State Highlights: Cancer Hospital Drops Ga. Legislative Bid To Ease State Restrictions; Calif. Lawmakers OK Bill Requiring Drug Labeling In 5 Languages
Health care stories are reported from Georgia, California, North Carolina, Florida and Illinois.
Georgia Health News:
Cancer Hospital Bid To Ease Rules Takes New Route
When Cancer Treatment Centers of America dropped its legislative bid earlier this year to ease state restrictions on its Newnan hospital, the company indicated that its quest was not over. That effort took on a dramatically new shape Thursday, with a controversial proposal that won initial approval from the board of the state Department of Community Health. (Miller, 9/10)
Kaiser Health News:
Calif. Lawmakers Approve Bill Requiring Drug Labeling In 5 Foreign Languages
California’s pharmacists would be required to provide prescription drug labels or medication instructions in five languages besides English under a bill passed unanimously Thursday by California lawmakers. The bill, AB 1073, will be sent to Gov. Jerry Brown for his signature and would take effect Jan. 1 if signed into law. Upon request from patients or their caregivers, pharmacists would need to provide medication instructions in Spanish, Tagalog, Chinese, Vietnamese or Korean, the most common languages in California after English. The instructions could be on prescription labels or in patient handouts. (Feder Ostrov, 9/11)
Modern Healthcare:
Fraud Case Highlights Hazards For Hospitals With Insurance Plans
A whistle-blower lawsuit accusing two North Carolina hospitals of using their managed-care organization to fraudulently boost Medicare reimbursements shows complications that can arise as hospitals increasingly move into the insurance business. According to the lawsuit, North Carolina Baptist Hospital, Winston-Salem, and Charlotte-based Carolinas HealthCare System co-owned a managed-care organization, MedCost, which they used for their self-funded health plans. MedCost, the lawsuit alleges, imposed excessive costs on hospital employees and drove up what's known as the wage index, which helps determine Medicare payments. (Schencker, 9/10)
Stateline:
After Same-Sex Marriage Ruling, States Reconsider Domestic Partner Benefits
Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, some states that offer health and retirement benefits to their employees’ domestic partners are considering changing those policies, in large part to save money or avoid discrimination lawsuits. Before the ruling, 34 percent of state and local governments allowed unmarried same-sex couples to receive health care benefits, while 28 percent did so for domestic partners of the opposite sex, according to a study of public sector benefits by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Beitsch, 9/10)
California Healthline:
New Tobacco Tax Bill Touches All Bases
A bill introduced on Wednesday in the California Legislature's special session on health care touches on almost all of the health policy concerns originally raised by the governor when he convened the special session in June. (Gorn, 9/10)
The News Service Of Florida:
Scott Signs Order Tracking Mental Health Services
As the state Department of Children and Families convened its annual child-protection summit Wednesday, Gov. Rick Scott signed an executive order aimed at better coordinating mental health services --- something DCF Secretary Mike Carroll said will help his agency provide improved care for children. The directive issued Wednesday adds to a partnership Scott established in July --- also by executive order --- creating a pilot program in Broward County to conduct a countywide inventory of all state programs that address mental health needs. (Menzel, 9/10)
The San Francisco Chronicle:
California Government Leaders Reach Deal To Regulate Medical Pot
State lawmakers announced late Thursday that they have struck a deal to regulate and license the multi-billion dollar medical marijuana industry, with the news coming ahead of a final push to finish dozens of end-of-session bills ahead of a Friday deadline. (Gutierrez, 9/10)
The Associated Press:
Rauner Administration Rejects Ailments For Medical Marijuana
Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration issued a broad rejection Thursday of expanding the list of diseases that can be treated with medical marijuana in Illinois, refusing to add osteoarthritis, migraine, post-traumatic stress disorder and eight other health problems. Separately, the governor vetoed a bill that would have added PTSD via a legislative route. (Johnson, 9/10)
Health News Florida:
Flakka Training Draws 500 To North Florida
With South Florida emergency rooms overflowing and body counts rising, the only way to halt an epidemic of the designer drug Flakka is education and community outreach. That’s the discouraging message Broward County Sheriff’s officials brought Wednesday to the Florida Public Safety Institute in Havana. Five hundred police officers, sheriff’s deputies and EMTs, wearing the uniforms of more than 100 agencies, shifted in their seats as Broward Sheriff’s Detective William Schwartz kicked off the daylong Flakka seminar. (Ash, 9/10)
Health News Florida:
Advocates Encourage Suicide Talk
In an office decorated with signs proclaiming “Safe Space,” Peggy Saddler meets with students overwhelmed by classes, fighting with friends and family or struggling with deeper problems. The Wauchula High School guidance counselor has worked with students in rural counties for more than 30 years and said sometimes students are “shutting the door every night (with) a little bit more than teenage angst.” (Miller and Matos, 9/10)
