State Highlights: Judge Cites Improvement Of Wait Times, Lifts Oversight At Oregon State Hospital; Ohio Lawmakers Renew Aim To End Surprise Medical Bills

The Oregonian: Federal Judge Lifts Extra Oversight Of Oregon State Hospital, Citing Improvements
A federal judge ruled this week that Oregon no longer needs extra oversight to ensure criminal defendants in need of mental health treatment get to the Oregon State Hospital within seven days. The development means the Oregon Health Authority is back in compliance with a 2002 court order that set the deadline. (Zarkhin, 10/31)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: After Gov. Mike DeWine Veto, Legislation Is Back To Curb ‘Surprise’ Medical Billing
A bill in the Ohio House aims to eliminate “surprise” medical billing – unanticipated charges to patients receiving care in an in-network facility by out-of-network specialists. But the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Adam Holmes, a Muskingum County Republican, will need to talk Gov. Mike DeWine into his proposal, since the fellow Republican vetoed the most recent legislative attempt to rein in surprise billing. (Hancock, 10/31)

The Wall Street Journal: New York City Council Reviews Expanding Primary-Care Services
A New York City Council committee on Thursday reviewed whether the city is doing enough to provide primary care through its public hospital system. The City Council held the oversight hearing because it is pushing legislation that would create a health-access program that includes a “medical home” for primary-care services in every community district. The medical home could be one of the public NYC Health + Hospitals facilities, or a Federally Qualified Health Center, or FQHC. (West, 10/31)

The Times-Picayune and The Advocate: Even Louisiana’s Wealthier Neighborhoods Can’t Escape Toxic Air In “Cancer Alley”
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s annual Toxics Release Inventory, plants in Ascension Parish emit greater quantities of toxic chemicals from industrial stacks than anywhere else in the country. While this method of measuring releases doesn’t factor in the toxicity of each pollutant, it signals relative levels of total chemical activity across regions.Unlike most industrial parishes, Ascension is among Louisiana’s whitest and most affluent. (Meiners, 11/1)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin's American Indian Women Face A Crisis Of Domestic Violence
Advocates across Wisconsin are working with native women to help them recognize the signs of abuse and get help. And a researcher in Milwaukee, meantime, has plans to interview women in the state to see what barriers kept them from seeking help. (Zettel-Vandenhouten, 10/31)

Modern Healthcare: California AG Rejects Adventist-St. Joseph Merger
California regulators have rejected a proposed merger between Adventist Health System/West and St. Joseph Health System that would have created a joint operating company to manage 10 hospitals in six largely rural counties in northern California. The California Department of Justice issued a denial letter Thursday citing concerns that the transaction is not in the public interest, has the potential to increase healthcare costs, and could limit access and availability of healthcare services. (Meyer, 10/31)

North Carolina Health News: Lawmakers Toss Lifeline To Randolph Hospital
County and health officials in Asheboro will likely breathe a sigh of relief this weekend as a long-desired bill to help the county hospital, which has been in financial trouble in recent years, passed both chambers of the General Assembly and is headed to Gov. Roy Cooper for his signature. Language from the Rural Health Care Stabilization Act, which was introduced earlier this year by Senate leader Phil Berger (R-Eden) and Randolph County Sen. Jerry Tillman (R-Archdale), had been added to multiple bills this legislative session, looking for a vehicle for passage. (Hoban, 11/1)

The Associated Press: Louisiana Couple Sentenced For Abusing Caged Autistic Woman
A husband and wife in Louisiana have each been sentenced to 28 years in federal prison for horrific abuses of a young autistic woman who at times was forced to live in an outdoor cage. The sentences for Terry Knope II and Raylaine Knope had been expected since their guilty pleas to federal charges in May. They had received similar state court sentences in Tangipahoa Parish. (10/31)

The Wall Street Journal: Meet The New York City Marathon Runners Who Finish Last
On most weekends, Dave Fraser leaves his house at 6 a.m. to begin his marathon training. Starting from his home in Canarsie, Brooklyn, the 52-year-old pushes himself in a wheelchair across the borough, then across the Brooklyn Bridge and through Manhattan, where he culminates his workout with a couple of laps of Central Park. Afterward, he hops on an express bus back home. (Blint-Welsh, 10/31)

Texas Tribune: Homeless Austin Residents Share Their Stories Before Texas Moves Them
As Gov. Greg Abbott and Austin Mayor Steve Adler have waged a social media war about how to deal with homeless people in the state's capital, Texans who don't have shelter have gone about their daily lives in tents and under highway overpasses. The Texas Tribune spoke to several homeless residents in recent weeks to hear about life without a home. Here, they share their stories in their own words. (Espejo, Tatum and Gaspar, 11/1)