State Highlights: Gov. Inslee Proposes Funding Boost For Wash.’s Mental Health System; States Reluctant To Impose Limits On Senior Drivers

Seattle Times: Gov. Inslee Wants $300 Million To Fix Mental-Health System In State Budget Plan 
Gov. Jay Inslee has proposed adding hundreds of millions of dollars to the troubled mental-health system and eventually downsizing the state’s two psychiatric hospitals by moving patients into community-based facilities. The governor’s plan to reshape Washington’s mental-health system was the centerpiece of a 2017-19 state operating-budget proposal he unveiled Wednesday that would total $46.7 billion over the two-year budget cycle. The Democrat’s plan represents a more than 20 percent spending hike over the $38.2 billion two-year budget approved in 2015 — something sure to draw the ire of Republican lawmakers. (O'Sullivan, 12/14)

Stateline: Should Older Drivers Face Special Restrictions?
By 2030, more than 60 million older adults could be driving on the nation’s roadways. But don’t expect many more states to put added restrictions on their ability to get behind the wheel. Legislatures have become increasingly reluctant to restrict driver’s licenses for seniors or impose extra requirements — such as vision or road tests — for getting them renewed based solely on their advancing age. That’s partly because older people are generally considered safe drivers, more programs exist to improve their driving skills, and recent studies have shown that many of the restrictions aren’t as effective as once thought in preventing traffic fatalities. (Bergal, 12/15)

The Star Tribune: Mental Health Provider Seeks State OK To Double-Bunk Young Patients
PrairieCare, a fast-growing Twin Cities mental health provider, is seeking state permission to double-bunk pediatric patients at its psychiatric hospital in Brooklyn Park, due to the number of children and teens who can’t find open beds when they suffer mental and behavioral crises. The for-profit provider wants to add second beds to 21 of the 50 inpatient rooms at its year-old hospital, and filed a plan this fall with the Minnesota Department of Health, which must now decide whether to recommend the project to the Legislature. (Olson, 12/14)

Denver Post: Strip Searches At State-Run Center In Pueblo Violated Disabled Residents’ Rights, Suit Alleges 
The constitutional rights of intellectually disabled people at a state-run center in Pueblo were violated when officials strip searched them to determine whether they had been abused, a lawsuit filed Wednesday on behalf of 18 residents alleges...In March 2015, the Colorado Department of Human Services strip searched 62 residents at the Pueblo Regional Center for the severely intellectually disabled. The state’s public health department later determined the searches “resulted in disregard of individual rights including privacy, dignity and respect” and “resulted in individuals being scared and confused and some remained agitated days after the inspections took place.” (Osher, 12/14)

Denver Post: Family Sues Arapahoe County, Private Health Care Contractor For 2014 Jail Death 
The private medical staff that cares for inmates inside the Arapahoe County Detention Facility allowed a 37-year-old man to die on the floor of his cell in a pool of blood and vomit after ignoring his rapidly declining health, according to a federal lawsuit filed this week. Jeffrey Lillis died on Dec. 14, 2014, from sepsis caused by bacterial pneumonia after complaining for days that he didn’t feel well, recording an escalating fever and coughing up blood. His death involved a rare “cadaveric spasm,” in which the entire muscular system stiffens at death and is “usually associated with violent deaths happening under extremely physical circumstances with intense emotion,” according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Colorado. (Phillips, 12/14)

Kansas Health Institute: Schmidt Returns To Top Spot On Kansas Senate Health Committee
Sen. Vicki Schmidt will chair the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee next year, regaining a position she last held in 2012.“ I’m certainly excited to chair public health and welfare again and excited for the opportunities to explore issues that are very important to Kansans,” Schmidt said in a phone interview Wednesday. Schmidt, a Republican pharmacist from Topeka, last chaired the committee during the 2012 legislative session, when the chamber was led by moderate Republicans. (Marso, 12/14)

Kansas Health Institute: Legislators Recommend Few Changes To Health Licensing Boards 
A committee of legislators formed to study the consolidation of licensing boards for a dozen public health professions ultimately decided Wednesday to recommend few changes. Consolidation of the boards was one of the recommendations from a government efficiency study lawmakers commissioned last year to help them identify cuts to close persistent budget deficits. But most of the licensing boards involved strongly opposed consolidation, and Rep. Dan Hawkins noted that consolidation would not help with the state general fund deficits because the boards are almost entirely funded through fees on their members. (Marso, 12/14)

New Hampshire Public Radio: Task Force On Seacoast Cancer Cluster Issues Recommendations 
The governor’s task force investigating cancer clusters on the Seacoast issued a set of recommendations Wednesday. The task force was charged with investigating potential causes for unusually high rates of two cancers among children living in a region of the Seacoast. Today the task force issued a set of recommendations, including one to extend municipal water to homes near the Coakley Landfill – a superfund site that was investigated as a potential cause of the high cancer rates. (Moon, 12/14)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Medical College Of Wisconsin Plans Residency Program
The Medical College of Wisconsin and Froedtert Health are starting a family-medicine residency program at Froedtert Community Memorial Hospital, an initiative that could help relieve the shortage of physicians in the specialty. Family-medicine has been the most in-demand medical specialty for 10 consecutive years, according to Merritt Hawkins, which recruits physicians. (Boulton, 12/14)

Sacramento Bee: MMA Fighters Must Pass Pre-Event Concussion Protocol In California
For the first time in California, mixed martial artists – along with professional boxers – will undergo testing before and possibly after bouts to help determine if they have suffered neurological damage or deficiencies. All fighters scheduled for Saturday’s UFC Fight Night on Fox at Golden 1 Center have been given baseline testing on cognitive awareness and balance using an iPad with proprietary software designed for the C3 protocol. It stands for Comprehensive Concussion Care and is modeled after tests administered by the Cleveland Clinic’s Professional Fighter Brain Health Study. (Billingsley, 12/14)

Modern Healthcare: Fire Breaks Out At NYU Langone Medical Center 
Firefighters responded to a two-alarm fire at NYU Langone Medical Center early Wednesday afternoon. Smoke billowed over the East River from 560 First Ave., part of a construction site within the medical complex. There were 106 firefighters who responded to the blaze and got it under control shortly before 1 p.m., FDNY officials said. One person was treated for minor injuries. The fire broke out on the seventh floor of the site, according to NYU Langone. NYU Langone is in the middle of construction on the Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Pavilion, an 830,000-square-foot building alongside its flagship Tisch Hospital. The project's cost is $1.4 billion, according to the organization's most recent financial statements, and the pavilion is scheduled to open in 2018. (LaMantia, 12/14)

Health News Florida: Programs Help Younger Stroke Survivors Regain Speech 
[Dierda] Lee is part of what researchers call a disturbing trend. Americans aged 25 to 44 are seeing their rates of stroke go up 43 percent. Researchers aren’t sure why. It could be an increase in obesity, diabetes and bad cholesterol in the younger age group. It could be that advances in imaging are diagnosing more strokes that might previously have been missed. (Aboraya, 12/14)

Texas Tribune: Backers Hopeful Texas Ready To Screen Welfare Recipients For Drug Use
In the past eight years, Texas lawmakers have tried nearly a dozen times to pass a law requiring drug screenings or testing for applicants for state welfare benefits. Ahead of next year's legislative session, supporters are hopeful momentum is finally on their side. (Evans, 12/15)