Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Blue Cross Allowed To Restructure In North Carolina
AP: North Carolina Governor Signs Bill Allowing Blue Cross To Restructure
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed into law on Saturday a bill allowing the state’s leading health insurance provider to reorganize despite pleas from other executive officials to block the proposal. The new law, which passed the GOP-controlled General Assembly with overwhelming bipartisan support, permits Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina and a dental insurance provider to transfer assets into a parent holding company that the state insurance commissioner warned would be able to move money with little oversight. The law takes immediate effect. (Schoenbaum, 6/10)
AP: Mental Health Experts Concerned About Impacts Of St. Dominic’s Closing Mental Health Unit
Now that a hospital in Mississippi’s capital has closed its unit specializing in mental health care, experts fear a domino effect for people seeking such services. “It’s just, to me, a big blow to the entire system,” Sitaniel Wimbley, executive director of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Mississippi, said of St. Dominic Hospital’s decision to shut down its behavioral health services. (6/9)
Las Vegas Review-Journal: After Never Give Up, New Laws Could Improve Psychiatric Facilities
Three bills that passed the Nevada Legislature this session could help state agencies keep a more watchful eye on psychiatric residential treatment facilities across the state, like the recently shuttered Never Give Up Youth Healing Center. (Schnur, 6/10)
In environmental health news from across the U.S. —
Bloomberg: NYC, East Coast Air Quality To Remain Hazy Until Rains Arrive
Air quality readings were mostly moderate Sunday from Boston to Jacksonville, Florida, to Louisville, Kentucky, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow map. A few pockets were rated unhealthy for sensitive groups as of 4:30 p.m. Sunday, including parts of New York City, though the air was slightly improved from earlier in the day. Winds have helped to disperse some of the smoke. (Wade, 6/11)
WMFE: Orange County Issues Mosquito Advisory After Eastern Equine Encephalitis Discovery
The state Department of Health issued an advisory to Orange County residents urging caution as area mosquitoes are testing positive for a deadly disease. Orange County Mosquito Control found 50% of a sentinel chicken coop tested positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis disease along the perimeter of the county. The disease is rare but is deadly and can cause serious neurological problems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Pedersen, 6/9)
NBC News: Florida Man Contracts Flesh-Eating Disease After Bite In Family Brawl
A Florida man almost lost his leg — and could have died — from a rare flesh-eating bacterial infection, which developed after he was bitten in the thigh during a family fight. Donnie Adams, a 53-year-old funeral assistant from the Tampa suburb of Riverview, went to the emergency room in mid-February to treat a bump the size of a dollar coin on his upper left thigh. (Bendix and Li, 6/9)
AP: Youth Environmentalists Bring Montana Climate Case To Trial After 12 Years, Seeking To Set Precedent
Whether a constitutional right to a healthy, livable climate is protected by state law is at the center of a lawsuit going to trial Monday in Montana, where 16 young plaintiffs and their attorneys hope to set an important legal precedent. It’s the first trial of its kind in the U.S., and legal scholars around the world are following its potential addition to the small number of rulings that have established a government duty to protect citizens from climate change. (Brown and Hanson, 6/11)
Anchorage Daily News: As Ticks Strengthen Their Foothold In Alaska, Researchers Say Human Health Risk Remains Low For Now
Out of dozens of ticks found in Alaska and tested over a two-year period to see whether they carried any pathogens, just one was found to be carrying Lyme disease — and it came off a dog that had just traveled from New York, said Micah Hahn, an associate professor of environmental health at the University of Alaska Anchorage who helped author the report. (Berman, 6/11)
Miami Herald: Tales From The Exhausting Front Lines Of Extreme Heat In Florida
More than 100,000 people work outside in Miami-Dade County — the most of any county in the state. The toll extreme heat takes on South Florida, often overlooked next to the devastating threat of monster hurricanes, are serious and far-reaching. Each year, hundreds of people in Miami-Dade alone are hospitalized for heat stroke, heat exhaustion, dehydration and other heat-related illnesses. On average, heat kills 34 people a year, according to the county’s extreme heat action plan. (Rivero and Sanchez, 6/11)
