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Habitat Health opened Thursday its first integrated healthcare program for older adults in Sacramento, California, less than 10 months after Kaiser Permanente and Town Hall Partners launched the company. San Francisco-based Habitat Health is accepting applications from older adults to receive healthcare and wrap-around services through the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, said Brad Oglevee, vice president and general manager of Habitat Health with Kaiser Permanente Sacramento. (Eastabrook, 1/2)

Thousands of patients may have to switch to new health care providers, due to a contract dispute between St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield. St. Joseph Hospital and Anthem, the state’s largest insurer, are at odds over how much the hospital should be paid for its services. St. Joseph also alleges Anthem is regularly denying claims that should be covered, echoing complaints other hospitals have made about the company in recent years. (Cuno-Booth, 1/2)

The insurer Florida Blue has filed a lawsuit against federal health agencies, arguing that key quality ratings didn’t properly take into account disruptions caused by major flooding in 2023 in Broward County. (Saunders, 1/2)

Charlotte Sparks likes to get her hair done at Empire Beauty School. It gives students a chance to practice what they’re learning, the 84-year-old Greensboro resident said. On the weekend before Christmas, the school’s beauty salon also offered clients a chance to learn. The school was one of six sites in the South to take part in the Black Beauty & Barbershop Health Initiative. (Fernandez, 1/3)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: Stimulant Users Are Caught In Fatal 'Fourth Wave' Of Opioid Epidemic

In Pawtucket, Rhode Island, near a storefront advertising “free” cellphones, J.R. sat in an empty back stairwell and showed a reporter how he tries to avoid overdosing when he smokes crack cocaine. �������ýҕ�l Health News is identifying him by his initials because he fears being arrested for using illegal drugs. It had been several hours since his last hit, and the chatty, middle-aged man’s hands moved quickly. In one hand, he held a glass pipe. In the other, a lentil-size crumb of cocaine. (Arditi, 1/3)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: Syringe Exchange Fears Hobble Fight Against West Virginia HIV Outbreak

More than three years have passed since federal health officials arrived in central Appalachia to assess an alarming outbreak of HIV spread mostly between people who inject opioids or methamphetamine. Infectious disease experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made a list of recommendations following their visit, including one to launch syringe service programs to stop the spread at its source. (Sisk, 1/3)