State Highlights: Ga. Legislature To Try To Tackle Surprise Billing; Calif. Mulls Requiring Access To Abortion Pills Within University System

Georgia Health News: Transparency Legislation Is Latest Effort To End Surprise Billing
Georgia’s General Assembly will take another look at surprise billing this year, with new legislation sponsored by state Rep. Richard Smith, a Columbus Republican who has been a leading voice on the issue. ...His new bill is quite different from the one he offered last year, which would have required that any doctor credentialed to work at a specific hospital be part of its insurance network. (Miller, 1/23)

NPR: Abortion Pills: California Senate Bill Requires On-Campus Access
In California, the state Senate is considering legislation that would ensure that students at four-year public universities in California have access on campus to medication for abortions. Sen. Connie Leyva introduced the bill, SB 320, in February 2017. It would require all health centers within the University of California and California State University systems to stock the drugs prescribed for medication abortion and ready their campus health clinics to provide them by 2022. (Wilhelm, 1/23)

The Washington Post: Woman Says Missouri’s Strict Abortion Regulations Violate Her Religion: The Satanic Temple
A member of the Satanic Temple in Missouri has filed a lawsuit against the state that alleges that her religious rights are violated by the state’s abortion restrictions. The anonymous plaintiff, who goes by the name Mary Doe in the lawsuit because she fears she would be subject to “personal attack,” brought her case before the state Supreme Court on Tuesday. The woman, who has had an abortion, according to local news reports, alleges that the state’s requirement that Planned Parenthood — the only abortion provider in the state — distribute a booklet from the state’s Department of Health and Senior Services that stipulates that life begins at conception violates her beliefs as a member of the Satantic Temple. (Rosenberg, 1/23)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Aurora Sinai Suspends Employees After Reports Of Homeless Patient Discharged, Left On Sidewalk
An undisclosed number of employees at Aurora Sinai Medical Center in downtown Milwaukee were suspended Tuesday after reports that a mentally ill homeless patient was discharged and left on a cold, wet sidewalk outside the hospital. A photo and video of a shoeless man – clad in pants and what appears to be a hospital gown and sitting on a sidewalk outside the hospital –began circulating on social media and television stations after the incident allegedly occurred Monday. (Garza, 1/23)

The Associated Press: San Diego Declares End To Hepatitis A Emergency
San Diego's public health emergency for Hepatitis A has ended, officials declared Tuesday, after no new cases of the liver-damaging virus were reported in the past month and no deaths since October. Officials vowed to continue efforts to keep the illness under control. On Sept. 1, authorities declared the emergency to fight the worst epidemic of its kind in 20 years in the U.S. It killed 20 people and sickened 577 people between November 2016 and October 2017. (1/23)

The New York Times: New York Legislator Renews Effort To Bar Tackle Football For Children
A bill being reintroduced in the New York state legislature this week would bar youth tackle football for children under 12 years old, the latest attempt to address the emerging dangers of repeated head hits on young brains. Sponsored by state assemblyman Michael Benedetto, who represents Bronx County in New York City, the bill would prevent organized youth football leagues and schools from offering the tackle version of the game in New York state. (Belson, 1/24)

Houston Chronicle: In Mediation, Doctors Reduce Billed Charges By Millions
Of $7 million in disputed surprise medical bills patients submitted to the state's mediation process last year, insurers agreed to increase their overall payments by $1 million, new Texas Department of Insurance data show. That means physicians made the more dramatic concessions, reducing their demands by $6 million. The who-pays-what argument is at the core of an ongoing state crisis over a confusing medical business practice called balance billing that costs patients millions of dollars each year. Under the system, a doctor who is outside a patient's insurance network can charge more and then shift any or all of the "balance" not paid by the insurer onto patients. (Deam, 1/23)

Dallas Morning News: 6 Unvaccinated People Infected With Measles In Ellis County
There have been six confirmed cases of measles in Ellis County contracted by people who have not been vaccinated, health officials announced Tuesday. Those who are involved in the outbreak have connections to Waxahachie and Midlothian, and it's possible more cases will occur because of how contagious measles is, the Texas Department of State Health Services said. Health officials announced Friday that  someone who was contagious went to the movies Jan. 9 at the ShowBiz Cinemas in Waxahachie. (Cardona, 1/23)

Orlando Sentinel: Orange County Commissioners Favor UCF Over Florida Hospital For Sanford Burnham Building
Orange County commissioners heard competing pitches Tuesday from the University of Central Florida and Florida Hospital for reviving the research facility that was built for Sanford Burnham research institute nearly a decade ago with one of the largest incentive packages in the state’s history. In the end, the commissioners advised Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs that they either favored UCF’s proposal or preferred that the bidding opportunity is opened up to all, a new twist in this ongoing and bumpy local affair. (Miller, 1/23)

The Star Tribune: South Dakota's Sanford Health Expands Into Five More Countries 
South Dakota-based Sanford Health is launching new clinic and research ventures in Costa Rica, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and Vietnam as it expands its global presence. The new operations rolled out Tuesday mean that the Sanford World Clinic division will now have operations in nine countries with more than 30 locations. (Snowbeck, 1/23)

The Star Tribune: Defunct Empi Accused Over Overbilling Military Health Care Program 
The owners of a defunct Shoreview-based medical device company, Empi Inc., have agreed to pay the Justice Department $7.6 million to resolve allegations of overbilling a military health care program for pain-fighting devices. The Justice Department on Tuesday accused Empi of overbilling the government by encouraging Tricare beneficiaries to place orders for nerve-stimulation electrodes that they didn’t need or use. The company did not admit wrongdoing or liability as part of the settlement. (Carlson, 1/23)

Dallas Morning News: Another Garland Medical Center Set To Close Next Month 
The Select Specialty Hospital on Marie Curie Drive is the latest medical facility in Garland to announce plans to close its doors. The last day of operations is Feb. 9, the Pennsylvania-based health system that operates the hospital confirmed on Tuesday. The facility, which focuses on patients with acute or chronic respiratory disorders, sits on the third floor of Baylor Scott and White Medical Center of Garland. (Rice, 1/23)

California Healthline: Hospitals’ Best-Laid Plans Upended By Disaster
It was 3:35 a.m. and flames from a massive Northern California wildfire licked at the back of a Santa Rosa hospital. Within three hours, staffers evacuated 122 patients to other facilities — something they’d never come close to doing before. Ambulances sped off with some of the sickest patients; city buses picked up many of the rest. With phone lines charred and communication restricted, doctors and nurses struggled to figure out who was sent where — forced to keep their wits even as some of their own homes burned and their families fled. (Ibarra, 1/23)