Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
As Heat Rose In Fla. Nursing Home, Staff Asked For Help But Few Understood The Emergency
The New York Times: At Florida Nursing Home, Many Calls For Help, But None That Made A Difference
The emergency room workers at Memorial Regional Hospital rushed the first patient to Room 9, which was devoted to the hope and practice of arresting death. They threaded fluid lines into her veins and readied a breathing tube. Even through gloves, they could feel the heat corseting the 84-year-old woman’s body. As they prepared to insert a catheter, they saw what looked like steam rising from her legs. (Gabler, Fink and Yee, 9/23)
Miami Herald: Hurricane Irma: Florida Gov. Scott Did Not Keep Nursing Home Voicemails
Voicemails left on Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s cellphone by employees of the Hollywood nursing home where 11 died in the post-Hurricane Irma heat have been deleted, according to the governor’s office. (Ostroff, 9/24)
Forbes: How Trumpcare's Medicaid Block Grants Hurt Hurricane Victims
The Republican-led Senate proposal to give each state a fixed block grant of federal money to pay for Medicaid coverage for poor Americans doesn’t account for “increased financial stress” states face during economic downturns and natural disasters, insurers and governors opposed to the legislation say. ... But Graham-Cassidy’s block grants “do not accommodate the counter cyclical nature of Medicaid and the inability of states to shoulder increased financial stress during economic downturns,” Medicaid Health Plans Of America CEO Jeff Myers wrote Sen. Cassidy last week. MHPA members include Aetna, Centene, Cigna and UnitedHealth Group. (Japsen, 9/24)
