PROGRAMMING NOTE: Morning New York Health Care will not be published from Monday, August 29, through Monday, September 5. We will return to our normal hours on Tuesday, September 6th.
Good morning and welcome to Monday’s New York Health Care newsletter, where we keep you updated on what’s happening this week in health care news and offer a look back at important news from the past week.
Another week, another New York primary. After months of campaign ads, televised debates and a court ruling that split the state’s primaries into two elections — one for gubernatorial and Assembly candidates in June and one for Senate and Congressional candidates in August — New Yorkers will return to the polls. voting on Tuesday.
High-profile congressional races have grabbed most of the attention surrounding New York’s August primary election, but many health care watchers in Albany are keeping their eyes on the outcome of the Democratic race in the new 33rd state Senate district.
Sen. Gustavo Rivera, in the Bronx Democrat, is seeking his seventh term in Albany amid a challenge from attorney Miguelina Camilo, a former president of the Bronx Women’s Bar Association and counsel on the city’s Board of Elections — a race that POLITICO’s Bill Mahoney noted is “over in the messiest primary involving a Senate incumbent since Democrats won the majority in 2018.
Tuesday’s result could have major implications on the future of health care policy in Albany.
A loss for Rivera would leave the Senate without a Health Committee chairman. a position to which he was appointed in late 2018. With Assembly health chairman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan) retiring at the end of the year, such a scenario would give Democratic leaders the opportunity to reset their health care priorities in both chambers.
… And it’s likely to serve as a great hit for any moment it’s still left in Albany for Gottfried and Rivera’s top legislative priority: the New York Health Act, which seeks to create a single-payer-style health care system in the state.
Early voting ended on Sunday. Polls for Tuesday’s election will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Follow POLITICO’s election night coverage for everything you need to know about this race and other key contests across the state.
AFRONI APPLICATION PERIOD — POLITICO’s Shannon Young: New Yorkers with prior marijuana-related convictions and business experience can apply for the first round of Adult Conditional Use Retail Dispensary licenses beginning August 25. The application period will close on September 26. The announcement from the Office of Cannabis Management comes almost a month after the Cannabis Control Board finalized conditional-use retail regulations for adults, which give initial licensing rights to “justice-involved” individuals. The state is on track to open its first dispensaries before the end of the year.
NO ‘Silver Bullet’ – POLITICO’s Ashleigh Furlong: The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that the monkeypox vaccine is not a “silver bullet”, with the health body starting to receive reports of new cases after people have received the vaccine.
“The fact that we’re starting to see some breakthrough cases it’s also really important information because it tells us that the vaccine is not 100 percent effective in any given circumstance, either pre-exposure or post-exposure,” said Rosamund Lewis, WHO technical lead for monkeypox. “We knew from the beginning that this vaccine would not be a silver bullet, that it would not meet all the expectations that are being placed on it.
IN OTHER NEWS:
— NYC Health + Hospitals and the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development on Friday announced a new project, Just Home, to house New Yorkers with complex medical needs after they leave prison.
— State Office of Mental Health announced Friday that it is partnering with the Association of Black Psychologists Inc. to provide specialized virtual “healing circle” support groups for New Yorkers affected by the recent mass shooting in Buffalo and an increase in hate crimes.
— Students and faculty of Albany Medical College today will honor the more than 200 people who donated their bodies to the school’s Anatomical Gift Program for medical education with a graveside service at Albany Rural Cemetery.
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU: This review is for you! Submit news tips, health tips, ideas, critiques and corrections [email protected].
AND WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU: Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, reports have emerged of patients — even those not seeking abortions — having trouble filling some prescriptions and of patients being denied treatment for pregnancy-related complications. Have abortion laws affected your access to health care? We want to hear from you.
NOW WE KNOW – The Brookings Institution now estimates that raising a child through high school costs more than $300,000.
TODAY’S TIP – BuzzFeed News offers tips on how to treat monkeypox lesions.
BE SURE TO FOLLOW Shannon@ShannonYoung413 on Twitter. And for all New Jersey health news, check out Daniel Hahn, @danieljhan_.
STUDY THIS – Via Kaiser Health News: “Paediatric kidney care is not as simple as prescribing small doses of medication for adults, said Dr. Sandra Amaral, lead researcher on a study published by JAMA this month. It’s important that children with kidney disease — especially end-stage kidney disease, or ESKD — receive specialized care, but pediatric nephrology is a specialty. Furthermore, specialists are not evenly distributed across the country.”
Facebook and Instagramremoved Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Children’s Health Protection accounts. due to medical misinformation, reports The New York Times.
Side Effects Public Media, NPR and Kaiser Health News report that “Indiana’s new abortion ban may push some young OB-GYNs out of a state where they are needed.”
A woman from Louisianasaid she was denied an abortion in her condition after an ultrasound showed her fetus was developing without a skull.
The Associated Press reports that millions “will be spared huge increases in health care costs next year after President Joe Biden signed legislation that extends generous subsidies for those who buy plans through the federal and state marketplaces.”
Red state legislators The rush to pass new abortion restrictions is being stymied by an unexpected political force — the UN, POLITICO’s Alice Miranda Ollstein and Megan Messerly report.
POLITICO’s Helen Collis reports that 400,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine that had expired and were destined for destruction have been tested from US stockpiles and found to be still viable, the chief executive of vaccine maker Bavarian Nordic said.
Insurers and payers are using inappropriately an annual FDA birth control chart to limit access to new contraceptives as the reproductive rights landscape is changing nationwide, consumer and manufacturer advocates said, POLITICO’s Lauren Gardner reports.
POLITICO’s Rebecca Kern and Ruth Reader report that social media companies are dealing with a deluge of misinformation on an unexpected topic since time immemorial Roe v. Wade overturned: Posts promoting “abortion pills.”
HAS A SUMMARY POSSIBLE? Stay informed in the New York Health Care Bulletin.
