State Highlights: Dueling Minnesota Plans To Tackle Insulin Costs; Tennessee Abortion Waiting Period In Hands Of Judge

Pioneer Press: Can Minnesota Lawmakers Solve The Insulin Problem? Both Party’s Plans, Explained. 
Minnesota Democrats and Republicans are in agreement that the cost of insulin has skyrocketed and something needs to be done to help diabetics who cannot afford the life-saving medicine. The soaring cost of insulin has become a hot-button issue across the nation with a 10-day supply now costing as much as $300. But the two parties have yet to hammer out a compromise. They could not agree on an insulin bill before the legislative session adjourned in May, and not much has changed since — House Democrats and Senate Republicans held separate hearings on competing insulin assistance programs this week. (Faircloth, 9/26)

The Associated Press: Tennessee's Abortion Waiting Period Trial Goes To Judge
A federal judge will have to decide which experts to believe in a trial over Tennessee’s 48-hour waiting period law for abortions. Over the course of a four-day trial in Nashville that concluded Thursday, the state tried to show that the law, which requires women to make two separate trips to a clinic at least 48 hours apart, benefits women by allowing them time to reflect on their decisions. Attorneys representing five of the state’s seven abortion clinics argued the law provides no benefits and causes significant burdens. (Loller, 9/26)

The CT Mirror: Connecticut To Play Direct Role In Negotiating Health Care Prices
State government is looking to take a more direct role in negotiating the prices hospitals and other providers can charge for treating public-sector employees and retirees. Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo announced a new bidding process Thursday that he said would radically reshape Connecticut’s healthcare market. (Phaneuf, 9/26)

Dallas Morning News: More Texas Kids Are Uninsured For The Third Year In A Row, New Census Data Shows
The number of uninsured Texas children increased for the third year in a row, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. And policy experts and advocates say that in Texas — where an estimated 1.5 to 1.6 million children live with at least one noncitizen parent — the chilling effect around the Trump administration’s revamped “public charge” rule could be playing a key role in some parents taking their children off public health insurance. (Manuel, 9/26)

The Wall Street Journal: Comptroller Blasts New York City Over Lead-Inspection Failures
New York City agencies charged with preventing lead poisoning in children didn’t always go far enough to share information that would trigger in-home inspections for possible lead exposure, according to a report by Comptroller Scott Stringer. The findings, which were released Thursday and examine city data from 2013 through late 2018, show that the city didn’t inspect 9,671 buildings for lead where nearly 12,000 children lived and tested positive for elevated blood-lead levels. (West, 9/26)

Politico Pro: Virginia Work Requirement Stalled By Funding Dispute With CMS
The Trump administration’s review of Virginia’s proposed Medicaid work requirement has been bogged down by a dispute over the state’s request of federal funds for job-related services meant to reduce coverage losses, POLITICO has learned. Virginia officials are threatening to drop the state’s work requirement if CMS officials refuse to provide funding for activities like job and financial literacy training, or education-related subsidies. (Pradhan, 9/26)

Health News Florida: Appeals Court Upholds ‘Red Flag’ Law
An appeals court Wednesday rejected a constitutional challenge to Florida’s “red flag” law, which passed after the 2018 mass shooting at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and allows guns to be removed from people found to pose a threat to themselves or others. The ruling by a panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal came in a case in which the Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office believed that one of its deputies, Jefferson Eugene Davis, posed a threat after he suspected infidelity by his longtime girlfriend. (Saunders, 9/26)

Modern Healthcare: North Carolina Blues CEO Conway Resigns Following Arrest Backlash
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina's CEO Dr. Patrick Conway resigned on Thursday amid mounting backlash over his arrest in an alcohol-related car accident and criticism over how the company handled the situation. In a statement, the North Carolina insurer's board of trustees said it asked Dr. Patrick Conway for his resignation after new details emerged, including notes from arresting officers and information from their investigative files. The board named chief operating officer Gerald Petkau as interim CEO. (Livingston, 9/26)

The Advocate: Four Candidates Vie For Open Seat In House District 67 In Baton Rouge; Focus On Education And Health Care 
Education and health care are the major issues in the House District 67 race, were four candidates are running to fill the open seat. The four contenders — three Democrats and one Republican — are vying to succeed Rep. Patricia Haynes Smith, who is in her third four-year term and is now running for the state Senate in District 14. (Paterson, 9/26)

Los Angeles Times: Stem Cells Of 56 Child Cancer Patients Lost At Children’s Hospital After Freezer Malfunction
A freezer malfunction at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles resulted in the loss of 56 children’s blood stem cells that were harvested at the beginning of each patient’s oncology therapy and stored in the event they could prove useful in the future. “We apologize for any distress or confusion that this has caused our patients and their families,” the hospital wrote in a statement. “If you have not received a letter or phone call from our team, your child is not impacted.” (Shalby, 9/26)

Los Angeles Times: Mold Discovery Halts Elective Surgeries At L.A. County-USC Medical Center
Health officials have abruptly halted all elective surgeries at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center after the discovery of mold contamination in a room used to sterilize surgical equipment. The Boyle Heights hospital, which is part of the L.A. County Department of Health Services system that serves as the safety net for millions of the county’s poorest and most vulnerable residents, will be unable to perform surgery and many other medical procedures for an estimated two weeks, according to an internal hospital email obtained by The Times. (Dolan and Mejia, 9/26)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Pharmaceutical Company Reps, Cleveland-Area Doctors Charged In Kickback Scheme To Increase Prescriptions For Neurological Drug
Four Ohio residents, including two doctors and two drug company representatives, were named in a federal indictment that say the doctors received kickbacks from the representatives to increase prescriptions for a medication that treats a neurological condition. The crimes centered on the prescription drug Nuedexta. (Heisig, 9/26)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgians Charged In Federal Health Care Fraud Sweep
Federal authorities have charged seven Georgians as part of a batch of several dozen health care-related crime cases announced Thursday by the U.S. Department of Justice. Altogether the authorities charged 67 people in Georgia and Florida, largely in Miami. (Hart, 9/26)

San Francisco Chronicle: Mentally Ill Man Moved From Jail To Treatment So Health Department ‘Wouldn’t Have To Appear’ In Court
San Francisco’s health department has long struggled to find treatment beds for mentally ill people in jail — leaving many to languish behind bars for months while they wait for appropriate treatment. After the public defender’s office challenged the long wait times this month, an official admitted the department finally moved an incarcerated man into mental health care treatment after an eight-month wait so officials “wouldn’t have to appear” at a court hearing, according to a transcript obtained by The Chronicle. (Thadani, 9/26)

Tampa Bay Times: Man Who Ran ‘Deplorable’ Homes For Mental Patients Indicted In $1.27 Million Fraud
A St. Petersburg landlord who ran assisted living centers for mental health patients is accused in a federal indictment of using the identities of former employees to defraud the government of nearly $1.27 million in Medicaid money. Marcus Lloyd Anderson, 34, was supposed to use the money to provide counseling and psychiatric services to his residents, according to federal court records. He faces seven counts of health care fraud and six counts of identity fraud. (Varn, 9/26)

St. Louis Public Radio: Missouri Governor Is Last Hope For Death Row Inmate
Missouri is scheduled to execute Russell Bucklew by lethal injection on Tuesday, but his advocates want Gov. Mike Parson to stop it because they say a medical condition would make him endure needless pain. The Cape Girardeau man was convicted of murder, rape and kidnapping in 1997. His lawyers and advocates are not challenging his guilt, but instead say Bucklew’s rare medical condition would cause him to suffer a cruel and unusual punishment. (Driscoll, 9/26)