State Highlights: Home Health Agency Agrees To $14M Settlement With Mass. Medicaid; Fla. PTSD Bill Would Aid First Responders

The Associated Press: Home Health Agency Agrees To Pay Massachusetts $14 Million
A national home health care agency with six locations in Massachusetts has agreed to pay $14 million to settle allegations that it improperly billed the state's Medicaid program. Attorney General Maura Healey said in a statement Tuesday that Centrus Premier Home Care Inc., which does business in the state as Maxim Healthcare Services Inc., billed MassHealth for services that were not eligible for reimbursement under state regulations. (12/6)

Health News Florida: As Worker's Comp PTSD Bill Clears Hurdle, Pulse Responder Could Be Fired
Call it a mixed day for advocates of expanding treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder in first responders. In Tallahassee, a bill to expand workers’ compensation benefits to first responders with PTSD cleared its first committee Tuesday. But the city of Eatonville could vote tonight to fire Omar Delgado, a police officer who developed PTSD responding to the Pulse nightclub shooting. (Aboraya, 12/6)

St. Louis Public Radio: Medication Denied: St. Louis Inmates Claim Medical Neglect In Local Jails
Shirletta Chambly has lost two family members in St. Louis jails: First her brother, and then her 21-year-old son. Maleek Coleman-Chambly died after a seizure in his bed at the St. Louis City Justice Center on Jan. 31, 2017. Family members claim he told them over the phone that jail personnel had refused to give him his epilepsy medication the night before. (Bouscaren, 12/6)

Texas Tribune: Three Women Indicted In Death Of Impaired Woman In State Facility
Three employees of the Brenham State Supported Living Center have been indicted on felony murder charges in the July death of a severely disabled resident of the facility. Amy Parrish, a mentally impaired woman in her late 40s, was left in the back of a hot van parked on the center’s east Central Texas campus for several hours on July 11, The Eagle reported. She was missing for several hours; when she was eventually found, she was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead. (Platoff, 12/6)

Health News Florida: Reporting Proposed For Out-Of-Hospital Birth Problems
A [Florida] Senate committee unanimously approved a bill on Tuesday that would require physicians, certified advanced registered nurse midwives and licensed midwives to report to the state “adverse” medical incidents that occur during planned births outside of hospitals. The bill (SB 510), filed by Sen. Dana Young, R-Tampa, defines adverse incidents and would require reporting within 15 days after incidents occur. It also would require the Florida Department of Health to review each incident report and determine whether disciplinary action is appropriate. (12/6)

Columbus Dispatch: Down Syndrome Abortion Ban Now One Step From Kasich
A bill that would ban abortions sought because the fetus might have Down syndrome is one step closer to being signed into law. Senate Bill 164 was approved by the House Health Committee on a 12-6 party-line vote on Wednesday, advancing it to a full House vote. The bill would prevent anyone from performing or attempting to perform or induce an abortion because the fetus has or might have Down syndrome. Violators would face a fourth-degree felony, and the State Medical Board would be required to take away a convicted physician’s license to practice medicine in Ohio. (Henry, 12/6)

Dallas Morning News: Dallas Medical Real Estate Firm Buys $167 Million In Buildings
Dallas-based health care real estate developer, Caddis Partners LLC, which recently purchased a dozen properites, plans to add at least three more to its portfolio by the end of the year.  Together, the 15 properties including one in Plano, are valued at about $167 million. Last month, Caddis launched a new investment fund that purchased 12 buildings from affiliates for $111 million. The three medical office buildings currently under contract are valued at $56 million. (Brown, 12/6)

Nashville Tennessean: Funding Approved To Cover Inmate Medical Expenses
Overcrowding of the Cheatham County Jail, detoxification of arrested drug addicts and other factors contributing to unanticipated inmate medical bills all add up to the necessity of a budget amendment to account for payments for the remainder of the fiscal year.  The Cheatham County Commission unanimously OKed the transfer of an additional $400,000 to be allocated toward medical and dental services to cover any of the inmate medical bills incurred. (Fisher, 12/6)

Seattle Times: Costco Co-Founder And Boyhood Friend Give $50 Million For Precision Medicine At UW
Costco co-founder Jeff Brotman and Dan Baty met as kids on a playground in Tacoma and remained lifelong friends. Before Brotman’s death in August, the two businessmen and their wives decided to share some of their wealth and pursue a common interest in health care. The result is a $50 million gift to create the Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine in Seattle and pursue one of the most sought-after and elusive goals in science: Treatments tailored to individual patients. (Doughton, 12/6)

Denver Post: Denver’s DaVita Selling Its Physician Network For $4.9 Billion
Denver-based DaVita Inc. is selling its physician network arm for $4.9 billion, with aims to use some of that cash to buy back stock. The sale, to multifaceted health services company Optum, was announced early Wednesday. It will be completed next year after regulatory approval, according to a joint news release from the companies. Optum is part of UnitedHealth Group, one of the largest health insurers in the United States. (Rubino, 12/6)

WBUR: So Tired Teens Can Sleep In, Boston School Committee Votes To Make Classes Start Later
The Boston School Committee voted unanimously Wednesday night to approve a new systemwide schedule that will allow most teenagers in the district to sleep in a bit next year. Under the new framework, most high schools will start at or after 8 a.m. Presently, about half of the district's public schools start class at or before 7:30 a.m. And whenever possible, younger children will be dismissed before 4 p.m., in part to prevent them from running out of steam late in the day — or walking home in the dark. (Larkin, 12/6)

The San Jose Mercury News: Alternatives Submitted For Sheltering Berkeley Homeless
Attorneys representing a group of homeless people have submitted a plan for sheltering the city’s homeless population that calls for short-term suspension of regulations they say criminalize homelessness, including limitations on lying on commercial sidewalks and spreading belongings, and on sleeping in vehicles. Other short-term remedies proposed by Dan Siegel of Oakland-based Siegel, Yee & Brunner in a Nov. 27 filing in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California include suspending enforcement of city rules prohibiting camping in city parks, at the Berkeley Marina, other open space, and city-owned lots. (Lochner, 12/6)