State Highlights: Ala. Jail Administrator Made Emergency Health Decision Based On Insurance; Mixed Ruling In Va. Abortion Cases

AL.com and ProPublica: An Inmate Needed Emergency Medical Help. The Jail’s Response: See If She Has Insurance.
When the administrator of the Washington County Jail in southwest Alabama answered the phone on the evening of June 20, 2016, he learned of a health emergency playing out in the jail he oversaw. ... The nearest hospital is only 1 ½ miles away, but Weaver remained in the jail as Busby directed staff to first figure out who would pay for her medical care. “See if she had insurance, if she had Medicaid,” he told the dispatcher, who was referred to only as Kelly on the call. A recording of the conversation was provided to AL.com and ProPublica by Henry Brewster, a lawyer for Weaver’s family in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama in Mobile in February 2018. If Weaver was covered by Medicaid or private health insurance, then her medical bills would not be the county’s responsibility if the sheriff’s office released her from its custody. (Sheets, 10/1)

The Associated Press: Judge Issues Mixed Ruling In Virginia Abortion Law Challenge
A federal judge on Monday upheld a Virginia law requiring women to undergo an ultrasound and wait at least 24 hours before having an abortion, as well as the state’s “physician-only law” barring nurse practitioners and physician’s assistants from performing abortions. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson came in a lawsuit that challenged four Virginia laws that opponents say restrict access to abortion in the state. Hudson overturned two state laws, including one requiring all second-trimester abortions to be performed at a licensed outpatient hospital and regulations that would have required clinics that provide first-trimester abortions to meet the same facility requirements as general and surgical hospitals. (Lavoie, 9/30)

The Associated Press: Michigan Governor Signs Budget With $1B In Line-Item Vetoes
[Michigan Gov. Gretchen] Whitmer also faulted GOP legislators for spending less than what she proposed in three departments: Corrections, Technology, Management and Budget, and Health and Human Services. The funding levels would likely force up to 250 layoffs and cease electronic tracking of released sex offenders and other inmates, according to her office. The budgets also would weaken cybersecurity and public safety communications, and not fund the implementation of Republican-backed work requirements for people enrolled in the state's Medicaid expansion program, Whitmer said. (Eggert, 9/30)

Georgia Health News: Georgia Near The Top In HIV Risk, Report Shows
A new analysis underscores the enormous challenges that Georgia faces in fighting HIV. The state ranks No. 3 in HIV risk in the U.S., trailing only Ohio and Nevada, according to the study from Health Testing Centers, which used data from the CDC. Georgia has the leading rate of new diagnoses among states, with 30 per 100,000 people. Only Washington, D.C., has a higher new diagnosis figure. (Miller, 9/30)

Miami Herald: Limited Cuts, Shifting Costs Recommended For FL Disability Program
State health officials recommended limited cuts to a Medicaid program for people with disabilities Monday, after months of deliberating on potential changes that could affect more than 34,500 clients who depend on the program for services. The recommended cuts were much lower than advocates for clients with developmental disabilities had feared. But the decision will be up to the Legislature, which ordered a redesign of the program and will consider the recommendations in its 2020 session. (Koh, 9/30)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Senior Abuse And Neglect Often Not Reported To Police
Suspicious deaths and allegations of mistreatment in senior care facilities can routinely go unreported to law enforcement and prosecutors, a breakdown that allows abusive or neglectful caregivers to escape punishment and continue to work around seniors, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation found. There’s no public record that police were notified in 40% of physical and sexual abuse allegations detailed in inspection reports by the Georgia Department of Community Health. (Schrade and Teegardin, 9/30)

Sacramento Bee: CA Child Care Workers Gain Union Rights To Bargain For Pay
Tens of thousands of California child care providers gained new rights to bargain for better wages and health benefits under a new law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed on Monday, the labor unions sponsoring the bill announced. The new law will apply to more than 40,000 workers who care for families that receive child care cost assistance from the state. (Bollag, 9/30)

The Wall Street Journal: A New Death Shakes A Campus Rattled By Student Suicides
On a quiet Sunday afternoon at the University of Pennsylvania, a dozen students sat in a circle, turned to one another, and asked: “Are you thinking of killing yourself?” ... With 14 student suicides in the past six years, this Ivy League university has been asking hard questions and has bolstered its mental-health resources. But the recent death by suicide of a high-profile mental-health administrator—Gregory Eells, executive director of Penn’s Counseling and Psychological Services program that provides therapy sessions for students—highlighted the complexity of the school’s continuing battle against suicide. (Calfas, 9/30)

The Associated Press: Chicago-Area Medical Equipment Cleaning Plant Won't Reopen
Sterigenics, the medical supply sterilization company that has been battling lawsuits and claims of increased cancer rates from fumes, announced Monday it has decided against reopening its suburban Chicago plant. The company said it will close the plant in Willowbrook, blaming “inaccurate and unfounded claims regarding Sterigenics and the unstable legislative and regulatory landscape in Illinois.” (9/30)

Modern Healthcare: Indiana's Anticompetitive Market Inflates Costs, Report Says
Not-for-profit healthcare providers dominate the Indiana market, creating an anticompetitive dynamic that has driven higher-than-average healthcare spending, according to a new study. Households in the most concentrated healthcare markets pay more than double per procedure compared with those in the most competitive markets, a new policy brief from Ball State University's Center for Business and Economic Research shows. (Kacik, 9/30)

Colorado Sun: As Coloradans Struggle To Pay For Health Coverage, Cheaper Alternatives Come With Their Own Perils
The Colorado Division of Insurance receives hundreds of complaints a year from consumers, but few trouble chief deputy commissioner Kate Harris as much as the ones she began hearing earlier this year. They concerned a company called Aliera Healthcare and an organization it administers called Trinity Healthshare. Trinity is a so-called health care sharing ministry, a group that pools members’ money to help pay medical bills but, because of an exemption in the law, doesn’t have the legal obligations that modern insurance companies do. ... [Harris'] investigation has already led to ... cease and desist letters sent to both Aliera and Trinity. The letters accuse the companies of essentially marketing themselves as insurance providers without offering the same level of security. (Ingold, 9/30)

The Associated Press: Hawaii Birthrate Decrease Affecting Economy And Population
A decreased birthrate in Hawaii has larger population and economic implications for the state now and in the future, officials said. ... Hawaii’s current birthrate is 10% lower than in 2008. The economic effects include reports by at least two Oahu hospitals of decreases in work shifts for maternity ward nurses and a reduction in new nurse hiring. (10/1)

The Associated Press: Las Vegas Massacre Anniversary Sparks Debate On Gun Control
In the two years since the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, the federal government and states have tightened some gun regulations. But advocates say they’re frustrated that more hasn’t been done since 58 people died at a concert on the Las Vegas Strip, and that mass shootings keep happening nationwide. “People are genuinely afraid of going places,” Nevada Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui said. (Ritter and Price, 10/1)

The Baltimore Sun: Baltimore County Says Monsanto Contaminated Its Water. A Lawsuit Could Make The Company Pay For Cleanup. 
Baltimore County soon may ask a federal judge to force agriculture chemical company Monsanto to pay for the cleanup of environmental toxins, following a series of similar lawsuits filed by a dozen cites and states in recent years. County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. wants the County Council to approve a contract with three law firms to represent the county in a lawsuit to be filed against the company and two former divisions it sold off. (Nobles, 10/1)

Kansas City Star: Criminal Charge For Ex-CEO In Missouri Hospital Fraud Case
David Lane Byrns, the ex-chief executive of Putnam County Memorial Hospital, a 15-bed federally designated critical access hospital in Unionville, Missouri, was accused in federal court in Kansas City of one charge of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Byrns, according to an 11-page charging document filed on Friday, was part of a scheme to submit fraudulent claims for reimbursement on laboratory tests to insurance companies on behalf of the hospital in Unionville from patients who never visited the facility or had any connection to it. (Vockrodt, 9/30)

Miami Herald: Miami Sober Home Made $13 Million From Fraud Insurance Claims: DOJ
An indictment alleges Peter Port, 64, Brian Dublynn, 62, and Jennifer Sanford, 57, were instrumental in getting Safe Haven Recovery Inc. and several other clinical laboratories to bill health insurance companies for services that were either not performed or unnecessary. The trio made at least $13 million from their alleged scam, court documents show. (Smalls II, 9/30)

Miami Herald: Sylvester Cancer Center Participates In Ovarian Cancer Clinical Trial
South Florida cancer patients and the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center participated in a clinical trial that could have wide-ranging implications for how doctors treat ovarian cancer. The results of the study, published Saturday in the New England Journal of Medicine, concluded that an anti-cancer drug called veliparib — which works as a “parp inhibitor,” targeting the way DNA repairs itself — could help more patients than initially understood. The trial confirmed that the benefits of the drug could extend to up to 30 percent more of ovarian cancer patients. (Conarck, 9/30)