NC Bills Would Raise Age For Tobacco Sales To 21, Up From 18

North Carolina Health News: N.C. House And Senate Bills Would Raise Tobacco Sales Age To 21
Rob Crane watched his father struggle with lung cancer for months before he died in his mid-60s. It was “really horrendous,” Crane said. As a doctor specializing in family medicine, Crane was inspired by that experience to start raising awareness about the effects of tobacco addiction. He founded the Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation in 1996 and began to push for state legislatures to raise the tobacco sales age. (Vitaglione, 3/20)

MedPage Today: West Virginia On The Verge Of Banning Certain Food Dyes
West Virginia is on track to become one of the first states to outlaw food dyes in school meals -- and eventually across the state. Under the legislation, known as HB 2354, starting on Aug. 1, the following additives will be banned from any meals served at West Virginia public schools as part of a school nutrition program: Red Dye No. 3, Red Dye No. 40, Yellow Dye No. 5, Yellow Dye No. 6, Blue Dye No. 1, Blue Dye No. 2, and Green Dye No. 3. (Frieden, 3/19)

WFSU: Bill Would Allow Caregivers To Give Insulin To A Disabled Client At APD-Licensed Group Homes
Two aging Florida parents are fighting for their diabetic son to be able to get his insulin shots administered by the caregivers in a group home. A bill (SB 1736) under consideration in the Legislature could help make that happen. (Menzel, 3/19)

The CT Mirror: CT Bill With Long-Term Care Insurance Reforms Passes Committee
A third legislative committee has advanced a broad bill that would add protections for purchasers of long-term care insurance and boost transparency around rate hike requests. (Carlesso, 3/19)

Chicago Tribune: Lawmakers Back Bill Tackling Sexual Misconduct In Health Care
A sweeping bill that would expand reporting requirements related to sexual misconduct allegations against health care workers and impose fines for failure to report serious incidents gained initial approval from a House committee Wednesday. The bill follows a Tribune investigation last year that exposed how Illinois health care systems failed to protect patients from sexual abuse and how state government failed to hold them accountable. (Hoerner and Schencker, 3/19)

KFF Health News: In New York, Providers Must Put Patient Costs On The Table
The routine is familiar for most people: When checking in for an appointment with a doctor or other health care provider, patients typically complete and sign a pile of paperwork, including a form that contains some version of the statement, “I agree to pay for all charges not covered by my insurance company.” Patients may not feel comfortable making that financial promise, often before they have any idea what the charges will be. But they generally sign the form anyway, because the alternative is often not to get the services they’re seeking. (Andrews, 3/20)

From California —

Politico: What The New AI Report Could Mean For Health Care
Assembly Health Chair Mia Bonta sees an opportunity to make California healthier with the new AI report commissioned by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office. ... Bonta introduced a bill last month, AB 489, that would ban companies from marketing AI chatbots as licensed health professionals like nurses and psychologists. Her committee may soon take up another bill that would outlaw chatbots from luring in kids with addictive reward structures. (Katzenberger and DiFeliciantonio,3/19)

CBS News: Possible Measles Exposure Reported At Tuolumne County School And Emergency Room
Tuolumne County Public Health officials on Tuesday warned about possible measles exposure at a high school and an emergency room. ... In an update Wednesday, health officials confirmed the two suspected cases were confirmed positive for measles. Their vaccination status at this time is not known. Health officials said the two cases are from the same household and stem from traveling internationally. (Fabian, 3/19)