Experts Worry Over Tech Glitches As Florida’s Medicaid Portal Launches
The state is in the middle of its Medicaid unwinding process, which has thrown a spotlight on its decision to revamp the technology running its MyAccess website. Meanwhile, in California, reports say new HIV cases in San Francisco are declining, except among the Latino population.
WMFE:
Tech Glitches Among The Top Worries As Florida's New Medicaid Portal Opens
Florida is flipping the switch Tuesday morning on its new online portal for residents who use Medicaid, SNAP food assistance and child care subsidies. The MyAccess website is retaining its name but shifting the technology that runs it. Meanwhile, Florida is in the middle of its Medicaid unwinding process — the Florida Department of Children & Families is reviewing the eligibility for millions of recipients. The state has made an aggressive push in the redetermination process, terminating 600,000 people in the last six months. The act of switching technologies in the middle of the process is like throwing gasoline on the Medicaid unwinding fire, said Joan Alker, the executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University, since big technological shifts in health care are often accompanied by glitches. (Pedersen, 12/5)
San Francisco Chronicle:
New HIV Cases Declining In San Francisco, Except Among Latinos
New HIV cases in San Francisco declined about 5% in 2022 compared with 2021 — an encouraging trend that was somewhat dampened by a notable and worrisome rise in HIV among the city’s Latino population, particularly Latino men. There were 157 new cases of HIV diagnosed in 2022, down from 166 in 2021, according to an annual HIV epidemiology report released by the San Francisco Department of Public Health on Tuesday morning. (Ho, 12/5)
Chicago Tribune:
UChicago Project Helps Kidney Donors Qualify
More than 70 kidney transplants were performed every day in the United States last year. Rachel Watson wanted to be one of the donors, but was told she didn’t qualify — at first. Watson, a 27-year-old digital marketer living in Warrenville, had been moved by a news story about a local politician in need of a kidney. In 2022, she reached out to a Chicagoland hospital about donating one of her kidneys to a stranger. During a phone screening, Watson was told that she weighed too much to be considered as a donor. (Arougheti, 12/5)
San Francisco Chronicle:
City Attorney Sues Online E-Cigarette Retailers For Online Sales To SF
The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office has sued three California e-cigarette retailers for allegedly selling flavored vapes online to consumers in San Francisco, which violates a local law banning the sale of such products in the city. ...It is the first lawsuit the city is bringing against online e-cigarette retailers, said a spokeswoman for City Attorney David Chiu. The city has taken previous actions against brick-and-mortar stores. (Ho, 12/5)
The New York Times:
Several Killed In Shootings Across Central Texas
A man suspected of killing multiple people in a string of shootings across Austin, Tex., on Tuesday was taken into custody and charged with capital murder and other charges, the police said. Robin Henderson, the Austin Police Department’s interim chief, announced the details of the shooting spree at a news conference early Wednesday morning. She said police had not determined that the incidents were connected until Tuesday night. (Ives, 12/6)
