State Highlights: Calif. Regulators Fail To Inspect Dozens Of Hospitals; In Subcommittee, Va. Lawmakers Block Immunization Mandate

Los Angeles Times: California Fails To Inspect Several Dozen Hospitals With High Infection Rates
Scores of California hospitals with high rates of patient infections have not been inspected within the last five years, according to a petition filed Monday by Consumers Union. California law requires hospitals to be inspected every three years, but the state has fallen so far behind that the period has stretched to at least five years for 131 hospitals, the group said. (Peterson, 1/24)

Richmond Times Dispatch: Virginia House Subcommittee Tosses Immunization Mandate Bill
A House Health, Welfare and Institutions subcommittee on Tuesday threw out a bill that would have mandated all sixth-graders in Virginia be vaccinated against diseases like bacterial meningitis. The bill was backed by the Virginia Department of Health and was sponsored by Del. Patrick A. Hope, D-Arlington. It would have required that Virginia students receive a vaccine to protect against the bacteria that causes meningococcal diseases like meningitis. (Demeria, 1/24)

The Washington Post: Flint Water Falls Below Federal Lead Limits, But Residents Are Still Asked To Use Filtered Water
Months of testing have found that the water in Flint, Mich., no longer contains lead levels that exceed federal limits, officials announced Tuesday. But though the city has reached that positive threshold, residents are still being advised to use filtered water for drinking and cooking, while the city continues to replace thousands of lead service lines. Last week, Flint marked its 1,000th day without reliably clean drinking water. (Berman and Dennis, 1/24)

Arizona Republic: Arizona Bills Would Ban Coverage For Gender-Reassignment Surgeries Already Denied By State
An Arizona lawmaker has introduced a pair of bills that would prohibit gender-reassignment surgeries for Medicaid recipients and prison inmates, saying he is "always in favor of personal freedoms … but never at the expense of the taxpayer." Arizona taxpayers don't currently fund gender-reassignment surgeries for such individuals. Nonetheless, Rep. Anthony Kern sees House bills 2293 and 2294 as a crucial pre-emptive strike given recent shifts in transgender rights and protections. (Polletta, 1/24)

ProPublica: In Nebraska, New Bill Proposes Protections Against Rampant Debt Collection 
Last year we reported on a little-known hardship facing Nebraskans struggling to pay their medical debts: They were being sued over doctor bills of just a few hundred dollars. Unheard of in most states, such lawsuits are filed in Nebraska by the tens of thousands, typically against low-income workers, in part because filing fees are so inexpensive. Last week, a Nebraska lawmaker introduced a bill that would curb what collectors can take from debtors after filing suit and obtaining a court judgment. The bill would automatically protect the first $2,000 in a debtor’s bank account from garnishment, among other reforms. Currently, collectors are allowed to clean out debtors’ bank accounts. (Kiel, 1/24)

Arizona Republic: 'Obamacare' Fraud Ring Netted Nearly $2 Million, Authorities Allege
Prosecutors have accused a former Florence man of being the ringleader of an elaborate health-care fraud that netted him and eight others nearly $2 million in bogus health-insurance claims. Nicholas Scaffidi, 35, was charged earlier this month with fraud, money laundering and multiple counts of theft in connection with a scheme that prosecutors say began September 2014 during the first year of the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Investigators identified Scaffidi as the leader of a group that included his wife and seven accomplices, who they allege routinely visited out-of-network hospital emergency rooms with vague complaints of illnesses and demanded that doctors order a series of expensive tests. (Alltucker, 1/25)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Christie, Cooper Hospital Tout Improved EMS Times In Camden
Gov. Christie joined Democratic power broker George Norcross in Camden on Tuesday to tout improved emergency response times in the city last year, after Christie signed a law that allowed Cooper University Health Care to begin providing paramedic and ambulance services. While the action spurred a legal battle with Marlton-based Virtua Health System, Christie said it was a “fight” that was “worth having.” The Republican governor also endorsed a call by Norcross – who is chairman of the board of trustees at Cooper – to require greater “accountability” from other emergency services providers. (Hanna, 1/24)

Chicago Tribune: Leaders Confront Area's Health Problems At County Summit
Thirty-five percent of Lake County adults have been diagnosed with hypertension, or high blood pressure, according to the Lake County Health Department — more than 181,000 people. That's above the national rate of 29 percent. About 320,000 Lake County adults are overweight or obese, the department said, which is more than half of all adults. An average obese person decreases his or her life expectancy by more than nine years as a result of the condition. (Hammill, 1/24)

Austin American-Statesman: UT Study: More Than 313,000 Victims Of Labor, Sex Trafficking In Texas
There are likely more than 313,000 victims of labor and sex trafficking in Texas, and roughly a fourth of them are children and people under the age of 26 who have been forced into prostitution, based on estimates from a University of Texas study. These estimates “remain a conservative understatement of the prevalence of human trafficking in Texas,” wrote the team of professors and others with UT’s Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault and the university’s School of Social Work who authored the report, published last month. They also concluded that labor trafficking is a significant issue in Texas that “is woefully under-studied and perhaps ignored as a policy area.” (Hall, 1/24)

Miami Herald: Miam-Dade Foster Child, 14, Hangs Herself While Using Facebook Live 
For two hours, Nakia Venant broadcast from the bathroom of her Miami Gardens foster home, eventually fashioning a homemade noose from her scarf. The live feed ended abruptly. Nakia, a petite 14-year-old with long hair and a sweet smile, killed herself overnight Sunday while live-streaming the event. Administrators with the Florida Department of Children & Families would offer little detail Tuesday about Nakia’s death, other than to confirm that both child welfare administrators and the Miami Gardens Police Department were investigating the suicide death of “a child … in the care of a foster family.” (Miller and Burch, 1/24)

San Jose Mercury News: Latex-Detecting Dog Is Woman's Weapon Against Dangerous Allergy
The black Labrador Retriever is part of a growing trend in service dogs primed to protect allergy sufferers from potentially deadly encounters with everything from soy to nuts. “I know she’s got my back,” Hayes said of the playful but obedient pooch that returned with her this week to college in New York. When Andromeda pinpoints any odor of latex, she drastically increases sniffing, brackets the source of the latex with her body, then sits and stares at the item to alert Hayes to stay away. Her owner rewards the dog’s efforts with lavish praise, big hugs, and a delicious treat. (Seipel, 1/24)

Sacramento Bee: Marijuana Regulations Won't Meet Deadline, California Senator Says 
Californians legalized recreational marijuana in November, and the state is expected to begin distributing licenses to businesses by January 1, 2018. But least one state senator, who represents California’s marijuana-rich northern counties, doubts the state will be able to write regulations fast enough to hit the deadline. (Luna, 1/24)