State Highlights: Fla.’s Price Transparency Law; N.J. Audit Reveals Incorrect Hospital Incentive Payments

Health News Florida: PriceCheck: Not All Health Care Transparency Tools Are Alike 
A Google search for the term “medical prices” turns up several tools you can use to look up healthcare costs. If you have insurance, you may have seen a similar tool on your provider's website. Florida lawmakers even passed a price transparency law this year that will create a database of prices for medical procedures. But how do you know what the price comparison tools are really telling you?...On one side are for-profit sites that contract with health care providers. The sites list cash prices of common procedures that consumers can pay for up-front. (Ochoa, 8/31)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: New Jersey Made Incorrect Incentive Payments To Hospitals
The New Jersey Department of Human Services made inaccurate incentive payments to 15 hospitals, according to an audit released Wednesday of a federal program designed to encourage the health care industry to adopt electronic health records. The agency overpaid 10 hospitals by $2.4 million and underpaid five hospitals by $137,329, according to the audit of Medicaid incentive payments by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General. (Brubaker, 8/31)

KQED: Update: Lawmakers Pass Measure To End Surprise Out-Of-Network Medical Bills
The California Assembly passed AB 72 late this afternoon. The bill heads next to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk. It passed by a huge margin with bipartisan support, unlike a similar bill last year which stalled by three votes on the last day of the 2015 legislative session. (Klivans, 8/31)

Modern Healthcare: Researchers Question Report Alleging Vulnerabilities In St. Jude Devices 
A report published Aug. 25 by short-selling investment firm Muddy Waters and cybersecurity company MedSec Holdings claims that St. Jude's cardiac devices, particularly its Merlin@Home Transmitter, “lack even the most basic forms of security.” The analysis states that its devices lack hardware identify protection, encrypted software and anti-debugging mechanisms. St. Jude officials have consistently denied the allegations since the report published. (Castellucci, 8/31)

Health News Florida: Supreme Court Turns Down Appeal In Tobacco Case
The Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to take up an appeal by a woman who sued tobacco companies after her husband died of cancer following decades of smoking. The 4th District Court of Appeal in March overturned a multimillion-dollar verdict against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Lorillard Tobacco Co. and ordered a new trial in the case filed by Kathleen Gafney. The appeals court found that Gafney's attorneys during a trial in Palm Beach County circuit court made improper comments aimed, in part, at getting jurors to "send a message" to tobacco companies. (8/31)

Chicago Tribune: South Holland Woman Convicted In Health Care Referral Scheme
A federal jury on Tuesday found a South Holland woman guilty of pocketing kickbacks in exchange for referring patients to home health care agencies while she was running a Homewood -based business, according to the FBI...The jury convicted Williams on one count of conspiracy to solicit and receive remuneration in return for the referral of Medicare patients, and six counts of soliciting and receiving remuneration in return for the referral of Medicare patients, according to the FBI. Each count carries a sentence of up to five years in prison. (Swedberg, 8/31)

San Antonio Press Express: Bexar Co. DA Nico LaHood Goes On Anti-Vaccination Rant On Facebook, 'I've Done My Own Research'
Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood continued his anti-vaccination crusade Tuesday night on his official Facebook page where he engaged in discussions, arguments and advocated for parents' rights to not immunize their children against diseases. (Bradshaw, 8/31)

The New York Times: Lead Tests On New York City Schools’ Water May Have Masked Scope Of Risk
When the results of tests for lead in the water at more than 1,500 New York City school buildings were announced in July, officials said that fewer than 1 percent of all the samples taken showed lead concentrations that exceeded Environmental Protection Agency guidelines. Given other safety measures in place, officials assured parents, the water was safe to drink. But a review of how the testing was conducted suggests that the amount of lead in the water that students consume could be greater than the results indicate. (Taylor, 8/31)

Columbus Dispatch: Report Says Oil And Gas Production Will Exacerbate Asthma In Children
About 30,000 children in Ohio, including 7,000 in the Columbus area, will suffer asthma attacks each year by 2025 because of smog created by oil and gas operations, according to a new report. The report, released Wednesday by the Boston-based Clean Air Task Force, also quantified the average days of school missed and hours spent inside due to air pollution. The report should serve as a wake-up call for U.S. and Ohio residents, said Melanie Houston, director of oil and gas for the Ohio Environmental Council. (Tate, 8/31)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: City Aiming To Register More Rental Properties As Part Of Plan To Reduce Lead Poisoning
Cleveland's Building & Housing department says it has a plan it hopes will increase landlords who currently register their rental properties with the city and revenue from that registration. The work started with the city's ongoing effort to reduce childhood lead poisoning cases, because children are more often lead poisoned in rental properties. Having more rentals registered would help the city perform planned health and safety inspections for city rentals, according to Ron O'Leary, director of the Building & Housing department. (Dissell, 9/1)