Judge Upholds Charges Against Former Michigan Governor In Flint Water Case

AP: Michigan Ex-Governor Loses Challenge To Flint Water Charges 
A judge on Thursday rejected a request to dismiss misdemeanor charges against a former Michigan governor in the Flint water scandal. Lawyers for Rick Snyder said he worked in Ingham County, not Genesee County, so the indictment from a one-person grand jury was returned in the wrong place. But Judge William Crawford II said prosecutors have flexibility about where to pursue a case. (White, 3/18)

AP: NYC Strip Clubs Sue New York State Over COVID Shutdown 
A group of New York City exotic dancing clubs sued New York state Thursday, saying it’s not fair that they’re being kept closed when everything from axe-throwing venues to bars with live music and casinos can open up. The lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court claimed that thousands of employees are forced out of work by the state’s ban because of the coronavirus. Defendants included Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state's liquor licensing authority. (Neumeister, 3/19)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: More COVID-19 Rental Assistance Is Coming To Tenants In Pennsylvania And New Jersey
Tenants in Pennsylvania and New Jersey who are struggling to make rent and utility payments can apply for a new round of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal rental assistance. Tenants must meet income requirements, be experiencing a pandemic-related financial hardship, and show they risk housing instability or homelessness. Eligible tenants can receive up to 12 months of assistance and can use funds for past-due rent dating back to March 2020 and for future rent. Both tenants and landlords can apply. People who are homeless also can apply for funds in New Jersey. (Bond, 3/19)

AP: Colorado Lawmakers Unveil Public-Run Health Insurance Bill
Setting up one of the most contentious issues of Colorado’s 2021 legislative session, Democratic state lawmakers announced they are introducing a public health care option bill on Thursday that’s intended to drive down insurance costs for individuals and small businesses hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Long one of Democratic Gov. Jared Polis’ top priorities, and abandoned last year because of the pandemic, the legislation would ask private insurance companies to reduce their premium rates for individual plans by 20% of what they are now by the end of 2024. If they don’t meet that target, a nonprofit state-administered plan that sets price limits would kick in. (Anderson, 3/18)

KHN: Covid-Inspired Montana Health Insurance Proposal Wouldn’t Kick In For 2 Years
For employees of small businesses in Montana suddenly laid off during the covid-19 pandemic, maintaining health insurance coverage could be a struggle. Employers with 20 or more workers offer a bridge insurance program made possible by a federal law known as the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, or COBRA. The law allows people who have left a job voluntarily or involuntarily to keep their former employer’s health insurance plan for 18 months by paying the premium that the employer used to cover. (Reardon, 3/19)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Mom Gave Birth While In COVID Coma, Then Fought For Her Life
Kelsey Townsend delivered her fourth child while deep in a coma, her lungs scarred and inflamed from COVID-19, her body starved of oxygen. She’d been minutes from death, her obstetrician said. Seven weeks later on Christmas Eve, the 32-year-old office manager still clung to life at University Hospital in Madison, two machines delivering the oxygen her lungs no longer could. On that night, of all nights, the doctor had more bad news to deliver, and it appeared Kelsey would have to face it alone. Pandemic restrictions had put an end to regular hospital visits. (Johnson, 3/18)

Capital & Main: Does Newsom’s Color-By-Numbers Plan To Reopen California Risk Disaster?
As the health officer for Santa Clara County, Dr. Sara Cody routinely scrutinized the numbers and marked the trends. She understood that one of the real threats of COVID-19 was that officials might not fully realize the effects of their public safety decisions until weeks after they’d been made. And she had an ominous feeling about what California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, was doing. “The pace at which the state has made these modifications is concerning to me,” Cody told the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors during a May 2020 meeting. “The state has shifted away from the stay-at-home model and has made significant modifications with increasing frequency.” (Kreidler, 3/18)

In news from Florida —

Health News Florida: Florida Senate Seeks To Clarify Pelvic Exam Law 
A 2020 law that required doctors to obtain written consent before conducting pelvic exams caused confusion last summer among Florida physicians. The Senate Health Policy Committee on Wednesday took a step to clarify the law by unanimously passing a bill (SB 716) that says the requirement only applies to female patients and that pelvic exams include examinations of the internal reproductive system. (3/18)

WLRN 91.3 FM: Advocates On Why Time Is Right For Florida To Move On Medicaid Expansion 
Florida is one of a dozen states that has not accepted federal funding in order to expand who qualifies for Medicaid, the program that provides health insurance for low-income Americans. The $1.9 trillion relief package signed recently by President Joe Biden offers holdout states like Florida more money for Medicaid expansion. Now it’s up to lawmakers in Tallahassee to bring a bill to the floor for discussion and vote on it. (Zaragovia, 3/18)

Health News Florida: Lawmakers Eye 'Personal Care Attendants' In Nursing Homes 
Florida nursing homes would be allowed to operate apprenticeship programs and use participants’ on-the-job training to meet state minimum staffing requirements, under a bill approved Wednesday by a Senate health committee. Sponsored by Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, the measure (SB 1132) was approved by the Senate Health Policy Committee in an 8-1 vote. It was opposed by the state’s top advocate for long-term care residents and a lobbyist for the state's largest health-care union, both of whom warned that nursing homes would hire less-qualified workers and pay them less without running afoul of staffing requirements. (Sexton, 3/18)