State Highlights: Measles Threat Triggers Visitor Limits At Minn. Hospitals; Colo. Lawmakers Focus On Pre-Adjournment Health Votes

The Star Tribune: Allina Limits Hospital, Clinic Visitors Due To Measles Outbreak 
Several major Twin Cities hospitals and clinic systems announced precautionary limits on visitors Monday as four more cases of measles were reported by state health officials. Minnesota's measles outbreak, which was first detected nearly four weeks ago, has sickened 48 people. (Howatt, 5/8)

Pioneer Press: Measles Outbreak Has Metro Hospitals, Clinics Limiting Children’s Visits
Flu season is all but over, but the Minnesota measles outbreak has metro medical centers handing out masks and telling their youngest visitors to stay home. Allina Health, which includes United Hospital in St. Paul, said Monday it is continuing its flu-season visitation restrictions, which bar visitors under age 5 to protect patients and staff. As an added precaution, children under 10 must wear a mask while visiting, and no one under 10 is allowed at Allina’s childbirth centers. (Verges, 5/8)

Denver Post: Colorado Lawmakers Make Final Push For Hospitals Bill, Others Ahead Of Adjournment
The state Senate passed Senate Bill 267 on Monday, and the measure raced through the House as lawmakers rushed to avoid a $528 million cut in payments to hospitals by reclassifying the provider fee program and generate $1.9 billion for road construction by mortgaging state buildings. The 25-10 vote in the Senate demonstrated the significant heartburn among some conservative lawmakers who blasted the measure for allowing more state spending and debt — reasons they believed it should go to voters for approval. (Frank, 5/8)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Insurance Could Shift For 250,000 Wisconsin State Workers Under Scott Walker Budget Proposal
After years of skepticism, lawmakers must now decide on Gov. Scott Walker's plan to save at least $60 million by restructuring health insurance for some 250,000 government employees and their families. The Republican governor wants the state to shift from a model in which the state pays premiums to private insurers to cover state and local employees. (Stein, 5/8)

Boston Globe: Worcester Hospital Faces Backlash Against Plan To Close Psychiatric Beds 
But a plan by UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester to convert those beds for medical and surgical care has generated deep concerns from the state and stiff opposition from nurses, mental health advocates, and elected officials. Officials at the state Department of Public Health said Monday that UMass Memorial’s plan “does not adequately meet the needs of the patients in the community” and asked the hospital to delay. (Dayal McCluskey, 5/9)

The Baltimore Sun: Baltimore Hospital Bringing Virtual Reality To Medical Treatment
Virtual reality is being used to distract patients during painful procedures, such as treatment for third-degree burns, so they feel less pain. Soldiers and veterans suffering from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder are getting treated with virtual reality videos that recreate traumatic events to help patients face them head-on and learn, over time, to cope with the mental effects of their combat experiences. Doctors also are using the techniques for surgery simulations and robotic surgery. (McDaniels, 5/8)

Boston Globe: Mass. Medical Schools Plan To Teach How To Discuss Patients’ Goals For Care, And For Life
The four medical schools in Massachusetts have jointly agreed to teach students and residents how to talk with patients about what they want from life, so future doctors will know how far to go in keeping gravely ill patients alive. How patients answer questions about their overall life goals can inform treatment decisions, especially as people near the end of life. (Freyer, 5/9)

Health News Florida: Federal Funds May Not Offset State Cuts To Hospitals
The state budget includes deep cuts to hospitals that serve the poor and lawmakers are betting on federal money to help offset the losses. But that federal money is not guaranteed, said Bruce Rueben, president of the Florida Hospital Association. (Ochoa, 5/9)

Seattle Times: Will Seattle’s Proposed Soda Tax Be A Boon For Health? A Nutritionist’s Take
2016 has been called the Year of the Soda Tax, but 2017 is looking to match it. Last year, six cities — including San Francisco and Philadelphia — followed in the footsteps of the Berkeley, California, tax on soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), which went into effect in March 2015. Seattle has a soda tax up for consideration this year (a public hearing is scheduled for May 17), and it’s likely that a number of other cities, towns and even entire states, will do the same. This isn’t just a U.S. thing — France, Hungary, Ireland, Mexico and the United Kingdom have passed similar taxes. (Dennett, 5/8)

Minnesota Public Radio : Project Reduces Mercury Levels In Women On North Shore 
After a 2011 study by the Minnesota Department of Health showed that 10 percent of newborns tested along the North Shore had concerning levels of mercury in their blood, public health officials faced a conundrum. Too much mercury can cause lasting problems with understand and learning. (Kraker, 5/8)

The Star Tribune: Northern Minnesota Campaign Reduces Fish-Related Mercury Consumption
The Minnesota Department of Health reported Monday that mercury levels have declined in a study group of women living along the North Shore of Lake Superior, where studies have found widespread mercury contamination in freshwater fish. The women's mercury levels came down even though they continued to eat fatty fish that offer dietary and health benefits. (Olson, 5/8)

San Antonio Press-Express: On Tight Deadline, Advocates Urge Lawmakers To Schedule Medical Marijuana Bill For Texas House Vote 
Patients, caregivers and parents of autistic and epileptic children gathered Monday on the south steps of the state Capitol to urge members of the House Calendars Committee to schedule a vote on HB 2107, authored by state Rep. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville. The legislation would authorize the possession, use and cultivation of cannabis by qualifying patients. (Mejia Lutz, 5/8)