State Highlights: Wisconsin Gets OK From Feds To Implement $200M Plan To Lower Premiums; 911 Call In Florida Leads To Investigation Into Bias From Responders

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Scott Walker Gets OK For $200 Million Plan To Lower Obamacare Costs
President Donald Trump’s administration signed off Sunday on Gov. Scott Walker’s $200 million plan to lower Affordable Care Act premiums. It was the latest effort by the GOP governor to work within the confines of Obamacare as he simultaneously tries to end the federal health care law. (Marley and Hernandez, 7/29)

The New York Times: Mother Of Dead Woman Says Medics Told Her She Could Not Afford Ambulance
Nicole Black got a call around 1:45 a.m. on July 4 that her daughter Crystle Galloway had fallen in the bathroom of her Tampa, Fla., condominium and that something was wrong. She had hit her head, Ms. Galloway’s daughter said, and by the time Ms. Black raced from her home two blocks away, she was slumped over the bathtub, foaming at the mouth and her lips were swollen. Ms. Black called 911. Later that day, Ms. Galloway slipped into a coma. She died five days after. But weeks later, questions persist about what happened after the 911 call and whether race played a role in how Ms. Black and her daughter were treated. (Zaveri, 7/29)

Dallas Morning News: Feds Raid Another Pharmacy Company As Dallas Becomes Hot Spot For Physician Kickbacks
While federal prosecutors in Dallas prepare for upcoming health care fraud trials, the FBI and other investigators are continuing to raid more medical businesses, looking for evidence of illegal kickbacks. Last week, the FBI searched the Dallas offices of Next Health, which owned a network of testing labs and pharmacies. Next Health is already facing fraud allegations from insurance giant United Healthcare, which claims the company gave people gift cards to urinate in cups in Whataburger bathrooms. (Krause, 7/29)

The Associated Press: Indictment Alleges 5 People Caged And Abused Autistic Woman
Five Louisiana residents now face federal charges for allegedly imprisoning and abusing an autistic woman, two years after they were arrested on state charges in the case. Prosecutors allege a litany of horrors against the 22-year-old victim in an indictment made public Thursday evening. They say the woman was kept in a cage outside the Tangipahoa Parish home where the suspects lived. Prosecutors said she was coerced into manual labor such as bathroom and kitchen cleaning and subjected to psychological and physical abuses: threats of harm or death if she didn't obey, beatings, being burned with a cigarette lighter and having human waste from a septic tank dumped on her. (7/27)

The Star Tribune: U Doctors Warn: When Patients Transfer Hospitals, Crucial Info Can Get Missed 
University of Minnesota doctors are raising alarms about “diagnostic discordance,” a little-discussed but potentially dangerous problem that occurs when a patient is transferred from one hospital to another but ends up with a different list of diagnoses after arriving. In one of the first studies to examine the phenomenon, the doctors found discrepancies in 85 percent of transfers. In some cases that was because patients developed new conditions, but in others it resulted purely from miscommunication between hospitals. (Olson, 7/28)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio Governor Candidates Disagree At State Fair Soapbox
Taking a hay-lined stage at the Ohio State Fair's first soapbox, candidates for Ohio governor disagreed on everything from Obamacare to drug sentencing. Republican Mike DeWine defended his stance on Medicaid expansion, saying he would keep it but add a work requirement for those who were able. Democrat Rich Cordray doubted DeWine's sincerity on the issue, saying DeWine once sued to dismantle Medicaid expansion, which is part of Obamacare. (Balmert, 7/28)

The Washington Post: Robstown: 5 Dead After Apparent Murder-Suicide At Texas Nursing Center, Home
A gunman left a trail of five dead in a South Texas town Friday evening, including at a nursing home and a victim’s residence. Reports of gunfire around 7 p.m. led police to the Retama Manor Nursing Center in Robstown, west of the coastal city of Corpus Christi. Two men and a woman were found dead at the scene, authorities said. Investigators believe the dead at the nursing home include the shooter, city spokesman Herman Rodriguez told The Washington Post on Saturday. (Horton, 7/28)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Lawsuit Says Ohio State Ignored Sexual Abuse Of Students By Former Doctor
Ten former Ohio State University students filed a lawsuit that says the university facilitated the abuse of a now-deceased doctor accused of a decades of sexual assault. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in Columbus, says OSU officials learned about Richard Strauss' inappropriate conduct as early as his first year of employment there in 1978. (Heisig, 7/28)

Columbus Dispatch: Third Suit Filed Against Ohio State On Its Handling Of Ex-Doctor's Sex Abuse
A third lawsuit filed against Ohio State University alleges that university officials knew about sexual abuse by former physician Richard Strauss but failed to stop it, and even facilitated it. The lawsuit was filed late Thursday in federal court in Columbus on behalf of 10 victims, including former Ohio State student Steve Snyder-Hill. (Smola, 7/27)

Dallas Morning News: Baby Who Died At Texas Day Care Rolled Over, Choked On His Vomit, Parents Say 
A 6-month-old baby died suddenly Monday after he rolled over in his crib and choked on his vomit at a Texas day care, his parents say. Michael Carter Donnell's parents told TV station WOAI that the San Antonio day care workers were warned that the baby was starting to roll over and that he occasionally vomited when he was lying on his abdomen.  (Gross, 7/29)

Boston Globe: Health Alert Issued After Child With Measles Visited Boston
Health authorities have confirmed a case of measles in a child who became infected in another country and then traveled to Boston, and they urged people who may have been exposed to watch for symptoms of the highly contagious virus. ...Health officials urged anyone who experiences such symptoms to contact their health care provider immediately by phone. (Freyer, 7/27)

Georgia Health News: New Chief Named For DFCS As Current Leader Takes Job In L.A.
Tom Rawlings, currently the director of the Office of the Child Advocate, will take over as interim chief of the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services on Aug. 1. He will replace Virginia Pryor, who is leaving for a position in Los Angeles with Casey Family Programs, a foundation that promotes foster care and child welfare. (Miller, 7/27)

Richmond Times-Dispatch: VCU Doctor Files $15 Million Defamation Suit Against Colleagues And Physician Group
A Virginia Commonwealth University doctor has filed a $15 million defamation suit against four colleagues and the VCU Health System’s physician group after his lawyers say he suffered retaliation when he raised concerns about insufficient heart care for chemotherapy patients. Tiziano Scarabelli claims colleagues “embarked on a campaign to defame and discredit” him with attacks on his professional conduct and false sexual misconduct allegations. (Dodson, 7/28)

Denver Post: Windsor Doctor Joining Direct Primary Care Movement In Greeley
Many physicians — from all specialties — share [Dr. Emily] Anderson-Elder’s frustration and levels of stress incurred while working in insurance-based health care systems. In the 2018 Medscape National Physician and Depression Report, 42 percent of family physicians admitted to having burnout or depression, listing “too many bureaucratic tasks (charting, paperwork)” and “too many hours at work” as the leading factors in burnout. Although direct primary care has been around for some time, it is just now gaining a toehold with both physicians contemplating the switch to a different way of providing care and patients willing to give it a shot, so to speak. (Kadlub, 7/28)

Los Angeles Times: Living In A Beat-Up Jeep After Mounting Hardship, A Homeless Veteran And His Wife Cling To Hope, Waiting For A Place To Call Home
Lawrence and Carla McCue listened from the last row as the mayor spoke to veterans at the Los Angeles National Cemetery on Memorial Day. Lawrence, 75, proudly wore his Marine Corps outfit and sat in his motorized wheelchair, with his dog Oreo at his feet. Carla, 62, snapped photos. Veterans and their families had come from across Southern California for this event. The McCues traveled from across the street in a Jeep Grand Cherokee that, like the couple, had seen much better days. (Oreskes, 7/29)

Nashville Tennessean: Davidson County Mental Health Court Provides Safety Net, Not Punishment
Just a fraction of people with serious mental illness commit crimes of any kind, but the city's criminal courts, jails and prisons are straining to cope with increasing numbers of nonviolent offenders who have untreated mental illness. At least a third of the men and women in Nashville jails have a mental illness, according to Sheriff Daron Hall.  While the budget for the Tennessee Department of Correction increased by more than 54 percent between 2008 and 2017, the budget for the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services has remained the same. (Wadhwani, 7/28)

Nashville Tennessean: In Tennessee, Where You Live Can Affect Your Mental Health
It is estimated that more than 1 million Tennesseans ages 18 and older have a mental health or substance use disorder. Many are uninsured. Studies have shown that the risk for serious mental illness is generally higher in cities, but those living in rural areas can face greater barriers to diagnosis and treatment due to lack of services and access to transportation. Experts say the state has one of the best first-response systems in the country, serving every Tennessee county, but before and after a mental health emergency finding help can be a challenge. (Bliss, 7/28)

Sacramento Bee: Health Care Workers Report To Duty Despite Losing Homes In Redding Fire
At least eight doctors and other health care workers at Redding’s Shasta Regional Medical Centers lost their homes in the Carr fire, but they reported for work as scheduled. ...Hundreds of health care workers in the Redding area also can’t return to their homes because of orders to evacuate. (Anderson, 7/28)

Des Moines Register: Iowa Medical Board Director Placed On Leave, Then Reinstated But There May Be More
In a surprising series of twists, Iowa Board of Medicine Executive Director Mark Bowden began the day Friday expecting to be fired, then learned he was keeping his job, after which the state unexpectedly announced his professional competency was going to be re-evaluated on Monday. The board discussed Bowden’s job status in closed session Thursday, with Bowden in attendance. At Friday morning’s board meeting, shortly before the board was scheduled to take some form of action on his job status, Bowden read a public statement in which he said the board’s treatment of him was “unfair beyond belief,” adding, “I do not intend to dignify your offer that I submit a resignation in lieu of termination.” (Kauffman, 7/27)

MPR: White Earth Hopes Food Truck Puts Reservation On Road To Better Health
White Earth bought the truck, once owned by famed Sioux Chef Sean Sherman, with a $40,000 grant from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture through a program that targets food deserts — regions where grocery stores with fresh, healthy options simply don't exist. ...The truck also cooks up bison burgers and serves traditional swamp tea at tribal events. (Gunderson, 7/27)