State Highlights: California Doctors Among Dozens Charged in $150M Health Care Fraud Scheme; $50M Shortfall Projected In Colorado’s Hailed Reinsurance Program

The Associated Press: 25 Californians Charged With $150M In Health Care Fraud
Twenty-five Southern California doctors and others are accused of billing Medicare and other health plans for $150 million in fraudulent charges. Federal cases were announced Wednesday in Los Angeles and Santa Ana. (9/18)

Colorado Sun: Colorado’s Reinsurance Program Could Fall $50 Million Short Next Year, According To Health Insurer Estimates
Colorado’s much-lauded reinsurance program — credited with dramatically reducing health insurance prices next year for people who purchase coverage on their own — could cost as much as $50 million more than the state estimated if early projections from insurers prove correct. That’s potentially a big actuarial miss for one of the signature legislative accomplishments passed this year by Capitol Democrats and Gov. Jared Polis. The insurers’ tally is about 20% more than the state’s estimate for the program’s cost. (Ingold, 9/18)

Detroit Free Press: GM, UAW Bicker Over Health Care Cut-Off
General Motors and the UAW continue to try to strike a deal at the bargaining table while also bickering in public over GM's move to shift the cost of striking workers' health care to the union. About 46,000 UAW workers across the United States went on strike at midnight Sunday after the UAW let its contract expire the night before. UAW leaders and members say they were blindsided Tuesday to learn that GM had canceled health care benefits the night before. (LaReau, 9/18)

Kansas City Star: Missouri Families Sue Schools And State Over Vaccine Rules
Four families are suing Missouri schools and the state health department over vaccine requirements, calling the process of filing for an exemption a violation of religious freedom. A federal judge has already ruled that one of the unvaccinated students may continue going to school in Kansas City while the case continues. (Ritter, 9/19)

Sacramento Bee: Sutter Davis Leader Details $69.5 Million Expansion Plans
The chief executive officer of Sutter Davis Hospital shared details Tuesday on the planned $69.5 million expansion of the facility’s emergency department, birthing center and medical-surgical unit. The construction, she said, should be finished by 2024. (Anderson, 9/18)

San Francisco Chronicle: Gov. Newsom Signs AB5, Making Gig-Work Reform Bill Law
Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed AB5, California’s landmark gig-worker bill that could turn thousands of independent contractors into company employees with protections and benefits.“ The hollowing out of our middle class has been 40 years in the making, and the need to create lasting economic security for our workforce demands action,” Newsom said Wednesday, in a signing statement released by his office. (Gardiner, 9/18)

Modern Healthcare: Dignity Health Loses Transgender Discrimination Appeals Case
In a setback for Catholic hospitals, a California appellate court ruled that Dignity Health discriminated against a transgender man seeking a hysterectomy when one of its hospitals turned him away for the procedure. The 1st District Court of Appeal ruled unanimously Tuesday that the state nondiscrimination law, the Unruh Act, barred discrimination against the patient, Evan Minton. The court sent the case back to the San Francisco Superior Court, which had dismissed the lawsuit on the basis that Minton had quickly received the procedure at another facility. (Meyer, 9/18)

Miami Herald: Homestead Center Cost $33 Million So Far To House No Kids
The government has spent more than $33 million in 46 days to keep the Homestead detention center up and running even though no children are housed there, according to federal officials. On Wednesday, Jonathan Hayes, the acting director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement — the agency in charge of housing unaccompanied migrant children — testified at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing, along with other Department of Homeland Security leaders, about mental health services for migrant children. (Madan, 9/18)

Houston Chronicle: Survey: Houston Far From A Picture Of Health 
One in five Harris County residents rates their health as poor or fair, according to a new University of Texas survey, double the U.S. average and no better than nearly a decade ago. The survey, which provides a snapshot of county health disparities across 38 communities, found the worst health assessments were in Aldine, Settegast, Edgebrook, Gulfton and South Acres, all economically depressed areas. The percentage of respondents rating their health as poor or fair ranged from 28 in South Acres to 45 in Aldine. (Ackerman, 9/18)

Miami Herald: State Of Florida Says Nurse Stole Drugs From 3 Facilities
A St. Petersburg licensed practical nurse had her license restricted after, the Florida Department of Health said, she was fired from three healthcare facilities this year for stealing Percocet, Ultram and other pain medications. The emergency restriction order says Sarah O’Halloran “admitted to [addiction Dr. Lawrence] Wilson, that she diverted controlled substances from [Golfview Healthcare Center] and Boca Ciega [Center]. (Neal, 9/18)

Health News Florida: Disabilities Organization Faces Concern And Questions
An organization focused on helping Floridians with disabilities find jobs has not complied with some key demands by Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, who threatened to shut it down because of concerns about potential misuse of money. The commissioner last month cited “egregious concerns” with the operation of The Able Trust, a non-profit organization for the Department of Education’s Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, and demanded it cut all ties with a charitable foundation it created without authorization from the Legislature. (Ceballos, 9/18)

San Jose Mercury News: East Bay Mayor Claims ‘Lives Will Be Lost’ If Alta Bates Closes
Nason and El Cerrito Mayor Rochelle Pardue-Okimoto said that the hospital closure would affect residents, the uninsured, homeless, UC Berkeley students and the elderly. Both mayors are members of a task force, convened by Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin, that is working to convince Sutter Health to keep Alta Bates open. (Kawamoto, 9/18)

The Advocate: Babies In NCIU At North Oaks Can Now Receive Donated Breast Milk 
Premature and low birth weight babies born at North Oaks Medical Center can now receive the health benefits of donor breast milk during their Neonatal Intensive Care Unit stay in cases where their own mothers’ milk is not available. Babies born before 33 weeks or with a birth weight less than or equal to 3.3 pounds are eligible to receive a donor human milk prescription with parental consent during their time in the NICU, according to a news release. (9/18)