State Highlights: Georgia Strikes Mental Health Services Deal With Feds; States Consider Soda, Cigarette Taxes
Outlets report on health news in Georgia, Illinois, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia, Colorado, South Carolina, Iowa, Florida and Ohio.
Georgia Health News:
Georgia, Feds Reach Deal On Fixing 2010 Agreement
State and federal officials have reached agreement on how Georgia can improve and expand services for people with developmental disabilities and mental illness, building on the terms of a landmark 2010 pact. (Miller, 5/18)
The Associated Press:
Amid Budget Deficit, Illinois Considers Taxing Sugary Drinks
Lawmakers scrambling to find money to fix Illinois' multibillion dollar deficit are looking to sugary drinks as one potential source of revenue. Taxing distributors of sodas, energy drinks and other sugary beverages was among the revenue-generating ideas a group of lawmakers proposed to Gov. Bruce Rauner and other legislative leaders last week to try to finally end a nearly yearlong impasse that's left the state without a budget. (5/18)
The Associated Press:
Democrats, Republicans Clash Over Cigarette Tax In Oklahoma
The Oklahoma House rejected a proposed $1.50-per-pack tax on cigarettes to help stave off cuts to the state's health care system, with Democrats uniting against the plan until it includes an expansion of Medicaid for the working poor. (Murphy, 5/18)
CBS News:
A New Headache For Mental Health Patients
Late last month Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam signed legislation allowing counselors and therapists to use their "sincerely held personal beliefs" as a basis for rejecting patients, the first law of its kind. (Konrad, 5/19)
The Richmond Times-Dispatch:
HDL Fights Department Of Justice Subpoena
Health Diagnostic Laboratory is attempting to avoid getting dragged back into a federal lawsuit that it settled its way out of last year. (Demeria, 5/18)
The Denver Post:
Ninety Percent Of Colorado Residents With Hepatitis C Going Untreated
Nearly 90 percent of Colorado residents infected with hepatitis C, now the deadliest infectious disease in the United States, are going untreated, a new report estimates. (Olinger, 5/18)
The Associated Press:
House To Decide On Ban On Online Eye Exams For Prescriptions
The South Carolina House will decide whether companies can offer prescriptions for glasses and contacts after online eye exams. The Senate voted 39-3 Wednesday to override Gov. Nikki Haley's veto of a bill banning the practice. An override in the House would bar prescriptions based solely on a computerized eye test. That chamber passed the bill 100-1 last month. (Adcox, 5/16)
The Des Moines Register:
Nursing Facility Doors Slam Shut For Transgender Iowan
Whether working as a drag queen or a government employee, LeQuan Edwards always managed to find a bathroom to use. Edwards, 52, is transgender. From where she’s been sitting these past few months — a hospital bed in Des Moines — her struggle to be treated like anyone else has never been so great. Her current problem is a national one and arguably more critical than the one a Florida congressman recently dubbed The Great Bathroom Debate. Iowa’s Civil Rights Act expressly prohibits discrimination based on gender identity. Still, Edwards’ caregivers have been unable to find a place for her to live. (Rood, 5/18)
The Miami Herald:
In Search Of Bigger Butts, Women Find South Florida Death Traps
Heather Meadows will never know what it’s like to see her infant daughter and 6-year-old son grow up. She won’t reach mid-life... Instead, the 29-year-old mother has become the latest face of an issue that merits serious and determined action from authorities: the growing death toll at South Florida’s shadowy cosmetic surgery clinics. (Santiago, 5/19)
USA Today/St. Lucie (Fla.) News-Tribune:
Man Says He Killed Sick Wife Because He Couldn't Afford Her Medication
A Florida man killed his wife earlier this week because he said he could no longer pay for her medication, according to authorities. William Hager, 86, told the St. Lucie County sheriff’s officials that his wife of more than 50 years was in poor health and pain. He said he could no longer afford to pay for Carolyn Hager's medication, so he shot her in the head on Monday with a .32-caliber revolver as she slept. He put the gun down, drank coffee and then contacted family members and told them that he killed the 78-year-old. (Greenlee, 5/18)
The Columbus Dispatch:
Ohio Senate Looks To Tweak Medical Marijuana Proposal
The Senate is expected to make a handful of changes on Wednesday to a House-passed medical marijuana bill, including who is responsible for crafting the rules and regulations. (Siegel, 5/18)
