State Highlights: Ill.-Based Catholic Health System Raises Minimum Wage To $10 An Hour; W.Va. Forms Working Group To Identify Health Care Fraud

The Associated Press: Catholic Health System Raises Minimum Wage To $10 An Hour
A Peoria, Illinois-based Catholic health system with hospitals in Illinois and Michigan, is raising its minimum wage to $10 an hour. OSF HealthCare announced the move Thursday. Nearly 500 employees will benefit when the new minimum wage takes effect Nov. 22. Most of them work in food service, housekeeping, gift shops and guest services. The health system is owned and operated by the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis. It runs 11 hospitals, two colleges of nursing, a doctors group and a network of home health services. (11/12)

The Milwaukee Times: Northern West Virginia Group Formed To ID Health Care Fraud
State and federal authorities have created a multi-jurisdictional working group to identify and deal with health care fraud in northern West Virginia. U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld II and representatives of the FBI, the IRS and the state Medicaid Fraud Control Unit announced the group's formation on Thursday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Montoro is the group's leader. (11/12)

The Orlando Sentinel: Florida Ranks 41st In Access To Physicans
When it comes to having access to doctors, Florida isn't doing so well, according to a study. Florida ranked 41st among the 50 states, according to the Physician Access Index, compiled by the physician search firm Merritt Hawkins. The report used 33 factors that influence access to health-care providers, including the number of physicians per capita in the state, percent of the population with health insurance, doctor Medicare and Medicaid acceptance rates, income, and urgent care centers per capita. (Miller, 11/11)

The Orlando Sentinel: With Fair Chance At Health, Fewer Would Die In Florida
If everyone in Florida had a fair chance at being healthy, nearly 8,000 deaths could be avoided, 1 million fewer people would be uninsured, and 500,000 fewer adults would be obese. This is according to the County Health Rankings and Roadmaps that was released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on Wednesday. The study explores how wide are the health gaps among different counties of each state and what's driving those differences. (Miller, 11/11)

The Associated Press: Georgia Nixes Cancer Chain's Bid For Rule Change
A national cancer treatment chain seeking permission to treat more Georgia patients was stopped short Thursday after facing staunch opposition from the state's influential hospital association. Cancer Treatment Centers of America wanted permission from Georgia's Department of Community Health to apply for a new certificate as a general hospital. The Florida-based chain is known for its ads describing access to medical care along with spiritual support and alternative remedies in the four states where its hospitals operate. (Foody, 11/12)

The Connecticut Mirror: Malloy Pitches $350M In Cuts; GOP Wants Mix Of Cuts, Labor Savings
The administration Thursday offered cuts worth about $350 million per year. Just over $40 million of them fell on departments involving social services and health care. Lawmakers rejected most of those ideas this past spring. Those include cuts to regional mental health boards, social service programs, grants for mental health and substance abuse programs, funeral and burial funds for poor people, and grants for museums and other cultural programs. It also calls for closing the Department of Social Services’ Torrington regional office, a plan Malloy proposed in February that legislators rejected. (Phaneuf, Levin Becker, Pazniokas and Thomas, 11/12)

McKnight's: Union Strikes Deal For $15 Nursing Home Wage
Connecticut's largest union of healthcare workers has reached a tentative agreement to raise the minimum wage in several of the state's nursing homes to $15 per hour. The agreement was reached late Tuesday by SEIU 1199NE, the New England branch of the Service Employees International Union, and is expected to be ratified by workers over the coming weeks. Once finalized, the agreement would cover an estimated 2,600 certified nursing assistants at 20 Connecticut nursing homes owned by iCare and Genesis. (Morgan, 11/12)

Reveal: Two Years Later, California Is Still Cleaning Up Drug Rehab System
California prosecutors are brokering plea deals in more than 11 criminal cases as health leaders overhaul the state’s drug rehabilitation care more than two years after a Center for Investigative Reporting and CNN investigation into the system in Southern California. (Jewett, 11/12)

The Associated Press: California Awards $500M For Rehab Programs In Jails
California awarded $500 million on Thursday to 15 counties to pay for new classrooms, mental health facilities and other projects intended to help rehabilitate prisoners. The Board of State and Community Corrections approved the projects despite concerns over a plan by Butte County to contribute matching money from inmate welfare funds. The board encouraged the county to avoid using money from a fee on inmate phone calls and commissary items. (Thompson, 11/12)

The Dallas Morning News: Texas Officials Cancel Transit Agency's Medicaid Contract, Launch Fraud Investigation
State officials canceled their multimillion-dollar Medicaid contract with financially troubled TAPS Public Transit on Thursday and launched an investigation into the possibility of fraud. Sherman-based Texoma Area Paratransit System won the three-year contract in July 2014 to provide non-emergency medical trips to Medicaid recipients in a 16-county area, including Collin County. The service is in addition to its mission of providing on-demand and fixed-route bus service in a seven-county area. (Wigglesworth, 11/12)

The Washington Post: Federal Jury Convicts Md. Couple In $80 Million D.C. Medicaid Fraud Case
A federal jury on Thursday convicted a Bowie, Md., couple of orchestrating a multi-year campaign to defraud D.C. Medicaid of more than $80 million between 2009 and 2014, the largest local health-care fraud scheme ever prosecuted in the city.(Hsu, 11/12)

NPR: To Prevent Addiction In Adults, Help Teens Learn How To Cope
"Addiction is a pediatric disease," says Dr. John Knight, founder and director of the Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research at Boston Children's Hospital. "When adults entering addiction treatment are asked when they first began drinking or using drugs, the answer is almost always the same: They started when they were young — teenagers," said Knight. Smoking, drinking and some forms of drug use among teens have declined in the U.S. in recent years, but an estimated 2.2 million adolescents — 8.8 percent of youth aged 12 to 17 years old — are currently using an illicit drug, according to a 2014 Behavioral Health Barometer prepared for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). (Korry, 11/12)

NJ.com: New Jersey School Allowing Medical Marijuana For Students
A south Jersey teenage girl with autism and potentially life-threatening epilepsy may legally consume edible marijuana at her school every day, according to a policy school administrators adopted Wednesday night to comply with a new state law. The Larc School in Bellmawr appears to be first school in the nation to permit medical marijuana on campus, according to executive director Susan Weiner. (Livio, 11/12)

The Associated Press: Judge Pondering Cancer Patient's Plea For Marijuana Card
A judge is pondering a New Hampshire cancer patient's plea for a medical marijuana identification card before state dispensaries open so she can buy the drug immediately in a neighboring state. Linda Horan is battling late-stage lung cancer. She wants to obtain marijuana now in Maine, which serves patients with registry cards in their home states. Four dispensaries are slated to open in New Hampshire early next year. (Tuohy, 11/12)