Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: Henry Ford Health System Refinancing Debt; Problems For Calif.'s Aid-In-Dying Efforts
Detroit Free Press: Massive $1B Debt Refinancing At Henry Ford Health System
The Henry Ford Health System says it will save more than $125 million after undertaking a massive debt refinancing this week that could be the biggest of its kind in Michigan history. The Detroit-based health system announced that it sold about $1 billion in bonds on Tuesday in order to buy back older bonds that had higher interest rates. The interest rates on these new 30-year, tax-exempt bonds average 3.7%. The previous average was 4.2%. (Reindl, 9/16)
San Jose Mercury News: Terminally Ill Californians Struggling To Find Doctors To Help With Aid In Dying
For 78-year-old Judy Dale, this wasn’t the way California’s new aid-in-dying law was supposed to work. The San Francisco grandmother, her body riddled with cancer, had hoped to die on her own terms when the time came by ingesting lethal medications prescribed by a physician. But the panic-filled weeks she spent this summer trying to find a doctor — any doctor — willing to participate in the state’s End of Life Option Act were running out. By the time she located one, it was too late, and when Dale drew her final breath Tuesday morning, it was not the kind of death she — or her family — had envisioned. (Seipel, 9/17)
San Francisco Chronicle: New Law Lets Businesses Get EpiPen Prescriptions To Save Lives
Restaurants, day care centers and other businesses will be able to stock and administer life-saving prescription medicine to immediately treat severe allergic reactions in their diners, pupils or customers under a bill signed Friday by Gov. Jerry Brown. The governor, however, took the unusual step of condemning the pharmaceutical company that makes the lifesaving drug known as the EpiPen, or epinephrine auto-injectors, in a bill-signing message that spoke of “unconscionable price increases.” (Gutierrez, 9/16)
The Associated Press: Oklahoma’s First New Abortion Clinic In 40 Years Opens Doors
Despite facing some of the nation’s strictest anti-abortion laws, a Kansas-based foundation opened a new facility in Oklahoma City — the first new abortion provider in the state in 40 years. The Trust Women South Wind Women’s Center welcomed the first patients last week to its clinic on the city’s south side. Six licensed physicians are providing services there, including abortions, OB-GYN care, family planning, adoption and emergency contraception. (Murphy, 9/16)
Health News Florida: Survey: Florida Health Care System Ranks 38 In Nation
The Sunshine State’s health care system is one of the worst in the country, according to a new survey from the personal-finance website Wallet Hub. One Northeast Florida public health expert said that has more to do with state policy than it does with the quality of doctors. WalletHub looked at three different health care factors: cost, access and outcome. (Benk, 9/16)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: $3M Grant For Black Colleges And University Healthcare Students
A $3 million grant from Kaiser Permanente to the Morehouse School of Medicine is being used to run an undergraduate program to help students at historic black colleges and universities in Atlanta enter graduate-level study in the health and biomedical fields. The Undergraduate Health Sciences Academy at Morehouse School of Medicine was announced during the school’s 32nd fall convocation, white coat and pinning ceremony. (Quinn, 9/16)
Columbus Dispatch: Central Ohio Hospitals Show Video On Infant Deaths To All New Moms
Amanda Williamson-Cline cuddled her 2-day-old son in bed at Mount Carmel St. Ann’s on Thursday with husband, Matthew, by their side. They were watching a new video on the benefits of breast-feeding, the ABCs of safe sleeping for infants (alone, on their backs and in a crib), and a reminder to make sure parents and guardians trust the person they hand their crying child to. Central Ohio’s four main hospital systems — Mount Carmel, Nationwide Children’s, OhioHealth and Ohio State University — have agreed to show the video to all new mothers before they’re discharged. That’s about 19,000 deliveries a year in the county. (Rinehart, 9/18)
Bloomberg: Community Health Said To Explore Options Including Sale
Community Health Systems Inc., the troubled hospital operator, is exploring a possible sale of its business, people with knowledge of the matter said. The Franklin, Tennessee-based company is working with advisers to consider options, although the deliberations are at an early stage and there is no certainty of a deal, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. (Hammond and Lauerman, 9/16)
Cleveland Plain-Dealer: Summa Health To Offer Instant Doctors Appointment Scheduling
Summa Health has launched a new doctors appointment scheduling service that will allow patients to schedule themselves online. The scheduling service, summahealth.org/schedulenow, allows patients to view doctors' schedules in real time, select an open timeslot and schedule their appointment. The service also allows patients to view provider qualifications, patient reviews and additional tools for selecting providers who best fit their needs. (Becka, 9/16)
Oakland Tribune: West County: After Hospital Closure, What’s Next For Health District?
More than a year after the closure of Doctors Medical Center, the agency tasked with its day-to-day operations still functions, spending an estimated $500,000 a month of taxpayer money on administrative, legal and financial costs. But with the sale of the hospital property expected to be finalized by early next year, discussions are in the works over what should happen to the West Contra Costa Healthcare District now that it doesn’t have a medical center to run. (Ioffee, 9/16)
San Jose Mercury News: California Tobacco Tax: Prop. 56 Faces Uphill Battle Against Lobbies
The tobacco industry has poured nearly $56 million into fighting Proposition 56, about three times the $17.5 million raised by supporters as of August. If approved, the new tobacco tax would generate $1.4 billion in its first year. Most of the additional tax would go toward Medi-Cal, which provides health coverage for California’s poor and which backers say shoulders $3.5 billion a year for treating tobacco-related illnesses. (Giwargis, 9/16)
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Jefferson To Restart, Expand Heart Transplant Program
Jefferson Health announced Friday it plans to resume heart transplants this fall and boost the size of its program after making the unusual move of voluntarily suspending the program for seven months. Heart transplants are among the most prestigious services a hospital can offer, and sometimes such programs are shut down by regulators due to subpar performance. But that wasn't the case for Jefferson, which chose to put the operation on ice as it embarked on a national search for new leadership. (Avril, 9/16)
California Healthline: Governor Weighs Legislation On Surprise Medical Bills
In California, it is not unusual for patients to be hit by large, unexpected medical bills when they are unwittingly treated by someone outside their insurance company’s network. A 2015 survey by Consumers Union found that nearly 1 in 4 Californians who’d had hospital visits or surgery in the previous two years reported receiving an unexpected bill from an out-of-network provider. The issue can arise when a patient is treated in an in-network facility by out-of-network professionals. (O'Neill, 9/19)
Seattle Times: 4th Patient Infected With Legionella Bacteria In Growing Outbreak At UW Medical Center
A fourth patient at University of Washington Medical Center has been infected with the bacteria that cause Legionnaires’ disease and hospital officials are screening those at high risk from the deadly outbreak. In a memo to staff Friday, UW Medicine officials said the latest infected patient was hospitalized in Cascade Tower before water restrictions were put in place Tuesday. (Aleccia, 9/16)
Orlando Sentinel: Cops Take Softer Stance On Medical-Pot Amendment
Law-enforcement opposition to the Nov. 8 medical marijuana ballot measure is less potent than it was two years ago, when a similar proposal narrowly failed. Many police and sheriff's officials are still staunchly against Amendment 2, which would allow patients with certain chronic or debilitating illnesses to be prescribed cannabis products by a state-sanctioned physician. But there is also a growing acknowledgment that attitudes toward marijuana – among the general public and, increasingly, Republican lawmakers – are dramatically changing. (Rohrer, 9/18)
