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Good morning, y’all. A large majority of U.K. companies that <a href="http://wsj.com/articles/after-testing-four-day-week-companies-say-they-dont-want-to-stop-a06089cc?mod=hp_listc_pos2">tested out a four-day workweek</a> apparently want to stick with it. We’ll be having an even shorter week this week — catch us in your inbox Tuesday to Thursday. Was this forwarded to you?<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/newsletters/the-health-202/?itid=sf_politics-the-202-newsletters/the-health-202_subnav"> Sign up here.</a>

Today’s edition: Deaths in state and federal prisons rose nearly 50 percent in the pandemic’s first year. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) excludes Medicare and Social Security from his plan to sunset federal legislation every five years. But first …&nbsp;

There’s a new alliance to boost communication among governors on policies supporting abortion

Damian Dovarganes

Governors supporting <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/abortion/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">abortion</a> rights are forming a new coalition aimed at expanding and protecting access to the procedure, according to details shared with The Health 202.

The Reproductive Freedom Alliance will create a more formal structure for governors to regularly collaborate on work to shore up abortion rights, such as administrative actions, budgetary moves and bills moving through state legislatures. It’s also aimed at allowing for a more coordinated response to major decisions with a nationwide impact, such as the<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/05/abortion-pills-texas-lawsuit/"> lawsuit looming in Texas</a> that could revoke the decades-old government approval of a key abortion drug.

Twenty governors are joining the new alliance, which was initiated by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and bills itself as nonpartisan, though only Democratic governors have joined as of this morning.

“Each state has a somewhat different political makeup,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D), who pledged to veto any abortion restrictions the state’s Republican-controlled legislature sends to his desk, said in an interview. “But at the same time, forming this alliance can help us use all of our resources to fight for women’s reproductive freedom from coast to coast.”&nbsp;

The new coalition builds on a<a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/2022/06/24/west-coast-states-launch-new-multi-state-commitment-to-reproductive-freedom-standing-united-on-protecting-abortion-access/"> pact three West Coast states</a> — California, Oregon and Washington — made to protect abortion rights the day the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion in June. And it could lay the groundwork for Democratic states to fight efforts to roll back President Biden’s abortion-related policies if a Republican wins the White House in 2024.&nbsp;

Abortion is now banned or under threat in these states

Created with Datawrapper

The governors involved in the alliance hail from states with Democratic trifectas — such as New Jersey, Illinois and Michigan — as well as those with divided governments like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Other states participating are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington.

The idea is for staff of the governors to meet at least once a month and for the governors to meet in person once or twice a year.&nbsp;

The alliance has secured at least six-figure totals in contributions to date, with major funding coming from the California Wellness Foundation, a large public health philanthropic institution in the state, along with other financial support from the Rosenberg Foundation, which provides grants for policies aimed at promoting racial and economic justice.

The effort is sure to meet resistance from antiabortion groups, and comes as Republicans in several conservative-leaning states are<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/03/north-carolina-florida-nebraska-abortion-roe-desantis/"> expected this year to weigh restrictions</a> on the procedure that could once again reshape the national abortion landscape.&nbsp;

Newsom refers to the alliance as a “firewall to fight for and protect providers [and] patients.” California and several other states<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/12/liberal-led-states-are-rushing-protect-expand-abortion-access/"> have recently</a> enshrined abortion rights into state law or constitutions, required most insurance plans to cover the cost of the procedure, and put millions toward helping patients obtain an abortion.

Other Democratic states are<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/01/30/how-liberal-states-are-shoring-up-abortion-rights/"> now seeking to follow suit</a> or attempting to build on legislation passed last year. In an interview, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) described several policy areas the coalition could discuss, such as protecting providers from out-of-state investigations, and training and licensing providers who can perform abortions.&nbsp;

Here’s one thing on the governors’ radar: A decision could come soon from a federal judge in Texas on whether to revoke the Food and Drug Administration’s<a href="https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/appletter/2000/20687appltr.pdf"> 2000 approval of mifepristone,</a> one of two drugs used in a medication abortion.&nbsp;

An appeal<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/05/abortion-pills-texas-lawsuit/"> would land in the right-leaning</a> U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit and could ultimately present to the Supreme Court, a trajectory that’s raising alarms among abortion rights groups. That’s one area governors supporting abortion rights said they could work together on if the ruling goes in conservatives’ favor.&nbsp;

“If there were an order issued that would cause problems with this safe and effective method,” Cooper said, “then I know that we would be in contact with each other and would help to coordinate a quick response to it.”

Prison deaths skyrocketed in 2020 as the pandemic raged

Eric Risberg

Deaths in state and federal prisons increased nearly 50 percent <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/19/us/covid-prison-deaths.html">during the first year of the pandemic,</a> underscoring how crowded facilities, an aging inmate population, correctional staffing shortages and ill-equipped medical personnel combined to make inmates especially vulnerable to covid-19, the New York Times reports.

The sharp uptick in fatalities in 2020 was more than twice the increase in the United States overall and even exceeded estimates at nursing homes, which were among the hardest-hit sectors nationwide, according to a <a href="https://uclacovidbehindbars.org/intro-carceral-mortality">database</a> from UCLA Law’s <a href="https://uclacovidbehindbars.org/intro-carceral-mortality">Behind Bars Data Project</a>. Researchers found that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/coronavirus/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">coronavirus</a> infections drove the death totals, but inmates also succumbed to other illnesses, suicide and violence. In many prisons, high fatality rates continued in 2021.

In six states, the number of deaths in prisons more than doubled between 2019 and 2020. That includes Alabama, South Carolina and West Virginia, which have a history of elevated prison deaths. Long sentences, harsh conditions and poor public health overall likely drove their high numbers, per the New York Times’s Jennifer Valentino-DeVries and Allie Pitchon.&nbsp;

Her baby has a deadly diagnosis. Her Florida doctors refused an abortion.

Drea Cornejo

(Video by Drea Cornejo/The Washington Post)

Deborah Dorbert has been using the final days before her baby’s birth to plan the details of the infant’s death.&nbsp;

The Post’s Frances Stead Sellers <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/02/18/florida-abortion-ban-unviable-pregnancy-potter-syndrome/">chronicles how Deborah and her husband, Lee,</a> were told by a specialist when she was roughly 24 weeks pregnant that the fetus has a condition incompatible with life. The couple decided to terminate the pregnancy, but they say they were ultimately told they couldn’t due to a law in Florida banning most abortions that went into effect last summer. The story gives a rare window into how one abortion ban played out on the ground when a fetus was diagnosed with a fatal abnormality.

“The new law bans abortion after 15 weeks with a couple of exceptions, including one that permits a later termination if ‘two physicians certify in writing that, in reasonable medical judgment, the fetus has a fatal fetal abnormality’ and has not reached viability,” Frances writes. “It is not clear how the Dorberts’ doctors applied the law in this situation. Their baby has a condition long considered lethal that is now the subject of clinical trials to assess a potential treatment.”&nbsp;

Sen. Scott amends sunset plan to exclude Medicare, Social Security

Anna Moneymaker

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/17/scott-social-security-medicare/">amended his controversial plan</a> requiring all federal legislation to be renewed every five years after months-long attacks from both parties. Now, the proposal makes exceptions for Medicare and Social Security, The Post’s John Wagner and Justine McDaniel report.

This comes a little over a week after Biden called out the plan in his <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/02/07/remarks-of-president-joe-biden-state-of-the-union-address-as-prepared-for-delivery/">State of the Union</a> address and then <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/10/medicare-finger-pointing-is-accelerating/">used a trip to Florida</a> to accuse Scott of seeking to gut the programs many people in his state benefit from.&nbsp;

Scott first released his plan last year as part of a broader “Rescue America” blueprint. It required all legislation to sunset every five years, and while it didn’t specifically mention Medicare or Social Security, Democrats have repeatedly pointed out both programs were created by legislation.&nbsp;

Want to learn more about Biden’s love for talking about Scott? <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/17/bipartisan-show-force-ukraine/">Read White House reporter Yasmeen Abutaleb in The Early 202.</a>&nbsp;

How Pfizer’s patient assistance program for the coronavirus vaccine would work

The federal government has been purchasing coronavirus vaccines and making them free to all Americans amid the pandemic. But that will change at some point this year, and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/16/bernie-sanders-sets-motion-his-plan-grill-pharma-ceos/">both Moderna and Pfizer</a> have said they’re implementing programs so the uninsured can access shots for free.

We got a few more details on how Pfizer’s patient assistance program would work. Health providers who want to vaccinate the uninsured should contact the company’s patient assistance program so they know the eligibility requirements. Patients enrolled in the program won’t pay an upfront cost. Then, providers and pharmacies will need to submit documentation to get reimbursed, according to a company spokesperson.&nbsp;

The Biden administration has also said <a href="https://twitter.com/AshishKJha46/status/1620836129418383360?s=20">it’s committed</a> to ensuring vaccines and treatments are accessible for uninsured Americans, though it hasn’t released a plan on how to do so.&nbsp;

Former president Jimmy Carter has chosen to spend his final days at home in Plains, Ga., in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/02/18/jimmy-carter-hospice-care/?itid=lk_inline_manual_72">hospice care</a> after a series of brief hospital stays, our colleagues Amy Goldstein, Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan report.&nbsp;

Sen. John Fetterman’s (D-Pa.) hospitalization for depression following a life-threatening stroke last year is most likely to be short and successful, according to mental health authorities, other stroke survivors and people on Capitol Hill, who said his treatment will more likely offer him a reset during a difficult period than a life-altering, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/02/17/john-fetterman-stroke-depression/?itid=lk_inline_manual_73">career-threatening event</a>, The Post’s Lenny Bernstein, Colby Itkowitz and Amy Goldstein report &nbsp;

Abbott Laboratories is <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/abbott-sec-investigation-over-infant-formula-business/">facing investigations</a> by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission, marking the latest in a series of inquiries into the factors that contributed to the company’s Michigan factory shutdown that fueled a nationwide infant formula shortage, Elizabeth Napolitano reports for CBS News.

📅 The House and Senate are both out this week. Here’s what we’re watching over the next few days:

Today: Voters head to the polls for the Wisconsin Supreme Court primary <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">election</a>. Four candidates — two liberals and two conservatives — <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/17/how-wisconsin-supreme-court-race-could-influence-abortion-laws/">are vying for the open seat</a> in the technically nonpartisan race. The top two vote-getters will move onto the general election, the outcome of which could have major implications for abortion rights in the state. &nbsp;

On Wednesday: Washington Post Live is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2023/02/22/lessons-coronavirus-research-quest-an-hiv-vaccine/">hosting a conversation</a> with senior Biden administration officials and public health advocates about the decades-long quest for an HIV vaccine and confronting the ongoing epidemic.

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/20/fetterman-depression-mental-health/" target="_blank">In Braddock, Pa., prayers and empathy as Fetterman seeks help for depression (By Colby Itkowitz | The Washington Post)</a>

<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/20/us/ketamine-telemedicine.html" target="_blank">A Fraught New Frontier in Telehealth: Ketamine (By Chris Hamby | The New York Times)</a>

<a href="https://www.statnews.com/pharmalot/2023/02/20/cystic-fibrosis-drug-costs-copays-vertex/" target="_blank">'Caught in the middle': A battle between Vertex and insurers is leaving cystic fibrosis patients with crushing drug costs (By Ed Silverman | Stat)</a>

Paper Charting

Thanks for reading! See y’all tomorrow.

University of Maryland, BA in journalism

Rachel Roubein is a national health-care reporter for The Washington Post and author of The Health 202 newsletter, a daily morning tipsheet focused on health policy and politics.

Rachel Roubein

American University, BA in journalism

McKenzie Beard is a researcher for The Health 202, a morning newsletter and daily guide to Washington's health-care policy debate. She started at the Post as an American University practicum student on the investigative desk in 2021 and has previously reported for Voice of America and Teen Vogue.