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Both New York and Wisconsin have reported their first measles deaths in decades amid ongoing outbreaks of the disease across the country, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from Maryland, New York, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.
- Maryland: FDA has approved a generic version of the HIV preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drug lenacapavir, which could make it more affordable and accessible in 120 low- and middle-income countries. Lenacapavir, which was developed by Gilead Sciences, was approved by FDA last year. In clinical trials of gay and bisexual men and transgender individuals, those who received injections of lenacapavir every six months had an 89% lower HIV rate than those who took the daily PrEP pill Truvada and a 96% lower rate than what would have been expected without any PrEP. Although the drug is still under patent in the United States, FDA approved a generic version for other countries to ensure the quality of HIV-related drugs provided to other countries by the U.S. government. Generic lenacapavir is expected to cost $40 a year per person in the countries where it'll be available, which is the same price as daily PrEP pills. "The work is not done. Now, we need the funding to actually buy it for everyone who needs it, and then we need to do the hard work of getting it to the millions of people who need it and want it," said Carolyn Amole, who leads the HIV program for the Clinton Health Access Initiative. "But this is a great milestone." (Associated Press/MedPage Today, 11/3)
- New York/Wisconsin: Both New York and Wisconsin have reported their first measles deaths in decades amid ongoing outbreaks of the disease across the country. In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) recently reported that a child in Lewis County died from measles, marking the state's first death from the illness in 30 years. According to Hochul, the death was a sign that public health protections are decreasing as more families go without vaccination. New York is currently in the middle of a significant measles outbreak, with at least 178 cases reported this year. In Wisconsin, state officials reported the death of an infant who contracted measles. It is the state's first measles death in 36 years. Wisconsin has reported 431 cases of measles, with nine people hospitalized. Nationwide, there have been over 5,000 measles cases so far this year, more than twice the number reported in 2025 and the highest number of cases since 1991. So far, CDC has confirmed four measles-associated deaths this year, but state health departments have reported higher numbers. In Pennsylvania, health officials have reported five measles deaths and are investigating a potential sixth death. (Goldstein, New York Times, 11/3; Associated Press/MedPage Today, 11/5; Shah, Washington Post, 11/7)
- Rhode Island: CVS Health is suing the federal government in an attempt to improve its Medicare Advantage (MA) Star Ratings and prevent over $2 billion in lost revenue due to decreased quality scores. In 2026, the percentage of CVS' members in MA plans rated four stars or higher was 84%, but this figure dropped to 67% in 2027. In its lawsuit, CVS argued that CMS' methodology for calculating the MA Star Ratings is illegal since the agency relied on improperly adopted measures. So far, at least four other insurers — Alignment Healthcare, Healthfirst, SCAN Health Plan, and Centene — have also sued the government over their MA Star Ratings. All the lawsuits make near-identical legal arguments, saying CMS violated the Administrative Procedure Act by calculating scores using measures that did not have proper notice-and-comment rulemaking. What varies in the lawsuits is the set of measures the insurer is hoping to overturn. Alignment and SCAN are each seeking to overturn 10 measures, Healthfirst is seeking to overturn five, and Centene is seeking to overturn 17. CVS is aiming to exclude 28 measures, which is the most of any insurer so far. (Parduhn, Healthcare Dive, 10/28)
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