State Highlights: More Precise Water Tests Will Expose Higher Lead Levels, Michigan Officials Say; Mississippi Urged To Expand Mental Health Services

The Associated Press: Michigan Officials: Testing Will Uncover More Lead In Water
Michigan officials on Wednesday began raising public awareness of tougher sampling rules they expect to result in more drinking water systems exceeding limits for lead, a byproduct of new regulations enacted after Flint's crisis. Samples now have to be taken not only from the first liter drawn from a house with exterior or interior lead plumbing, but also the fifth liter. (6/26)

The Associated Press: Mississippi Fights Lawsuit Over Reliance On Mental Hospitals
As the federal government tries to compel Mississippi to give mentally ill people more options to get the treatment they need in their own communities, the experiences of Harold Biggs and Pamela Kirby offer a sharp contrast. Biggs, 75, has tried for decades to get help for his adult daughter, who has borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder with schizoid affect and intellectual disabilities. For most of that time, he's felt that his only option was to ask a judge to confine her to a state mental hospital, where she's spent 12 of the last 24 years. And during her time on the outside, Biggs says she often doesn't get adequate treatment or supervision. (6/26)

The Washington Post: Some Virginians Say Fighting Gun Violence Requires More Than New Laws
Gov. Ralph Northam (D) is taking his crusade for gun control to the people of Virginia, and the people are sending back mixed messages. In community forums around the state ahead of a special legislative session on gun violence set for July 9, some of the public response has been predictable. Legions of gun advocates - many of them white men wearing orange “Guns Save Lives” stickers - have angrily invoked the Second Amendment while tearful parents have demanded laws to protect their children. (Schneider, 6/26)

Modern Healthcare: Medicaid In Arizona Now Covers Lyft For Non-Emergency Transport
Lyft is now a covered option for some Medicaid beneficiaries in Arizona, the on-demand transportation company said Wednesday. That means eligible Medicaid beneficiaries in the state will be able to use ride-sharing services from Lyft to travel to and from medical appointments. Lyft's new Medicaid provider status in Arizona is the result of a policy change the state's Medicaid agency finalized in May. (Cohen, 6/26)

Los Angeles Times: California Stem Cell Research Centers Receive $30-Million Gift From Broad Foundation
Stem cell scientists at three California universities will receive an infusion of cash as the state’s publicly funded research program gets ready to dole out the last of its grant money. The Broad Foundation announced Wednesday it would give a total of $30 million to UCLA, USC and UC San Francisco. The funds will support research programs aimed at finding treatments for developmental disorders that affect patients even before they are born and age-related diseases that arise late in life. Some of the money will also be used to recruit and train scientists in the field. (Kaplan, 6/26)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. Is Getting Millions In State Money For Homelessness. Now L.A. Politicians Want More
California lawmakers agreed this month to hand over $650 million to big cities, counties and regional agencies to help fight homelessness. Now some Los Angeles officials say they want more. Much more.At a news conference Wednesday, City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell urged the state to match the $1.2-billion bond measure that L.A. voters approved in 2016 to build homeless housing, contending that the additional money could be pulled from the state’s reserves. (Reyes and Oreskes, 6/26)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento County CA Homeless Rate Increases To Highest Total
Even as the city and county of Sacramento pour millions of dollars into ending homelessness, a count this year found 1,905 more people living on the streets, in cars or in shelter beds since 2017, raising the estimated number of homeless people countywide to 5,570. The federally mandated count, conducted every two years and released Wednesday by homeless nonprofit Sacramento Steps Forward, is the highest ever recorded number of people living without permanent housing in Sacramento County. (Yoon-Hendricks and Clift, 6/26)

The Associated Press: Philadelphia Hospital Owner Announces Closure, Citing Losses
The owner of Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia announced its closure in September because of what the company called "continuing, unsustainable financial losses." Philadelphia Academic Health System, a subsidiary of American Academic Health System, said Wednesday that Hahnemann will immediately begin an "orderly wind down of its inpatient and outpatient treatment services" at the 496-bed Level 1 trauma center that has about 2,500 employees. (6/26)

Modern Healthcare: Piedmont Now Requires 25% Advance Payment For Self-Pay Patients
Piedmont Healthcare is taking a bold approach in its fight against bad debt: The not-for-profit health system now requires patients who'll be on the hook for the entirety of their bill to pay one-quarter of it before they can receive non-emergent services. Atlanta-based Piedmont launched the advance payment policy this month. It requires uninsured, self-pay patients and those with high-deductible commercial policies to pay 25% of their bill before they can receive services. (Bannow, 6/26)

CNBC: California Blue Shield Exec Slams 'Zombie' Workplace Wellness Programs
Companies have embraced health surveys, biometric screenings and other wellness offerings, as a way to keep employees healthy and lower their overall medical costs. But studies are finding that most traditional workplace wellness programs do not work, and large employers aren’t reporting a reduction in their health-related spending, which is now at a record high.One of California’s largest health insurers has had enough. (Farr, 6/25)

The Associated Press: Navajo Cancer Center Will Cut Tribal Members' Travel Time
The Navajo Nation has opened a cancer treatment center on the reservation that it says will significantly cut down on travel time for patients. The Tuba City Regional Health Care Corp. in northeastern Arizona recently welcomed its first patient. It is funding the new center with hospital profits, grants and donations. (6/27)

The Star Tribune: Flight From Health Insurance Market Slows In Minnesota 
The state's individual health insurance market got even smaller last year, according to a new state report, but the annual rate of decline slowed significantly. The figures are another hint of relative stability in a market that has undergone big changes with the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA), including a period of premium spikes and plummeting enrollment followed by rate declines the past two years. (Snowbeck, 6/26)

California Healthline: As The Economy Surges, A Dramatic Drop In Workers On Disability
Tens of thousands of Californians have come off the Social Security disability payroll and gone back to work, part of a national trend that reflects a surging U.S. economy, a shift toward less conventional work and tighter supervision of what qualifies a worker for disability benefits. The number of adults in California collecting Social Security disability benefits fell by nearly 50,000, or 7%, from 2013 to 2017, with the biggest decline coming between 2016 and 2017, according to the latest federal statistics. The drop follows years of steep increases nationally and statewide as workers left the labor market amid a brutal recession and started drawing disability benefits. (Reese, 6/26)

Modern Healthcare: Blue Cross Of Minnesota And North Memorial Health To Co-Own 20 Health Clinics
In another example of a health insurer moving into the primary-care provider space, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota and Minneapolis-based health system North Memorial Health will jointly own 20 outpatient clinics throughout the Twin Cities. The value of the deal has not been disclosed. Under the joint venture that kicks off in January, North Memorial Health will own a 51% stake in its existing clinics that will operate under the health system's brand. The Blues will own a 49% stake. (Johnson, 6/26)