Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
DHS Pressed On Afghan Evacuee Plans So Hospitals Aren't Strained
The Washington Post: Virginia Senators Push DHS To Do More To Keep Hospitals From Being Overwhelmed By Afghan Patients
Virginia’s two senators are pressing the Biden administration to do more to make sure that Afghan evacuees in need of medical attention don’t overwhelm local hospitals after officials in D.C.’s suburbs complained that a lack of federal planning wreaked havoc on facilities already stretched thin by the coronavirus pandemic. In a letter sent Monday evening to the Department of Homeland Security secretary and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Sens. Mark R. Warner (D) and Tim Kaine (D) said they are concerned about a lack of coordination between federal and local officials around the hospitalizations of Afghan evacuees so far. (Olivo, 9/15)
AP: Virginia And Wisconsin Report Measles Cases Among Refugees
Six people who recently traveled to the United States after fleeing the Taliban in Afghanistan have been diagnosed with measles, officials said Tuesday. The cases in Virginia and Wisconsin are being reported four days after the U.S. halted in-bound flights of Afghan evacuees following the discovery of a few cases of measles among new arrivals. (Finley, 9/14)
In updates from Florida —
The Washington Post: How One Of The Largest Nursing Home Chains In Florida Could Avoid Nearly All Of $256 Million Fraud Judgment
The Justice Department and a medical whistleblower have tentatively agreed to settle a $256 million civil fraud judgment against a large nursing home chain for $4.5 million, according to court documents filed Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. Entities operating under Consulate Health Care, a chain based in Florida tied to private equity company Formation Capital, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March. The sixth-largest nursing home chain in the country with 140 facilities from the Mid-Atlantic to the Gulf Coast, it said it did not have the resources to pay the large False Claims Act judgment against it. (Rowland, 9/14)
Dallas Morning News: Florida Gov. DeSantis Open To New Abortion Law, But Doesn’t Want To Turn Citizens Against Each Other
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis initially said he would consider legislation in his state with abortion restrictions similar to those enacted under a new Texas law. But now he appears to have concerns about a key provision in the law that allows private citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone else who knowingly aids or abets a procedure. “Gov. DeSantis doesn’t want to turn private citizens against each other,” Christina Pushaw, a DeSantis spokeswoman, told Buzzfeed News in an article published Saturday. Pushaw told The Hill on Tuesday that “the governor has not indicated that the same legislation recently enacted in Texas will be on the table in Florida.” (Caldwell, 9/14)
Health News Florida: Florida Board Of Medicine To Call For Increased Safety At Meetings
Members of the Florida Board of Medicine asked the state to provide a law enforcement officer at its future meetings after an enraged Brandon woman, screaming obscenities, tried to accost her former physician during a hearing in Tampa on Friday. The woman was blocked by a security guard, and Dr. Stephen D. Watson and his attorney were able to leave the Tampa Westshore Marriott before the woman could catch up with them. After a few more minutes of yelling in the parking lot, she got into a white Jeep and sped away. (Gentry, 9/14)
In updates from Michigan and North Carolina —
AP: Whitmer: Use $1.4B To Expand Health Access, Build Facilities
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday proposed spending $1.4 billion in federal pandemic funding to expand health care and infrastructure, including to bolster access to mental health services, replace state psychiatric hospitals and build a new public health lab. The proposal, if approved by the Republican-led Legislature, would account for more than a fifth of Michigan’s $6.5 billion in discretionary rescue funding approved by Congress and President Joe Biden six months ago. Lawmakers could consider it — and other spending plans previously outlined by the Democratic governor — this fall after finalizing the state budget this month. (Eggert, 9/14)
North Carolina Health News: New Anti-Trans Bills In NC Post HB2 And Could Be Deadly
North Carolina was one of many state legislatures across the country that filed bills targeting transgender people. Even though the two proposed North Carolina bills failed to become law this year, advocates say the damage has been done in the Tar Heel state and across the country. Since the beginning of 2021, at least 35 transgender or gender non-conforming people have been fatally shot or killed across the U.S., according to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). Three of those people were killed in North Carolina — Jaida Peterson, a 29-year-old Black trans woman, and Remy Fennell, a 28-year-old Black trans woman, both killed in Charlotte, and Jenna Franks, a 34-year-old white trans woman who was killed in Jacksonville. (Thompson, 9/15)
