Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Amid Eating Disorder Surge, Colorado Restricts Diet Pill Sales To Minors
AP: Colorado Tackles Eating Disorders By Limiting Use Of BMI And Diet Pill Sales To Kids
In the midst of a surge in eating disorders across the country, Colorado’s acting governor signed bills Tuesday that will create a state program dedicated to addressing the mental illness, limit the use of body mass index in determining treatment and restrict the sale of diet pills to minors. Colorado and several other states tackling the issue are responding to the nearly 30 million Americans — roughly the population of Texas — who will struggle with an eating disorder, such as anorexia or bulimia, in their lifetime. More than 10,000 people will lose their life to the condition every year, according to data cited by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. (Bedayn, 5/30)
California Healthline: Health Care Coalition Jockeys Over Medi-Cal Spending, Eyes Ballot Initiative
KFF Health News has learned that a coalition of doctors, hospitals, insurers, and community clinics want to lock in a tax on health insurance companies to draw in extra Medicaid funding. It also wants to make the tax permanent. (Hart and Young, 5/31)
AP: North Carolina Legislature Passes Insurance Bill Allowing Blue Cross To Reorganize
The North Carolina legislature gave final approval Tuesday to a bill allowing the state’s leading health insurance provider to restructure despite criticisms from the state insurance commissioner that it would erode his regulatory authority and undermine his ability to protect consumers. The measure, which permits Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina and a dental insurance provider to transfer assets into a parent holding company, cleared the Senate 41-5 Tuesday after passing the House with similar bipartisan support earlier this year. (Schoenbaum, 5/30)
The Boston Globe: Demonstrators Protest Planned Closure Of Leominster Hospital’s Maternity Ward
Healthcare workers, residents, and elected officials rallied Tuesday at UMass Memorial Health’s Leominster campus to protest the planned closure of its maternity ward, which they say will endanger the lives of mothers and infants across North Central Massachusetts. The crowd of more than 100 people, including several nurses and pediatricians, gathered on the hospital’s lawn to condemn the closure they say will place a greater burden on emergency services and leave an already vulnerable population without accessible maternal care. (Mohammed, 5/30)
New Hampshire Public Radio: Renovated Hampstead Mental Health Facility Will Soon Open To Young Patients In NH
The renovated Hampstead Hospital, now called East Acres at Hampstead and set up to provide psychiatric care for children, is expected to open to patients next week. The state purchased the hospital with federal aid. State health officials said the 12-bed facility is expected to welcome its first overnight patients Tuesday. It's meant to provide high-level mental heath care that young patients would otherwise need to travel out of state to receive. (Rogers, 5/26)
Axios: How Transportation Can Impact Health In Atlanta
More than one in five U.S. adults missed a medical appointment last year because they didn't have a way to get to it, according to a report by the Urban Institute. It's a problem that disproportionately affects women and households of color. Transportation is a key social driver of health equity. (Hurt and Neese, 5/30)
AP: Man In Police Custody Falls To Death After Breaking California Hospital Window With Oxygen Tank
A man in police custody died Thursday in Northern California after he broke a hospital’s window with a metal oxygen tank and fell off a ledge following an altercation with an officer and a nurse, authorities said. (5/28)
AP: Brother: Authorities Told Family That Body Of Missing Missouri ER Doctor Was Found In Arkansas
The body of a Missouri emergency room doctor who has been missing for more than a week has been found in northwest Arkansas, his brother told The Associated Press on Tuesday. ... Police said John Forsyth, 49, was reported missing when he failed to show up for work May 21 at Mercy Hospital in Cassville, a town of 3,100 residents deep in the Missouri Ozarks. (Bauman and Salter, 5/31)
On transgender health care —
North Carolina Health News: Trans Youth Rights In Jeopardy, Advocates Warn
Bills that would limit gender-affirming care, prevent trans youth from competing in sports and require schools to tell parents if a child wants to use other pronouns represent “an unprecedented attack” on trans rights in North Carolina, Ellie Harleen Isley told a crowd at a Trans Rights Rally in downtown Greensboro on Friday. (Fernandez, 5/31)
The 19th: New Anti-Trans Laws Target Autistic Youth And Those With Mental Health Conditions
Three states want to stipulate how, and whether, autistic transgender youth and those with mental health conditions are able to access gender-affirming care — a new tactic aimed at the intersection of two marginalized groups. (Rummler and Luterman, 5/30)
