State Highlights: Maryland’s Insurance Model Helped Keep Health Costs Down; California Nurses Closely Watching ‘Fair Share’ Supreme Court Case

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Health Care Costs Lower Than Other States, Analysis Finds 
Maryland had the lowest health care costs in a comparison of five states conducted by the nonprofit Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement. The state’s total costs were on average 16 percent lower in 2015 than those in Colorado, Utah, Minnesota and Oregon, the study found. The overall price of medical procedures, doctors visits, lab test and drugs was 13 percent lower in Maryland, according to results of the comparison compiled in the report “Healthcare Affordability: Untangling Cost Drivers.” (McDaniels, 2/23)

KQED: California Nurses Warn That Losing Supreme Court Case Could Gut Unions
Nurses protested outside San Mateo Medical Center in front of a sign that read “Patient safety comes from union strength” last week. They wore the characteristic bright red shirts of their own union: the California Nurses Association (CNA). They were calling attention to the U.S. Supreme Court case Janus vs. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The outcome of the case could dramatically weaken public sector unions if the court overturns a rule that requires non-union employees at union-affiliated workplaces to pay “fair share” fees. (Klivans, 2/23)

The Washington Post: New York Measles Warning: Officials Say Australian Tourist May Have Exposed People At Metropolitan Museum Of Art, Hotels
The New York State Department of Health wants people in the New York City area to know that an Australian tourist confirmed to have measles visited numerous hotels and the Metropolitan Museum of Art from Feb. 16 to 21. Measles is notoriously contagious for people without immunity to the disease, with a 90 percent infection rate for nonimmunized people who venture near an active spreader, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The virus latches onto the nose and throat mucus and proliferates through coughing and sneezing, with a life span of up to two hours in the open air. (Horton, 2/25)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: State Launches Program Review Of Milwaukee Health Department's Lead Program
The state's top public health agency has launched a review of the embattled Milwaukee Health Department, focusing on its handling of programs aimed at fighting lead poisoning in children under former Health Commissioner Bevan Baker. That's what Baker's successor, Patricia McManus, told members of a Common Council committee on Friday. (Johnson, 2/23)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Group Founded By Milwaukee's New Health Commissioner Received $635,000 From City
The group founded by Milwaukee's new health commissioner has been paid more than $635,000 by the city since 2002. The Black Health Coalition of Wisconsin, founded and led by Patricia McManus until she became interim health commissioner this month, received money from both the Milwaukee Health Department and Community Development Grants Administration. (Bice and Spicuzza, 2/22)

The Associated Press: Arizona Could Face Fines In Lawsuit Over Prison Health Care
A judge overseeing a class-action lawsuit over the quality of health care in Arizona's prisons will hold hearings this week to determine whether to fine the state for falling short in improving care for inmates. U.S. Magistrate David Duncan also will examine an allegation that the inmate-care provider skirted a promise Arizona made when it settled the lawsuit by denying care to an inmate to avoid paying a fine. (2/25)

Health News Florida: Fate Of Generator Rules Remains Unclear
With only two weeks left in the 2018 legislative session, proposed rules requiring generators for long-term care providers continue to await action, in part because of the financial impact on assisted living facilities. House Health & Services Chairman Travis Cummings. R-Fleming Island, continues to struggle with ratifying a rule requiring, among other things, nearly 3,0000 assisted living facilities to have backup-power generators on site. Unlike nursing homes, assisted living facilities can’t offset the costs with Medicaid funding. (2/25)

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Seniors With Dementia Find Understanding And Camaraderie At Social Club 
The assisted living facility and rehabilitation center, which specializes in memory problems, hosts a social club to support those with dementia in a less rigid and clinical setting than group therapy or individual counseling sessions. About 25 regulars meet on the second Tuesday of every month. The year-old gathering is one of a growing number of such clubs around the state for the estimated 100,000 Marylanders with dementia. (McDaniels, 2/26)

Pioneer Press: For Babies And Families, These Nurses Make House Calls
The voluntary program, typically offered to new parents with low-incomes, also aims to strengthen family bonds and help new parents understand all the resources available to them. ...Ramsey County has been providing home visits from nurses for roughly three decades. In 2016, St. Paul-Ramsey County Public Health made 20,598 home visits to 1,139 families at a total cost of $7.3 million. With $12 million in new funding for the Minnesota Department of Health to expand similar programs, state education officials are beginning to collect data to learn more about the impact of home visits. Health experts already believe the visits pay off with a 5-to-1 return on investment. (Magan, 2/25)

The Baltimore Sun: Baltimore Students In CURE Program Learn About Dental Health 
The students received more than $3,000 worth of sealants — a non-painful procedure in which a protective coating is placed on teeth in order to fight tooth decay — as part of a day of oral health care. The day also offered those students and three others an opportunity to learn how to use real dental instruments while working on a model of the mouth, or oral cavity, known as a typodont, which allowed the students to practice some of the dental hygiene skills they learned during the earlier lessons. (Williams, 2/24)

Georgia Health News: Cigna Picks Holgerson To Run Georgia Health Plans
Cigna has named Bryan Holgerson its new market president for its health benefits plans in Georgia and Alabama. Holgerson, based in Atlanta, has been serving as a senior leader for Cigna’s national accounts business. “Bryan is a highly respected, proven leader who will continue to move Cigna forward as the partner of choice in the market,” Rich Novack, Cigna vice president, U.S. markets, said in a statement Wednesday. “His high-energy, thoughtful leadership and expertise in executing strategy will be an asset to his team, our customers and clients in Georgia and Alabama.” (Miller, 2/22)

The Associated Press: Al Montoya Named Director Of Manchester VA Medical Center
The man appointed to temporarily lead the Manchester VA Medical Center after several top officials were removed last summer has been named the veteran facility's director. Alfred Montoya had been serving as interim director of the Medical Center since July, when The Boston Globe reported on allegations of substandard care and treatment at the hospital. (2/24)

Boston Globe: Steward Health Care To Move Top Executives To Dallas
Steward Health Care System, the for-profit hospital chain formed in Boston more than seven years ago from the Caritas Christi network, confirmed Friday that its top management will relocate to Texas. The Globe reported in November that executives at Steward — one of Massachusetts’ biggest health care companies — were mulling a move to Dallas. (Dayal McCluskey, 2/23)

Pioneer Press: Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility Proposed For Forest Lake
A Duluth, Minn.-based nonprofit organization wants to purchase Shadow Creek Stables in Forest Lake and build an $18 million psychiatric residential treatment facility that would include equine therapy and animal husbandry. Cambia Hills, a division of the Hills Youth and Family Services, is proposing a 60-bed facility that would serve children ages 6 to 17 who suffer from mood disorders such as depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder. The facility would also cater to children who have neurological damage, such as fetal-alcohol syndrome; children on the autism spectrum; and children who have suffered traumatic brain injuries. The average length of treatment is expected to be nine months to a year. (Divine, 2/24)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Aurora To Build Medical Center In Pleasant Prairie
Aurora Health Care, Wisconsin’s largest health services provider, will build a new medical center in Pleasant Prairie, just over 10 miles from the site where Foxconn Technology Group plans to build a sprawling industrial campus in Mount Pleasant. In a statement Friday, Milwaukee-based Aurora announced a $130 million ambulatory surgery center and physician office building in Pleasant Prairie. (Schmid, 2/23)

Richmond Times Dispatch: Some Virginia Kids Only Get 15 Minutes Of Recess; Two Lawmakers Say 'let The Kids Play'
Barbara Larrimore wondered why her oldest son had only 15 minutes of recess. She wanted him to have more, so in the fall of 2016 the mother of three started advocating for more recess. “We need to address the whole child,” said Larrimore, of Lake Ridge. “This is just common sense.” Now, less than two years later, two bills that would permit Virginia school boards to increase recess times in elementary schools are making their way through the General Assembly with little opposition. Advocates like Larrimore have been joined by lawmakers in saying elementary school students need more unstructured learning. (Mattingly, 2/23)

Health News Florida: Bay Pines VA Helping Military Sexual Trauma Survivors
The Department of Defense estimates 14,900 service membersexperienced some kind of sexual assault in 2016 - its most recent report. But because of the stigma - many wait decades before they get help - usually from the VA. So it’s no surprise, the average age is 45 for women and 50 for men for veterans entering the Bay Pines VA Center for Sexual Trauma Services in St. Petersburg. (O'Brien, 2/24)

Detroit Free Press: Autism Firm Awarded Grant After Lt. Gov. Brian Calley's Endorsement
Centria Healthcare, the autism therapy provider under investigation for Medicaid fraud, has been among the most generous political donors to Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, who backed the company's successful bid for an $8-million state grant. Calley, a longtime advocate for autism therapy and the father of an autistic daughter, publicly urged the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to approve Centria's grant request to expand in Michigan. Five weeks later, a key investor and board member of the company hosted a party at his Orchard Lake mansion that formally launched Calley's gubernatorial campaign, the Free Press has learned. (Wisely and Anderson 2/25)

Georgia Health News: Will $100 Million Sports Medicine Center Get OK From Georgia?
Since 2015, America’s leading sports medicine doctor and his investment partners have sought to build a $100 million facility in Alpharetta that would create 500 jobs. But Georgia appears to be running out of time to get the project done. The surgery center and training center, envisioned as the leading destination for sports injury treatment and performance training, would go to Texas instead if Georgia doesn’t act quickly, the facility’s backers say. (Miller, 2/23)

Kansas City Star: Rare Identical Triplets Born To Choge Family In Kansas City
Doctors call it a one-in-a-million birth. Identical triplets were born Thursday at Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, according to hospital officials. Doctors say such births are even more rare than identical twins, and often require special care for the mother and children. In this case, baby boys Ron, Elkanah, and Abishai were born just minutes apart from each other and on Sunday were “doing wonderfully” under observation in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, according to Dr. Josh Petrikin, medical director of the NICU, who is also on staff at Children’s Mercy Hospital. (Cummings, 2/25)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Legal Marijuana Brings New Sales To Pope Scientific Of Saukville
At first, the management at Pope Scientific Inc. kept quiet about their new business niche. Orders for their sophisticated distillation apparatus — to the unschooled eye, tangles of tubes, flasks and valves — were flowing in, but Pope’s leaders weren’t saying much about where they were going. (Romell, 2/25)