Florida Lawmaker Floats Low-Cost Housing Effort For Health Workers
The proposal includes state money to help the hospital build a multi-unit housing project to help attract health care workers. In Iowa, a lawsuit claims an insurance company helped influence state lawmakers to reform tort law. Other state health news is from New Hampshire, Wyoming, and elsewhere.
WUSF:
Lawmaker Proposes Funds For TGH To Build Affordable Housing
A Florida lawmaker has asked the state to budget $25 million to help Tampa General Hospital build a 160-unit, multifamily housing project for health care workers in the greater Tampa Bay region. The hospital plans to use the development to help attract and retain health care workers by providing affordable rental units, according to a budget request filed Nov. 14 by Sen. Jay Collins, R-Tampa. (Mayer, 11/28)
Iowa Public Radio:
Lawsuit Claims Insurance Company Used Exceptional Case To Push For Medical Malpractice Tort Reform
A new lawsuit claims an insurance company involved in a high profile medical malpractice case helped influence Iowa lawmakers to pass tort reform last session. The civil lawsuit was filed this month by the Obstetric and Gynecological Associates of Iowa City and Coralville, the OB/GYN practice at the center of an exceptional medical malpractice case, and three of its doctors. (Krebs, 11/28)
New Hampshire Bulletin:
NH Hospital Shooting Prompts Recommendations For Security Upgrades At State Buildings
The New Hampshire Department of Safety has recommended several security improvements at all state buildings in response to the Nov. 17 shooting at the New Hampshire Hospital that killed a security officer. At the psychiatric hospital, those measures include upgrading the existing weapon detection system to scan staff, visitors, and patients for guns, knives, and other prohibited items; enhancing the emergency notification system; and requiring all staff to enter through a separate security checkpoint. (Timmins, 11/29)
North Carolina Health News:
Jail Health Care Likely Falls Short Of Community Standards, Survey Says
More than 20,000 people cycle in and out of North Carolina’s county jails every year. These individuals are more likely than the general population to have substance use disorders, mental health problems, chronic diseases and infectious diseases, according to years of research. Despite the large health care needs of this population, there is limited information on how that care is delivered and by whom. That’s why a group of local researchers set out to measure the amount and type of health care staffing in jails in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. (Crumpler, 11/29)
Wyoming Public Radio:
Routine Vaccinations Against Polio And Measles Are Falling
There are more than 600 kindergartners attending school in Wyoming with no vaccination against measles or polio, according to new figures released by the CDC. The CDC says this means the state has fallen below the threshold for herd immunity. (Victor, 11/28)
KFF Health News:
Medicaid ‘Unwinding’ Makes Other Public Assistance Harder To Get
An hour before sunrise, Shelly Brost walked a mile in freezing rain to the public assistance office. She was running out of time to prove she still qualified for food aid after being stymied by a backlogged state call center. Twice, she’d tried to use Montana’s public assistance help line to complete an interview required to recertify her Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits. Each time, the call dropped after more than an hour on hold. (Houghton, Pradhan and Liss, 11/29)
In environmental health news —
KFF Health News:
‘Forever Chemicals’ In Thousands Of Private Wells Near Military Sites, Study Finds
Water tests show nearly 3,000 private wells located near 63 active and former U.S. military bases are contaminated with “forever chemicals” at levels higher than what federal regulators consider safe for drinking. According to the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that analyzed Department of Defense testing data, 2,805 wells spread across 29 states were contaminated with at least one of two types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, above 4 parts per trillion, a limit proposed earlier this year by the Environmental Protection Agency. That new drinking water standard is expected to take effect by the end of the year. (Kime, 11/29)
Axios:
Appeals Court Orders Dismissal Of Lawsuit Against Makers Of "Forever Chemicals"
Makers of "forever chemicals" won a legal victory Monday when an appeals court overruled an earlier decision that would have allowed millions of Ohio residents to join a class action lawsuit against the companies. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals instructed a lower court to dismiss the case filed against 3M, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co., Chemours, Corteva and other manufacturers of the synthetic compounds, referred to collectively as PFAS. (Saric, 11/28)
