Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: Ga. Falls To 41st In Older People's Health; Ohio Senate Contemplates State Versus Local Authority For Lead Regulation
Georgia Health News: State Slips To 41st In Senior Health Rating
Georgia ranks 41st among states on older people’s health, down two spots from last year’s ranking, a new report says... Georgia had a 12 percent decrease in senior poverty in the past two years; a 16 percent increase in health screenings over that time; and a similar rise in seniors with “high health status.’’ (Miller, 6/9)
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Lawmakers Deciding Future Of Ohio's Lead Laws Hear Debate Over State Versus Local Control
The Senate is currently considering the future of an amendment to the pending budget added in May by Rep. Derek Merrin, a real estate investor who represents parts of Lucas and Fulton counties. The amendment essentially would give exclusive power for regulating lead poisoning to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH). The impetus was a Toledo ordinance that requires certain rental units to be inspected for lead hazards. (Dissell and Zeltner, 6/12)
Columbus Dispatch: Columbus To Sue Landlords On Lingering Lead-Paint Hazards
Columbus city attorneys and public-health officials are preparing dozens of court cases against landlords who haven’t removed hazardous lead paint from their properties despite city orders. The officials acknowledge that they haven’t compiled cases as a group like this before, and are doing so only after an Ohio Department of Health report in May said that 51 Columbus residences, most of them rentals, must be vacated because of lead hazards. (Viviano and Ferenchik, 6/12)
Los Angeles Times: Health Officials Urge Meningitis Vaccination Amid L.A. Pride Festival
Los Angeles County health officials on Friday again urged gay and bisexual men to get vaccinated against meningitis, as an outbreak that began last year continues to grow. Twenty-nine people in the county have been diagnosed with meningitis since March 2016, with the latest case identified a few weeks ago. Earlier this year, one patient died from the infection. (Karlamangla, 6/9)
Boston Globe: Dentists Fault Compensation Levels For Delta Dental’s Executives
Delta Dental of Massachusetts has argued that its recently proposed contract changes, which would reduce some reimbursements to dentists, are necessary for the nonprofit insurer to grow and remain competitive. But dentists, many of them concerned about absorbing the cuts, say the company should be looking elsewhere for savings: at its executive compensation, which exceeds the pay at other Massachusetts nonprofit insurers. (Dayal McCluskey, 6/11)
Denver Post: Pride Week: Dr. Daniel Reirden Of Children's Hospital On Trans Youth
Hearing the national debate surrounding so-called “bathroom bills,” the laws that would require people to use gender-segregated facilities based on their sex at birth, just makes Dr. Daniel Reirden shake his head. Just as the controversy surrounding Rosa Parks wasn’t about the bus, this conversation around who gets to use which toilet isn’t really about the bathroom, says Reirden...From 2013 to 2016, 24 states — including Colorado — considered bathroom bills. And this is just one of the things transgender youth have to listen to, along with people reciting statistics of alarmingly high suicide rates, people testifying about why the process to change their birth certificates shouldn’t be simplified, or parents of peers who have problems with their gender identity. (Worthington, 6/11)
The Baltimore Sun: Dimensions Completes Next Step To Becoming Part Of UM Medical System
The Dimensions Healthcare System board of directors said Friday it has unanimously approved a plan to become a part of the University of Maryland Medical System. The Prince George's County health system said it is "an important step" in a process that has been several years in the making to become an affiliate of the University of Maryland. There are several more steps still needed before a deal is completed. The board of the University of Maryland must now review and approve the plans, something it plans to do this summer, said spokeswoman Karen Lancaster. Lancaster said the goal is to have the affiliation completed this year. (McDaniels, 6/9)
The Philadelphia Inquirer: The Nursing Gap In Nursing Homes
Brookside Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center near Jenkintown provided 39 percent of the registered nursing a day expected by federal regulators during a recent three-year period. Advocates and some academics say that’s a sign of a company out to boost profits...For overall nursing care, which includes RNs, LPNs, and nursing assistants, Brookside’s 4.1 hours per patient day easily topped the state minimum of 2.7 hours per day of care, but was well below the 4.9 hours a day expectation calculated by federal regulators based on the mix of patients at Brookside during annual inspections. (Brubaker, 6/11)
Sacramento Bee: Students Use Art As Activism At California State Capitol
Members of Brown Issues, Fathers and Family of San Joaquin County, and We’Ced Youth Media painted puzzle pieces of what “We Are All Californians” meant to them and then assembled them Tuesday at the Capitol into the shape of the bear on the California flag. All members are active participants in the California Endowment’s #Health4All campaign that aims to raise awareness that undocumented immigrants lack affordable health care in California. (Marks, 6/9)
The Baltimore Sun: Chase Brexton Says Executive's Departure Unrelated To Suspension Of License
An executive at Chase Brexton Health Care, whose license as a social worker was suspended recently by the state, resigned several weeks ago, but officials at the chain of health clinics said his departure is not related to the suspension. Jermaine Anton Wyatt, vice president of psychosocial services since 2015, is leaving next month to take a job in Washington, confirmed Becky J. Frank, the organization's vice president of development and marketing. (McDaniels, 6/10)
San Antonio Express-News: Despite Unprecedented Momentum, Texas Rejects Marijuana Legislative Reform
House Bill 2107, authored by state Rep. Eddie Lucio III, D-Brownsville, would have given safe access to medical cannabis for qualifying patients with certain debilitating medical conditions under strict conditions listed in the bill. Although it earned 77 Democratic and Republican co-authors after its committee hearing, the bill never made it to the House floor for a vote. (Mejia Lutz, 6/10)
