Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
FDA Must Allow All Gay Men To Donate Blood, Massachusetts Doctors Say
The Boston Globe: State Physicians Urge FDA To Ease Restrictions On Blood Donation By Gay, Bisexual Men
The state’s leading advocacy group for doctors and a Boston-based health care center are urging the US Food and Drug Administration to further ease restrictions on blood donations by gay and bisexual men, calling the practice both discriminatory and problematic amid a national blood shortage. Massachusetts Medical Society and Fenway Health have partnered to press the federal government to adopt an enhanced screening process for blood donation, instead of excluding men who have sex with men. Gay men have been barred from donating blood since the 1980s, because of fears over HIV and AIDS. The FDA subsequently revised its policy in 2015 to allow gay and bisexual men to donate blood if they had abstained from sex with other men for a year. In 2020, the FDA again adjusted the abstention window to 90 days. (Bartlett, 3/23)
In news from Maine and Rhode Island —
AP: Lawmakers Approve Plan To Increase Dental Insurance Value
Maine legislators are considering a law change to try to make dental insurance a better value for consumers in the state. The proposal is based on the Affordable Care Act rule that requires health insurers to have an 80% medical loss ratio. That means the insurers spend 80 cents of every dollar on customers claims and on items that improve care quality, lawmakers said. (3/23)
The Boston Globe: Families Push Lawmakers To Help Kids With Special Education Needs
One family after another testified before the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday about their desperate, often fruitless, struggles to get schools to accommodate their children’s special needs and disabilities. Some of them held photos of their children as they spoke before lawmakers. Their words were emotional and, at times, heartbreaking. Lawmakers heard about Dillon, who has autism and sensory disorder, and started first grade by being sent to “an autism room” when teachers didn’t know what to do with him. When he misbehaved or took off his clothes, they called 911, said his mother, Renee Smith of Coventry, R.I.. She found another public school, just down the road, which had a comprehensive behavioral program that met his needs. She worries about what will happen next year, when he changes schools for sixth grade. (Milkovits, 3/23)
In news from Georgia, Kentucky, Kansas, and Texas —
Capitol Beat News Service: Georgia Senate Working To Finalize Its Version Of Medical Marijuana Bill
Georgia senators are digging in their heels when it comes to how the state’s medical marijuana program should be operated. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee has essentially scrapped legislation the Georgia House of Representatives passed last week aimed at breaking a logjam that has sidetracked the program. Instead, the panel approved the same version the full Senate passed last week. Both bills would throw out the selection process a state commission created to oversee the program used to tentatively award licenses last summer to six companies to grow marijuana and convert the leafy crop to low-THC cannabis oil. The process left 16 losing bidders disgruntled and threatening to tie up the process in litigation. (Williams, 2/23)
AP: Lawmakers OK Bill Aimed At Reversing High Child Abuse Rates
Kentucky lawmakers took aim Wednesday at reversing the state’s chronically high rates for child abuse and neglect, passing a sweeping measure to bolster prevention and oversight efforts. The bill won 94-0 final passage in the House, sending the measure to Gov. Andy Beshear. Child welfare advocates hailed the action, saying the legislation advances efforts to confront the Bluegrass State’s high national standing for its rates of child abuse and neglect. (Schreiner, 3/23)
AP: Kansas House Wants Age Limit For Tobacco, Vaping At 21
The Republican-controlled Kansas House on Wednesday approved a bill that would increase the age to purchase or possess cigarettes and tobacco products from 18 to 21. The legislation also applies to electronic cigarettes and vaping products, and would prohibit them in school buildings. It would also make selling any tobacco or vaping products to someone younger than 21 or buying them for those under 21 a misdemeanor that can be punished with a $200 fine. (Field, 3/23)
Dallas Morning News: AG Paxton Appeals To Texas Supreme Court As State Halts Inquiries Into Parents Of Trans Children
Attorney General Ken Paxton is asking the Texas Supreme Court to allow the state to restart its abuse investigations into the parents of transgender children. Paxton filed his request with the state’s top court Wednesday afternoon. On Tuesday, the Texas Department of Child and Protective Services directed its employees to stop opening child abuse investigations based solely on allegations that parents are allowing their trans kids to access certain medical treatments after a court issued an injunction. “While this injunction is in place, [statewide intake] will not assess these matters as intakes unless independent grounds that warrant an investigation are reported,” Associate Commissioner Stephen Black said in an email obtained by The Dallas Morning News and verified by the agency. (McGaughy, 3/23)
And from Missouri, Michigan, and Montana —
Missouri Independent: Missouri Republicans Are Pushing Work Requirements To Get Health Care Under Medicaid Expansion
When the Good Samaritan Care Clinic opened in 2006 in Mountain View, only about 5% of the free clinic’s clients were eligible for Medicaid. When it closed late last year, that number had risen to 70%, Dr. John Roberts, one of the clinic’s founders, told the Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday. Medicaid expansion means the clients without health insurance served by the clinic now can find paid care, Roberts said, but if it is taken away, they will have nothing. Roberts testified against a House-passed proposal that would add work requirements for people newly eligible because of Medicaid expansion and make portions of the Medicaid program subject to annual appropriations. (Keller, 3/23)
Detroit Free Press: Whitmer, Lawmakers Agree On $4.7 Billion Water And Infrastructure Deal
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Michigan lawmakers have a deal to spend approximately $4.7 billion on an expansive plan to replace lead water pipes, improve dam safety, shore up the state's unemployment system and more. The compromise on a supplemental spending bill for the 2022 financial year was announced late Wednesday evening, marking another budget compromise between Republican legislative leaders and the Whitmer administration. "These are tough times for families, small businesses and communities, and this bipartisan supplemental will help grow our economy, create jobs and invest in every region of our state," Whitmer said in a joint statement issued after 10 p.m. on Wednesday. (Boucher and Egan, 3/23)
AP: EPA Moves To End Asbestos Cleanup Along Montana Railroad
Environmental regulators are moving to end a years-long cleanup along dozens of miles of railroad in two northwestern Montana communities where lung-damaging asbestos from mining has been blamed in hundreds of deaths. The asbestos came from mining vermiculite that was processed and shipped by rail across the country for use as insulation, as a gardening soil additive and for other purposes. (Brown, 3/23)
AP: Blackfeet Tribe Declares Emergency After Drug Overdoses
Blackfeet Tribal leaders declared a state of emergency on the northwestern Montana reservation following a string of fentanyl overdoses and drug-related deaths. There were four deaths tied to drugs and 17 overdoses over a one week period this month, the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council said Monday. Tribal leaders say they will set up a drug prevention task force to help combat the problem. (2/23)
