinatal stress and address trauma, standardize the collection of social determinants of health data among perinatal patients, increase access to reproductive psychiatry curricula among prescribers, reduce perinatal mental health and obstetrical deserts, institute paid parental leave, and support seamless integration of perinatal and behavioral health care. Read more here.
Gender-Affirming Care
- The United States military is a fighting force for which this nation owes its freedoms. It is made up of millions of our fellow Americans, who are all volunteers, and whose sacrifices are great. It is our responsibility to care for those who've served our nation just as they have served us. However, for too long, our transgender veterans—many of whom receive health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)—have been left behind. Read more here.
State Policy
- A statewide ballot measure that would overhaul California's mental health care system, primarily through the issuance of nearly $6.4 billion in bonds, remained too close to call as ballot counting continued from Tuesday's election. Proposition 1 might be the most consequential proposition. If passed, the state would redirect billions in homeless crisis funding to create drug and mental health treatment beds. Gov. Gavin Newsom, Mayor Karen Bass, and Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna support the bill. However, there is also opposition, with critics claiming it will take away much-needed money from effective health services. Read more here.
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