State Highlights: Calif. Lawmakers Deal Blow To Dialysis Industry With Bill To Cap Reimbursement Rates; Second Nurse Attacked At Troubled Wash. Psychiatric Hospital

Modern Healthcare: Calif. Legislature Passes Bill To Cap Dialysis Reimbursement 
In a major blow to dialysis giants DaVita Healthcare Partners and Fresenius Medical Care, the California State Assembly and Senate passed a bill to crack down on third-party premium assistance for dialysis and cap providers' reimbursement to Medicare rates if they don't comply with the mandate. The legislation now has a good chance of getting signed into law by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown. It would serve as a landmark victory for insurers and unions in the long-brewing battle with the dialysis industry. The bill takes aim at the American Kidney Fund, a not-for-profit that subsidizes individual market premiums for dialysis patients who are covered by Medicare and Medicaid. DaVita and Fresenius are major contributors to the organization, and insurers accuse them of using Obamacare's guaranteed issue provision to game the system and steer patients into plans that will bring in more profits. (Luthi, 8/30)

The Associated Press: Hospital Staff Question Officials After 2nd Attack In A Week
Staff say another nurse was attacked at Washington state's troubled psychiatric hospital this week, just days after an incident Sunday in which a patient is accused of punching a nurse, knocking her to the floor and stomping on her head. Workers at Western State Hospital rallied Thursday to demand changes in the way officials assign dangerous patients to wards and to call for an increase in staffing. Newly appointed CEO Dave Holt and Tonik Joseph, deputy assistant secretary of the state's Behavioral Health Administration, spent about two hours hearing grievances from more than 80 workers gathered in an amphitheater. The workers shouted out or raised their hands to question the leaders. (8/30)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Conditions For Mentally Ill Women At Fulton Jail Called ‘Barbaric’
Mentally ill women are being detained in isolation for weeks at a time at a south Fulton County jail inside filthy cells that reek of feces, a civil rights attorney has told county officials in a letter that calls for change. Many of the women, held in chaotic and unsanitary conditions, are not receiving proper medical treatment and are deteriorating into states of psychosis, Sarah Geraghty, a lawyer with the Southern Center for Human Rights, wrote. (Rankin, 8/30)

The New York Times: Little Decline In Number Of Children In Public Housing With High Lead Levels, Report Says
For more than a decade, New York City made steady progress in reducing the number of children living in public housing who have tested positive for lead, but that trend ended about the same time that the city’s housing authority stopped inspecting its apartments for lead-paint hazards. That was one upshot of a report on lead poisoning released on Thursday by the city’s Department of Health. Overall, the report showed the number of city children with elevated levels of lead in their blood had dropped to a record low of about 5,300. (Sadurni, 8/30)

Seattle Times: Health Officials, Worried About Outbreak, Investigate HIV Cluster In North Seattle 
A cluster of eight people in North Seattle, described as heterosexuals, drug users, and recently homeless, have been diagnosed with HIV infections since February, and health officials worry their cases could represent a new pattern of transmission for the virus that has been in steep decline. Officials suspect changes in drug use are to blame. ...The diagnoses are among 19 HIV cases reported so far this year among heterosexuals in King County. For all of last year, that number was seven, according to the health agency. It has averaged 10 for the past decade. (Bush, 8/30)

San Francisco Chronicle: Medical Abortions Would Be Offered At CA Public Universities If Brown Signs Bill
California would be the first state to mandate that public universities offer their students medical abortions — pills that women take to end pregnancies — under a bill the Legislature approved and sent to Gov. Jerry Brown. The Senate passed the bill Thursday by 26-13, one day after the Assembly approved it on a 52-25 vote. (Gutierrez and Asimov, 8/30)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Ohio Bill Would Give Advance Practice Registered Nurses Independence From Doctors
A new Ohio General Assembly bill would allow advanced practice registered nurses to work independently of physicians, an idea the Ohio State Medical Association calls potentially dangerous to patients. Rep. Theresa Gavarone, a Bowling Green Republican, said House Bill 726 addresses primary care physician shortages throughout the state. But the medical association disputes there are shortages. (Hancock, 8/30)

Nashville Tennessean: Diabetes: Prison Inmate, Suing Over Lack Of Care, Dies Of Drug Overdose
A Tennessee inmate who was suing the state’s largest and newest prison for allegedly mistreating diabetic prisoners died earlier this year from a drug overdose while behind bars, according to official documents made public this week. John Randall Young, 56, was once one of six inmates who accused Trousdale Turner Correctional Facility of endangering diabetic prisoners with unhealthy food, unpredictable meal times and undependable access to insulin shots. (Kelman, 8/31)

Medpage Today: 'Death Certificate Project' Terrifies California Doctors
Brian Lenzkes, MD, got a letter last December from the Medical Board of California that left him shocked and scared. The licensing agency told him it had received a "complaint filed against you" regarding a patient who died of a prescription overdose in May 2013 -- four and a half years earlier. (Clark, 8/30)

KQED: Cuts To Oakland Free Dinner Program Felt By Thousands Of Students As School Resumes
Cuts to Oakland Unified high school sports have riled up district parents and raised legal questions, but the elimination of a dinner program that serves low-income kids has gotten far less attention. The cuts to the dinner program impact at least 3,000 students, according to program staff, while the sports cuts initially affected about 500 students. (Rancano, 8/30)

The Associated Press: Last Heart Transplant Doctor Leaves Oregon Hospital
The only remaining doctor in Oregon's only heart transplant program has resigned, leaving the state with no medical facilities that can perform the life-saving procedure. Oregon Health & Science University is now working to transfer the 20 patients on its waiting list to other transplant centers, including those in Seattle and the San Francisco Bay Area, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported Thursday. (8/30)

San Francisco Chronicle: SF Could Hold More Mentally Ill People For Care Under Bill Headed To Brown
San Francisco officials would have more control over who can be involuntarily held for mental-health treatment, under a bill to expand conservatorship laws that is headed to Gov. Jerry Brown. The state Senate passed SB1045 by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, in a 39-0 vote on Thursday. The Assembly passed it 61-0 on Wednesday. (Gutierrez, 8/30)

Chicago Tribune: South Dakota-Based Health System Eyes Chicago-Area Hospital System 
A South Dakota-based hospital system is looking to enter the Chicago area — with its eye on at least one local player, according to reports. Sanford Health, which has 45 hospitals and 289 clinics in nine states, is in talks to merge with a Chicago-area health system, its CEO told digital news organization SiouxFalls.Business earlier this week. (Schencker, 8/30)