Efforts to address maternal mortality by extending Medicaid postpartum coverage are gaining traction as the nation eyes a potential end to abortion access in as many as half of the states.

Driving the news: The Biden administration announced Thursday that CMS approved amendments for three more states — Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico — as well as Washington, D.C., to extend Medicaid and CHIP coverage to 12 months after birth.

• They are among dozens of states, including several non-Medicaid expansion states like Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Kansas, which have already adopted or have pending efforts to lengthen pregnancy-related Medicaid benefits — an option established under last year's American Rescue Plan.
• "To be clear, this is about prioritizing the right all women in our nation should have to full reproductive healthcare," Vice President Kamala Harris said during an announcement on Thursday.

State of play: The U.S. has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the developed world.

• Medicaid pays for more than four in 10 births in the U.S., but benefits may be short-lived for women, with federal law only requiring 60 days postpartum coverage. More than half of pregnancy-related deaths occur within a year of giving birth.

Between the lines: With the U.S. Supreme Court about to determine the fate of Roe v. Wade, advocates and health care providers fear that cutting off access to abortion will lead to more pregnancy-related complications and deaths — particularly among Black women, Axios' Shawna Chen reports.

• The largely preventable deaths occur among Black women roughly three times as often as for white women.
• State efforts to expand Medicaid coverage haven't eased concern about more Black women being forced to carry pregnancies to term in those states that bar access to abortions — and how that could put them at increased risk.
• "Because of the heightened mortality and morbidity risks faced by Black women and birthing people, it is particularly unconscionable to force the continuation of an unwanted pregnancy," Jamila Perritt, an obstetrician-gynecologist who heads the group Physicians for Reproductive Health, told Axios.

The bottom line: This is only one piece of the puzzle experts say.

• "A lot of these are conditions — for example, hypertension, cardiovascular conditions — which need to be addressed before a woman gets pregnant," Joan Alker, a research professor at the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy, told U.S. News.

Hopes for new Alzheimer's drugs took another disappointing turn Thursday when Roche said an antibody therapy in a long-running trial didn’t help people with a rare genetic condition that causes early-onset Alzheimer's, Axios' Adriel Bettelheim writes.

The big picture: The news comes just weeks after the crash of Biogen's heavily touted Aduhelm — another Alzheimer's drug that targets a brain plaque called amyloid thought to contribute to the condition.

Where it stands: Roche said Thursday that its treatment crenezumab didn't slow or prevent cognitive decline in 252 members of an extended family in Colombia who carry a mutation that typically causes impairment to begin around age 44.

• Crenezumab was designed to bind to a key type of amyloid protein that accumulates in the brain in Alzheimer's.
• The trial was launched in 2012 and lasted five to eight years.

Go deeper: Billions of dollars have been spent around the theory that brain amyloid plaques are major contributors to Alzheimer's.

What's next: The National Institute of Aging, which funded the Roche study, said data collected in Colombia that will be presented at a conference in August may have ramifications on how amyloid is studied.

Walgreens is getting into the clinical trial business, with the pharmacy giant saying Thursday it wants to change the patient experience and improve retention in sponsor-led drug research.

Why it matters: The chain's latest expansion into the health care delivery business is aimed at addressing the ongoing problem of low racial and ethnic diversity in clinical trials.

• The problem was spotlighted this week as members of a key FDA advisory committee raised concerns about a lack of diversity in trials testing COVID-19 shots in infants and toddlers.
• The FDA has called improving diversity in trials a priority since 20% of drugs have a difference in response across ethnic groups. Roughly three in four clinical trial participants are white, 11% are Hispanic and fewer than 10% are Black and Asian.

Zoom in: Walgreens said it would be able to combine its "vast foundation" of patient insights and in-person and virtual care options to better reach more diverse participants.

• "We are building our next growth engine of consumer-centric healthcare solutions," said Ramita Tandon, chief clinical trials officer for Walgreens.

The bottom line: Throughout the pandemic, Walgreens, CVS Health and Walmart have extended their business models into care delivery through clinics, vaccination programs, digital health tools and insurance partnerships. This is the latest iteration.

"I'll continue to be a roadblock for those who believe that we can blindly just appropriate emergency money, borrow it from the Chinese, and spend it on something that none of us have a clue as to what the plan is."

During a hearing on Capitol Hill held Thursday to examine and update the ongoing federal response to COVID-19 — and the White House's pleas for more funding — Republicans vowed to stand in the way until officials provided sufficient justification for the money, The Hill writes. Sen. Mitt Romney, (R-Utah) accused the administration of providing "patently false" information, STAT News writes.

• The Biden administration says it has provided a plan for the spending, saying critical funding is dwindling for providing adequate COVID surveillance, maintaining the nation's testing capacity and other critical supplies, as well as funding research for new vaccines.

Meet Cooper, a small rusty-colored mixed terrier rescue dog who lives with human David Wassermil — and three four-legged brothers — outside of Garden City, Idaho.

• "Cooper is a feisty mischievous character and mostly enjoys causing havoc and annoying his brothers but bringing lots of joy and laughter to the household," Wassermil writes.

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