State Highlights: New York Lawmakers Examine Aid-In-Dying Proposal; Colorado Workers End Up With Higher Health Care Costs Than National Average

The Associated Press: NY Lawmakers To Hold Hearing On Physician-Assisted Suicide
State lawmakers in New York are examining a legislative proposal to give terminally ill people the right to seek life-ending medication from their physician. The Assembly's Health Committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the measure Monday in Albany. A second hearing is planned for May 3 in New York City. A proposal now before lawmakers would require two doctors to sign off on the use of life-ending medication. It has been proposed for years but has yet to receive a vote in the Legislature. (4/21)

Denver Post: Watch Your Paychecks: Colorado Employers Are Pushing Higher Health Care Costs To Workers, Report Says
A new report released this week reveals that the cost of health insurance for employers in Colorado is increasing faster than the national average — and that employers are often pushing that added cost onto their workers. Meanwhile, an annual study released last year found, for the first time in its history, that the percentage of Coloradans covered by an employer-based plan had dropped below 50 percent. Taken together, the two reports paint a worrisome picture for employer-based insurance, the workhorse of Colorado’s health coverage system. (Ingold, 4/20)

Dallas Morning News: Fifth Official In Texas Health And Human Services Commission Departs Amid Contracting Problems
Another top official is leaving the Texas Health and Human Services Commission in the wake of contract mismanagement — the fifth since the contracting problems came to light. Ron Pigott, the agency's deputy executive commissioner for procurement and contracting services since 2015,  has resigned, agency spokeswoman Carrie Williams confirmed in an email. He previously was over procurement at the Texas Comptroller's office. ...Pigott's departure comes just two days after Gov. Greg Abbott's top appointee over social services profusely apologized to legislators for his agency's failure to take care of the basics as it awards lucrative health insurance and other contracts to private companies. (Nix, 4/21)

The Associated Press: Office Helping Granite Staters With Disabilities Has Deficit
A New Hampshire state agency that helps people with disabilities find and keep jobs for years spent millions more than it took in, prompting an office restructuring and plan to prioritize services for those with the most significant impairments. The Department of Education said Friday that the problem in its vocational rehabilitation bureau dates back to at least 2012 and was discovered during a recent review of grant spending. As a result, the bureau is being overhauled to save money, and will use a process to serve people with the most significant disabilities first. It also will work with community partners and charitable groups to ensure other clients get help, officials said. (4/22)

The Associated Press: Admissions Ban On Florida Nursing Home Tied To Irma Deaths
Florida health officials will not allow new patients to be admitted to an assisted living facility associated with a nursing home where a dozen residents died after the facility lost power in a hurricane. The Agency for Health Care Administration banned Floridian Gardens Assisted Living Facility from taking new patients Friday, citing "an immediate serious danger to the public health, safety or welfare" at the Miami facility. The Miami Herald reports a survey uncovered at least two deaths and multiple falls due to "deficient practices." (4/23)

Des Moines Register: 16,000 UnityPoint Health Patients May Have Been Affected By Phishing Attack
About 16,000 UnityPoint Health patients could have had their health and personal information compromised after the health care provider was affected by a phishing attack, a spokeswoman says. On Feb. 15, UnityPoint Health discovered a phishing attack that had affected some employee email accounts, according to a letter sent to patients April 16. The accounts may have been accessed between Nov. 1, 2017, and Feb. 7, 2018. (Tendall, 4/20)

The Star Tribune: Growth Of Nurse Practitioner Field Changing Patient Care In Minn.
Nurse practitioners, or NPs, are becoming vital to Minnesota’s medical system, which is seeing the demands of an aging patient population outpace the existing supply of doctors. Since the state Legislature in 2014 enacted the first state licensing standards for advanced practice registered nurses, the number of licensed NPs has increased by more than a third from 3,864 to 5,619. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development lists nurse practitioner as the seventh fastest growing profession in the state — based on a 10-year projection that the supply of NPs will increase 26 percent. (Olson, 4/21)

Health News Florida: Multimillion-Dollar Tobacco Verdict Upheld
A divided state appeals court this week upheld a nearly $6.4 million verdict in a case filed against cigarette-maker Philip Morris USA by the widow of a Jacksonville man who died of smoking-related illnesses. A panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal, in a 2-1 decision, ruled Wednesday in favor of Mary Brown, who was awarded $6.375 million in 2015 after a trial in Duval County, according to state and county court records. (4/20)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: More Missourians Facing Hefty Air Ambulance Bills
The attorney general’s office has logged and investigated 10 consumer complaints from consumers since 2016, according to a records request submitted by the Post-Dispatch. The attorney general’s office did not have a comment about overall findings, which include allegations against multiple air ambulances including Arch Air Medical Services, Air Evac Lifeteam and Survival Flight. ...Because of the way private health insurance operates, there’s no marketplace solution to the problem of excess billing if air-ambulance companies are unwilling or unable to negotiate rates with insurers and insurers refuse to pay for out-of-network services. That points to a need for legislation, say some health care policy experts. (Liss, 4/23)

Health News Florida: Judge Backs Nursing Home On Death Records
Ruling against the Florida Department of Health, a circuit judge Friday said an embattled Broward County nursing home is entitled to receive copies of death certificates for people who died across the state around the time of Hurricane Irma. Leon County Circuit Judge Terry Lewis ruled that the death certificates are public records under a state open-government law. In doing so, he sided with arguments made by The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, a Broward County nursing where residents died in sweltering conditions after the September hurricane. (4/23)

The Associated Press: N.H. Prison Told To Turn Over Records On Inmate's Death
New Hampshire prison officials have begun providing records to a disabilities rights organizations investigating suspected abuse or neglect in the death of an inmate with mental illness. According to the Department of Corrections, Phillip Borcuk, 34, died in the state prison's residential treatment unit in December after he was heard "engaging in self-injurious behavior." The Disabilities Rights Center, a federally mandated protection and advocacy agency, sued corrections officials in February after they failed to turn over records related to the death. (4/22)

The Associated Press: Family Says Surgeons Left Needle In Baby's Heart
A family says surgeons at a Florida children's hospital left a needle in their baby's heart. A doctor made the discovery about Amara Le's baby during a follow-up appointment. Le and her fiance rushed baby Katelynn back to Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg but the surgeons said there was no needle. Ten days later, the couple says a different hospital found the needle in Katelynn's aorta. (4/23)

Sacramento Bee: E. Coli Levels Drop In Sacramento Rivers
New tests taken at one of Sacramento’s most popular public beaches recorded the lowest levels of E. coli in the water all year. The bacteria is typically found in fecal matter and can enter local waterways through domestic or wild animal waste, sewage overflows, illegal trash dumping and storm water systems. Most strains don’t pose a threat to humans, but high levels of E. coli found in Sacramento’s rivers and streams have concerned officials enough to warn swimmers about potential health risks. (Luna, 4/21)