Good morning and welcome to Monday’s New York Health Care newsletter, where we keep you posted on what’s coming up this week in health care news, and offer a look back at the important news from last week.
— In Albany, state lawmakers this week will take up the Senate and Assembly’s one-house budgets, proposals which have traditionally offered insight into lawmakers’ spending and policy priorities.
Details on what might be in the one-house budgets started to trickle out on Friday. Lawmakers must review and then vote on the proposals, setting the stage for final three-way negotiations with the governor’s office.
More than $3 billion will be budgeted for universal child care.
— New York City is still reporting high levels of Covid-19 transmission, despite concerns that the prevalence of at-home testing is skewing city data. There’s also concern that England, which is seeing another spike in cases among its vaccinated and boosted population, could be a harbinger of things to come in New York.
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THE CAP CONUNDRUM — POLITICO’s Shannon Young: For more than a decade, the global Medicaid cap has loomed over Albany budget negotiations, factoring into nearly all decisions on how dollars are spent — or not spent — in the program, which accounts for roughly half the state budget and provides health coverage to more than 7 million New Yorkers. But with a new occupant in the governor’s office — and state coffers now flush with federal dollars — Albany is eyeing a major overhaul of the cap, which currently limits most state Medicaid spending growth at about 3 percent, or $580 million each fiscal year. And some lawmakers are hoping to take those talks one step further by eliminating the cap altogether.
BOOSTER NEEDED — POLITICO’s Maeve Sheehey: Pfizer’s chief executive said on Sunday that another Covid-19 booster shot would be necessary, voicing support for a fourth vaccine dose before the FDA has determined whether to recommend it to the American public. Albert Bourla, the CEO of the company that created the first FDA-authorized vaccine to lower the risk of contracting Covid and lessen the disease’s serious effects, told CBS’ Margaret Brennan that current data indicated a fourth shot was necessary. He said two days earlier that the company was close to submitting “a significant package of data about the need for a fourth dose” to the FDA.
WE LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU: This roundup is for you! Send news tips, health tips, ideas, criticisms and corrections to [email protected] and [email protected]
NOW WE KNOW — Parents of trans kids are raising money to flee Texas, Vice reports.
TODAY’S TIP — Experts recommend that you make sure the first thing you do in the morning is pleasurable, according to Self.
MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW Amanda @aeis17 and Shannon @ShannonYoung413 on Twitter. And for all New Jersey health news, check out Daniel Han, @danieljhan_.
STUDY THIS — Just 10 minutes with a dog can help reduce pain, according to CNN.
The Associated Press reports on what people personally affected by the opioid addiction crisis had to say when confronting the Sackler family in court.
The Atlantic looks at how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted development in babies and toddlers.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams enjoyed a vibrant Vegan Friday meal at a Bronx school while Brooklyn students got colorless cuisine, POLITICO’s Deanna Garcia and Julia Marsh report.
The push for more medical technology during the pandemic has left some people with disabilities behind, Kaiser Health News reports.
The World Health Organization advised Ukraine to destroy high-threat pathogens housed in the country’s public health laboratories to prevent “any potential spills.”
POLITICO’s Ruby Cramer profiles “the new identity politics of Eric Adams.”
Texas’ Supreme Court appeared to slam the door on a federal lawsuit that abortion providers in the state have pursued for months, POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein and Alice Miranda Ollstein report.
Ollstein also reported that Covid chaos has fueled another public health crisis: STDs.
POLITICO’s Sarah Owermohle: Scientists at the National Institutes of Health are scrambling to decide whether all its coronavirus research and development can continue after Congress dropped new funding from its sweeping budget bill.
POLITICO’s Rachael Levy: The immunocompromised and their advocates say they’re hitting roadblocks with the White House and CDC.
POLITICO’s Renuka Rayasam: The extension of a Trump-era order cracking down on fentanyl copycats is reigniting what advocates call another war on drugs.
