State Highlights: Fla. In Trouble Over Kids’ Medicaid; No Calif. Plans To Continue Medicaid Pay Bump

Miami Herald: Florida Illegally Deprived Needy Kids Of Health Care, Judge Rules
A federal judge Wednesday declared Florida’s health care system for needy and disabled children to be in violation of several federal laws, handing a stunning victory to doctors and children’s advocates who have fought for almost a decade to force the state to pay pediatricians enough money to ensure impoverished children can receive adequate care. In his 153-page ruling, U.S. Circuit Judge Adalberto Jordan said lawmakers had for years set the state’s Medicaid budget at an artificially low level, causing pediatricians and other specialists for children to opt out of the insurance program for the needy. In some areas of the state, parents had to travel long distances to see specialists. (Marbin Miller, 12/31)

Los Angeles Times: No Plans For California To Make Up For Expiring 'Medicaid Fee Bump'
California officials have no plans to make up for an expiring federal pay incentive designed to entice doctors to treat low-income patients. The end of the subsidy with the start of the new year could result in steep pay cuts for many doctors participating in the Medicaid system for needy Californians. (Brown, 12/31/14)

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The Emergency At Georgia's Rural Hospitals
Nationwide, three rural hospitals closed in 2010, according to a report from the University of North Carolina. Fourteen closed last year. Many closures have been in the South in recent years, including Texas with eight, Alabama with five and Tennessee with three, the study shows. (Williams, 1/3)

The Texas Tribune: The Perry Legacy: Health Care
During his 14 years in office, Gov. Rick Perry has championed private-market health care solutions and criticized public programs like Medicaid for being inefficient. He has also led the state’s fight against the Affordable Care Act, which he has criticized as federal overreach. But as he wages such battles, he has presided over a state with the highest rate of uninsured in the country. (Ura and Walters, 12/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Tending To Unmet Dental Needs, A Root Of Elder Hunger
For many homebound seniors, the biggest challenge to staving off hunger and getting needed nutrition isn’t having money to buy food or the physical or cognitive ability to prepare it. It is simply being able to chew. In one of the first programs of its kind in the U.S., nonprofit food-delivery service Citymeals-on-Wheels recently joined with Columbia University College of Dental Medicine to conduct a pilot study of meal recipients’ oral health. Funded with a $50,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health, the research has included both phone interviews and dental house calls to low-income seniors, many of whom haven’t seen a dentist in years—sometimes decades. (Wilson, 1/1)

Bloomberg: Texas Abortion Clinics Seen Facing Long Odds In Fight On Limits
Texas abortion clinics that persuaded a judge to throw out restrictions may face long odds in convincing a conservative U.S. appeals court to permanently block laws that would leave the second-largest U.S. state with only seven facilities, compared with 41 two years ago. The clinics this week will go before three judges appointed by Republican President George W. Bush, asking them to uphold the ruling that the law violates women’s constitutional right to an abortion. The U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans has repeatedly ruled against the clinics in earlier battles. (Brubaker Calkins, 1/5)

The Associated Press: Mental Health Advocates Seek Relief For Autistic Va. Inmate
Mental health and civil liberties advocates are urging Gov. Terry McAuliffe to intervene in the case of a Virginia inmate with autism who faces trial Wednesday for allegedly assaulting a correctional officer. (1/4)

Kaiser Health News: As Caregiving Shifts To The Home, Scrutiny Is Lacking
California’s frail elderly and disabled residents increasingly are receiving care in their own homes, an arrangement that saves the government money and offers many people a greater sense of comfort and autonomy than life in an institution. Yet caregivers are largely untrained and unsupervised, even when paid by the state, leaving thousands of residents at risk of possible abuse, neglect and poor treatment, a Kaiser Health News investigation found. (Gorman, 1/5)

Miami Herald: Judge Rebukes Florida For Failing To Aid Foster Siblings
A child welfare judge in Miami has accused the state of denying necessary psychiatric treatment to abused and neglected children in its care, and has ordered Florida social service administrators to appear before him and explain why they have “no duty” to help sick foster kids. (Marbin Miller, 1/4)

The Washington Post: CareFirst Is Ordered To Spend $56M On Community Health Needs By D.C. Regulators
D.C. insurance regulators on Tuesday ordered the Washington region’s largest health insurer to spend $56 million on community health needs in the District, calling the billion-dollar cash reserves of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield legally “excessive.” The order, signed by acting insurance commissioner Chester A. McPherson, is a landmark moment in a decade-long battle over the reserve holdings belonging to a nonprofit subsidiary of CareFirst. The company has long said the reserve is a prudent hedge against possible catastrophes. (DeBonis, 12/30)

Kansas Health Institute News Service: KC Hospital System Defends Record As Medicare Cuts Loom
A spokeswoman for Kansas City's largest hospital system defended its record on patient safety following an announcement last month that more than half its facilities are among those to be penalized by the federal government for hospital acquired ailments. (Marso, 1/2)