Dallas Approves Ordinance To Include Vaping In Citywide Smoking Ban
In other news, Texas health advocates move to improve the Medicaid application process; North Carolina hospitals fight claims that they are not providing price transparency; and more.
CBS News:
A Citywide Vaping Ban Is Coming To Dallas. Here's When It'll Take Effect
The Dallas City Council on Wednesday approved a new ordinance banning vaping in all locations where smoking is already prohibited, effective Dec. 11, 2025. City officials said the measure is part of an effort to enhance air quality and safeguard public health. (Myers, 12/11)
The Texas Tribune:
Texas Attorney General Sues Companies Over Forever Chemicals
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit Wednesday against chemical giants 3M and DuPont, accusing them of decades-long misrepresentations and omissions regarding the safety of PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” sold for use in countless consumer products. These products, sold under brand names such as Teflon, Stainmaster, and Scotchgard, have been staples in households across the nation despite mounting evidence that they contain chemicals that are harmful to human health. (Martinez, 12/11)
The Texas Tribune:
Texas Agency To Ask For $300M For Medicaid Enrollment Fix
In Texas, health advocates often find themselves playing defense to encourage leaders to preserve the state’s relatively frugal public service offerings while also pushing for more. That’s why a $300 million ask to lawmakers next year from the state’s social services agency — the Texas Health and Human Services Commission — to improve the agency’s complicated Medicaid application process has thrilled the state’s nonprofit policy groups. (Langford, 12/11)
Reveal and The Marshall Project:
Hospitals Gave Women Medications During Childbirth — Then Reported Them For Using Illicit Drugs
Across the country, hospitals are dispensing medications to patients in labor, only to report them to child welfare authorities when they or their newborns test positive for those same substances on subsequent drug tests, an investigation by The Marshall Project and Reveal has found. The positive tests are triggered by medications routinely prescribed to millions of birthing patients in the United States every year. The drugs include morphine or fentanyl for epidurals or other pain relief; anxiety medications; and two different blood pressure meds prescribed for C-sections. (Walter, 12/11)
The CT Mirror:
CT Medicaid Costs Not Likely To Lower Under Managed Care: Report
Connecticut’s Medicaid program boasts lower costs and similar levels of access when compared to peer states, according to a report by independent consultants, leading to the conclusion that employing a model known as managed care would not likely save the state money. The findings were part of a report, commissioned by Gov. Ned Lamont, to explore the possibility of returning the state’s Medicaid program to a managed care model — a proposal that was met with fierce opposition from many advocates and legislators who said the move would increase costs and reduce access. (Golvala, 12/11)
Carolina Public Press:
NC Hospitals Dispute Advocates' Report On Price Transparency
When was the last time you knew the full cost of a medical procedure before going under? Hospital price transparency has been enforced by the federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services since 2021, but whether the law is functioning as intended is a topic of heated debate. (Sartwell, 12/12)
ProPublica:
Maine’s Eviction Prevention Program Excludes Public Housing Tenants
Public housing helped bring an end to Linda Gallagher-Garcia’s three years of intermittent homelessness in her hometown of Presque Isle, Maine, in 2020. With $200 in secondhand furniture, she made the apartment feel like home for her and her dog, Tex. But when she fell behind on her rent and was evicted two years later, the fact that she was in public housing made her future more dire: Maine public housing authorities’ rules bar evicted tenants from returning to government-subsidized units and from receiving other benefits that could help them relocate. (Loftus, 12/12)