First Edition: February 24, 2015

Kaiser Health News: Latino Youth In California See Significant Rise In Psychiatric Hospitalizations
Psychiatric hospitalizations of Latino children and young adults in California are rising dramatically — at a much faster pace than among their white and black peers, according to state data. While mental health hospitalizations of young people of all ethnicities have climbed in recent years, Latino rates stand out. Among those 21 and younger, they shot up 86 percent, to 17,813, between 2007 and 2014, according to the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. (Weiner, 2/24)

The Associated Press: NY Health Exchange Says State's Uninsured Down To 5%
The New York Health Exchange says more than 2.8 million people have signed up for Medicaid and low-cost insurance through its 2016 open enrollment that ended Jan. 31. According to state health officials, federal data show the number of uninsured New Yorkers has declined by nearly 850,000 since the exchange opened in 2013, dropping from 10 percent to 5 percent by last September. (2/24)

Real Clear Health: Tom Daschle On Polarization, The Supreme Court And House V. Burwell
Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader and now founder and CEO of The Daschle Group, talked to RealClearHealth's Karl Eisenhower about the polarized climate in Congress and the nation, and what he recommends to find areas of consensus. ... "[T]he basic question involved here between House and Burwell is the question of delegated authority: Does the Affordable Care Act provide the delegated authority to the administration to make its judgment about the administration of the Affordable Care Act. I believe it does. The Congress made a very deliberate decision when they passed the law in 2010 to give the administration great flexibility. They did that for two reasons. One, because they weren't sure just how a lot of these circumstances could be addressed. And two, there were some very dicey politics involved in many of the decisions, and they really didn't want to have to get involved in those political questions." (Eisenhower, 2/22)

The New York Times: Texas Abortion Case On Justices’ Docket May Have Effects Beyond State Lines
About 20 women came to the abortion clinic here on a recent morning, hurrying past the shouting protesters as volunteer escorts held up umbrellas to shield their faces. Inside the Reproductive Health Services clinic was Dr. Willie Parker, an Alabama native and one of a few physicians willing to face the professional shunning and the personal threats that come with being an abortion doctor in the conservative Deep South. He travels constantly among three different cities, two in Alabama and one in Mississippi, to provide a service that no local doctors will. (Eckholm, 2/24)

The Washington Post: Republicans Vow No Hearings And No Votes For Obama’s Supreme Court Pick
Senate Republicans on Tuesday united behind an official position on how to deal with President Obama’s expected nominee to replace the late Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia: no hearings, no votes and no new justice until Obama is out of office. “Presidents have a right to nominate, just as the Senate has its constitutional right to provide or withhold consent,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a morning floor speech. “In this case, the Senate will withhold it.” (DeBonis and Kane, 2/23)

The Washington Post: In Nevada Caucuses, Trump Gets A Third Straight Win
Donald Trump swept to a convincing victory in the Nevada presidential caucuses here Tuesday evening, the Associated Press projected, building a broad coalition that left his top two rivals trailing far behind and accelerating his march to the Republican nomination. An angry electorate hungry for a political outsider in the White House catapulted Trump to his third straight win in the GOP primary race as the billionaire mogul used visceral rhetoric to tap into anxieties about the economy, terrorism and illegal immigration. (Rucker and Weigel, 2/24)

NPR: Two More U.S. Cases Of Zika Virus Likely Shared Via Sex
Health officials announced Tuesday that they are investigating 14 new U.S. cases of possible sexual transmission of the Zika virus. The virus was confirmed to be in blood samples from two women, using a method that detects pieces of the virus' genetic material, say doctors from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Bichell, 2/23)

The Wall Street Journal: Nonprofits Grow Wary Of Financial Squeeze
It was just over a year ago when David Rivel, chief executive of the Jewish Board of Family & Children’s Services, got a call that would shape the future of his organization. An official with New York state’s office of mental health reached him at home on a Sunday with an urgent request: Could the Jewish Board immediately take on $75 million in social-services programs serving thousands of the state’s neediest? The call was followed up the next day by an identical one from the New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene. What led to the phone calls—and the Jewish Board’s decision to say yes—was the sudden closure of another New York nonprofit, Federation Employment & Guidance Service. (West, 2/23)

The Associated Press: Missouri Jury Awards $72M In Johnson & Johnson Cancer Suit
A Missouri jury has awarded $72 million to the family of an Alabama woman who died from ovarian cancer, which she said was caused by using Johnson & Johnson's well-known baby powder and other products containing talcum. The civil suit by Jackie Fox of Birmingham was part of a broader claim in the city of St. Louis Circuit Court involving nearly 60 people. Her son took over as plaintiff following his mother's October 2015 death at 62, more than two years after her diagnosis. (2/23)

NPR: Shortage Of Addiction Counselors Further Strained By Opioid Epidemic
As the drug-related death toll rises in the United States, communities are trying to open more treatment beds. But an ongoing labor shortage among drug treatment staff is slowing those efforts. Each year, roughly one of every four substance-abuse clinicians nationally chooses to leave the job, according to recent research. And that's not just turnover — leaving one job for another in the same field. As an Institute of Medicine report documented in 2006, there's been a shortage of addiction workers for decades. And the demand is only increasing; the Affordable Care Act and other federal laws have given millions more people insurance to help them pay for those services. If only there were enough counselors to treat them. (Corwin, 2/24)