State Highlights: Breast Cancer Death Rate For Black Women Is 40% Higher And Worse In Southern States; Minnesota Dems Say Losing Tax Would Be Devastating To Health Programs

Stateline: Black Women More Likely To Die Of Breast Cancer — Especially In The South 
Treatment advances have improved breast cancer survival rates among all U.S. women, but the disparity between white and black women has grown: Black women such as [Felicia] Mahone are 40% more likely to die from the disease than white women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. No region has as many high-disparity states clustered together as the South. Louisiana and Mississippi have the highest racial disparities in breast cancer mortality. In both of those states, the excess death rate among black women is more than 60%, according to the American Cancer Society. Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee all have excess death rates over 40%. (Blau, 5/15)

Pioneer Press: Why Are Lawmakers Fighting Over A 27-Year-Old Health Care Tax? 
A nearly 30-year-old tax on medical providers is at the center of increasingly tense negotiations between Democrats and Republicans for the next state budget. The 2 percent provider tax will sunset at the end of the year if lawmakers do nothing. It currently raises about $700 million for a Health Care Access Fund that is spent on a variety of programs to keep health care accessible and affordable. Republicans call it a ‘sick tax’ and they say letting it expire should bring down health care costs. Democrats argue the provider tax is a key source of revenue for programs like medical assistance, MinnesotaCare and other efforts to help the most vulnerable residents receive care. (Magan, 5/14)

The Associated Press: DC Votes To Close City’s Only Public Hospital Within 4 Years
The Washington, D.C., City Council has voted to close the city’s only public hospital by January 2023. The Washington Post reports the closure voted for Tuesday was part of the $15.5 billion budget approved by the council for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1. The local part of the budget controlled by city officials equals about $8.6 billion, the remainder is federal or special funding. (5/15)

Boston Globe: Baker Administration Pledges Major Reforms For Troubled Foster Care System
The plan, presented as a joint agreement between the state’s Department of Children and Families and SEIU Local 509, the union that represents foster care workers, promises to boost the number of social workers who communicate directly with foster families. DCF will also hire 11 additional employees to recruit more foster families, and offer more training for foster families who are struggling to care for severely traumatized children. (Lazar, 5/14)

Arizona Republic: Missing And Murdered Indigenous Women Bill Signed Into Law
Gov. Doug Ducey on Tuesday signed into law a bill to create a task force that will investigate and gather data about missing and murdered Indigenous women. The committee will serve as a way to assess the scope of the problem and identify methods to address cases involving missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, or MMNWG. (Oldham, 5/14)

The Associated Press: Delaware AG Investigating Prison Medical Contractor
Delaware's attorney general is investigating the state's prison system medical contractor amid allegations that staffers were ordered to forge documents to falsely state that inmates were getting mental health treatment they never received. Officials confirmed the investigation this week and urged anyone with information about the record-keeping practices of Connections Community Support Programs Inc. to contact the Office of Civil Rights and Public Trust. (5/14)

The Associated Press: Philly Soda Tax Study Sees Sales Dip, Health Impact Unclear
A new study bolsters evidence that soda taxes can reduce sales, but whether they influence health remains unclear. The research found that Philadelphia's 2017 tax led to a 38 percent decline in sugary soda and diet drink sales that year, even when taking into account an increase in sales in neighboring towns. (5/14)

KCUR: Move Over Smoking, Kansas High Schoolers Can’t Get Enough Of Vaping
Kansas school officials told the state Board of Education on Tuesday that vaping is an increasing epidemic. In 2017, about a third of Kansas high school students tried vaping at least once. Between 2017 and 2018, the number of students vaping increased by 80 percent. ...Some adults have turned to vaping to quit smoking, though the Food and Drug Administration does not approve e-cigarettes for that use. The Centers for Disease Control acknowledges that while e-cigarettes could help some smokers quit, there isn’t enough research to say how effective they are. There also hasn’t been enough research to fully understand the health consequences associated with vaping, partially because of e-cigarettes’ fast adoption. (Bisaha, 5/14)

Pioneer Press: ‘Don’t Forget About Us!’ So Say Diabetics, Medical Pot Patients, Others As MN Legislators Rush To Reach Budget Deal. 
As Minnesota lawmakers rush to reach a deal on a state budget before the session ends on Monday, advocates for many issues worry that their causes will get lost in the mix. From diabetics and medical marijuana patients to opioid abuse victims and elder care advocates, the most uncertain stretch of the legislative session is here. And many of them are mounting a final push to get their priorities through. Some of their issues will hinge on a budget agreement between Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders. Over the past several days, the state’s leaders have quarreled behind closed doors over the future of state spending, the gas tax and an expiring tax on health care providers. (Faircloth, 5/14)

Texas Tribune: Texas House Passes Bill To Raise Legal Age To Buy Tobacco To 21
Senate Bill 21 received preliminary approval from the lower chamber more than one month after the Senate approved a slightly different version of the legislation. The bill now awaits final approval in the House, which is usually a formality. Then the Senate will vote to either appoint a conference committee for the two chambers to iron out differences in the bill or accept the House's changes and send the legislation to Gov. Greg Abbott. (Byrne, 5/14)

North Carolina Health News: Will North Carolina Dig Its Teeth Into Teledentistry? 
Teledentistry uses technology to connect clinicians with patients outside their offices and is extolled as a cost-efficient way to expand basic care to low-risk patients in underserved areas, especially children and seniors who have to rely on others for transportation to appointments. ...Livestream face-to-face consultations between a dentist and patient, a hygienist and dentist or general practitioner and specialist in different locations. Technology makes it possible to add in parents or family members for group consultations, too. (Blythe, 5/15)

Boston Globe: Closing Of 5 South Coast Facilities Leaves State With Fewer Nursing Home Beds
A court-appointed receiver is working against a May 24 deadline to find new living quarters for residents of five South Coast nursing homes that are shutting down this month. The closures are the latest blow to a state network of skilled nursing facilities that has shrunk by a third since 2000. (Weisman,, 5/14)

Sacramento Bee: CalPERS Health Insurance Could Climb Up To 24 Percent In 2020
The premiums state workers and retired public employees pay for CalPERS health insurance are projected to go up 7.2 percent on average next year, with premiums for specific plans increasing as much as 24 percent, according to preliminary estimates published Tuesday. The estimated increases, presented at a CalPERS board meeting, were the first public glimpse of the 2020 premiums, which take effect Jan. 1. (Venteicher, 5/15)

Seattle Times: What’s Behind The Increase Of Hepatitis C Cases In Washington State?
Between 2009 and 2017, the number of chronic cases of hepatitis C increased by 60% statewide, and an increase of 77% was reported in King County. The county reported a drop in chronic cases from 2017 to 2018; the state does not yet have 2018 numbers. Acute cases of hepatitis C are up as well: Between 2009 and 2017, the number of acute cases more than doubled in King County and more than tripled statewide. (Blethen, 5/14)

Georgia Health News: Insurance Chief Indicted Over Alleged $2 Million, Five-Year Fraud Scheme
State Insurance Commissioner Jim Beck was charged Tuesday in a 38-count federal indictment on allegations of wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering, prosecutors said. The indictment alleges Beck stole more than $2 million from his former employer, Georgia Underwriting Association, through ‘’an elaborate invoicing scheme,’’ BJay Pak, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, said Tuesday at a news conference in Atlanta. (Miller, 5/14)

NH Times Union: Pro-Life Group Opposes CMC-Dartmouth-Hitchcock Marriage 
The pro-life group New Hampshire Right to Life opposes combining the parent organizations of Catholic Medical Center and Dartmouth-Hitchcock because the latter performs abortions and trains doctors on how to perform them. “They may not be doing abortions at CMC, but the funds, the revenue, generated by CMC can go to funds that Catholics disagree with (including abortion),” the group’s president, Jason Hennessey, said in an interview Tuesday. (Cousineau, 5/14)

Houston Chronicle: Kingwood Pines Patient Escapes After Breaking Through Glass Window 
A patient at Kingwood Pines Hospital suffered severe lacerations after jumping out of a glass window and escaping from the facility Tuesday morning, according to Houston police. The escape is the latest in a string of  troubling incidents in recent years that have raised questions about patient safety at the 116-bed psychiatric hospital, which was the site of a teen riot late last year. The hospital has also weathered multiple lawsuits alleging sexual assaults of juvenile patients. (Hennes and Barned-Smith, 5/14)