State Highlights: NYC Wants To Shift Patients Out Of ERs And Into Primary Care Offices; Sharp Geographical Disparities Found In Transgender Care Coverage

The Wall Street Journal: New York City Hopes To Ease Strain On Its Emergency Rooms
The country’s largest public-hospital system is about to tackle one of health care’s biggest challenges: getting patients out of emergency rooms and into the offices of primary-care doctors. What has been touted by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio as “literally universal” health care guaranteed to all New Yorkers is more technically an expanded primary-care system for the most needy. Called NYC Care, it is planned to have the typical perks familiar to people who have insurance: a membership card, 24/7 on-call service, easier access to specialists and ready appointments with the same primary-care physician. (West, 7/16)

Stateline: States Diverge On Transgender Health Care 
States are diverging on whether to provide gender reassignment services, such as hormone treatments and surgery, under their Medicaid programs. Iowa recently enacted a law denying coverage for transition services, and Medicaid policies in eight states exclude sexual reassignment treatment, according to the Movement Advancement Project, a nonprofit based in Colorado. Officials from two of the eight states, Ohio and Wyoming, when contacted by Stateline, said that their policies no longer exclude those services. Twelve states also specifically exclude transition-related services from health benefits for state employees. (Ollove, 7/17)

ProPublica/Sacramento Bee: Deadly Delays In Jail Construction Cost Lives And Dollars Across California
Last June, Fabian Cardoza headed to the shower in the dilapidated Merced County Main Jail. The 20-year-old had spent a month there awaiting trial on a robbery charge. Two cellmates boxed him in. One pinned Cardoza to the floor. The other slipped a braided bedsheet around his neck and tightened it. It was just past noon, but no correctional officers took notice. No one was monitoring the video camera that watched the area and, because the facility was so outdated, officers would have had to stand directly in front of the cell to see anything inside. (Pohl and Gabrielson, 7/17)

NPR: Death Rates Fell After New York Adopted 'Rory's Regulations' For Sepsis Care
An unusual state regulation that dictates how doctors need to treat a specific disease appears to be paying off in New York, according to a study published Tuesday. The disease is sepsis, which is the most common cause of death in hospitals. And the regulations came into being after the story of 12-year-old Rory Staunton became a cause célèbre. As his mother Orlaith Staunton tells it, Rory came home from school one day with a scrape he'd gotten in gym class. It didn't seem like a big deal, but Rory's health quickly took a turn. (Harris, 7/16)

Pioneer Press: Fourth Minnesota DHS Official Resigns With A ‘Heavy (Yet Hopeful) Heart’
The Minnesota Department of Human Services has lost another member of its executive leadership team. Chief of staff Stacie Weeks announced her resignation on Tuesday, according to an email she sent to her colleagues. Her departure follows resignations from the agency’s three top leaders, all of which were announced in the past week. Commissioner Tony Lourey resigned Monday after just six months on the job, and Deputy Commissioners Chuck Johnson and Claire Wilson announced their imminent resignations on Thursday. (Faircloth, 7/16)

NH Times Union: Suicides, Including Highway Suicides, On The Rise In New Hampshire And The Nation 
More people are using highways to harm themselves, including the 40-year-old man who jumped to his death off the South Willow Street bridge over Interstate 293 on Monday, according to a New Hampshire State Police official. Three have done so this year in the Manchester-Nashua area, according to Lt. Bryan Trask. Trask oversees the state police barracks that patrols the highways in the state’s two largest cities. ...[national trends] show an increase in suicide rates. A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that the national suicide rate increased 25 percent over a 17-year period ending in 2016. (Hayward, 7/16)

KCUR: Kansas Mom Hopes Her Family's Story Will Help Convince Lawmakers To Expand Medicaid 
Laura Robeson quit her job as a fourth-grade teacher to care for her son, who has cerebral palsy and other health problems. But as politicians considered cuts to various healthcare programs, she felt compelled to become an activist, working with others to speak out for families like hers. That culminated at the State of the Union Address in February. Kansas Congresswoman Sharice Davids chose Robeson to attend as her guest, providing a real-world example of the role federal healthcare policies play in a citizen's life. (Kniggendorf, 7/16)

KCUR: Missouri Mothers Are At Risk For Postpartum Depression, And A New Drug Might Not Be Much Help 
Every woman who gives birth has the possibility of developing postpartum depression. That includes nearly one in seven mothers in Missouri, which ranks 11th in the nation for those who experience the condition, according to the the United Health Foundation. In March, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first drug specifically for postpartum depression, but it's expensive and requires that mothers be away from their babies. That's problematic, says nurse midwife Jessica Cisneros. (Aiken, 7/16)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. Child Welfare Takes Heat For Death Of 4-Year-Old Palmdale Boy
L.A. County’s child welfare chief faced sharp questioning Tuesday over why a 4-year-old Palmdale boy, who died earlier this month under what authorities call suspicious circumstances, wasn’t removed from his parents’ home amid abuse claims — despite a recent court order. “This death happened on my watch,” Bobby Cagle, director of the county Department of Children and Family Services, told the Board of Supervisors. “I fully accept the responsibility for the work that was done. I also fully accept the responsibility for understanding what went wrong, what we can do better, and to implement that as quickly as possible.” (Stiles, 7/16)

Arizona Republic: Is Arizona DCS Banning Criticism Of The Child-Welfare Agency, Courts?
While legislators and policymakers advocate for confidentiality to protect the identities of children and families, they've also pushed for greater transparency. In some cases, parents and officials push for accountability for the system that can take children from their families. In others, lawmakers and the public demand accountability for an agency that failed to remove children from homes where they later died. Despite that push and pull, DCS orders that would ban a parent from informing people about their hearings or would stifle any criticism of DCS and the justice system are striking, even to those within the juvenile justice system. (Náñez, 7/16)

Austin Statesman: Federal, Local Officials Aim To Cut HIV Infections In Austin And U.S.
[Robert] Redfield was one of several federal officials to meet with Austin health workers Tuesday in a roundtable discussion, to get their input on how to achieve that goal and stop the spread of HIV in Central Texas. According to public health officials, about half of all new HIV infections occur in just 48 of roughly 3,000 U.S. jurisdictions, five of which are in Texas, including Austin. Texas is ranked seventh in the nation in the number of new infections. (Huber, 7/16)

The Associated Press: New Delaware Law That Raises Smoking Age To 21 Takes Effect
A law in Delaware that raises the legal age for smoking and buying tobacco products goes into effect Tuesday. Gov. John Carney signed the law in April, which increases the legal smoking age from 18 to 21. The Delaware News Journal reports the state joins 16 others with similar legislation that prohibits retailers from selling and adults from purchasing tobacco for minors. There’s a $1,000 fine for breaking the new law. (7/16)

KCUR: Missouri's Foster Kids Will No Longer Be Doped Up Thanks To A New Legal Settlement 
Thousands of kids in Missouri's foster care system are likely to benefit from a first-of-its-kind legal settlement under which state officials have agreed to strict limits on how and when kids can be given psychotropic drugs. The settlement resolves a class action lawsuit charging that Missouri foster care officials failed to safeguard the conditions under which the powerful medications are dispensed. U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey gave preliminary approval to the agreement on Monday. (Margolies, 7/16)

Arizona Republic: Ex-Hacienda Nurse Nathan Sutherland's Trial Expected To Start In 2020
A former Hacienda nurse accused of raping and impregnating an incapacitated patient under his care likely will not go to trial until 2020. Nathan Sutherland, 37, appeared in Maricopa County Superior Court Tuesday for a status conference. His attorney, Edward Molina, told the judge he recently received more than 2,000 pages of evidence and police body-worn camera footage. (Burkitt, 7/16)

Pioneer Press: Mall Of America To Open Walk-In Health Clinic This Fall 
A walk-in clinic will open at the Mall of America in November, offering services for both workers and customers alike. The new clinic was announced Tuesday, and will be part of M Health Fairview, a partnership between Fairview Health Services and the University of Minnesota. To be located on the third floor of the Bloomington mall’s east end, the 2,300-square-foot location will have five examination rooms. There will also be a laboratory space for tests, a radiology room and a pharmacy. (Ross, 7/16)

The Star Tribune: Mall Of America Will Add A Walk-In Clinic 
The Mall of America is adding a walk-in medical clinic that will cater to everyone from workers injured on the job to power-shoppers with tummy troubles to travelers needing quick immunizations. The new clinic, announced Tuesday by M Health Fairview, will be open seven days a week, starting in November, on the Bloomington mall's third floor east wing. (Olson, 7/16)

Kansas City Star: Missouri Medical Marijuana: Most Won’t Get License To Sell
The state won’t start vetting applications to grow, manufacture or sell medical marijuana products until Aug. 3. But for months it has been accepting pre-filed application fees — a non-refundable $6,000 for a dispensary license — to begin funding regulatory operations. (Marso, 7/17)