Kind of a similar report to last week. There is still a lot of Covid-19 virus that's spreading across NC. That means you very likely have or will come in contact with the virus. Taking extra precautions right now is a good idea People are not getting as sick as before. This is due to vaccinations and immunity from previous infection. This is good, but "not as sick" does not mean "won't affect you." Getting any respiratory illness is still something that will set you back a week or more. It's not fun

This morning, @NCStateAuditor Beth Wood released an audit of the @NCMedBoard. But auditors say they were denied access to nearly all of the records they were seeking, leaving them unable to say whether or not the board is protecting patient safety. The objective was to audit how well the board conducts investigations into doctors, and what kinds of punishments it hands out

News: We maybe knew this was coming, but @BCBSNC officially appeals the @NCTreasurer decision to change the state health plan's third party administrator to @Aetna

mediacenter.bcbsnc.com/news/blue-cros… @NCTreasurer @Aetna Blue Cross says the treasurer used an "arbitrary scoring" method to rank Aetna ahead of BCBSNC

Covid-19 hospitalizations are back on the rise, but for many young/healthy people, the risks now are lower than even just one year ago. That has lowered overall vigilance, and shifted the burden even more to high-risk people. wunc.org/health/2023-01… As Mary D'Rozario (aka @loafingcactus) points out, this is tough: "You're around people who are emotionally engaged with you — friends, family. And you expect this level of care, but you're not necessarily getting it," she says.

Another huge increase in #COVID19 particles detected in wastewater. This shows that the virus is widely circulating again Hospitalizations are also up. Though at least for now, not two weeks in a row of sharp increases. This could be in part because of better immunity relative to last year. Or, because wastewater is an early indicator, we just haven't seen the hospital wave yet

The standoff over the State Health Plan is over. Treasurer Folwell relented, and will reimburse hospitals at essentially the same rates as this year. This means all 110 NC hospitals will remain in-network for the SHP Folwell relented because hospitals had shown they were unlikely to back down. That could have meant significantly higher bills for state employees, including teachers. Treasurer's office said they heard from mothers expecting babies and couldn't let them face out of network bills