State Highlights: Top Leaders Depart Troubled St. Luke’s In Houston; Colo. Lawmakers Seek Transparency In Hospital Costs

ProPublica: St. Luke’s In Houston Replaces Its President, Other Top
Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center has ousted its president, its chief nursing officer and a top physician following numerous reports of substandard care, including a recent mistake that led to a patient’s death, the Houston hospital announced Monday. The departures come in the wake of a yearlong investigation by the Houston Chronicle and ProPublica that documented an outsized number of deaths and unusual complications following heart transplants at St. Luke’s. (Hixenbaugh and Ornstein, 1/14)

Denver Post: Colorado Democrat Seeking Hospital Costs Transparecy
Colorado sends about $2.9 billion annually in state and federal dollars to hospitals across the state, but the agency that regulates the hospitals doesn’t really know how it’s being spent. Lawmakers from both parties have wanted to change that for years, but they could never agree on the details. Now, Democrats see their control of the statehouse as an opportunity to unravel some of health care’s mysteries as well as some of its costs. (Staver, 1/14)

The Star Tribune: MinnesotaCare For All? Lawmakers Pitch A Way To Broaden Health Coverage 
Minnesota's pioneering health insurance program for lower-income residents, MinnesotaCare, would be expanded to a much broader swath of the population under two DFL proposals introduced last week in the House. The proposals, known as MinnesotaCare buy-in, would leverage the purchasing power of government health programs to offer coverage with lower premiums and out-of-pocket costs than commercial insurance in the private market for Minnesotans who make more than the program's current income limits. (Howatt, 1/14)

Kansas City Star: Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly Now Lead Defendant In DCF Lawsuit
Gov. Laura Kelly has fought for years to help fix Kansas’ troubled foster care system, where kids have gone missing and slept in offices because there were no beds. Now that she’s leading the state, the former senator faces pressure to turn around the system that serves the state’s most vulnerable children. (Bauer, 1/15)

WBUR: Nursing Home Launches New Investigation After Woman In Vegetative State Gives Birth
The owner of a long-term care facility in Arizona where a patient in a vegetative state was impregnated and gave birth last month has hired a former Maricopa County Attorney to lead an internal investigation into the "facts and circumstances" leading up to the sexual assault. On Sunday, Phoenix-based Hacienda Healthcare confirmed in a statement that it had recruited Rick Romley "to ensure a comprehensive, objective and transparent review of the facts of this deeply disturbing matter." (Romo, 1/14)

Denver Post: Denver Council OKs Sun Valley "Stabilization Center"
The city of Denver and the Mental Health Center of Denver will create a new facility where dozens of people can recover from mental health crises in the Sun Valley neighborhood, despite neighbors’ opposition. To its supporters, it’s a groundbreaking step toward a new model of mental health care for people experiencing homelessness. To some of Sun Valley’s community leaders, it was one more burden for a long-neglected neighborhood. (Kenney, 1/15)

Health News Florida: New AHCA Secretary Has Fans, Detractors
While Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that Mary Mayhew will take the helm at the state Agency for Health Care Administration, it hasn’t been made clear when she will begin the job or how much she will earn. What is crystal clear, though, is DeSantis is thrilled that Mayhew, who for three months headed the federal Medicaid program, is Florida-bound. (Sexton, 1/14)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cuyahoga County Approves $300,000 To Keep More Nurses At County Jail Until MetroHealth Takes Over All Jail Health-Care Operations
Cuyahoga County’s Board of Control on Monday approved up to $300,000 to keep more nurses at the county jail until MetroHealth takes over all jail health-care operations. The money continues a contract with Cleveland-based Educare Medical Staffing to temporarily provide nurses at times when the county’s permanent jail nurses are understaffed and unable to meet the needs of inmates. (Astolfi, 1/14)

Texas Tribune: Texas House Proposes Massive Increase For Public School Funding
As Texas’ Republican leadership calls for property tax cuts and a school finance overhaul, the Texas House on Monday pitched a bold proposal: Pump roughly $7 billion more state funds into public schools — but only if lawmakers can satisfactorily overhaul the school finance system to slow the growth of property taxes. ...Included in school safety funding would be about $12 million for children’s mental health programs. (Walterns, 1/14)

Georgia Health News: State Health Plan Rewarding Those Who Work To Stay Healthy
One SHBP wellness plan, launched by Atlanta-based digital health company Sharecare, would reward members who meet goals this year with a $150 Walmart gift card, and Walmart will contribute an additional $75 for members to use on prescription medications and vision products. Another potential reward is a $150 Visa gift card, in a plan also administered by Sharecare. Employees who have Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield or UnitedHealthcare are eligible for the rewards, and state workers’ covered spouses get a chance to qualify for their own gift cards. (Miller, 1/14)

St. Louis Public Radio: Black Children In St. Louis Far More Likely To Visit The ER For Asthma Than Whites
The Equity Indicators report found black children are 10 times as likely as white children to visit the emergency room for asthma-related health problems, making it the lowest-scoring indicator of the 72 measures studied by the city. The report is part of the city’s larger Equity Indicators Project, which measures racial disparities in health care, education, employment and other areas. (Fentem, 1/14)

WBUR: Trump Administration Decision Puts Tribal School In Limbo
Last September, the U.S. Department of the Interior ruled that it could no longer hold land in trust for the tribe. ... That would mean the tribe would basically have to create a new private school, which adheres to state regulations. They would have to get approval from the Mashpee Public Schools committee. The tribe would also have to create systems for gathering and reporting student health, attendance and other data. (Jung, 1/14)

New Hampshire Public Radio: Attorney For Families Of Slain Toddlers Says Child Advocate Report Doesn't Go Far Enough
An attorney representing the families of two children in litigation against DCYF says a new report from the Office of the Child Advocate doesn't go far enough. Rus Rilee represents the families of Brielle Gage and Sadee Willott, two toddlers who were killed by abusive mothers in separate incidents in 2014 and 2015. (Moon, 1/14)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Atlanta Schools Gear Up For Super Bowl With Sex-Trafficking Training
As Atlanta readies for the Super Bowl, the school system is amping up efforts to train teachers and inform students about the risk of human trafficking. Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said students are in danger of being sexually exploited every day, and the Super Bowl is one more event that increases that risk. (McCray, 1/14)

Health News Florida: DeSantis Poised To Make Marijuana Changes
With one of his chief advisers tweeting the hashtag “NoSmokeIsAJoke,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday he will “very soon” announce changes in how the state is carrying out a constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana. DeSantis, a Republican, said many voters believe the state has been “foot dragging” in implementing the amendment, largely bankrolled by Orlando trial lawyer John Morgan and approved by more than 71 percent of voters in 2016. (Kam, 1/15)