Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Florida Official Argues To Allow Medical Weed Users To Buy Guns
Health News Florida: Fried Challenges Federal Law She Says Bans Medical Marijuana Users From Owning Guns
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried is relying on a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to support arguments in a challenge to federal regulations that make it illegal for medical-marijuana patients to buy guns. (Kam, 7/14)
In health insurance updates from Colorado, North Carolina, and Connecticut —
The Colorado Sun: Colorado Health Insurance Prices Set To Jump In 2023
Health insurance prices for many Coloradans could rise by as much as 11% next year, the largest jump in five years. (Ingold, 7/13)
AP: NC Health Plan Resumes Coverage Of Transgender Surgeries
The North Carolina state employee health plan will resume coverage of gender affirming treatments for transgender employees, the state treasurer said Wednesday, complying with a recent federal court ruling that declared the refusal of coverage unconstitutional. (Schoenbaum, 7/13)
AP: Officials Call For Hearings On Proposed Insurance Increases
Democrats and Republicans called Wednesday for special hearings to be held on proposed double-digit rate increases being sought by nine health insurers that offer coverage on and off the state’s Access Health CT exchange. (7/13)
In other health news from across the U.S. —
WMFE: UCF Plans A New Facility To Help Cure The Statewide Nursing Shortage
The University of Central Florida is hoping that a new facility at its Lake Nona campus will help solve a statewide nursing shortage. (Prieur, 7/13)
The Baltimore Sun: Health Center For Older Adults Will Open In Redeveloped Target At Baltimore’s Mondawmin Mall
A health center serving older patients in West Baltimore will open next year at the former Target at Mondawmin Mall, part of a vision to redevelop the shuttered store into a community hub designed to spur neighborhood revitalization. (Mirabella, 7/13)
AP: Oregon Therapeutic Psilocybin Program Sparks Some Confusion
In 2020, Oregon became the first state in the nation to legalize the therapeutic, supervised use of psilocybin after 56% of voters approved Ballot Measure 109. Psilocybin is the active hallucinogenic ingredient in what are commonly referred to as magic mushrooms. But the measure allows counties to opt out of the program if their constituents vote to do so, and several are hoping to do just that, sparking confusion among residents hoping to get involved in the nascent sector. (Rush, 7/14)
Houston Chronicle: Nearly 200K Disabled Texans Are Waiting For Help, Some For A Decade
Texas has multiple waiting lists for different types of care, including six for Medicaid waiver programs — which use state and federal funds to get people care in the community instead of in an institution — and one for safety net services provided locally. As of March, nearly 170,000 people were waiting for care through a Medicaid waiver program — a 115 percent increase since 2010. State data shows that some residents have been waiting for nearly 20 years to receive help. (Stuckey, 7/13)
Los Angeles Times: L.A. Times Launches Year-Long Mental Health Initiative
The Los Angeles Times has launched a comprehensive, year-long mental health initiative to help readers cope with the stress of daily life, anxiety and more. For Your Mind will include guides, enterprise stories, videos and a database of culturally-competent mental healthcare providers to address emotional and psychological well-being and point readers to resources to get help. (7/13)
KHN: ‘American Diagnosis’: A Tribal Court In California Works To Heal Family Separation
Abby Abinanti is chief judge of the Yurok Tribal Court and a member of the tribe. While previously working in the California court system, she was discouraged and angered by the number of cases in which Indigenous families were separated or tribal members were removed from their communities because of nontribal foster care placements or incarceration. The Prison Policy Initiative, a research and advocacy organization, found that Native people are overrepresented in jails in the United States. (7/14)
