Measure To Restore Health Care For Low-Income Kids Rejected By Arizona Lawmakers
Arizona is the only state that does not participate in the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP. In the Alabama legislature, a bill passes to stop prosecutions of pregnant women who use medications prescribed by a doctor.
The New York Times:
Arizona Doesn’t Restore Federal Child Health Care Program
Lawmakers here early Wednesday reaffirmed Arizona as the only state to not participate in a program that offers health care to children of the working poor. A proposal to restore the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program, known in Arizona as KidsCare, stalled in the State Senate this week as lawmakers passed a $9.6 billion budget. Senate leaders voiced concern that the federal government would eventually cut payments to the children’s health care program and that the state would be forced to assume the cost. (Santos, 5/4)
ProPublica:
Alabama Lawmakers Limit Drug Prosecutions In Pregnancy
Pregnant women and new mothers using legally prescribed medications may no longer face prosecution under an Alabama statute that is the nation’s harshest law against drug use during pregnancy. (Martin, 5/4)
Developments from the state capitols of Colorado, Michigan and Connecticut also make headlines —
The Denver Post:
Colorado Legislature Passes 'Zero Suicide' Bill
Colorado lawmakers are sending a bill to the governor's desk that would create a state office for suicide prevention responsible for initiating a new plan to decrease suicides.
(5/4)
The Associated Press:
House OK's Plan To Send Frail Prisoners To Nursing Homes
About 120 frail prisoners a year would be released to live in a nursing home under a plan approved by the Michigan House late Wednesday. The legislation now goes to the Senate for consideration at a time when the number of geriatric prisoners and associated health costs are rising. The plan could save the state's prisons up to $5.4 million a year, because medically frail prisoners cost between three to five times more than other prisoners, according to an analysis from the House Fiscal Agency. (Gerstein, 5/4)
The Connecticut Mirror:
Revised Physician Non-Compete Bill Wins Final Passage
A proposal to limit non-compete clauses in physician contracts and expand the type of entities that could employ doctors – viewed by proponents as a way to protect or increase competition in health care delivery – won final passage from legislators Tuesday night. (Levin Becker, 5/4)
