State Highlights: In Face Of Black Lung Epidemic, Ky. Lawmakers Narrow Scope Of Claims; Blue Cross-Piedmont Impasse Impacts Hundreds Of Thousands In Georgia

WBUR: Kentucky Lawmakers Limit Black Lung Claims Reviews Despite Epidemic
A measure signed into law in Kentucky this past week would prevent federally-certified radiologists from judging X-rays in state black lung compensation claims, leaving diagnoses of the disease mostly to physicians who typically work for coal companies. The new law requires that only pulmonologists — doctors who specialize in the lungs and respiratory system — assess diagnostic black lung X-rays when state black lung claims are filed. (Berkes and Becker, 3/31)

Georgia Health News: Out Of Time And Out Of Network: Piedmont, Blue Cross Fail To Reach Deal
Today, Easter Sunday, Piedmont Healthcare doctors and hospitals became out-of-network providers for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia members. Round-the-clock negotiations failed to bring an agreement on a new contract between Blue Cross, the state’s largest health insurer, and the rapidly expanding Piedmont system. (Miller, 4/1)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: No Contract For Blue Cross Georgia, Piedmont Healthcare
About a half-million Piedmont Healthcare patients will have to find new healthcare providers to avoid out-of-network prices, after the the company and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia could not agree to new contract terms. The previous contract ended at midnight without a new deal, said Piedmont spokesman Matt Gove. (Walker, 4/1)

Columbus Dispatch: With Eye On Mental Health And Drugs, Kasich Signs $2.6 Billion Capital Budget
Talking about the need to address difficult mental health issues, Gov. John Kasich on Friday signed the $2.6 billion state capital budget, which includes $112 million to replace the main hospital at the Twin Valley Behavioral Healthcare campus. In a press conference at the Hilltop-area facility, Kasich, now about nine months from leaving office, also urged majority GOP lawmakers — and the next governor — to not do away with Medicaid expansion that he pushed so hard to implement. (Siegel, 3/30)

The Washington Post: Maryland Lawmakers Advance Bill That Requires Schools To Teach Sexual Consent
Sex education classes in Maryland would have to include instruction on consent under a bill that is moving through the General Assembly, a measure an advocate called “one of the most important things that we can do to prevent college sexual assaults.” Under the measure, middle and high school students would learn what consent means and about how to respect personal boundaries. (Wiggins and Chason, 3/30)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: A Six-Way Kidney Swap Unites Three Families
Stacy Glago, 40, wanted to donate one of her kidneys to her mother, but she wasn't a match. ...They learned about Kidney Paired Donation, a national kidney swap program, that opens the search for matching living kidney donors across the United States. Most people are born with two kidneys, and when one is removed and transplanted into another person's body, the human body can adapt to living with just one kidney. The paired donation program opens up donor possibilities to people in the organ procurement and transplantation database across the country when a match can't be found among willing relatives or friends. (Clark, 4/1)

Boston Globe: State’s Long-Promised Health-Costs Website Is Now Due To Arrive This Spring
State officials are finally preparing to launch such a website this spring, months later than their previous self-imposed deadline, and with more tempered ambitions. Officials at the Center for Health Information and Analysis, a state agency that serves as a clearinghouse for health care data and is required by law to create a public health care cost website, are stressing that the project is only a piece of a broader state goal of increasing transparency around medical costs. (McCluskey, 4/1)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: 'Test And Treat' Approach To HIV Epidemic Could Save Lives
The treatment of HIV has dramatically changed and health workers, including in New Orleans, are pushing to expand access to testing sites as medication becomes more accessible and easier to take. HIV specialists say that the quicker a patient is consistently taking anti-retrovirals, the quicker they will be able to lower their viral load to the point where HIV is undetectable in their blood stream. The Mid-City health center CrescentCare partnered with the New Orleans Office of Health Policy on an initiative to start treating newly diagnosed patients with those retroviral drugs within 72 hours of testing positive for HIV. So far, 131 patients diagnosed with HIV have been placed on rapid treatment as part of that initiative, called Rapid Start, since it launched in December 2016. (Clark, 3/30)

Richmond Times-Dispatch: State Group Funds Free Clinics To Address Diabetes, Depression
Only 30 to 50 percent of diabetics with major depression are recognized and treated, according to the Virginia Health Care Foundation, which has launched a two-year grant program to address the issue. Through its Defeating the Deadly Double initiative, the foundation has provided five free clinics and federally qualified health centers across the state with a combined $1.2 million to address the needs of Virginians living with both diabetes and depression. (O'Connor, 4/1)

The Associated Press: Ohio Treatment Center Owner Target Of Medicaid Fraud Probe
A man viewed as a local superhero with a matching car collection and a penchant for completing daring feats for charity is under investigation for his alleged involvement in a multi-million dollar Medicaid fraud scheme at his two Ohio substance abuse treatment centers. A forfeiture complaint filed last week by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Cleveland seeks to keep around $3.5 million in assets from 38-year-old Ryan Sheridan, whose Braking Point Recovery Services operated centers in suburban Youngstown and suburban Columbus. (3/31)

Columbus Dispatch: Uninsured Get Replacement Knees, Hips For Free Through Annual Program
Without insurance, and ineligible for Medicare or Medicaid, [Linda] Wells was resigned to the suffering. Then she discovered Operation Walk USA, an organization that supplies free knee- and hip-replacement surgery to people unable to buy private health insurance but ineligible for government assistance. (Viviano, 4/1)

Miami Herald: Florida Nursing Homes Need Generators But What About Inspections?
After a dozen elders overheated and died in a Hollywood nursing home during Hurricane Irma, the state passed new rules requiring health facilities to install backup generators capable of keeping the air conditioning blowing if the power went out. But the state healthcare agency — which regulates institutions like nursing homes and assisted living facilities — may not inspect all the generators before storm season starts and the mandates take effect June 1. (Nehamas and Koh, 4/1)

Columbus Dispatch: Judge Grants Class-Action Status To Developmental Disabilities Lawsuit Against Ohio
A 2-year-old court battle between the state of Ohio and legal advocates for Ohioans with developmental disabilities can proceed as a class-action lawsuit, a federal judge in Columbus ruled Friday. ... Disability Rights Ohio filed the lawsuit in 2016 on behalf of six people who said the state’s disabilities system violates the federal Americans With Disabilities Act by leaving them and thousands of others stuck in institutions — or at risk of moving to one — because they can’t get the services they need to live and work in their communities. (Price, 3/30)

The Baltimore Sun: Baltimore Lawmakers Halt Proposal To Create Johns Hopkins Police Force 
Maryland lawmakers will not endorse Johns Hopkins University’s proposal to create its own police force in Baltimore — at least not this spring. Baltimore Del. Curt Anderson, chair of the city’s delegation to the General Assembly, said Friday the university did not establish enough community support for the idea, and the delegation plans to refer the bill to be studied over the summer. The action effectively ends debate on the idea until the fall. (Cox, Dance and Knezevich, 3/30)

Georgia Health News: In Search Of Old Ideas: Emory Scientist Tracks Down Traditional Herbs In War Against Superbugs
This is where Cassandra Quave pursues a cure for infections, especially those that are resistant to common antibiotic treatments. But instead of developing more powerful antibiotics and joining a bacterial arms race, she revisits natural remedies that traditional healers have used for hundreds of years. (Ridderbusch, 4/1)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin To Close Youth Prison By 2021, Under New Bill
More than two years after state agents raided Wisconsin's deeply troubled prison for teens, Gov. Scott Walker and lawmakers of both parties are shutting it down and replacing it. By 2021, Wisconsin would close Lincoln Hills School for Boys and build or renovate smaller, regional facilities closer to offenders' families, under legislation signed by Walker Friday at the Milwaukee County courthouse. (Stein and Glauber, 3/30)

Kansas City Star: Measles Exposure Possible At Kansas City CVS And Restaurant
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services says an international traveler treated at a Kansas hospital may have exposed others to measles at two locations in Kansas City, Mo. A news release from the department said anyone who was at Señor Tequila restaurant, 6502 North Oak Trafficway, on March 19 or CVS pharmacy, 1914 Swift St., on March 22, might have been exposed. (Marso, 3/30)

The Star Tribune: UnitedHealth Group Dabbling With Blockchain 
UnitedHealth Group is joining forces with a rival health insurer and one of the nation's largest lab testing companies to see if blockchain technology can improve health care data. On Monday, UnitedHealth is announcing the pilot project in conjunction with Kentucky-based Humana, New Jersey-based Quest Diagnostics and a New York firm called MultiPlan. Financial terms were not disclosed. (Snowbeck, 4/2)

WBUR: Drinking Water Remains A Concern At Norfolk Prison In Mass.
For years, the water at one of Massachusetts' largest prisons — MCI-Norfolk — has been described by prisoners as smelly and looking like black tea. Massachusetts Department of Correction officials say the water meets state standards for potability. (Becker and Joliocoeur, 3/30)

Chicago Sun Times: Synthetic Cannabinoids Linked To 8 Cases Of Severe Bleeding In Chicago 
State and city public health officials have linked the use of synthetic cannabinoids to 8 cases of life-threatening bleeding this month in Chicago and more than 20 cases of severe bleeding in northeast Illinois. The Chicago Department of Public Health issued an urgent warning Friday about the dangers of synthetic cannabinoids – or “fake weed” – which are made up of chemicals that act on the same brain cell receptors as the main active ingredient in marijuana, according to the department. (Schuba, 3/30)

Richmond Times-Dispatch: No, Virginia Didn't Legalize Medical Marijuana. But Supporters Say The State Is Going 'Surprisingly Far' With Cannabis Oils
With efforts to decriminalize possessing small amounts of marijuana gaining little traction in the legislature, legalized recreational marijuana doesn’t seem imminent. But supporters say the action on medical oils shows state lawmakers are getting more comfortable about moving away from a “hyper-restrictive” model and could go further in the next few years. (Moomaw, 3/31)