What We’re Reading: State of the Union Proposals; US Latino All-Cause Mortality Changes; Select Alabama Fertility Clinics Resume IVF Services

Biden to Propose Various Health Care Measures in State of the Union Address

The White House announced Wednesday that President Biden will preview his plan to more than double the size of Medicare’s new drug price negotiation program in the upcoming State of the Union address, according to Stat. Although the current program will eventually allow Medicare to negotiate the prices of up to 20 drugs per year, Biden is looking to increase that number to 50, bringing more drugs into the negotiation process sooner. This is one of several health care-related appeals Biden will make to Congress during the State of the Union. Biden will also ask lawmakers to extend a $35-per-month cost cap for insulin to the commercial market, and he will call to close the Medicaid coverage gap in states that have chosen not to expand it despite federal funding offers. Despite Biden’s many proposals, the policies have little chance of being enacted this year with a Republican House of Representatives.

All-Cause Mortality Among US Latinos Changed Due to COVID-19 Pandemic

An analysis of the all-cause mortality of Hispanic and Latino adults recently published in the Annals of Internal Medicine reported that Mexicans and Central Americans were most affected by the pandemic, according to CIDRAP. The study was based on trends among 15,568 adults aged 18 to 75 years who participated in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL); it compared baseline mortality trends from 2008 through 2011 to those from 2020 and 2021. Before the pandemic, cumulative mortality risks were higher in the Cuban and Puerto Rican groups (5.9% and 6.3%, respectively) and lowest in the South American group (2.3%). Conversely, during the pandemic, the researchers explained that risks were somewhat higher for persons of Central American and Mexican backgrounds compared to those of Puerto Rican and Cuban backgrounds. They noted that socioeconomic and lifestyle factors contributed to mortality among Latino groups during the pandemic.

Two Alabama Fertility Clinics Will Resume IVF Services After Bill to Protect Doctors Passes

Two Alabama fertility clinics said they expect to resume in vitro fertilization (IVF) services now that state lawmakers passed a bill to protect doctors and clinics, according to NBC News. The Alabama Supreme Court ruled on February 16 that frozen embryos are considered unborn children, which made IVF providers concerned that they could face legal repercussions for disposing of embryos as part of routine IVF services. The ruling caused clinics in Alabama to suspend IVF services, which then prompted legislators from both parties to call for legal safeguards to protect IVF providers. This resulted in them passing a bill Wednesday that offers civil and criminal immunity to doctors, clinics, and other health care personnel who provide IVF. However, it does not specify whether frozen embryos have the same rights as children under state law, so some legal experts and reproductive rights advocates worry the law does not go far enough.