State Highlights: Calif. County Prepares To Offer Primary Care Services To Immigrants In U.S. Illegally; Calif. Officials Charge Blue Shield Of Backing Out Of $140-Million Pledge To Charity
News outlets report on health issues in California, Missouri, Illinois, North Carolina, Florida and Connecticut.
KQED:
Contra Costa Co. Prepares To Offer Health Care To Undocumented Adults
Brookside Community Health Center in Richmond serves a lot of immigrants — with legal papers and without — and it’s about to take on even more. Contra Costa County already provides insurance to undocumented children, and in September county supervisors voted to extend primary care services to 3,000 adults living here illegally. (Silver, 11/17)
Los Angeles Times:
Nonprofit Blue Shield Accused Of Backing Out Of $140-Million Charity Pledge
California regulators and consumer groups say insurance giant Blue Shield of California is reneging on a $140-million charitable pledge it made to win approval for a big acquisition. State officials said last month that the San Francisco insurer had agreed to give $14 million annually for 10 years to Blue Shield’s foundation or another charity – in addition to its regular contributions. (Terhune, 11/17)
The San Jose Mercury News:
Daughters Of Charity Deal With Hedge Fund Worries Hospital Experts
As California Attorney General Kamala Harris prepares to announce her decision Thursday on whether to green-light a tortured deal between the beleaguered Daughters of Charity Health System and an East Coast hedge fund, some hospital industry experts are worried that it might be little more than a taxpayer giveaway. (Seipel, 11/17)
The Associated Press:
Planned Parenthood Can Reapply For Privileges
University of Missouri Health Care said Tuesday that it's compiling documents so a doctor at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbia can apply for state-required privileges after the university decided to pull privileges earlier this year. Even with the latest move by the university, the clinic in Columbia is likely to lose its license allowing it to provide medication-induced abortions. The physician's current privileges will end on Dec. 1, and University of Missouri Health Care spokeswoman Teresa Snow said in a statement that the application process takes months. (Ballentine, 11/17)
The Chicago Tribune:
Program Has Police Putting Heroin Addicts Into Treatment, Not Jail
Katelynn Lahman had just fired a shot of heroin into her arm when she decided to call her hometown's chief of police. Lahman, 20, had been on heroin for nine months, funding her habit with petty crimes. She finally decided to seek help, she said, but was unable to find a place that would take her. "(The police chief) was like, 'What if I tell you I can get you into a detox tomorrow morning?'" Lahman recalled. "I said, 'OK, that's fine.' So literally, 8 o'clock in the morning, I go to detox because (police) show up." (Keilman, 11/17)
Kaiser Health News:
Aid-In-Dying Advocacy Group Girds For Battles After California Victory
Fresh off a political triumph in California, the nation’s chief advocacy group for physician-assisted suicide laws is mobilizing for many more battles on behalf of terminally ill patients. Since Gov. Jerry Brown signed California’s end-of-life options bill last month, a new chapter is starting for Compassion & Choices, a Denver-based nonprofit that led the campaign for the measure and has pushed for such laws for nearly 19 years. California is the fifth state, and largest by far, to allow physicians to prescribe lethal doses of drugs to patients who want to end their lives in their last stages of terminal illnesses. (Galewitz, 11/18)
The Charlotte Observer:
Novant Health To Launch Area's 3rd Family Medicine Residency Program
Novant Health will launch its first family medicine residency program – the third in the Charlotte region – next summer when six medical school graduates begin training at Huntersville Medical Center and in a Cornelius family practice. Hospital officials are interviewing applicants now, and the first residents will start July 1. When the three-year program is full, it will have 18 residents. (Garloch, 11/17)
The Orlando Sentinel:
JSA Opening Two New Clinics For Medicare Beneficiaries
Starting on Dec. 1, Medicare beneficiaries will have access to two new primary care clinics in Orlando. The clinics are run by JSA Medical Group and are located in Fern Park and Conway. What's different about these medical offices is that they have activity centers, which are open to Medicare patients and the public. The centers offer dancing, yoga, stretching and computer classes. (Miller, 11/16)
The Connecticut Mirror:
The Story In Charts: Who Still Smokes?
Smoking is down significantly across the country, and the rate is even lower in Connecticut. But the overall picture masks significant disparities in who the remaining smokers are. The group is heavily weighted toward those with the least education, lowest incomes, gays and lesbians, people who are covered by Medicaid or uninsured, and those with a disability. (Levin Becker, 11/18)
