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What We're Reading: Insulin Co-pays Capped; COVID-19 Case Record Broken; Mosquito-Borne Illness Testing Falls Off
American Diabetes Association–supported legislature to cap insulin costs passes in New Hampshire; cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continue to shatter records; public health efforts to limit the spread of mosquito-borne illness take a back seat to the COVID-19 pandemic.
New Hampshire Bill Limits Cost of Insulin
Late yesterday, House Bill 1280 was signed into law capping at $30 the cost sharing for a 30-day supply of insulin in New Hampshire, reports the American Diabetes Association, which also backs the legislation. Set to take effect on September 14, the law will better enable the 9% of New Hampshire’s residents who have diabetes to more easily afford their medications, as long as they have state-regulated commercial health insurance. With the approval, New Hampshire becomes the ninth state to cap insulin costs, joining Colorado, Illinois, Maine, New Mexico, New York, Utah, Washington, and West Virginia.
Thursday Was Another Record-Breaking Day for COVID-19
States continue to see cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) appear at alarming rates, with yesterday’s total of over 75,600 setting a new daily record total in the United States, according to The New York Times, breaking the previous record of 68,241 set only last Friday. This means daily cases have seen 11 record totals in the past month alone, with the 7-day average nearly tripling, from 22,000 to 63,000, as of Wednesday. Ten states have recorded new daily totals this week, including Texas, Hawaii, and Montana.
Public Health Efforts to Head Off Mosquito-Borne Illnesses Constrained
Resources typically directed toward trapping mosquitoes and testing for the blood-borne illnesses they can cause have been reallocated to COVID-19 in many locations, says Kaiser Health News. Ohio, Michigan, and Florida are just 3 of the states where labs overwhelmed with pandemic testing cannot adequately set traps and test for such illnesses as West Nile virus. Up to 200 individuals die each year in the United States, and hundreds of thousands worldwide, from mosquito-borne illnesses.
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