Morning Wire XX
[0] In an exclusive report, you'll hear first here on MorningWire, Florida becomes the first state to find health care providers for funding transgender treatments for minors.
[1] There are a range of more drastic penalties that we can take, and we're going to look into taking those if we continue to see this type of action.
[2] What triggered the action by the state and which providers are in violation?
[3] I'm DailyWire, editor -in -chief John Bickley, with Georgia Howe.
[4] It's Friday, August 18th, and this is Morning Wire.
[5] Americans are becoming homeless at a rate.
[6] that's never been seen before.
[7] What's driving people out of their homes and which cities are being hardest hit.
[8] The reason that we're in this many people here is because it's a resource -heavy area.
[9] And just how safe are the new breed of weight loss drugs, including Ozempic and Wagovi.
[10] The list of potentially dangerous side effects continues to grow.
[11] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[12] Stay tuned.
[13] We have the news you need to know.
[14] In a Morning Wire exclusive, five Medicaid health care plans have violated Florida's rules.
[15] against covering transgender treatments for minors.
[16] Among the procedures, one of the plans covered is a double mastectomy on a 16 -year -old girl.
[17] State officials have now taken the unprecedented step of issuing fines over the violation.
[18] Daily Wire Culture reporter Megan Basham is here now to tell us about these violations and what Florida is doing about them.
[19] So, Megan, I know a judge in Florida blocked a new law in the state that banned transgender procedures and medications for children, So that legislation is not an effect right now, but this policy was something different, correct?
[20] Yes, that's correct.
[21] So last year, Florida's Agency for Healthcare Administration commissioned a systematic review of the medical literature on treatments for gender dysphoria and children.
[22] Think things like surgeries, puberty blockers, cross -sex hormones.
[23] Well, after that review, they determined that they aren't really medically necessary.
[24] So they issued a rule that went into effect last August that prohibited any state.
[25] Medicaid funds from covering those types of medications or treatments for minors.
[26] So no public money was allowed to go to that.
[27] Well, in December, well after the rule was in place and known, several of these Medicaid health care plans were discovered to be covering it anyway.
[28] And I spoke to Jason Weeda, who is the Secretary of the Agency for Healthcare Administration.
[29] This was what he told me. In one of these audit that took place over this last year, it was revealed that some of those plans were not complying with that rule.
[30] So for example, one of the plans had, in fact, paid for a double mastectomy of a minor for the treatment of gender dysphoria.
[31] That same plan and a handful of other plan had also paid for drugs for the treatment of gender dysphoria.
[32] So for example, the puberty blockers.
[33] All of those things were in violation of our rule.
[34] Weedis says that his office takes this issue very seriously and has sent letters issuing penalties to these providers.
[35] Already, simply health care, the provider that covered the mastectomy, told Weida's office that it has replaced the team that approved that coverage.
[36] But there were five plans in total that were found to be in violation of the policy.
[37] Now, my understanding is that insurers typically get in trouble for refusing to pay out treatments that should have been covered.
[38] I don't think I've ever heard of them getting fined for covering things that they shouldn't have.
[39] Yeah, that's exactly right.
[40] And in fact, I asked Wita about that.
[41] And he told me that that was the kind of thing they were actually looking for with this audit when they discovered what they had covered.
[42] He noted that they don't know at this point what motivated those decisions, why they decided to cover these things anyway, but it clearly raises the question of whether there were political motivations.
[43] He said, though, that he doesn't believe it's a political issue to stop it.
[44] He believes it's a question of best medical practice.
[45] We think that the protection of children is one of the most core functions of governments.
[46] And here in Florida, we're going to do everything that we can.
[47] I'm certainly going to do everything I can.
[48] I know that governor is going to do everything he can to protect children from these types of violations.
[49] But I think what we're seeing is that more conservative -leaning states are turning to multi -pronged approaches to combating transgender treatments for kids.
[50] They're issuing penalties to the Medicaid plans for covering those kind of treatments.
[51] And I think that this is a first in the country.
[52] Now, have the health plan said anything yet about why they did this?
[53] Not yet.
[54] The penalties have just been issued.
[55] so we're going to reach out to the five providers and we'll report further if there's any response that's of significance.
[56] All right, well, we're looking forward to that.
[57] Megan, thanks for reporting.
[58] Anytime.
[59] The number of homeless people around the country has surged at a record pace this year, reaching new peaks in a number of cities.
[60] Here with more on the concerning trend is Daily Wire Senior Editor Cabot Phillips.
[61] Hey, Cabot.
[62] So not the sort of record you want to see broken.
[63] Tell us what we're seeing here.
[64] Well, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal, the number of homeless in America has surged this year by 11 % to 57 ,000 people.
[65] For context, since the federal government began tracking homeless figures in 2007, the highest annual increase to this point had been 2 .7%, meaning this year's jump is four times higher than any other on record.
[66] We are in the midst of a homeless crisis that is unparalleled in modern American history.
[67] Yeah, sounds like it.
[68] Where have we seen the largest increases?
[69] So despite spending $17 billion on housing programs across the last years, California is still leading the way.
[70] Up to half of the nation's homeless population now resides there.
[71] Some have argued that's due to the state's year -round warm weather, but they have nine times more homeless people than Florida.
[72] So that doesn't seem to fully explain the trend.
[73] Los Angeles and San Francisco have been hit especially hard.
[74] L .A. saw an all -time high this year, surging 10 % since last year, which was also a record high.
[75] New York just hit a new record as well with 100 ,000 people in shelters on any given night, while Denver has seen a 32 % surge in the last year.
[76] They're also at an all -time high with a number of homeless doubling since 2021.
[77] Elsewhere, Portland, Oregon has seen a 20 % spike, something we've talked about on the show before.
[78] So a lot of cities hit by this.
[79] What's behind the surging rates?
[80] As always, it depends on who you ask.
[81] Democratic lawmakers and others on the left say the main factors are a lack of affordable housing and the end of COVID -era eviction moratoriums, which, remember, had prevented landlords from removing tenants who failed to pay rent over the last two years.
[82] Last year, 50 members of Congress, including Senator Elizabeth Warren and rep Alexandria Acosta Cortez, signed a letter calling on the White House to impose nationwide rent controls.
[83] That's something the Biden administration said they would consider moving forward to combat homelessness.
[84] But Republican lawmakers say the problem is not due to a lack of government funding.
[85] Yeah, what are we hearing from the right?
[86] Well, they note that state and federal spending on homelessness has actually never been higher and that many cities exacerbate the problem with misguided policies.
[87] For more on that, we spoke with Judge Glock.
[88] a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute who just published a piece on homelessness in the Wall Street Journal.
[89] So in general, cities that spend more on the homeless tend to see higher rates of homelessness.
[90] That's both because some people are attracted to the services in the city, so they move from outside of it, and because some people stay in the homeless system longer to get access to those services.
[91] You actually see this most clearly in those places with what's known as a right to shelter.
[92] That means almost anyone who shows up is offered a free shelter bed, are sometimes a free hotel room.
[93] And in those cities that have the strongest right to shelter, we're talking about Washington, D .C., New York City, Boston.
[94] You also see some of the highest rates of homelessness in the nation.
[95] Republicans say a lack of affordable housing might be playing a role, but that the bigger issue is a mental health and drug crisis.
[96] Government data shows that around half of homeless Americans have a serious mental illness or substance abuse problem.
[97] Many on the right say those numbers are even higher in reality and that combating homelessness starts with removing drugs from the streets and preventing them from crossing the border in the first place.
[98] Remember, deadly drugs like fentanyl are coming into the U .S. at a record pace.
[99] Right now, they're tripling the rate we saw last year, tripling.
[100] And last year was record -setting in its own right.
[101] Republican lawmakers have long argued that cities like L .A., Portland and Denver also attract more homeless people because of their lax drug laws.
[102] And finally, there's illegal immigration.
[103] Critics on the right say many of the millions of migrants who've crossed the southern border illegally, end up in shelters around the country and drain resources from American citizens who ought to be prioritized.
[104] But whatever the reason, there is no debate that the problem is getting worse.
[105] Right, the numbers don't lie.
[106] Cabot, thanks for reporting.
[107] Anytime.
[108] Doctors are warning that popular drugs taken for weight loss like Ozympic and Wagovi may include the risk of life -threatening complications.
[109] Here to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presti Giacomo.
[110] So Amanda, we've talked about some of the risks associated with these wildly popular drugs before, but this risk related to anesthesia is relatively new.
[111] What do we know about it?
[112] Hey, Georgia.
[113] Well, doctors are advising people on Ozempic or Wrigovi to ditch the drugs for up to three weeks before undergoing surgery or any procedure that requires anesthesia.
[114] And that's because when you're under anesthesia, your stomach needs to be empty to avoid aspirating contents into the lungs.
[115] That's why doctors ask patients to fast before going under.
[116] Anesthesiologists, though, were finding that some patients on medications with the active ingredient of semaglutide, which would include both Ozempic and Wagovi, they were coming in with full stomachs even after fasting for hours.
[117] This is really serious, of course, because pulmonary aspiration could lead to pneumonia and potentially death.
[118] So the issue is semaglutide slows digestion, which means it's harder to achieve an empty stomach before surgery, and then food contents are ending up in people's lungs while they're under anesthesia.
[119] Right, that's correct.
[120] Now, initially, the American Society of Anesthesiologists issued guidance in June on this, and that guidance advise patients to skip these drugs on the day of surgery and hold off on weekly injections for a week prior to any sedation procedures.
[121] But some anesthesiologists say that isn't long enough and they suggest that patients stop the drugs for three weeks before anesthesia.
[122] That advice was published on July 19th in the Canadian Journal of Anesthesia.
[123] These doctors explained that stopping the drug for three weeks would clear out about 88 % of the drug from someone's system.
[124] Patients would then have emptier stomachs after a fast, making the sedation safer.
[125] Now, these medications have really taken off as, quote, miracle weight loss drugs in the past year.
[126] In fact, we've reported before, OZMPIC became so popular that there was a shortage for people with diabetes, and that was the original intention for the drug.
[127] But in recent months, we've been hearing more and more about these potential side effects and even some legal action against these pharmaceutical companies.
[128] Tell us a little bit about that.
[129] Sure.
[130] And, yeah, there are more concerning cases coming to light.
[131] A lawsuit filed earlier this month claims the two drug members.
[132] makers behind OZempec and Mungaro, another diabetes medication taken off label for weight loss, failed to adequately warn patients about the possible risk of severe stomach problems as a side effect.
[133] The Louisiana woman who filed the suit claims she was severely injured after taking the two drugs.
[134] She's the first person to claim the drugs can cause gastrointestinal injuries.
[135] A couple more points here, there is a potential risk of thyroid tumors and cancer associated with OZempec.
[136] That was found in rodent studies, but has not been shown in humans.
[137] Also, available data show that most people who stop these drugs regain most of that weight they lost within three to five years.
[138] And some people may even gain back more weight than they initially lost.
[139] And lastly, there is some concern about the type of weight people are losing.
[140] Here's Dr. Peter Attea on his YouTube channel warning about just that.
[141] Almost without exception, every patient we've put on this drug has lost muscle mass, and they have lost it at a rate that alarms me. Let's be clear, if you lost 10 pounds of muscle and 10 pounds of fat to go from 180 to 200, would that be good?
[142] Well, only if you were more than 50 % body fat at the outset.
[143] Otherwise, you've disproportionately lost muscle to fat.
[144] In fact, you've gotten fatter as you've lost weight.
[145] That's not what we want.
[146] And even if these side effects are rare, the number of people using these drugs is skyrocketing.
[147] There are already predictions that the market worth of obesity pills could reach $200 billion over the next several years.
[148] Well, I mean, if this is the only thing that worked for some people to lose weight, then it may be worth it.
[149] But it's scary to think so many Americans are relying on pharmaceuticals for their weight loss.
[150] Amanda, thanks for reporting.
[151] Thanks for having me. Thanks for listening to Morning Wire.
[152] We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation.
[153] If you love our show and stand with our mission, consider subscribing, giving us a five -star rating, and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend.
[154] You can also follow us on Twitter.
[155] That's all the time we've got this morning.
[156] Thanks for up with us.
[157] We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.