State Highlights: Fla. To Boost Mental Health Spending By $58M; Wyoming Health Department Braces For Deep Budget Cuts

Health News Florida: State To Spend $58M More On Mental Health Care
Florida will spend $58 million more next year on mental health care, with $16 million addressing staffing and safety deficits in the state’s mental hospitals, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports. (5/23)

Wyoming Public Media: Health Department Braces For Serious Budget Cuts
Due to a massive drop in projected revenues, the Governor is trying to cut spending for the next two-year budget cycle by eight percent. He said he is trying to cut spending levels back to where they were ten years ago. (Beck, 5/23)

Stateline: Having A Parent Behind Bars Costs Children, States
Many states are beginning to look at a growing body of research that shows that having a parent behind bars can have a destabilizing effect on an estimated 1.7 million children ... The separation can have costly emotional and social consequences, such as trauma and trouble in schools, homelessness, and bigger welfare and foster care rolls. Some states are encouraging greater contact between the children and their parents by using new technology such as televisiting, or by placing parents in the closest correctional facility. And some are trying to intervene when a parent is charged, tried and convicted of a crime to provide emotional support and a stable home for the children. (Wiltz, 5/24)

The Tennnessean: Lawmaker: Tennessee Prisons Need To Say Which Inmates Have Hepatitis C
In the face of a hepatitis C epidemic, a state lawmaker wants Tennessee prison officials to be able to tell corrections officers which inmates have hepatitis C. Rep. John Mark Windle, D-Livingston, didn't specifically say the Tennessee Department of Correction should test all inmates for hepatitis C. (Boucher, 5/23)

Chicago Tribune: Advocate Health Care Opens 56 Walgreens Clinics Across Chicago Area
Advocate Health Care recently revealed a new concept, as the provider started to open 56 clinics inside Walgreen stores located across the Chicago area. The in-store health care offices provide physicals and vaccinations, as well as treatment for common illnesses, injuries, cold and flu, ear infections, strep throat, migraines, pink eye and rashes, said Liz Donofrio, manager of public affairs and marketing at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington. (Shields, 5/23)

California Healthline: Ballot Measure Seeks To Protect Use Of Hospital Fees For Low-Income Health Coverage
A joint legislative committee Wednesday will hear pro and con arguments on a ballot measure intended to protect an important source of funding for low-income Californians. The measure, known as the Medi-Cal Funding and Accountability Act, would override the scheduled expiration of a fund used by the state to bring in matching dollars from the federal government for Medi-Cal, California’s version of the Medicaid health care program for low-income people. The fund — financed by hospitals — would become permanent. (Ibarra, 5/24

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Senior Housing: Here In Philly, It's Not Cheap
It's becoming more expensive for older folks to move into senior housing - especially in Philadelphia, which a new survey ranks among the Top 10 most expensive metro areas in the nation for senior living. For example, the median cost for assisted living in the Philadelphia region was $4,663 a month in 2015, ranking the area below Washington, New York, Boston, and Minneapolis but above San Francisco, according to the survey conducted by A Place for Mom. (Arvedlund, 5/23)

Chicago Sun-Times: Three From West Town Clinic Charged With Medicaid Fraud
Three health care workers have been charged with illegally billing Medicaid from their family clinic in the West Town neighborhood, Illinois State police announced Monday. Hector L. Flores-Arroyo, 56; Mohan C. Rao, 82; and Susana Araujo, 61, were each charged with one count of vendor fraud, two counts of theft and two counts of conspiracy, all felonies, police said. Araujo also faces a felony count of unlicensed practice of medicine. (5/23)

The Oregonian: Oregon On Track To Collect $43 Million In Pot Taxes This Year
Oregon is expected to take in about $43 million in tax revenue from recreational marijuana this year under a revised estimate by state economists. The state's unexpectedly large tax haul so far prompted economists to revisit their original projections, which had put revenue somewhere between $2 million to $3 million for the whole year. (Crombie, 5/23)