Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Arizona Prison Healthcare Takeover Will Continue After Supreme Court Blocks State Appeal
AP: Arizona Loses Bid To Delay Start Of Takeover Of Healthcare Operations In State Prisons
The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected Arizona’s eleventh-hour bid to block the upcoming start of a court-ordered takeover of healthcare operations in its prisons after the state was found to have provided constitutionally inadequate care to incarcerated people and dragged its feet for over a decade in making required improvements. Justice Elena Kagan denied the state’s request Thursday, leaving an outside corrections professional set to take over healthcare management for 25,000 incarcerated people on Oct. 19. Arizona had asked the courts to delay the takeover while it appealed that decision and the appointment of former Ohio corrections director Annette Chambers-Smith to lead the effort. The state sought the delay from the Supreme Court after lower courts rejected by the request. (Billeaud, 10/1)
AP: States And Cities Sue To Strike Down Repeal Of Rule That Limits Power Plant Pollution
States and cities sued the Trump administration Thursday for repealing rules that limit planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from power plants fueled by coal and natural gas. Twenty-one states, led by New York, are challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s power plant rule. The Democratic-led coalition also includes Pennsylvania’s governor, the District of Columbia, New York City, Chicago and the city and county of Denver. They argue that “gutting one of the country’s most significant climate protections” will set the nation back decades and worsen the climate crisis. (Daly and McDermott, 10/1)
North Carolina Health News: NC Health Plans Form Task Force To Fight Medicaid Fraud
North Carolina’s four Medicaid contractors have joined forces on what they say is the state’s first joint task force dedicated to rooting out cases of fraud, waste and abuse in the Medicaid program. (Baxley, 10/2)
The Washington Post: Larry Nassar Among Thousands Of Sex Offenders Removed From Michigan Registry
More than 20,000 sex offenders, including Larry Nassar, the disgraced former sports physician who abused female gymnasts, have been wiped from Michigan’s public registry after a ruling by the state Supreme Court. The removals come after the Michigan Supreme Court ruled in September that offenders cannot be forced to register under new versions of the sex offender registration law if the crimes occurred before the current law took effect. (Jira, 10/1)
AP: Massachusetts Men Avoid Jail After Harvard Fireworks Incident
Two Massachusetts men avoided jail time on Thursday after they earlier had pleaded guilty to setting off fireworks at an empty Harvard Medical School building, an incident that sparked a huge law enforcement response and increased anxiety on the college campus. Federal officials say 19-year-old Logan David Patterson and 21-year-old Dominick Frank Cardoza were in the Boston area for college Halloween parties last year when they broke into Goldenson Building, set off a firework before dawn and then fled. No one was injured. (Casey, 10/1)
The New York Times: Parents Are Charged After Toddler Pulls Out Loaded Gun At Day Care
The parents of a 3-year-old were charged with misdemeanors on Thursday after the child pulled a loaded handgun out of a backpack at a day care center in Michigan, where it was passed around to other children, the authorities said. No one was injured in what the police described as a shocking episode that was captured on video cameras inside the Childrens World Early Learning Center in Canton, Mich., on Monday. The authorities have not said who brought the backpack into the center but said the gun, a Glock pistol, was registered to the child’s mother. (Levenson, 10/1)
On LGBTQ+ healthcare —
Los Angeles Times: 988 Crisis Line Restores LGBTQ+ Youth Specialized Support
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline has restored the “Press 3” option connecting LGBTQ+ youth to targeted support services, more than a year after the Trump administration cut off the program. Starting Sept. 30, people who call or text 988 can once again be connected directly with counselors trained to support young LGBTQ+ people. The lifeline began offering the Press 3 option in 2022 in partnership with the Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to suicide prevention for queer and trans youth. (Purtill, 10/1)
LGBTQ Nation: Gavin Newsom Signs 6 Pro-LGBTQ+ Bills In Response To Trump's 'All-Out Assault' On The Community
One bill protects trans medical records in the face of the Trump administration's efforts to obtain them from hospitals across the country. The other bills ban conversion therapy for minors; strengthen protections and resources for LGBTQ+ college students; limit out-of-state entities from accessing state data on LGBTQ+ people; reduce hurdles for insurance companies to cover HIV prevention medication; and, in response to the administration’s trans miliary ban, help military veterans who “received a discharge solely as a result of a specified executive order” to upgrade to an honorable discharge and prioritize those “who are able to demonstrate their less than honorable characterization of service was connected to a mental health condition, traumatic brain injury, sexual assault or harassment, or sexual orientation or … gender identity.” (Sprayregen, 9/29)
