Axios

The national suicide hotline saw a 45% increase in calls in the first week after the introduction of its new 988 number, according to Vibrant Emotional Health.

The big picture: The memorable three-digit number debuted on July 16, with the expectation that there would be an increase in calls and texts to the hotline.

President Biden tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, the White House announced.

Driving the news: Biden's symptoms have improved after his first full day taking Pfizer's antiviral pill Paxlovid, his physician said in a letter on Friday.

President Biden's coronavirus symptoms "have improved" after completing his first full day of taking Pfizer's antiviral pill, Paxlovid, his physician said in a letter on Friday.

Driving the news: Biden was given Tylenol to treat his 99.4 fever overnight, to which he "responded favorably." His symptoms remain a runny nose and cough, and his "pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation remain entirely normal," the letter states.

A new AI tool developed by Johns Hopkins University helped detect early signs of sepsis in real time, reducing the likelihood of death by 20%, according to new research published in Nature Medicine.

Why it matters: Sepsis caused by the body's extreme response to an infection can be easy to miss and accounts for the most in-hospital deaths each year in the United States.

Amazon's latest move to further entrench itself in health care will stoke heated competition by other major retailers to capture new customers by delivering primary care.

Driving the news: Amazon announced Thursday, a $3.9 billion all-cash deal to purchase One Medical, which would add a brick-and-mortar network of clinics to a health portfolio that already includes wearables, an online pharmacy and virtual care.

For all its size and power, people continue to underestimate Amazon by focusing on what the company is already doing, instead of looking where it will go next.

Why it matters: Amazon is never content with just growing its share of markets it's already in. It always has an eye toward what large market it can upend next.

Some Republican senators say they are open to reviewing a House-passed bill protecting access to birth control, potentially teeing up another surprising bipartisan response to fallout from the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Between the lines: Democrats are eager to force Republicans on the record as not supporting birth control in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning the federal right to abortion — and only months before the midterm elections. But there's a chance that a messaging bill could wind up being something more.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday reconvened an emergency committee to reconsider whether it should declare monkeypox a public health emergency.

Why it matters: WHO officials said in June the outbreak poses a public health threat, but the organization declined to formally declare it a public health emergency. Global cases have now surpassed 14,000, with six countries reporting their first cases last week, according to the UN.

State and county health officials in New York announced on Thursday that a case of polio has been discovered in Rockland County.

Why it matters: No polio cases have originated in the U.S. since 1979. The last time the virus was brought into the country via travelers was in 1993, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Employer-sponsored health care premiums are expected to see a larger than usual jump next year.

Why it matters: It's the latest ballooning cost expected to be passed down to the nearly 50% of Americans who get coverage through work.

The House on Thursday passed a bill to protect a person's ability to access contraceptives in a 228-195 vote.

The big picture: Lawmakers have been introducing legislation in response to Justice Clarence Thomas' concurring opinion overturning Roe v. Wade saying that the court should reconsider "all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents," including those guaranteeing birth control access and marriage equality.

Amazon has agreed to acquire One Medical, the primary care chain, for $18 per share in an all-cash transaction. It values the latter at about $3.9 billion, including its net debt.

Why it matters: This is Amazon's latest move into health care after some efforts panned out better than others.

It turns out there are very few truly high or low-cost areas in the U.S. when it comes to health care, since there's little relationship between Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance spending trends, according to a new study in JAMA Network Open. 

Why it matters: The lack of uniform spending across markets in the same region underscores the complexity of the U.S. health system — as well as the challenges of lowering health care costs.

The big picture: There's substantial variation between all three categories of insurance, although Medicare spending is more constant. 

• That's likely a reflection of Medicare's regulated payment rates, compared to the private market and Medicaid managed care's market-driven prices.

Between the lines: To further complicate things, the study found that each market's spending variation is influenced by different factors. 

• In the private market, regions with higher prices generally had higher spending. Within Medicare, regions with higher spending have more specialist physicians per capita. And within Medicaid, regions with higher spending have more hospital beds and births per capita.

The bottom line: How much you pay for health care relative to other Americans depends on where you live. This study proves how much it also depends on where you get your coverage.

Almost 10% of abortions in the U.S. in 2020 were obtained by people who traveled out-of-state, and researchers say it's likely that the number will increase as more states ban or restrict access following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

The big picture: Researchers from the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that support abortion rights, found that the number of people leaving their home states to access abortion has been steadily increasing, from 6% in 2011 to 9% in 2020.

Cities could dramatically reduce peak summer temperatures by replacing hot, dark surfaces — like streets, rooftops, playgrounds and parking lots — with cooler alternatives, according to the Smart Surfaces Coalition, a new advocacy group.

Why it matters: Even as Europe swelters and the U.S. braces for dangerous heat, cities have been slow to embrace mitigation measures — which can be as simple as painting asphalt with inexpensive chemical coatings that block the absorption of solar radiation.

Democrats' 11th-hour scramble to avoid steep Affordable Care Act premium increases for enrollees next year glosses over the reality that premiums are going up regardless for many people, thanks to the steady upward march of health care prices.

The catch: If the Democrats succeed, most ACA enrollees won't notice the premium hikes — which preliminary filings suggest will be around 10% — thanks to the law's subsidy structure, which passes the tab along to the federal government.

Health care profits will rise significantly over the next few years, according to a new McKinsey & Company estimate — further evidence that providers and payers are doing just fine in the wake of the pandemic.

Why it matters: Every dollar in profits is a dollar spent by someone else — whether that's individual patients, employers or taxpayers.