Top health stories in Connecticut for 2023
From vaccines to hospital finances, reproductive rights to opioid settlements: Here's what the top health stories in Connecticut were in 2023.
As the end of 2023 nears, we leave a third year with COVID-19 in our orbit. While the virus is still prevalent, and it's still killing more people in Connecticut than the flu, 2023 became a year of ripple effects from COVID-19 rather than direct ones.
But, COVID-19 wasn't the only health headline this year. Let's take a look at what has unfolded since January:
Medicare Election Period
While the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic receded in 2023, so did some COVID-era measures that were initially put in place.
In March, the federal policy that guaranteed medicare coverage during the pandemic began winding down. From now on, more than 400,000 Connecticut residents will once again have to make sure they're eligible each year.
Nearly 85 million people are covered by government-funded Medicaid, which focuses on people with low incomes.
At the pandemic's start, the federal government prohibited states from kicking people off Medicaid if they were no longer eligible. That ban ended this spring, and many people on Medicaid will be introduced to this so-called redetermination process for the first time.
States are already verifying eligibility. Some, like Arizona, Arkansas, and Idaho are expected to start ending coverage for ineligible people in April. Most states will be doing that in May, June, and July.
Federal officials estimate that more than 8 million people will lose eligibility and leave Medicaid mainly because their incomes have changed.
The timing of these cuts will vary. However, all states have insurance markets where people who lose Medicaid can buy new coverage with help from subsidies. Some states will even connect shoppers with a potential new plan.
Shopping for affordable insurance that covers regular doctors and prescriptions can be daunting, especially in marketplaces that offer dozens of choices and subsidies to help pay for them.
Connecticut has AccessCT Health. To learn more about Access Health CT, head to their website.
Vaccines and Drug Breakthroughs
After three years, the COVID-19 public health emergency declared across the country ended in May. That, in turn, affected the availability and raised the out-of-pocket costs for tests and vaccines.
Connecticut is still urging people to get their COVID-19 shots, and people are still able to sign up with the United States Postal Service to receive free tests at this time.
"We do anticipate that, probably, we're going to be asking people to get a shot at least this fall, maybe every year for COVID," said Commissioner of the state Department of Public Health, Manisha Juthani.
New COVID-19 vaccines were approved in September. The Food and Drug Administration approved the updated shots for adults and children as young as age 6 months. The FDA said starting at age 5, most people can get a single dose even if they’ve never had a prior COVID-19 shot. Younger children might need additional doses depending on their history of COVID-19 infections and vaccinations.
Similar to how flu shots are updated each year, the FDA gave COVID-19 vaccine makers a new recipe ahead of the cold, flu, and now COVID-19 season. The updated shots have a single target, an omicron descendant named XBB.1.5. It’s a big change. The COVID-19 vaccines offered since last year are combination shots targeting the original coronavirus strain and a much earlier omicron version, making them very outdated.
As of writing, this year's COVID-19 vaccination rates have lagged behind the previous years, but 2023 was a monumental year for RSV vaccines.
Two RSV vaccines have been approved thus far: One for people over 60 years old and another for pregnant women. There was also an antibody treatment for newborns.
RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, is a common cause of cold-like symptoms that can be dangerous for young children. The new, one-time shot is a lab-made antibody that helps the immune system fight off the virus. Sold under the brand name Beyfortus, the drug was developed by AstraZeneca and Sanofi.
Some children may be eligible for an older RSV drug, palivizumab, agency officials said. That drug requires monthly injections.
Doctors were urged by the CDC to persuade pregnant women to get the new vaccine designed to protect newborns from RSV. When that happens, the baby doesn't need the antibody drug.
The FDA also approved another drug that was the first one that's been shown to slow the progression of Alzheimer's.
The IV drug, Leqembi, was approved for patients with mild dementia and other symptoms caused by early Alzheimer's disease. It’s the first medicine that’s been convincingly shown to modestly slow Alzheimer’s cognitive decline.
It was also a win for patients on Medicare. In 2022, Medicare officials said they wouldn't pay for routine use of drugs like Leqembi until they received the FDA's approval over concerns that the cost of the drugs would overwhelm the program's finances.
Medicare administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure has made clear the program will immediately begin paying for the drug now that it has full FDA approval. But the government is also setting extra requirements.
Medicare recipients getting Leqembi must be enrolled in a federal registry to track the drug's real-world safety and effectiveness. The information will help advance “knowledge of how these drugs can potentially help people,” Medicare officials said.
Other drugs also saw a breakthrough in 2023.
In September, the opioid reversal drug known as Narcan began hitting store shelves.
It happened just months after the nasal spray was approved for over-the-counter use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration – a move that some advocates have long sought as a way to improve access to a life-saving drug.
Narcan, the brand name for the drug naloxone, can reverse overdoses of opioids, including street drugs such as heroin and fentanyl, and prescription versions, including oxycodone.
Making naloxone available more widely is seen as a key strategy to control the nationwide overdose crisis, which has been linked to more than 100,000 U.S. deaths a year. The majority of those deaths are tied to opioids, primarily potent synthetic versions such as fentanyl that can take multiple doses of naloxone to reverse.
Lastly, to help Connecticut residents, the state began offering prescription drug discounts of up to 80% through a partnership with the app Array RX.
Despite being available to everyone, officials said the program is specifically aimed at three groups of people – those on high-deductible health plans, the uninsured, and seniors on Medicare.
Connecticut residents can receive this discount card by filling out the form on Array Rx’s website. The card will be provided to consumers via e-mail and can be downloaded to smartphone wallets.
Reproductive Healthcare
Connecticut continued to advance reproductive healthcare and rights this year.
In July, Gov. Ned Lamont signed four bills into law concerning reproductive rights in the state.
One law, Public Act 23-128, protects medical providers from "adverse actions" another state may enforce. Licensed medical providers in Connecticut are protected from their license being revoked, suspended, or denied renewal if they provide reproductive services to patients, including those who come to Connecticut from a state where that care is illegal.
Access to birth control without the need to visit a doctor first is now legal in Connecticut through Public Act 23-52. Pharmacists are now able to prescribe birth control, as long as they have completed an accredited education training program for prescribing hormonal contraceptives and emergency contraception.
The governor's office said this law is "effective upon passage, pending the adoption of updated regulations from the Department of Consumer Protection."
Public colleges in Connecticut will be able to increase access to reproductive care for their students through Public Act 23-41. These institutions, which includes UConn, have until Jan. 1, 2024, to come up with a plan to address the needs of student reproductive health care, which includes contraception, abortion, and gender-affirming care. Students attending a public college in Connecticut who are from a state where these services are banned will be able to use these services.
The privacy of health data that are stored and accessed online will be protected through Public Act 23-56.
Legislators and advocates say these laws are essential in the aftermath of the reversal of Roe v. Wade.
Sackler Settlement
In May, Connecticut signed onto a historic opioid settlement with the Sackler family, which owns Purdue Pharma.
The agreement hammered out with state and local governments and victims would provide billions of dollars to combat the opioid epidemic. The Sacklers would contribute up to $6 billion and give up ownership of the company but retain billions more. The company would emerge from bankruptcy as a different entity, with its profits used for treatment and prevention.
The agreement came a year after Connecticut announced a $100 million settlement against Purdue Pharma itself. Purdue Pharma's corporate officers are in Stamford and thus made the obligation "special" to push, Attorney General William Tong said at the time.
Tong pointed out at the time that the office of the Attorney General has been working on a settlement since 2007 under Richard Blumenthal and George Jepsen, former attorneys general. At that time, Tong said, Purdue could have stepped up and done the right thing, but instead, "they poured gasoline and blamed the victims and the doctors."
As for the settlement deal with the Sacklers, it's in the fate of the U.S. Supreme Court now.
The justices seemed reluctant to break up an exhaustively negotiated agreement but also leery of somehow rewarding the Sacklers.
The high court put the settlement on hold during the summer, in response to objections from the Biden administration.
Sackler family members no longer are on the company's board, and they have not received payouts from it since before Purdue Pharma entered bankruptcy. In the decade before that, though, they were paid more than $10 billion, about half of which family members said went to pay taxes.
A decision in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma, 22-859, is expected by early summer.
Financial Woes for Conn.'s Hospitals
A lasting story of 2023 that will follow Connecticut into the new year is the financial problems hospitals in the state faced due to COVID-19.
In March, a report by the Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) found that hospitals in the state went from having a nearly 5% provide margin in 2021 to a 1% loss in 2022.
"We found that compared to the country, we're faring slightly worse than our colleagues across the country," said Paul Kidwell, vice president of policy at CHA.
According to the report, expenses are $3.5 billion higher than pre-pandemic levels as expenses have risen for labor, drugs, and other medical supplies. They also found that since the spring of 2020, hospitals in the state have been caring for patients with more severe health needs.
Also this year, a number of Connecticut hospitals began addressing their financial problems by trying to close their labor and delivery units.
From Johnson Memorial in Stafford, Sharon Hospital and Windham Hospital – all have said there's not enough need for those services to keep the departments safely staffed.
On Aug. 30, the state Office of Health Strategy issued a ruling forcing Sharon Hospital’s birthing unit to stay open, but the hospital said that the ruling did nothing to solve the problem that they are bleeding money and having trouble recruiting doctors.
The issues facing Connecticut's hospitals don't stop there.
Manchester Memorial Hospital and Rockville General Hospital, which fall under the ECHN umbrella, said they may soon collapse if the state does not approve their sale to Yale New Haven Health soon.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Tim Lammers is an anchor at FOX61 News. He can be reached at Tlammers@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Jennifer Glatz is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jglatz@fox61.com.
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