San Diego To Experiment With Sending 911 Calls To Nurses
The plan is to reduce some first responders' workload and lower wait times in hospitals. In other news, thousands of children are going hungry; an aid-in-dying bill in Connecticut stalls; Sierra Health loses a $200 million lawsuit in Las Vegas; and more state news.
San Diego Union-Tribune:
El Cajon Will Try Sending Some 911 Calls To Nurses, Not Hospitals
Several years ago in the nation’s capital, a few hundred people who dialed 911 were not taken to a hospital. The next year, nearly 2,900 calls didn’t lead to an emergency room. The year after, it was more than 7,000, according to city data. Since 2018, more than 16,000 calls that once might have resulted in trips to the hospital were instead transferred to nurses, who could still help people find doctors or schedule rides to urgent cares. (Nelson, 4/11)
In other health news from across the U.S. —
The CT Mirror:
Thousands Of CT Children Go Without Enough To Eat, Report Shows
About 125,000 Connecticut kids didn’t have enough to eat in the fall of 2021, according to a new statewide report on the financial hardships faced by families with children. The report, conducted through a partnership between Connecticut United Way and United for ALICE, examines a group of people referred to as ALICE — the acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. The people designated to be in this group earn enough to put them above the federal poverty level but not enough to make ends meet. ALICE is often comprised of people who work lower-paying hourly jobs, such as cashiers, for example. (Monk, 4/11)
The CT Mirror:
Bill To Help Terminally Ill End Their Lives Won't Advance This Session
A bill that would allow terminally ill patients to access life-ending medication won’t advance beyond the legislature’s Judiciary Committee this year, and proponents said they don’t expect the measure to pass this legislative session. Senators on the committee voted 5-4 against the bill Monday after members asked for a divided vote. Because the bill failed to win enough support among senators, House members on the committee did not take a vote. (Carlesso, 4/11)
Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Sierra Health Loses $200M Verdict To Family Of Las Vegas Man
The family of a Las Vegas man who was denied health insurance coverage for a specific type of lung cancer treatment, then later died, has won a $200 million civil verdict against his health insurance provider, according to court records. The family of William George “Bill” Eskew sued Sierra Health and Life Insurance in 2019. A jury trial led to an initial $40 million verdict a week ago, along with another $160 million in punitive damages against Sierra Health in the courtroom of District Judge Nadia Krall. Sierra Health is a UnitedHealthcare company, which is owned by UnitedHealth Group. The company plans to appeal, a spokeswoman said. “We are disappointed by the jury’s verdict,” United HealthCare spokeswoman Maria Gordon Shydlo said in an email to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. (Puit, 4/11)
Indianapolis Star:
Indiana Hospitals, Insurers Offer No Easy Answers To Reduce Costs
Indiana’s hospitals and insurers are assuring state lawmakers they are taking steps to reduce Indiana's health care costs, which are among the highest in the nation, but some business leaders say they have yet to create a plan to do so. Several industry leaders and executives laid out their ideas in letters to lawmakers last week. They were sent in response to a December directive from the Statehouse telling the two industries to bring Indiana’s health care costs in line with the national average. (Rudavsky, 4/12)
Stateline:
Voters With Disabilities Face New Ballot Restrictions Ahead Of Midterms
As voters went to the polls last month in the Texas primary, the voting rights hotline lit up at the nonprofit advocacy agency Disability Rights Texas. Molly Broadway, the group’s training and technical support specialist, heard from some frustrated voters with disabilities who had not received their mail-in ballots on time. Others had their ballots rejected several times because of signature and personal identification requirements or fretted that new rules banning ballot assistance could make criminals out of their friends and loved ones. (Vasilogambros, 4/12)
KHN:
California Sees Dramatic Decline In Child Homicide Victims. What’s Changed?
The stunning climb in homicide rates in recent years in California and big cities across the nation obscures a remarkably good-news trend involving young children: The number of child homicide victims fell dramatically in California over the past decade, the latest death certificate data shows, a pattern mirrored to a lesser extent nationwide. In 1991, California’s coroners officially classified 133 deaths of children ages 9 and younger as homicides. By 2011, that figure had fallen to 81.In 2020, it stood at 40. (Reese, 4/12)
