Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
San Francisco Might Test Welfare Recipients For Drug Use
The Wall Street Journal: San Francisco Poised To Start Drug-Testing Welfare Recipients
Voters in this famously progressive city appear poised to pass a pair of law-and-order ballot measures Tuesday that would represent a turn to the political center amid mounting frustration with public drug use, homelessness and property crime. Proposition F would mandate drug screening for recipients of public benefits, while Proposition E would expand police surveillance tools and reduce oversight of the force. (Elinson and Carlton, 2/28)
KFF Health News: California Takes Up White House Call To Toughen Gun Storage Rules
California lawmakers are weighing a pitch from the White House for states to toughen gun storage rules as legislation languishes in Congress. Even though many states, including California, have laws in place for safely storing guns when children are present, the Biden administration wants them to go further by requiring gun owners to secure firearms most of the time. (Young, 2/29)
Other health news from across the U.S. —
The Washington Post: Idaho Fails To Execute Serial Killer Thomas Creech By Lethal Injection
Authorities in Idaho halted the execution of serial killer Thomas Eugene Creech on Wednesday after medical workers were unable to insert an IV for lethal injection. Creech was brought into the execution chamber and strapped down, according to Josh Tewalt, director of the Idaho Department of Correction. “The team attempted eight times, through multiple limbs and appendages, to establish IV access,” he said at a news conference, but those efforts were unsuccessful and the execution was called off. (Masih, 2/29)
The Colorado Sun: Colorado Medicaid Accused Of Discriminating Against People With Disabilities
Delays and convoluted policies that have plagued Colorado Medicaid for years are violating the rights of people with disabilities, according to a federal complaint against the program. (Brown and Flowers, 2/28)
CBS News: Fort Worth ISD Approves Abstinence-Based Sexual Ed Curriculum, Reactions Mixed
Parents and students had mixed reactions Wednesday after the Fort Worth school board unanimously approved purchasing an abstinence-based sexual education curriculum this week. ... "Instead of learning about my body functions, I put my education in the hands of the people who do not understand, nor care for my risk of being uninformed," one Fort Worth high school student said at Tuesday's meeting. (Mugavero, 2/28)
KFF Health News: Bathroom Bills Are Back — Broader And Stricter — In Several States
Republican lawmakers in several states have resurrected and expanded the fight over whether transgender people may use bathrooms and other facilities that do not match their sex assigned at birth. At least one bill goes so far as making it a crime for a transgender person to enter a facility that doesn’t match the sex listed on their birth certificate. The debate has been popping up in statehouses across the nation in recent months, predominantly in conservative, rural states, including at a hearing of the Arizona Senate’s Health and Human Services Committee in February. (Orozco Rodriguez, 2/29)
The Washington Post: Virginia House And Senate Agree On Bill Creating Legal Marijuana Market
Democrats who control the Virginia House of Delegates and state Senate agreed Wednesday on a framework establishing a legal market for recreational marijuana, teeing up the issue for Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who has not signaled whether he will sign, veto or amend the bills. (Schneider and Vozzella, 2/28)
