Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: Battle Lines Drawn As Conn. Governor Eyes Hospitals To Close Budget Hole; Laws To Relieve Doctor Shortages Stall
Kaiser Health News: Connecticut Governor Targets Hospital Funds To Close Budget Gap
When Gov. Dannel Malloy pushed to tax Connecticut hospitals in 2012, he said the money would come back to the institutions through state funding. Now the hospital association says he is reneging, and they are threatening a lawsuit. (Cohen, 12/11)
The Associated Press: Delays, Criticism Hampering Laws To Remedy Physician Shortage
A new Missouri law offered a first-of-its-kind solution to the physician shortage plaguing thousands of U.S. communities: Medical school graduates could start treating patients immediately, without wading through years of traditional residency programs. Following Missouri's lead, similar measures were enacted in Arkansas and Kansas and considered in Oklahoma. The idea appeared to be a new model for delivering medical care in regions with too few physicians to meet needs. Yet more than 18 months after that first law passed, Missouri regulators are still trying to make it work. And not a single new doctor has gone into practice in any of the three states as a result of the new laws. (Lieb, 12/13)
The Cleveland: Cleveland Hospital Systems Agree To Stop Diverting ER Traffic By Feb. 15, Accept EMS Patients 24/7
In a breakthrough agreement, Cleveland hospital systems have struck a deal to stop the periodic closure of their emergency rooms to help ensure more timely and effective care for the region's patients, city and hospitals officials said. The accord means that by Feb. 15 of next year, emergency rooms in the city will be accepting EMS patients around the clock, regardless of their traffic volumes. (Ross, 12/11)
The Associated Press: Massachusetts Lawmakers To Hold Hearing On Ban On Microbeads
Massachusetts lawmakers are holding a public hearing this week on a bill that would ban the use of plastic microbeads in personal care products and over-the-counter drugs. The ban would be phased in over the next few years and fully take effect by 2021. The bill — sponsored by state Sen. Karen Spilka, an Ashland Democrat — is one focus of Tuesday's public hearing before the Public Health Committee at the Statehouse. (12/13)
The Boston Globe: As Charlestown Opioid Crisis Deepens, A New Clinic Opens
Charlestown has been hit hard by the opioid epidemic. [Michael] Cain, a 51-year-old recovering addict who is active in drug-prevention work, estimates that nearly every family in the neighborhood has been affected by addiction either directly or indirectly. Help is on the way. A second health clinic opened in the neighborhood last week to provide comprehensive care to a population whose struggles with drugs often have gone unnoticed and untreated. (MacQuarrie, 12/13)
ProPublica: Tyson Foods' Secret Recipe For Carving Up Workers' Comp
About five years ago, one of the nation’s largest corporations, Tyson Foods, drew a bullseye on the official who oversaw Iowa’s system for compensating injured workers. As workers’ compensation commissioner, Chris Godfrey acted as chief judge of the courts that decided workplace injury disputes. He had annoyed Tyson with a string of rulings that, in the company’s view, expanded what employers had to cover, putting a dent in its bottom line. (Grabell, 12/11)
Dayton Daily News: Odd Fellows Home Closure Imminent
The Odd Fellows Home — an assisted-living facility tucked away in a quiet neighborhood off Rivermont Avenue — will close for good in three weeks following numerous complaints, repeated violations and systemic deficiencies. According to the Virginia Department of Social Services’ website, for at least five years residents and employees have filed numerous complaints against the home and the state has cited the facility for violations that put residents in harm’s way. (Trent, 12/13)
McClatchy: Feds' Zeal To Pare Costs Targets Nuclear Workers' Health Benefits
Inside a closely guarded 16,000-acre facility in the Texas Panhandle, nuclear workers have the perilous task of taking apart aging nuclear warheads and rebuilding them into upgraded nuclear weapons. The secretive toil at the Pantex Plant, 17 miles north of Amarillo, is part the U.S. government's push to modernize its entire nuclear arsenal, an ambitious effort estimated to cost upward of $1 trillion over the next three decades. But even as the federal government ramps up spending on refurbished nukes, it has been looking for ways to cut costs. (Wise, Berard and Peterson, 12/13)
The Washington Post: Tenn. Woman Charged With Attempted Murder For Failed Coat Hanger Abortion
Anna Yocca was 24 weeks pregnant when police say she filled a bathtub with water, untwisted the wire of a coat hanger and plunged it into her womb in an attempt at “self abortion.” Now, Yocca is facing an indictment for first-degree attempted murder. (Kaplan, 12/14)
The Seattle Times: State Changing Vitamin Rule In Wake Of Birth Defects Probe
Amid a growing cluster of birth defects in Central Washington, state officials are rewriting a Medicaid-coverage rule to give more women access to vitamins that can help prevent the deadly disorder. The move follows a Seattle Times investigation into the state’s response to a yearslong spike in the birth defect. Among the findings: The state has mistakenly limited coverage for the crucial vitamins, even in the three counties affected by the deadly cluster, where up to 80 percent of births are paid for by the state (Aleccia, 12/12)
The Seattle Times: Flawed Tracking May Mask Birth-Defect Clusters Across U.S.
It’s difficult, often impossible, to uncover the cause of a birth-defect cluster. But the task is made tougher in Washington state and across the U.S. by a scattershot system that doesn’t routinely or accurately track cases that might signal alarm. In Central Washington, it took an astute nurse at a small hospital to notice that an unusual number of babies were being born with anencephaly, a tragic neural-tube defect. She flagged the problem, triggering the investigation that continues today. (Aleccia and Mayo, 12/12)
