State Highlights: California’s Governor Proposes Expanding Health Care To Undocumented Adults; Special Prosecutor For Flint Water Crisis Fired

Sacramento Bee: Newsom Wants CA To Expand Undocumented Immigrant Health Care
Covering children and teens who are undocumented costs the state more than $360 million a year. Newsom’s proposal would add $260 million to the bill. But advocates argue it would be a cost-effective investment in preventive and primary care services that can identify problems such as diabetes early and reduce costly services as people get older. (Bollag, 4/29)

The Associated Press: Flint Water Scandal’s Special Prosecutor Out After 3 Years
A special prosecutor who spent three years leading a criminal investigation of the Flint water scandal has been fired, officials announced Monday, apparently part of the fallout from the recent discovery of 23 boxes of records in the basement of a state building. Todd Flood’s contract was terminated on April 16. The Michigan attorney general’s office told a judge about the records on Friday as it seeks a six-month freeze in the case against Michigan’s former health director, Nick Lyon, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter. (White, 4/29)

North Carolina Health News: NC House Proposes New Help For People In Assisted Living In State Budget 
Many obstacles remain before passage, but provisions a state House subcommittee’s proposal could bring more spending money to North Carolinians in assisted living, as well as more help for those who receive community-based services such as Meals on Wheels. Among the highest-profile measures from the NC Health and Human Services appropriations subcommittee is a proposal to increase spending money from $46 to $70 monthly for people using public assistance who live in adult care centers, or assisted living. Coverage of the personal needs allowance, or PNA, has brought accounts of strapped residents, including women in residential care who have sold sex to meet expenses, a detail that drew recognition from state long-term ombudsmen. (Goldsmith, 4/29)

The Associated Press: 5 In Hospital After Fight At Utah Psychiatric Youth Center
Five people were hospitalized after a fight broke out at a Utah youth psychiatric center that took officers from several police agencies about an hour to bring under control, police said Monday. Another 20 people, including three staffers, were treated at the scene for minor injuries in the melee Sunday night at the Red Rock Canyon School residential treatment center in the small southwestern Utah city St. George, authorities said. Most of the injuries were bumps and bruises but one person required staples after being hit in the back of the head with a blunt object, said St. George police Officer Tiffany Atkin. (4/29)

Boston Globe: Lawsuit Against Juul Demands Funding Of Statewide Treatment And Research Programs
Public health advocates based at Northeastern University on Monday initiated a class action lawsuit against e-cigarette titan Juul Labs, demanding that the company fund a statewide treatment program for teenagers who begin using the company’s e-cigarettes before age 18 and want to quit. This is one of the first lawsuits in the country asking for this type of action from Juul, the company facing criticism — and a rash of lawsuits — for marketing to young people. (Kempe, 4/29)

Arizona Republic: Big Tobacco Bill Would Raise Legal Age To 21 In Arizona
Arizona legislation backed by the nation's biggest cigarette maker and e-cigarette giant Juul would raise to 21 the legal age to purchase tobacco, but opponents say the measure favors the tobacco industry and would set the fight against smoking and cancer back decades. Supporters call the proposal, backed by the parent company of Philip Morris USA, a compromise and credit the industry for getting ahead of efforts to further regulate e-cigarette use and tobacco. (Náñez, 4/29)

Miami Herald: Healthcare Deregulation Measures Pass FL Legislature
State lawmakers approved sweeping healthcare changes Monday that will overturn long-standing regulations on building or expanding hospitals and allow the state to pursue importing foreign drugs, as well as make several other changes long sought by conservatives in the Legislature. The votes signal success for several agenda items House Speaker José Oliva, R-Miami Lakes, has outlined in healthcare this session, and the bills are expected to become law as they head now to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk. (Koh, 4/29)

Houston Chronicle: NewQuest Moves Into Healthcare Development
NewQuest Properties, a Houston-based commercial real estate firm specializing in developing and leasing shopping centers, has launched a division focusing on healthcare and wellness, a response to the "retailization" of the medical industry as it moves to bring patient care close to residential neighborhoods. The new group aims to expand the firm's healthcare portfolio, as well as provide commercial real estate services to healthcare providers, developers and investors. (Sarnoff, 4/29)

The Star Tribune: Income Steady At Fairview Health Services In 2018
Operating income held steady last year at Fairview Health Services as the Minneapolis-based operator of hospitals and clinics continues to work on improving financial results from its HealthEast business in the east metro. The 2018 numbers fit with the broader trend of stabilization in revenue and expense for nonprofit health care systems across the country, said Hayes Batson, the Fairview chief financial officer, in an interview. (Snowbeck, 4/29)

Detroit Free Press: Inmate Dies At Michigan Women's Prison After Bee Sting Complaint
A 37-year-old prisoner died suddenly at Michigan's only women's prison on Friday after complaining about a bee sting, officials confirmed Monday. Lisa Marie Johnston was taken to the hospital on Wednesday after complaining about being stung by a bee and suffering an apparent severe allergic reaction, Corrections Department spokesman Chris Gautz said. She was discharged from St. Joseph Mercy Health System in Ann Arbor on Friday and had been back at Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility only about two hours when she collapsed and soon died, Gautz said. (Egan, 4/29)

San Jose Mercury News: Bay Area Families Cope With 'Epidemic' In Food Allergies
With food allergies on the rise, parents and doctors are struggling to understand what causes them and how to prevent them. Research from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that food allergies in children increased 18 percent between 1997 and 2007. (D'Souza, 4/29)

Dallas Morning News: How Forest Park Medical Center Players Got Away With Paying Medical Kickbacks For So Long
The Forest Park Medical Center federal bribery and kickback trial in Dallas resulted in landmark convictions against the hospital's managers and doctors. It also exposed Texas' longstanding failure to police medical kickbacks under state law. Texas authorities have never enforced the state's version of the federal anti-kickback law, according to testimony in the trial. And when faced with a key opportunity to do so — against those same doctors and owners at a different hospital — state investigators came up empty. (Krause, 4/29)