Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: Aid-In-Dying Bill Moves Forward In Maryland; Calling 911 No Longer Guarantees An Ambulance Ride In D.C. If Problem Is Minor
The Hill: Maryland State Committees Advance Medical Assisted-Suicide Bill
Two committees in the Maryland House of Delegates voted to advance a bill on Friday that would allow the terminally ill to end their lives with prescription drugs. The House Health and Government Operations Committee and the House Judiciary Committee approved the End of Life Options Act, sending the measure for a full chamber vote next week, The Baltimore Sun reported. (Gstalter, 3/2)
The Baltimore Sun: Medically Assisted Suicide Bill Moves Forward In Maryland General Assembly
Del. Shane Pendergrass, who has been sponsoring the bill for years, teared up and hugged Del. Joseline Pena-Melnyk as soon as the vote was tallied as 24 delegates in favor and 20 opposed. “It means to me that all the people who have come down here over the years — some of whom are not here anymore — got what they wished for,” said Pendergrass, a Howard County Democrat. “Though they won’t be able to use it, other people will. This will help people.” (Wood, 3/1)
The Washington Post: District Will No Longer Guarantee Ambulance Rides For Nonserious Patients
Under a change taking effect Friday, D.C. residents who call 911 no longer will be guaranteed an ambulance ride to hospitals if responding medics and a nurse determine their ailments are minor, D.C. Fire and EMS Department officials said. Instead, after an assessment by firefighter and EMT crews, patients who are not in serious straits will be put on a phone call with a nurse, who will help them to find care at a clinic or a primary care facility. The medics will remain on scene and talk to the nurse after an agreement on care has been made. (Williams, 3/1)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Surprise Billing On Georgia Lawmakers' Health Care Agenda Again
Surprise billing continues to wallop hospital patients in Georgia. As in years past, the Legislature continues to say it wants to help. Surprise billing happens when properly insured patients receive reasonable health care and then find out after the fact that their insurance company isn’t going to pay. The most commonly discussed occurrences are with doctors such as radiologists and anesthesiologists who work in hospitals. (Hart, 3/1)
Kaiser Health News: Texas Lawmakers Take Aim At Surprise Medical Bills
A bipartisan group of state lawmakers announced plans to address surprise medical bills in a way that would take the “burden” off Texans. During a press conference Thursday, state Sen. Kelly Hancock, a Republican from suburban Fort Worth, announced he had filed a bill aimed at preventing medical providers from balance-billing patients, among other things. State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, a Democrat from San Antonio, is filing a similar bill in the House. (Lopez, 3/1)
St. Louis Post Dispatch: Change In How Missouri Handles Inmates On Medicaid Could Prevent Their Return To Jail, Advocates Say
A simple change to state law could keep released inmates from returning to jail, overdosing on drugs or experiencing a relapse of mental illness, say advocates for two bills introduced in the Legislature. Unlike most states, Missouri terminates Medicaid health care coverage when someone is incarcerated in jail or prison. In at least 35 other states, including Illinois, Medicaid enrollment is instead suspended and reactivated upon release from a correctional facility. (Bernhard, 3/4)
Sacramento Bee: California State Nurses Could Reject Overtime Under New Bill
The proposal, Assembly Bill 529, aims to address well-documented fatigue among the 3,600 or so psychiatric technicians who care for inmates and patients in state hospitals and prisons. It would eliminate the common practice of forcing psychiatric technicians and technician assistants to work back-to-back eight-hour shifts. (Venteicher, 3/4)
Modern Healthcare: Beth Israel Deaconess And Lahey Health Complete Merger
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Lahey Health officially combined to form Beth Israel Lahey Health, the second-largest health system in Massachusetts, the organizations announced Friday. In November, Massachusetts' attorney general approved the deal with conditions including a seven-year price cap; participation in MassHealth, the state's combined Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program; and $71.6 million in investments supporting healthcare services for low-income and underserved communities in Massachusetts. (Kacik, 3/1)
Modern Healthcare: Rush's Medicare Overpayments Double To $21 Million
Rush University Medical Center now owes the federal government $21.1 million in alleged Medicare overpayments, after a second inspection more than doubled the amount announced in 2017. The Chicago academic health system said it expects to pay an additional $10.8 million stemming from a four-year audit on top of the $10.3 million for alleged overpayments uncovered in a two-year, HHS Office of Inspector General audit completed in 2017. The government alleges billing errors resulted in overpayments for inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation claims. (Bannow, 3/1)
Boston Globe: Brigham Expands Emergency Department Amid Changing Demands
With a $52 million expansion project that kicks off April 1, the Brigham will become the latest Massachusetts hospital to significantly enlarge and redesign its emergency department amid what leaders describe as unrelenting crowding. Emergency medicine doctors said they need more space because the patients today require more intensive care, including those with mental illness and drug addiction, or who are suffering the toxic side effects of cancer treatment. (Kowalcyzk, 3/2)
San Jose Mercury News: UCSF Is Working To Bridge Gaps In Transgender Research
In recent years, [Erica] Anderson and others in the field agree, attitudes toward transgender rights have changed dramatically among medical professionals and the general public. But they also concur that there is still surprisingly little data on the impacts of transgender treatments, particularly when it comes to children. (Santoro, 3/3)
The Washington Post: A Caregiver Raped Two Intellectually Disabled Women, Police Say. Both Gave Birth To Children.
The mission of the center in Fairfax County is to “employ and support” people with disabilities, but a prosecutor said a worker sexually assaulted a 29-year-old woman with Down syndrome in its offices. Police began an investigation in October 2017 after a doctor made a disturbing discovery: The woman was five months pregnant, authorities said. She later gave birth. The pattern played out again nearly a year later. Police say another client at the MVLE Community Center, a 33-year-old woman with intellectual disabilities, was raped. The case was reported to police in August 2018 after her doctor discovered she was pregnant. She also gave birth. (Jouvenal, 3/2)
The CT Mirror: Inmate Who Delivered Baby In Prison Cell Sues State For Denying Medical Care
A year later, with a Department of Correction investigation still underway, Laboy is suing a bevy of officials – including former DOC Commissioner Scott Semple, the medical director, OB/GYN and warden at York, two UConn Health staff members, and two prison guards – alleging denial and delay in medical care. The lawsuit includes multiple counts of deliberate indifference, negligence and false imprisonment. (Carlesso, 3/4)
Kansas City Star: Pharmacist Pleads Guilty To Scamming Thousands From Medicaid
A Kansas City pharmacist pleaded guilty Friday to bilking Medicaid out of tens of thousands of dollars, federal prosecutors say. Steven Baraban, the former director and managing partner of Stark Pharmacy, was charged with one count of health care fraud, a felony that could mean up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. (Bauer, 3/1)
Richmond Times- Dispatch: Henrico-Based Company Looks To Build Market In Hemp-Derived Health Products
Exactus Inc., which has an office in the Innsbrook Corporate Center, said this week that it has introduced a tincture — an herbal extract — derived from hemp, and the company has won its first purchase order from a customer in the health and nutritional medical industry. Exactus did not disclose the name of the new product brand nor of the customer, citing competitive reasons. (Reid Blackwell, 3/1)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Should Wisconsin Open Door To Dental Therapists?
Proponents of allowing them to practice in Wisconsin contend dental therapists, whose salaries are roughly half those of dentists, are a more cost-effective way to provide care to low-income patients while freeing dentists to focus on more complex procedures. They also are more likely to practice in community health centers and nonprofit dental clinics in low-income urban neighborhoods and in rural areas. The Wisconsin Dental Association, however, is dead set against them. (Boulton, 3/3)
The Associated Press: Many 'Still Hurting' Nearly 5 Months After Hurricane Michael
Paulina "Bela" Sebastiao would give almost anything to be able to do a load of laundry without having to drive miles from her Mexico Beach home. Anthony Campbell would appreciate having a gas station closer than an hour away from his house in Parker. And Patrick Muth just hopes it doesn't rain when it's time to go to work: His "office" in Panama City consists of a desk surrounded by rubble under an open sky. Life is still a struggle in the county hardest hit by Hurricane Michael, which carved a wide swath of destruction through the Florida Panhandle when it roared ashore on Oct. 10 with winds of 155 mph (250 kph). (3/2)
