Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: Blue Shield Of Calif. Faces More Questions Over Nonprofit Status; N.H. Grapples With Long-Term Care Cost, Policy Issues
Los Angeles Times: Blue Shield Faces More Heat Over Nonprofit Status, $1.2-Billion Deal
Health insurance giant Blue Shield of California is facing more questions over its loss of tax-exempt status as it tries to win state approval of a $1.2-billion acquisition. A former Blue Shield executive is accusing the San Francisco insurer of giving contradictory answers to state officials about its corporate structure. And consumer advocates are calling on Blue Shield to disclose details of a state audit that examined the company's taxpayer subsidy. (Terhune, 6/5)
The Associated Press: State, Counties Grapple With Long-term Care As State Ages
Whether protesting budget cuts to Meals on Wheels or fighting for higher reimbursement rates for nursing homes, advocates for New Hampshire's aging residents have found themselves on the defensive as lawmakers craft the next state budget. The short-term budget battles illuminate a broader issue: What kind of long-term care will best serve New Hampshire's rapidly aging population, and who will pay for it? (Ronayne, 6/6)
Los Angeles Times: Bill Would Limit Efforts To Recoup Medi-Cal Costs From Patients' Estates
The state's Medi-Cal program has long looked to the estates and heirs of deceased Californians to recoup public money spent on their healthcare in the last years of life. But the practice — including suing survivors and filing liens against the homes of poor families — is coming under attack in Sacramento. (Pfeifer, 6/5)
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Support Builds For New Medical Training Campus In Springfield, Mo.
A plan to bring a physician training campus to Springfield is getting more support from university and hospital officials, who say the campus will help alleviate a critical shortage of medical personnel in southwest Missouri. Planning for the University of Missouri School of Medicine's new Springfield Clinical campus began nearly a decade ago but has gained momentum recently as the University of Missouri, Missouri State University and Springfield leaders lobbied state government to fund the campus and a new occupational therapy program. (6/7)
The Denver Post: Colorado Researcher's Black-Market Drug Site A Window On Opioid Abuse
Name your poison — illicit prescription painkillers, heroin — and Dr. Richard Dart at Denver Health can tell you what it costs on the black market. Or, thanks to him, you can look it up yourself. Dart, director of the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center, co-founded a website called StreetRx that allows buyers and sellers to anonymously report what price a pill of oxycodone, tramadol — or whatever — is going for in Denver or Chicago or New York. (Draper, 6/8)
The Associated Press: American Samoa Dialysis Clinic Reopens After 2-Day Closure
American Samoa's only dialysis clinic has reopened after a product recall forced it to close for two days. LBJ Medical Center said the clinic reopened at 4 p.m. Friday and began treating patients who require dialysis. The clinic shut down Wednesday after the hospital learned of a recall of a solution used in its machines. A fresh supply arrived to the island around 2 p.m. Friday. The clinic had been scheduled to reopen at 1 a.m. Saturday. (Sagapolutele, 6/6)
The Wall Street Journal's Law Blog: Alabama High Court: Only Licensed Dentists Can Whiten Teeth
Alabama’s highest court on Friday upheld a state law that makes it a crime for non-dentists there to provide teeth-whitening services. The court ruled against two teeth-whitening specialists, Keith Westphal and Joyce Osborn Wilson, both of whom were barred from operating teeth-whitening businesses in Alabama because they weren’t licensed dentists. They claimed in court that excluding them from the teeth-whitening industry violated their due-process rights guaranteed by the state’s constitution. (Gershman, 6/5)
USA Today: Fla. Hospital Probed Over Babies' Deaths After Heart Surgery
Federal regulators announced Friday that they are investigating a Florida hospital over the deaths of several infants who had heart surgery in the past four years. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services began the probe after a CNN report about the deaths at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, which is owned by Tenet Healthcare. Most of the babies were Medicaid patients. (Winter, 6/7)
CNN: CNN Report On High Mortality Rate For Babies At Florida Hospital Leads To Inquiry
The Federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has launched an investigation into deaths of babies following open heart surgeries at St. Mary's Medical Center in Florida. The investigation came in response to a CNN story this week that showed between 2011 to 2013, the West Palm Beach hospital had a 12.5% mortality rate for open heart surgery, three times the national average. "We take these allegations very seriously. CMS is actively investigating these complaints," Aaron Albright, a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, wrote in an email. The agency is investigating because most of the patients who had heart surgery at St. Mary's were Medicaid patients. (Cohen and Bonifield, 6/5)
The Belleville News-Democrat: 2 Deaths Under Investigation At Cahokia Nursing Home
Two families are questioning why their loved ones died at Cahokia Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Police are investigating their deaths, and two top officials at the facility — the administrator and director of nursing — have resigned. Fred Jones of Centreville believes his cousin John Brown Jr., 76, would still be alive if he had received proper care while at the facility. (Forsythe, 6/6)
The Des Moines Register: Little Help For Refugee Depression, PTSD
As many as 40 percent of refugees have post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety or depression, according to Carly Ross, director of the U.S. Committee of Refugees and Immigrants field office in Des Moines. Like the Bhutanese, the Sudanese and Somalis who have come to Iowa, refugees from Burma have typically suffered severe trauma. Many ethnic Burmese minorities are also timid, fearful of authority and persecution and don't acknowledge communication problems, those who work with refugees say. (Rood, 6/7)
North Carolina Health News: Harmful Or Harmless? New Studies Light Up Debate On E-Cigarettes
When e-cigarettes hit the market in 2007, they were embraced as an effective and safe strategy for smokers to break their addictions to traditional cigarettes. Since then, they’ve grown in popularity among all age groups. But research has revealed mixed success in helping to quit. And now North Carolina researcher are questioning their safety. (Howell, 6/8)
