A new broadly inclusive definition of long COVID from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) has been developed with the aim of improving consistency, documentation, and treatment for both adults and children.[ Medscape] 

According to the 2024 NASEM definition of long COVID issued on June 11, 2024, "Long COVID is an infection-associated chronic condition that occurs after SARS-CoV-2 infection and is present for at least 3 months as a continuous, relapsing and remitting, or progressive disease state that affects one or more organ systems." 

People with long COVID may present with one or more of a long list of symptoms, such as shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, extreme fatigue, post-exertional malaise, or sleep disturbance and with single or multiple diagnosable conditions, including interstitial lung disease, arrhythmias, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), diabetes, or autoimmune disorders. The condition can exacerbate preexisting health conditions or present as new ones. 

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President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign wants voters to contrast his record on health care policy with his predecessor’s. In May, Biden’s campaign began airing a monthlong, $14 million ad campaign targeting swing-state voters and minority groups with spots on TV, digital, and radio.. {KFF Health News]

This article was produced in partnership with PolitiFact. It can be republished for free.

In the ad, titled “Terminate,” Biden assails former President Donald Trump for his past promises to overturn the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Biden also warns of the potential effect if Trump is returned to office and again pursues repeal.

“That would mean over a hundred million Americans will lose protections for preexisting conditions,” Biden said in the ad.

Less than six months from Election Day, polls show Trump narrowly leading Biden in a head-to-head race in most swing states. And voters trust Trump to better handle issues such as inflation, crime, and the economy by significant margins.

An ABC News/Ipsos poll of about 2,200 adults, released in early May, shows the only major policy issues on which Biden received higher marks than Trump were health care and abortion access. It’s no surprise, then, that the campaign is making those topics central to Biden’s pitch to voters.

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For Diana Perez, a medical resident at the Family Health Center of Harlem, the handwritten thank-you note she received from a patient is all the evidence she needs that she has chosen the right training path.[KFF Health News}

This story also ran on U.S. News & World Report. It can be republished for free.

Perez helped the patient, a homeless, West African immigrant who has HIV and other chronic conditions, get the medications and care he needed. She also did the paperwork that documented his medical needs for the nonprofit that helped him apply for asylum and secure housing.

“I really like whole-person care,” said Perez, 31, who has been based at this New York City health center for most of the past three years. “I wanted to learn and train, dealing with the everyday things I will be seeing as a primary care physician and really immersing myself in the community,” she said.

“I wanted to learn and train dealing with the everyday things I will be seeing as a primary care physician and really immersing myself in the community,” says Diana Perez, who is completing her primary care residency at the Family Health Center of Harlem.(DIANA PEREZ)

Few primary care residents get such extensive community-based outpatient training. The vast majority spend most of their residencies in hospitals. But Perez, who is being trained through the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education program, is among those treating patients in federally qualified health centers and community clinics in medically underserved rural and urban areas around the country. After graduating, these residents are more likely than hospital-trained graduates to stay on and practice locally where they are often desperately needed, research has found.

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Fifty-three organizations will receive $44 million from Cook County to support the region’s mental health infrastructure. [Health News Illinois]

The funding, announced this week, will head to healthcare and behavioral support providers for prevention, early intervention, treatment, recovery, support services and crisis care.

“This initiative highlights how government and other sectors of our community can work together to benefit the greater good and the health of our residents,” Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said at a press conference. “This is a historic opportunity to make meaningful change in Cook County for generations.” 

American Rescue Plan Act funds support the initiative.

Cook County Health Interim CEO Dr. Erik Mikaitis said the dollars will make a significant impact on the region’s “comprehensive, culturally appropriate behavioral health prevention, treatment and recovery services.”

“The needs before us are vast, as everyone knows," he said. "We have increasing demands for services across Cook County and a lack of mental health providers at times. It was critical that we invest in services that are equitable, effective and accessible for all."

See the full list of recipients here.

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Suicides Increase In US, With Guns Being Used Majority Of The Time | Moreover, gun suicides have consistently outpaced gun homicides, data show. The New York Times takes a closer look at Montana, a state struggling with the highest suicide rate in the nation. [KFF Health News]

Axios: Gun Suicides Account For Most Firearm-Related Deaths In U.S.
Gun suicides consistently outstrip gun homicides in the U.S., despite drawing less attention than other forms of gun violence. Suicide rates have increased in the U.S. over the past few decades and become a leading cause of death among young and middle-aged Americans. (Saric, 6/10)

The New York Times: Montana’s Suicide Rate Is Highest In The U.S., With Most Involving Guns
On a typical day, Ali Mullen races from her job at the county health department in Helena, Mont. ... a big pack of gummy bears keeps her going, stashed in her handbag next to a different sort of lifesaver: a gun lock that she carries almost everywhere she goes. In a sparsely populated state where many people own firearms, the small metal contraptions, which fit around a trigger and cost less than $10 on Amazon, are one way Montanans are trying to reduce the high rate of people who kill themselves. (Corkery, 6/10)

Texas Public Radio: Uvalde Families Sue UPS, FedEx For Shipping Gunman’s Weapon
Families of survivors of the Robb Elementary School shooting are suing the package shipping companies UPS and FedEx for allegedly violating state and federal law and their own corporate safety standards. The lawsuit was filed on the two-year mark of the shooting, which saw a gunman enter the school and murder 19 children and two teachers. The families said the shipping companies bear responsibility for the trauma and distress caused to the survivors of the massacre. (Padilla, 6/10)

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Arexvy now approved for people 50 years and older at increased risk of serious outcomes | The FDA expanded the approval of GSK's respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine (Arexvy) to include adults ages 50 to 59 at risk of RSV-related lower respiratory tract disease (LRTD) due to underlying conditions, the company announced on Friday. [MedPage Today]

Previously the adjuvanted RSV prefusion F protein-based vaccine had been approved only for adults 60 and older; it is currently recommended for use via shared decision-making by the CDC and Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

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Lawmakers signed off on sweeping changes to the insurance industry, boosted support for maternal health, increased provider rates and did more during the recently concluded spring session. [Health News Illinois} 

Below is a roundup of some of the proposals that could have the biggest impact on healthcare in the Land of Lincoln.

BUDGET

Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law this week a roughly $53.1 billion spending plan that includes hundreds of millions of dollars in investments for healthcare initiatives.

That includes $10 million to support a program within the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to relieve medical debt for more than 300,000 Illinoisans.

The package includes $182 million pledged by Pritzker earlier this spring to provide healthcare and other services to asylum seekers in the Chicago region.

And it allocates $440 million to two programs that provide Medicaid-like coverage for some undocumented adults. An additional $100 million will be brought in from a federal emergency services match, as well as $50 million from drug rebate payments and $40 million from managed care organization taxes.

Visit Health News Illinois website for for more information. 

We share some of  news report on Maternal Health and Behavioral Health here.

Lawmakers voted to boost pay for a variety of providers through the Medicaid omnibus this year.

MATERNAL HEALTH

Lawmakers followed through on Pritzker’s priority to address maternal health.

Along with funding various initiatives in the budget plan, the General Assembly approved a plan that will task insurers with covering all pregnancy, postpartum and newborn care provided by perinatal doulas or licensed certified professional midwives. That includes home births and home visits.

Coverage would also expand to home visits by board-certified lactation consultants and recommended products like breast pumps and feeding aids.

Another bill passed this spring would create a task force to design recovery plans for substance-exposed infants. The plans would include medical treatment, recovery services and referrals to community resources for infants and caregivers.

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH

Lawmakers green-lit a bill that would clarify existing law requiring the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to identify leading indicators for when a child is at an elevated behavioral health crisis risk.

The bill would create a workgroup with HFS, Medicaid managed care organizations and other stakeholders to determine what data to use to determine lead indicators. The workgroup would have to make its recommendations for leading indicator data elements by September, with that information to be used to ensure managed care organizations provide services and interventions to help children.

The proposal also tasks the State Board of Education to work with sister agencies and stakeholders to develop a readiness assessment for universal mental health screening of students, including a framework to support districts in a phased approach. The report would be due this fall, with a plan for a phased approach to be ready by next April.

Legislators also passed a bill to create a task force to investigate and develop a plan to help ease administrative burdens on behavioral health providers.

Another approved plan would require any mental health, substance use disorder treatment or developmental disabilities facility to attempt to provide a verbal and written notice of death of a patient to the individual's personal representative, if known.

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The recommendation would lead to the third remake of covid vaccines since 2022, CIDRAP notes, with new shots targeting ever-evolving variants. FDA officials say the timing for this type of decision "remains elusive." Also, a potential treatment is about to begin clinical trials in South Carolina. [KFF]

CIDRAP: FDA Panel Supports Switch To JN.1 For Fall COVID Vaccines Vaccine advisers to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today recommended switching the SARS-CoV-2 strain from the XBB.1.5 variant to JN.1 for fall vaccine formulations. The recommendation marks the third remake for the COVID vaccine since 2022. The measure unanimously passed, 16 to 0. FDA officials, concerned about further evolution of JN.1, also asked the group to discuss the possibility of recommending an offshoot of JN.1, such as KP.2, that may more closely match currently circulating strains. (Schnirring, 6/5)

The New York Times: F.D.A. Advisers Recommend a New Covid Vaccine Formula for the Fall“It’s becoming clear that the ideal timing for a vaccine composition decision remains elusive,” said Jerry Weir, an official with the F.D.A.’s vaccine division. ... Dr. Sarah Meyer, a senior vaccines official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that aiming at JN.1 was more appropriate because it was “further up on the tree” in the evolution of the coronavirus, possibly allowing the vaccines to better cover mutations in the virus later this year. (Weiland and Jewett, 6/5)

Also —

WCSC: Clinical Trials To Begin For COVID-19 Treatment Developed In South CarolinaState lawmakers approved millions of dollars for research on a new COVID-19 treatment that will soon begin clinical trials, with every step of the research and development to take place completely in South Carolina. It’s a new way to treat COVID by inhaling medicine into the lungs to address respiratory inflammation, compared with the already-developed antiviral pill. (Rademaker, 6/5)

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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services signed off Tuesday on Illinois’s plan to establish a new behavioral health model in the state’s Medicaid program. [Health News Illinois]

Through the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics program, HHS will provide "sustainable funding" for facilities that provide comprehensive, around-the-clock behavioral healthcare and substance abuse treatment. Clinics are required to provide care coordination, 24/7 access to crisis services and serve all patients, regardless of their ability to pay.

“(CCBHCs) have significantly improved behavioral health treatment in our country, and today’s announcement will dramatically expand and improve access to equitable, quality care for Americans with serious mental health and substance use treatment needs,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement.

Illinois was one of 10 states added to the demonstration program after they established the “necessary state-level infrastructure and worked with providers” to develop their initiatives, according to HHS. Eight states are already part of the program.

Department of Healthcare and Family Services Director Lizzy Whitehorn said Tuesday’s announcement will have a “significant impact” on access.

“Behavioral healthcare faces major capacity challenges across the nation," she said in a statement. “This program will expand access in critical ways for people who have struggled in the past to find the services they need.”

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The Department of Public Health said Monday the measles outbreak reported earlier this spring in the northeastern region of Illinois is over. [Health News Illinois]

“I applaud all of the public health, healthcare, emergency management and social service staffers who worked so diligently to cooperate across jurisdictional lines to contain this measles outbreak,” Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said in a statement. “Public health is a team sport founded on partnership, and this was no better exemplified than during this recent outbreak.”

No new cases have been reported in the region in 42 days, or two full incubation periods.

A total of 67 cases were reported during the outbreak, with 57 of those cases connected to a shelter for asylum seekers in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood. Other cases were reported in suburban Cook County, as well as DuPage, Lake and Will counties.

IDPH’s announcement follows a similar one made last week by the Chicago Department of Public Health.

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