California Advances Plan To Boost Payouts From Malpractice Cases

AP: California To Increase Awards In Medical Malpractice Cases 
People who get hurt because of a doctor’s negligence in California could soon get a lot more money in malpractice lawsuits under an agreement reached Wednesday that — if approved by the state Legislature — would avoid a costly fight at the ballot box this November while resolving one of the state’s longest-running political battles. California does not limit how much money patients can win in malpractice cases for economic damages, which include things that can be counted such as medical expenses and lost wages. But since 1975, state law has limited how much money patients can win for things that can’t be counted — such as pain and suffering — to $250,000. (Beam, 4/27)

In updates on a hepatitis outbreak in Wisconsin —

CNN: Wisconsin Investigating 4 Cases Of Unusual Hepatitis In Children, Including One Death 
Health officials in Wisconsin are investigating four cases of children with significant unexplained liver damage, including one child who needed a liver transplant and one who died. If the death is confirmed to be linked to the illness, it would be the first reported in the US. In a health alert issued Wednesday, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services asked the state's doctors to be on the lookout for these unusual cases and report them. (4/27)

In health news from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa, Mississippi, and Texas —

Philadelphia Inquirer: Ala Stanford Appointed By President Biden To Be Regional Director Of Health And Human Services
President Joe Biden on Tuesday appointed Ala Stanford, the Montgomery County physician who founded the nationally acclaimed Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium during the earliest days of the pandemic, as a regional director for the Department of Health and Human Services. Stanford will serve as the director of Region 3, which serves Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. She was one of three new regional directors announced Tuesday by the White House. (Moran, 4/27)

Columbus Dispatch: New Health Plans For Ohio Medicaid Won't Start Until End Of Year
The projected launch date of Ohio's revamped and reformed Medicaid managed care system will still be July – except this month, given a potential crisis where many may be kicked off Medicaid, the state pushed back most of the reforms to the end of this year. "It seems like this new phased approach still allows them to move forward with everything, but in a way that is manageable...to maybe take smaller bites of the apple," said Loren Anthes, who chairs Community Solutions’ Center for Medicaid Policy. (Wu, 4/27)

Des Moines Register: Iowa Lawmakers Send Kim Reynolds Bill Loosening Child Care Regulations
Sixteen-year-olds would be allowed to work in child care centers without supervision and adult staff members could care for more young children at those facilities, under a bill Iowa lawmakers sent to Gov. Kim Reynolds Tuesday. Republican lawmakers have proposed a range of legislation this year aimed at loosening regulations around child care. They have stressed that child care centers are not required to adopt the relaxed rules. "Right now we’re one of the most restrictive states for child care ratios," said the bill's floor manager, Rep. Ann Meyer, R-Fort Dodge. "So that’s why we brought it forward, to loosen up a little bit of the regulations that are holding some of our child care centers back a little bit. It’s not the full answer. It’s not a silver bullet." (Gruber-Miller, 4/26)

AP: Reeves Vetoes $50M For Improvements To UMMC Adult Hospital
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves has vetoed part of a budget bill for the University of Mississippi Medical Center, saying he objects to spending $50 million for improvements to the adult hospital in Jackson. The Republican governor issued the partial veto of Senate Bill 3010 on Tuesday. Legislators specified the $50 million would come from Mississippi’s pandemic recovery money from the federal government. (4/27)

KHN: Emergency Contraception Marks A New Battle Line In Texas
“Mysterious Dolphin” needed an emergency contraception pill dropped off on a porch outside of town. Allison Medulan, a sophomore at Texas A&M University who had just come from biology class, saw the request on her cellphone via an anonymous text hotline. She gathered a box of the one-dose contraceptive, a pregnancy test, and a few condoms from her apartment and headed over. Inside a bewildering development of modest townhomes, Medulan tucked the plastic delivery bag next to the doormat. Closing the car door, she stared ahead and took a breath. Medulan, 20, didn’t know the woman’s real name. It had been converted into a moniker by another volunteer operating the hotline. (Varney, 4/28)

In marijuana news from Kentucky and Maine —

AP: Governor Clears Way For Cannabis Research Center To Open 
Gov. Andy Beshear cleared the way Tuesday for a cannabis research center to open as he reviews whether he has the executive authority to singlehandedly legalize medical marijuana in Kentucky. The governor revealed his action on a bill authorizing the research center at the University of Kentucky. The measure won overwhelming approval from lawmakers on the final day of this year’s legislative session earlier this month. (Schreiner, 4/26)

Bangor Daily News: Maine’s Medical Marijuana Market Will Escape Closer State Oversight With New Law
A new law strips the state office charged with overseeing Maine’s two legal marijuana markets of the ability to independently craft new rules governing just one of those markets — the market for medical marijuana, where a state official has said there’s likely more illegal activity happening. The new law, which took effect Saturday, means the state’s Office of Marijuana Policy can’t act on its own to issue temporary rules governing the state’s medical marijuana market. Any rule from the office regulating medical marijuana has to go through the state Legislature, which can either accept, reject or modify any proposed rules. (Loftus, 4/28)