State Highlights: Calif. Ballot Measure On Dialysis Clinics Sparks Concerns About Possible Closures; N.Y. Clinic For 9/11 Survivors To Open

Stateline: Just How Profitable Should Your Disease Be?
Dialysis, which treats patients with advanced kidney disease, is lifesaving. The question is whether California’s ballot initiative to limit the profit of dialysis clinics, Proposition 8, would be more likely to protect lives or end them. ...The number of kidney disease patients in the state rose 46 percent from 2009 to 2016, mostly because patients are living longer, according to the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. In that time, 123 new dialysis centers were opened in the state, mostly by DaVita and Fresenius, the two largest dialysis companies nationwide. (Povich, 8/10)

The Star Tribune: Optum Running New Clinic For 9/11 Survivors
The federal government has hired Eden Prairie-based Optum to operate a new clinic in Manhattan for survivors of the 9/11 attacks who have enrolled in an ongoing health program. The clinic, which is expected to open this month, will be run by the Optum business that already manages care across much of the country for people at risk for health issues connected to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. (Snowbeck, 8/9)

Detroit Free Press: 3 Beaumont Doctors Claim Innocence Over $84.5M Settlement
Three doctors named last week in Beaumont Health's $84.5-million settlement with the U.S. Justice Department insist they did nothing wrong and have hired an attorney to defend their reputations. The trio — Dr. Joel Kahn, Dr. Dinesh Shah and Dr. Renato Ramos — were among the eight Beaumont doctors identified in the settlement agreement as having enjoyed improper pay arrangements with the hospital system and other perks in potential violation of federal laws. (Reindl, 8/9)

PBS NewsHour: How Wildfires Can Threaten Your Health
For many Californians, the crimson sky was another reminder of the 19 wildfires burning across the state, a larger and more destructive threat than in recent years. It could become the worst fire season in state history. For [Thomas] Dailey, a pulmonologist who has treated asthma patients for 29 years, it also signaled a growing health risk for his patients and the public. (Santhanam, 8/9)

Kansas City Star: Kansas Insurance Department Requires 3D Mammogram Coverage
The Kansas Insurance Department put out an official bulletin Wednesday saying it will require all health insurers to cover 3D mammograms starting next year. The move comes after Missouri legislators voted to enact a similar policy, joining at least seven other states. (Marso, 8/9)

Miami Herald: Florida Ranks Almost Last In Cancer Report On State Policies
An advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society graded Florida among the worst-performing states in implementing policies to fight and prevent cancer, largely for failing to expand access to Medicaid and not taking sufficiently aggressive efforts to discourage smoking, according to a report released Thursday. Only two states — Mississippi and Idaho — had worse grades with no positive indicators on the nine recommended public health policy stances in the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network writeup. (Koh, 8/9)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Rape Kit Tracking System To Allow Victim Access, System Accountability In Ohio
Attorney General Mike DeWine today announced the creation of a system to track rape evidence that gives sexual assault survivors the option to access information about testing in their case and would help ensure that an "accumulation of untested rape kits will never again happen" in Ohio. DeWine said the free, online system will allow victims to anonymously check the status of their rape kits from the time they are collected at a medical facility and then sent to police, a lab for forensic testing or later stored or destroyed. (Dissell, 8/9)

Georgia Health News: Good News For Teachers, State Employees As Insurance Rates Hold Steady For 2019
Their 2019 premiums, deductibles, copays and co-insurance will remain the same as this year in the State Health Benefit Plan (SHBP), Geogia’s Department of Community Health said Thursday. The same benefit offerings – from HMO through high-deductible health plan – will also be the same. (Miller, 8/9)

The CT Mirror: First Human Milk Depot To Open In Greater Hartford This Month
John Dempsey Hospital will open the first human milk depot in the Greater Hartford region on Aug. 30, giving moms with an oversupply of breast milk a local place to donate. ...The donated milk will then all be shipped by Merlo to the Mother’s Milk Bank Northeast facility in Newton, Mass., where it is mixed, pasteurized and redistributed to over 85 hospitals and outpatient facilities across the northeast, including UConn Health, to support premature infants. (Werth, 8/9)

Boston Globe: State’s New Marijuana Ads Strike Friendly Tone
A new public awareness campaign is adopting a gentler, non-judgmental tone as officials work to educate Massachusetts residents on the state’s cannabis laws and to decrease youth use rates. The campaign, dubbed “More About Marijuana,” was unveiled Thursday by the state Cannabis Control Commission and Department of Public Health, and includes two 30-second animated videos and a website. (Adams, 8/10)

Houston Chronicle: Fighting Cancer On Two Fronts: Despite Texas Law, Firefighters Denied Workers Comp For Treatment 
In the past six years, more than nine in 10 Texas firefighters with cancer have had their workers comp claims denied, according to state statistics. Union leaders and state legislators say cities have ignored Texas’ presumptive cancer statute for first responders, and face few consequences for denying claims. The result, they say, is that firefighters often see their personal savings evaporate even as they compromise on their care. (Despart, 8/9)