• District of Columbia: In a new advisory, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared gun violence a public health crisis. According to CDC data, over 48,000 people were killed by guns in the United States in 2022, with suicides accounting for more than half of those deaths. In the advisory, Murthy outlined several policy measures to address gun violence, including increased funding for research and risk reduction strategies, safe storage laws, universal background checks, and more. "I've long believed this is a public health issue," Murthy said. "This issue has been politicized, has been polarized over time. But I think when we understand that this is a public health issue, we have the opportunity to take it out of the realm of politics and put it into the realm of public health." (Pradhan/Clasen-Kelly, KFF Health News, 6/25; Barry, New York Times, 6/25; Reed, Axios, 6/25; Merelli, STAT, 6/25)
• District of Columbia: Kaiser Permanente's Risant Health last week signed a definitive agreement to acquire Cone Health, a four-hospital health system based in North Carolina. Cone Health is the second health system to be acquired by Risant after Geisinger Health, whose deal was finalized earlier this year. Although Cone Health will continue to operate independently, it will receive resources and support from Risant. Mary Jo Cagle, Cone's president and CEO, will continue in her role while reporting to Risant CEO Jaewon Ryu. "As part of Risant Health, Cone Health will build upon its long track record of success making evidence-based health care more accessible and affordable for more people," Cagle said. "The people across the Triad will be among the first to benefit." According to Ryu, Risant is currently in discussions to acquire other health systems and is looking for "like-minded, mission-aligned" organizations that focus on health equity, value-based care, and making services more accessible. (Hudson, Modern Healthcare, 6/21; Muoio, Fierce Healthcare, 6/21; Bannow, STAT+ [subscription required], 6/21)
• Louisiana: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit last week ruled that the Affordable Care Act's free preventive services requirement can remain in place for health insurers nationwide. However, the court said that the requirement would not apply to the two companies that originally challenged it. In 2020, two companies sued the federal government over the requirement that employer-sponsored insurance plans cover preventive HIV medicines at no cost. In the lawsuit, the companies argued that the coverage requirement was invalid since members of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), which issued the requirement, are not confirmed by the Senate. Although the court overturned a nationwide injunction against the preventive services requirement, it did agree that recommendations from USPSTF should not have the force of law. It also called on a lower court to revisit whether the federal government properly approved requirements that insurers cover other preventive care services outside of USPSTF's purview. According to Laurie Sobel, associate director of women's health policy at KFF, the impact of the ruling is likely to be minimal since only the plaintiffs and their employees are affected. Health insurance organizations have also emphasized that they do not plan to change their coverage of preventive services. "The recent decision does not change coverage of preventive services with no cost-sharing. Preventive care is essential to the health and well-being of the people our members serve and we will continue to monitor any future litigation in this area," said trade association AHIP. (Goldman, Axios, 6/21; Early, Modern Healthcare, 6/25)

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