State Highlights: Conn. Gov. Warns Of Flaw In Bipartisan Budget’s Hospital Tax; Fla. Health Centers Express Concerns About Funding Changes

The CT Mirror: Administration Warns Of Flaw In Hospital Tax
The administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy warned legislators Wednesday of a flaw in the bipartisan budget’s hospital tax provision that could open a $1 billion gap in the two-year spending plan, a message coolly received by lawmakers in a mood to celebrate an end to the state’s long budget impasse. House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, and House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, said the House would not postpone final passage of the budget already approved by the Senate, because they could correct any errors in supplemental legislation. (Pazniokas, 10/26)

Health News Florida: Health Centers Weigh Funding Changes
Florida health care officials are offering $50 million to federally qualified health centers to help offset the costs of care they will provide to poor residents in the coming year. It's more money than the centers — which usually provide primary care in communities --- have ever been offered under the state's long-running Low Income Pool, or LIP, program. (10/26)

Reuters: Federal Judge Strikes Down Two Abortion Restrictions In Alabama
A U.S. judge on Thursday struck down two abortion restrictions in Alabama that limited how close clinics can be to public schools and banned a procedure used to terminate pregnancies in the second trimester. The decision is a blow to abortion opponents in Alabama, who have joined conservatives in other states in enacting new laws that critics said were chipping away at the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion. (Kenning, 10/26)

Chicago Tribune: Parents Of Dead, Dying Children Blast Public Health Director For Newborn Testing Failure 
Speaking publicly for the first time about his department's decadelong failure to begin screening babies for a deadly disease, Illinois Public Health Director Nirav Shah told state lawmakers on Wednesday, "It's unacceptable and shameful that it's taken this long." With parents of dead or dying children seated behind him at the state Capitol, Shah took a lashing from Rep. Mary Flowers, who called a hearing in response to the Tribune's special report "Doomed by Delay." The report exposed bureaucratic missteps that robbed those families of the chance to save their children from Krabbe disease, a devastating neurological illness that can only be treated if caught in the first days of life. (Callahan and Long, 10/26)

The Washington Post: Judge Blasts District Agency For Treatment Of Defendants With Mental Illness
A D.C. Superior Court judge Thursday threatened to hold the District agency charged with overseeing mental-health services in contempt for failing to provide a defendant with a court-ordered psychological evaluation. Judge Milton C. Lee called the hearing after a woman who was arrested and accused of simple assault with a knife was sent away after she showed up at the courthouse for the scheduled Oct. 17 evaluation. (Alexander and Silverman, 10/26)

Health News Florida: Amid Ongoing Lawsuit, Florida's Prison Agency Asks For Millions To Treat Inmates With Hep C
Amid an ongoing lawsuit, the Florida Department of Corrections is now asking the legislature for more than $19 million in funding to treat inmates with the Hepatitis C virus. (10/25)

Health News Florida: $5 Million A Year Proposed For Health Care Generators
A House Democrat on Wednesday proposed offering $5 million a year in matching grants to help health-care facilities add backup power systems. Rep. Larry Lee Jr., D-Port St. Lucie, filed the proposal (HB 435) for consideration during the 2018 legislative session, which starts in January. It comes after Hurricane Irma on Sept. 10 knocked out the air conditioning system at The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, a Broward County nursing home. Eight residents of the sweltering nursing home died Sept. 13, and six others died subsequently after being evacuated. (10/26)

Arizona Republic: Have You Gotten Your Flu Shot? First Cases Have Been Confirmed
It's not too soon to get your flu shot. The Arizona Department of Health Services reports that 92 flu cases were officially confirmed statewide through Oct. 21, with 54 of those cases confirmed just last week. In Maricopa County, there were 20 cases confirmed between Oct. 1-14, with eight of those in the second week of that period, according to the Maricopa County Department of Public Health's website. (Marsh, 10/26)

Sacramento Bee: Chelsea Roman: 10 Sacramento-Area Residents Step Up To See If They’re A Kidney Match
Ten Sacramento-area residents – nine women and one man – say they are willing to be tested to see whether their kidneys might be a match for Chelsea Roman, a 32-year-old Sacramento woman whose kidneys are failing. “It’s just so incredible. I’m shocked,” Roman said, when The Bee told her about the response. “When my sister told me she spent yesterday making phone calls, I was brought to tears.” (Anderson, 10/26)

The Oregonian: Oregon Council Reluctantly Greenlights Lead Testing At Day Cares 
Under political and public pressure, Oregon's Early Learning Council on Thursday reversed itself and adopted a new policy to eventually require day cares to test drinking water for high levels of lead. The council in September unanimously adopted a plan that did not require lead testing for more than 4,000 licensed day cares that oversee more than 100,000 children. Council members said the costs would be too burdensome for day care providers. (Schmidt, 10/26)

Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Files Lead-Paint Cases Against 13 Homes
Columbus officials have filed 13 cases against property owners who have not removed lead paint from their properties even after Columbus Public Health officials ordered them to do so and marked the properties with warnings. All the properties are occupied, either by owners or renters. (Viviano and Ferenchik, 10/26)

San Francisco Chronicle: Lead Contamination Found In Water At 7 Oakland Schools
Children at an Oakland elementary school have been exposed to water with lead levels four times higher than allowed under federal guidelines, test results obtained Thursday by The Chronicle show. The temporary site of Glenview Elementary School near the Emeryville border was one of seven sites in the Oakland Unified School District where contamination levels of the toxic metal in water exceeded federal health standards. The district began testing school taps in August in advance of new state requirements, but the results have not been well-publicized. (Tucker, 10/26)

Georgia Health News: Statewide Strategy? Piedmont, Columbus Regional OK Partnership
Piedmont Healthcare is continuing its hospital expansion push with an agreement to partner with a large Columbus system. The deal, announced Thursday, would bring Atlanta-based Piedmont’s hospital total to 10. Columbus Regional Health operates two hospitals in the city: Midtown Medical and Northside Medical. (Miller, 10/26)

California Healthline: California Cracks Down On Weed Killer As Lawsuits Abound
Jack McCall was a fixture at the local farmers market, where he sold avocados and other fruits he grew on his 20-acre ranch in Cambria, on California’s Central Coast. The U.S. postal worker and Little League coach was “very environmentally friendly,” said Teri McCall, his wife of 41 years. He avoided chemicals, using only his tractor-mower to root out the thistle and other weeds that continually sprouted on the flat areas of the ranch. (O'Neill, 10/26)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: By Understanding Trauma, Wisconsin Youth Find Path To Healing
It was nine years ago, at the age of 11, that Meggi Lampen was sexually abused. It was seven years ago that she first told anyone about it. She withdrew and repressed what had happened. In the back of her mind, she knew something wasn’t right. But she had no context to put it in – or let it out. (Linnane, 10/26)