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| Presented By American Hospital Association |
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| Axios Vitals |
| By Tina Reed · Apr 25, 2022 |
| Welcome back to another week, Vitals readers. Today's newsletter is 995 words or a 4-minute read. 💰 Situational awareness: Congress returns after two weeks of Easter recess. On the health docket this week: FDA and HHS budgets. |
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| 1 big thing: Ukraine aid could boost prospects for COVID package |
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| Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios |
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| President Biden's call for more Ukraine aid could provide the groundwork for reviving a $10 billion COVID preparedness package that's stalled in Congress — if Democrats can tamp down their internal divisions, Axios' Adriel Bettelheim writes. The big picture: Biden this week plans to send Congress a new funding request "in order to sustain Ukraine for the duration of this fight." With support for more aid high as Ukraine's war with Russia enters a new phase, lawmakers are considering using the funding package as a catchall vehicle for the billions of COVID countermeasures that lawmakers deadlocked on before recess. - Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wants to pair the issues, Politico reported. He's not alone.
- "We want to get both of those things done," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told Punchbowl last week, adding, "I don't want to prejudge how I'll do that."
Yes, but: For that to happen, the Democrats will have to overcome procedural hurdles and finesse internal divisions that froze the COVID aid in the first place. - Before the recess, Republican senators insisted on a vote on an amendment to the COVID package that would block the administration's plans to halt a pandemic-inspired public health policy called Title 42, used to rapidly expel migrants at the southern border.
- Some centrist Democratic senators disagree with the administration's policy. But adding the Title 42 language would be anathema to progressives who say there's no health benefit to sending asylum seekers back into harm's way.
- The challenge will be avoiding a continued standoff that could be seen as slowing down the Ukraine aid.
What's next: Dwindling funds for COVID countermeasures already led the Biden administration to pause testing and treatment for the uninsured and warn there could be more cutbacks in the U.S. pandemic response. Go deeper. |
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| 2. COVID pill to be widely available soon, WH says |
| The Biden administration is preparing to announce plans this week to make Pfizer's COVID-19 pill available at almost any pharmacy in the U.S. after early shortages. Why it matters: The drug, Paxlovid. was called a potential "game-changer" for its ability to treat infections at home and keep individuals at risk of severe illness out of the hospital. - But availability has been spotty, making access difficult as COVID case begin to rise from Omicron again.
Driving the news: The administration will be trying to send the message that Paxlovid is no longer scarce and that doctors should prescribe it, Bloomberg reports. Paxlovid is available now at about 20,000 locations nationally, they write. - "Months ago, Paxlovid was scarce With lots of work, this is no longer the case," White House coronavirus response coordinator Ashish Jha tweeted.
- Use of oral antivirals jumped 103% between March 27 and April 10, an official told Bloomberg.
Yes, but: Future use still depends on what happens to congressional support for COVID funding. |
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| 3. Fight for abortion rights enters new arena |
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| Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios |
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| The battle for abortion access is moving from the courts and legislatures to state ballots, Axios' Sophia Cai reports. Why it matters: The effort to codify public support for abortion access through public ballot initiatives marks an important new front in the abortion wars, experts say. What we're watching: Twenty ballot measures addressing reproductive rights are in the works this year, according to the progressive Ballot Initiative Strategy Center. - Many of the attempts to amend state constitutions are happening in the same states where efforts are underway to roll back abortion rights in state legislatures or state supreme courts.
The big picture: As Axios' Oriana Gonzalez reported, a patchwork of state laws would govern the procedure if the nation's highest court were to ultimately overturn the precedent established by Roe, the 1973 decision that established the constitutional right to an abortion. |
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| A message from American Hospital Association |
| Ensure access to care and support hospitals |
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| Hospitals and health systems continue to face enormous challenges from the pandemic. Why it's important: An exhausted workforce, higher input costs and reductions in Medicare payments threaten patients' access to care. They need help from Congress. Read the new report. |
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| 4. Teen mental health crisis hits new lows |
| The mental health of American teens is hitting new crisis levels, the New York Times reported over the weekend. Why it matters: Over the last several decades, the public health threats to teens such as binge drinking or smoking have been replaced by "soaring rates of mental health disorders," per the Times. The big picture: The pandemic wreaked some major havoc on the health of American teenagers, according to a CDC report released earlier this month. - Yet, but: Teen mental health was already a problem before the pandemic. Experts have pointed to fragmented and often inadequate resources for kids, as well as the role social media has played in fueling depression and anxiety among young people.
- Last spring, FAIR Health released data showing teenagers' demand for mental health care skyrocketed amid the pandemic, even as their overall need for health care declined.
What they're saying: "We need to figure it out. Because it's life or death for these kids," Candice Odgers, a psychologist at the University of California, Irvine told the Times. |
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| 5. While you were weekending |
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| Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios |
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| 🚭 As U.S. cities have banned the sale of menthol-flavored cigarettes and the FDA considers a nationwide ban, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the LA Times tracked how Reynolds American has been trying to keep menthol cigarettes in the hands of smokers — including by paying protesters. 📁 White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki waved a 385-page binder at a press conference and even offered to "make copies for you" to reporters as evidence Biden had been transparent about how billions have been spent fighting COVID-19. Even so, STAT discovered actually getting access to the binder's contents was ... "a process." 📈 Firearm-related injuries surpassed motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of death for children and teenagers in 2020, according to new CDC data. 🥰 ICYMI, here's some positive news to start your week. CNN senior UN correspondent Richard Roth recently received a truly incredible gift from fellow CNN staffer Samira Jafari, deputy managing editor at CNN Investigates: a kidney. Jafari learned Roth needed a transplant via an announcement at work. Now that's a great co-worker. |
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| A message from American Hospital Association |
| Support hospitals, preserve care |
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| Skyrocketing inflation and the rising cost of drugs and supplies present enormous challenges for hospitals and health systems as they continue to battle the pandemic. They need help from Congress to continue providing access to care for patients and communities. Read the new report. |
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 | It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 200 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications. | | |
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