Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Connecticut Expands Medicaid For Some, Aims At Keeping More Insured
The CT Mirror: CT Committee OKs Medicaid Expansion For Residents Under 19 Without Legal Status
A bill that would extend Medicaid to a wider group of children and teens without permanent legal status in Connecticut has cleared a key hurdle, though the measure won’t cover as many people as proponents originally had hoped. (Carlesso, 3/6)
Stat: Connecticut Creates New Program To Keep People Insured
It’s hard to shop for health insurance. It’s harder still when there’s few options to help. Some Americans who can’t rely on a federal program or their employers’ HR department turn to brokers who are trained to help them navigate the complex web of deductibles, formularies, and subsidies. But in 2021 in Hartford, Bridgeport, and New Haven, Connecticut — as in many poorer areas in the U.S. — there were no licensed brokers, period. (Cohrs, 3/7)
Other health news from Massachusetts, Kansas, Missouri, and Ohio —
The Boston Globe: Water Was Source Of Bacterial Deaths At Brigham And Women’s
An infectious disease clinician working closely with the cardiac surgery department had an inkling something was off. It was 2018, and she mentioned to colleagues at Brigham and Women’s Hospital the unusual occurrence of a suspicious bacteria, which had popped up several times in the last year and a half. The rare bacteria, Mycobacterium abscessus, can sometimes cause hospital-acquired infections, often from contaminated water. But the number of times hospitalized patients had tested positive for it struck her as odd. (Bartlett, 3/6)
Kansas City Star: KC Sickle Cell Patient Calls For Awareness, Better Care
Kevin Wake has suffered three strokes. He is only 54. The first one taught him how humiliating an emergency room visit can be for Black people living with the blood disorder sickle cell disease. It happened in Chicago, where the Kansas native was living in 1999. By the time he arrived by ambulance at the hospital he was immobile, unable to stand or speak. “They started triaging me as Black male in his 30s who is either intoxicated or high on drugs,” Wake recalled recently. (Gutierrez, 3/6)
Stat: What's The HHS Enviro Justice Office Doing Amid East Palestine?
Federal health officials are pressing Congress to fund a new office tasked with tackling the fallout from environmental exposures. But amid the first major environmental disaster of its existence, the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment, the tiny department seems unsure what to do — or if it can do anything at all. (Owermohle, 3/7)
