State Highlights: 9/11 Fund For Sick First Responders May Run Out Before 2020; Mass. Nurses Ballot Initiative Could Come With $900M Price Tag, Watchdog Group Finds

The Wall Street Journal: NYC Mayor De Blasio Urges More Money For 9/11 Compensation Fund
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio asked the federal government on Wednesday to provide more money to a 9/11 fund that assists sick first responders, making the plea after a new report said the fund may run dry before fulfilling its mission. The September 11th Victims Compensation Fund was created to cover the health-care costs for volunteers and rescue workers who have become sick since responding to the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and United Flight 93 that crashed near Shanksville, Pa. It also compensates survivors of the attacks and residents who lived near the sites. (Honan, 10/3)

Boston Globe: Watchdog Says Nurse Ballot Question Could Cost $900 Million A Year
A health care watchdog agency, weighing in on a contentious political issue, said Wednesday that a union-backed state ballot question to regulate nurse staffing in hospitals could cost the Massachusetts health care system more than $900 million a year. The state Health Policy Commission’s new report provided ammunition to opponents of the measure about one month before Election Day and dealt a blow to the Massachusetts Nurses Association, which wrote the ballot question and has argued the costs would be modest. (Dayal McCluskey, 10/3)

WBUR: Nurses Ballot Initiative Could Cost Over $900 Million A Year, State Panel Estimates
The state ballot initiative on nurse staffing ratios would cost hundreds of millions of dollars a year, according to an estimate issued Wednesday by the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC), an independent watchdog that keeps an eye on health costs. (Goldberg, 10/3)

KCUR: How A Kansas City Politician's Public Revelation Could Help Other Vets With PTSD 
Jason Kander’s decision to drop out of the Kansas City mayoral race is bringing more attention to post-traumatic stress disorder and mental health issues faced by veterans. Kander is an Army veteran who served a four-month tour in Afghanistan 11 years ago. He said in a statement that his time in the military continues to affect him and has led to battles with depression and symptoms of PTSD. ...According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 11 to 20 percent of those who, like Kander, served in Operation Enduring Freedom have PTSD in a given year. (Calacal, 10/3)

Miami Herald: Miami Officials Investigate Spreading Of HIV Among Homeless
Four streets between Northwest Second Avenue and Northwest First Avenue are now the center of a public health investigation into the transmission of hepatitis C and HIV, an issue stirring up reactions from politicians, police, the courts and homeless advocates. A Miami official said the number of cases in this area has recently increased. (Flechas and Chang, 10/3)

The Associated Press: Illinois AG To Investigate Legionnaire's Disease Response
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said her office will launch a criminal investigation of how Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration handled a three-year-old Legionnaire's disease crisis at a state-run veterans' home. The Democrat will review compliance with state law and whether residents and staff of the Quincy home and the public were notified in a timely manner, spokeswoman Eileen Boyce said. Republican Rauner faces a stiff re-election challenge in a state that leans Democratic. (10/3)

The Associated Press: Industry Groups Spending Millions Fighting Montana Measures
Industry-funded opponents of Montana citizen’s initiatives to raise the state’s tobacco tax and add new mining regulations are vastly outspending the measures’ supporters to put their messages in front of voters about a month before Election Day, according to campaign finance reports. One ballot initiative would raise taxes on cigarettes and snuff for the first time since 2005, and tax vaping products for the first time ever. One tobacco giant in particular, Altria, is spending millions of dollars to flood the state’s airwaves with ads to defeat the initiative after successfully lobbying against a similar measure killed by the Montana Legislature in 2017. (Volz, 10/3)

KCUR: Former ER Nurse Loses Her Whistleblower Suit Against Lawrence Memorial Hospital 
A former emergency room nurse at Lawrence Memorial Hospital has lost her whistleblower suit alleging the hospital falsified patient records to obtain higher Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that Megen Duffy failed to prove an essential element of her claims, namely that the allegedly false data had an effect on how much the government paid the hospital. Duffy worked as a registered nurse at the hospital from August 2009 until she was fired in October 2013 for allegedly threatening another employee. In her lawsuit, she alleged her termination was fabricated. (Margolies, 10/3)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Could A Judge's Intervention Help Fix Louisiana's Mental Health Care System? 
Supporters of assisted outpatient treatment - often known as AOT - say that a civil court's intervention into a troubled patient's treatment can stabilize the individual and prevent a revolving door of hospitalizations and, in some cases, jail stays that hurt patients and cost taxpayers. AOT could potentially fill a gap in Louisiana, where budget cuts and privatization have shrunk the number of long-term inpatient hospital beds. Forty-seven states now have AOT laws, although not all are used to the same degree. (Sayre, 10/3)

The Associated Press: Virginia Health Officials Encourage Annual Flu Shots
The Virginia Department of Health is encouraging residents to get their annual flu shots. State health officials gathered Wednesday to highlight the importance of the vaccine and to get their own flu shots. Health Commissioner M. Norman Oliver said everyone six months and older should get a flu shot. He said influenza can be a serious illness, and even mild cases can lead to lost time at work or with friends and family. (10/4)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: FBI: Data Breach Reported At Gwinnett Medical Center
There has been a data breach at Gwinnett Medical Center, the FBI said Wednesday. The FBI is “aware of the breach” and “working with all appropriate entities” in an ongoing investigation, FBI Public Affairs Specialist Kevin Rowson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. (Coyne, 10/3)

New Hampshire Union Leader: Equity Firm Invests In Windham’s Medicus Healthcare Solutions 
A Chicago-based private equity firm has made a financial investment in Windham-based Medicus Healthcare Solutions, one of the state’s fastest growing private companies. Beecken Petty O’Keefe & Company, which focuses exclusively on the health care industry, said it had “made an investment” in Medicus, which helps recruit and staff doctors on a temporary basis for hospital and physician groups. Medicus, in a separate statement, said “it entered into a partnership” with Beecken.Neither provided details on the arrangement or the financial terms. (Cousineau, 10/3)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Schools To Get Federal Money For School Safety
Prompted by the school shooting on Valentine’s Day in Parkland, Fla. , federal officials Tuesday announced $70 million in grants to improve school safety.The Trump Administration will allocate the grants through the Justice Department. The money will go to more than 40 states via dozens of law enforcement agencies, school districts, and other state and local institutions, including Georgia school districts. (Smith Broady, 10/3)

The Associated Press: FDA: 38 Sick From Tainted Eggs From Alabama
The government says 38 people in seven states have gotten sick from eggs produced by an Alabama poultry farm. The Food and Drug Administration says the illnesses are linked to salmonella-tainted eggs from Gravel Ridge Farms, which is north of Birmingham in Cullman. The agency issued a recall notice last month, and it provided an update Tuesday. (10/3)

MPR: $2.5M Grant Awarded To Project Helping Injured Employees Get Back To Work
The Minnesota Department of Labor has awarded a $2.5 million grant to a project that helps injured employees get back to work faster. The grant was awarded to the Minnesota RETAIN project, a group of organizations and government departments serving Minnesota residents with work-related disabilities. (Kwan, 10/3)

Politico Pro: Mormon Church, Utah Lawmakers Close To Striking Medical Marijuana Pact
Utah, one of the most conservative and religious states, could soon legalize medical marijuana, with Mormon leaders who have long resisted the idea brokering a deal between advocates and lawmakers. The deal, which could be announced within days, would require a special session called after the November election and could derail efforts to approve a ballot initiative that creates a broadly accessible medical marijuana program. (Goldberg, 10/3)