Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Connecticut Tries To Lower Drunk-Driving Limit
Connecticut Public: CT Bill To Lower Legal BAC Limit To .05% Faces Long Odds, Backers Say
State and federal officials on Thursday joined Connecticut lawmakers, road safety advocates and families of those killed by drunk drivers at the state Capitol in Hartford in support of a bill to lower the legal limit for driving while intoxicated. Senate Bill 1082 would lower the legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) for drivers from 0.08% to 0.05%, bringing Connecticut in line with dozens of countries around the world as well as the state of Utah, which adopted such a law in 2018. (Polansky, 5/19)
AP: Minnesota Bill Legalizing Recreational Pot Passes Senate, Heads To Governor's Desk
Senators in Minnesota passed a bill Saturday that would allow recreational marijuana use by people over the age of 21 and make it the 23rd state to legalize the substance for adults. The measure has already been approved by the House and now goes to Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who has pledged to sign it into law. ... Under the measure it would become legal by Aug. 1 to possess, use and grow marijuana at home. Retail sales at dispensaries would probably be at least a year away. (Ahmed, 5/20)
New Hampshire Public Radio: NH Announces Plan To End ‘ER Boarding’ Of Psychiatric Patients In Next 2 Years
The state health department on Friday announced plans to stop holding psychiatric patients in hospital emergency departments by 2025 — two days after a federal judge said the practice must end by May 2024. In a news release, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services outlined a series of planned expansions to community-based services, inpatient psychiatric treatment and transitional housing options. Officials said those investments will fully eliminate the waitlist for inpatient psychiatric care over the next two years. (Cuno-Booth, 5/19)
The Baltimore Sun: ‘A Long Time Coming’: Four Years After Its Creation, Maryland Drug Affordability Board Drafts Plan
Maryland’s first-in-the-nation Prescription Drug Affordability Board is meeting Monday to review its first draft of a plan to determine which drugs to subject to cost reviews and to start figuring out how to set upper payment limits on specific drugs for state and local governments. It’s been four years since state lawmakers voted to create the board, and if all goes according to plan, it will approve a final draft of its cost review plan in July and have another plan for setting payment caps later this summer or fall, said Andrew York, the board’s executive director. (Roberts, 5/20)
Las Vegas Review-Journal: Committee Deadline Claims Several Bills
Scores of bills, including legislation legalizing physician assisted suicide and a bill capping certain prescription drug prices, advanced ahead of Friday’s second house committee passage deadline. Senate Bill 239, legislation that would give terminally ill patients over the age of 18 with less than six months to live the ability to end their lives with lethal drugs prescribed by a medical practitioner, was just one of several bills that survived the deadline. (Avery, 5/19)
AP: More States Are Requiring Patients To Give Consent For Medical Students Performing Pelvic Exams
A new batch of states are looking to legislate the level of informed consent when it comes to medical students performing pelvic exams for educational purposes on unconscious patients. At least 20 states already have consent laws for this practice. Montana’s governor signed a bill in April, Missouri has legislation that needs the governor’s signature to become law and Ohio lawmakers are also considering it. (Hendrickson and Bedayn, 5/20)
KFF Health News: Journalists Unpack Facility School Closures And Federal Investment In Crisis Hotlines
KFF Health News Colorado correspondent Rae Ellen Bichell discussed Colorado facility schools on Rocky Mountain Community Radio on May 12. ... KFF Health News former senior editor Andy Miller discussed lead contamination in an affluent Atlanta neighborhood on WUGA’s “The Georgia Health Report” on May 12. (5/20)
