Patients and advocates are suing HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra over access to home health aides, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from the District of Columbia, Minnesota, and New York.

• District of Columbia: The National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Team Gleason, and three disabled Medicare beneficiaries are suing HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra for allegedly restricting access to home health services for patients who needed aides for short periods of time. According to the lawsuit, changes to CMS' payment model have made it difficult for patients who require "part-time or intermittent" services of 28 or fewer hours a week to access care. In particular, the plaintiffs say they have struggled to find enough home health aides who can provide consistent care between hospital stays or when needed, leading to some paying out of pocket for care. Currently, the plaintiffs are seeking an injunction to ensure that patients who qualify "have reasonable access to the home health aide services." (Dreher, Axios, 10/12)

• Minnesota: The Fred C. and Katherine B. Andersen Foundation gifted Mayo Clinic $100 million to expand its radiation treatment center in Rochester, MN. According to Star Tribune, the gift will allow Mayo Clinic to roughly double appointments for proton beam radiation treatment, which is used to treat tumors near or inside vital organs and for younger people whose organs are still developing. Currently, the appointment capacity for the therapy is 1,200 patients a year, but the gift will allow an additional 900 patients to be treated. By 2025, Mayo Clinic should be able to meet an annual estimated demand of 2,000 patients. "This gift marks a significant milestone in Mayo Clinic's decades-long relationship with Fred and Katherine Andersen and the foundation that executes on their vision for healthy, strong communities," said Mayo Clinic CEO Gianrico Farrugia. (Snowbeck, Star Tribune, 10/10)

• New York: Digital weight loss company Noom on Wednesday confirmed that it is laying off employees as it undergoes a business transition. Although Noom did not specify how many employees were being laid off, TechCrunch reported that 10% of the company's staff, or roughly 500 people, were expected to be let go. According to Modern Healthcare, this is the company's second major layoff this year. In April, Noom laid off around 500 employees, most of whom were health coaches. Currently, Noom is focusing on moving toward more enterprise-focused revenue rather than relying largely on direct-to-consumer revenue. Last Thursday, the company launched Noom for Work, a program that would allow businesses to cover the costs of the service. "I have to believe that with consumers feeling the pinch of inflation and having less disposable income, having this covered becomes even more attractive," said Firdaus Bhathena, Noom's general manager for health care. So far, more than 150 organizations, which includes employers and health plans, have signed up for Noom for Work. (Turner, Modern Healthcare, 10/12; Perna, Digital Health, 10/6)