Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Amazon Closes New Jersey Facility; Montana Expected To Lift Mask Mandate
Reuters: Amazon Shuts New Jersey Facility On Virus Spike Among Workers
Amazon.com Inc said on Sunday it had closed one of its warehouses in New Jersey out of caution till Dec. 26, after seeing an increase in asymptomatic positive cases amongst workers. “Through our in-house COVID-19 testing program, we detected an increase in the number of asymptomatic positive cases at our PNE5 facility in northern New Jersey and have proactively closed the site until December 26th out of an abundance of caution,” an Amazon spokeswoman said in a statement to Reuters. (12/20)
KHN: Montana’s Mask Mandate In Doubt With Incoming Governor
Incoming Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signaled he won’t continue a statewide mask mandate in place since July, though he said he plans to wear a mask himself and get vaccinated against COVID-19.If Gianforte, a Republican, reverses outgoing Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock’s mask order, Montana will be just the second state after Mississippi to lift its mandate. Thirty-eight states now have statewide mandates. (Volz, 12/21)
In other news —
Houston Chronicle: Texas Agency Urges Lawmakers To Close Loophole That Leads To High Ambulance Bills
The Texas Department of Insurance urged lawmakers to close a loophole in the state’s patient protection law that allows out-of-network ambulance companies to charge unsuspecting consumers exorbitant bills. In 2019, lawmakers passed sweeping legislation to curb crippling out-of-network medical bills in emergency situations or when patients had no choice of who treated them. It also took many patients out of the middle of fights over billing between insurers and providers. That measure, Senate Bill 1264, was applauded as one of the toughest patient protection laws in the nation. (Deam, 12/18)
The Hill: Lawsuit Claims St Louis County Inmate Died Of Survivable Leukemia After Being Denied Medical Care
The mother of a man who died of leukemia last year while imprisoned in a St. Louis County jail filed a federal wrongful-death lawsuit last week, according to multiple reports. Lamar Catchings was found dead in his jail cell in March 2019, the St. Louis Dispatch reported. He had been in custody at the St. Louis County Justice Center since April 2018. (Pitofsky, 12/20)
