State Highlights: In Minn., Court Weighs Home Care Challenges; Mass. Health Spending Grew Despite Legislature’s Goal

The Associated Press: Federal Court Weighs Cases Challenging Minnesota Home Care Union
A new union that has already negotiated benefits and working conditions for thousands of Minnesota personal care attendants came under new pressure Wednesday as federal appeals judges heard a pair of cases aimed at disbanding the labor unit. In back-to-back hearings on separate lawsuits with the same goal, two 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panels raised doubts about their power to overturn the union for home care workers assisting the disabled and elderly. Judges in both cases dwelled on the voluntary nature of the unions, where none of the covered workers is compelled to join or pay dues. (Bakst, 10/21)

The Boston Globe: Are Mass. Health Care Costs Rising Too Quickly?
To make sure people get necessary care, but don’t overspend, the Massachusetts Legislature set a goal for the state: Health care spending — from patients, organizations, and state government all together — shouldn’t grow any faster than the state economy. By that standard, 2014 was a disappointing year. Total health care spending actually grew 4.8 percent, according to a recent report from CHIA, the state’s official health care number crunchers. That’s a substantial jump from the year before and well ahead of economic growth. (Horowitz, 10/21)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Philly Schools Won't Pursue Private Health Services
The Philadelphia School District is scrapping a plan to offer private health services in schools, officials announced yesterday. The district issued a request for proposals in May to expand health services and explore different delivery models. Six entities responded, but the district decided that the plans were not feasible. (Leach, 10/22)

Georgia Health News: Judge Signs Off On Sale Of Clayton County Hospital
A bankruptcy court judge has approved the sale of Clayton County’s only hospital to Prime Healthcare Foundation. ... Prime Healthcare, based in California, submitted the only bid for the Riverdale hospital after Grady Health System backed off its own offer. Prime offered $18 million for the struggling Southern Regional, which has a high level of uninsured and indigent patients. (Miller, 10/21)

The Associated Press: WINhealth Going Out Of Business
Wyoming's second largest health insurance company is closing down. The state Department of Insurance announced Wednesday that WINhealth will shut down Dec. 31 because of financial problems. The company has been in business since 1996. (Moen, 10/21)

St. Louis Public Radio: Missouri Supreme Court To Decide Whether Wrongful Death Cases Are Subject To Caps On Damages
A case before the Missouri Supreme Court could decide whether wrongful death should fall under the state's new law capping non-economic damages on medical malpractice lawsuits. Pat Hagerty represents the family of Shannon Dotson, who died in 2011 during what was described as a routine medical procedure at Mercy Hospital in St. Louis. In December 2013, Dotson's family was awarded $9 million in non-economic damages, but a trial court reduced that award to $350,000 after Gov. Jay Nixon signed the new law capping those damages. The state Supreme Court in 2012 had struck down the limits on malpractice cases. At issue was whether the limits remained in a wrongful death case. (Griffin, 10/21)

NPR: What To Do With California's Mentally Ill Defendants?
Mentally ill defendants like Bock, who are declared incompetent to stand trial, are supposed to be transferred to state mental hospitals for treatment within two or three months. But more than 300 of them throughout California are languishing in county jails because there's simply no bed space. (Shafer, 10/21)

Bloomberg: California Shows How Paid-Leave Law Affects Businesses: Not Much
As presidential candidates debate government-mandated paid family leave, the U.S. has a 39 million-person test lab. California in 2004 enacted the nation’s first such program, ensuring workers are paid for as long as six weeks when caring for a newborn or ailing loved one. The law is financed through an employee payroll tax, meaning companies in the world’s eighth-largest economy bear no direct costs. (Deprez, 10/22)

News Service Of Florida: Scott Calls For Patients' Input On 'Price Gouging'
Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday continued trying to increase pressure for changes in the hospital industry, calling on patients to submit information about experiences with "price gouging." Scott issued a news release saying patients should contact the state Commission on Healthcare and Hospital Funding with such stories. The news release came as the commission, created by Scott this year, met at the Capitol. (10/21)

The Arizona Republic: Child Adversity, Abuse In Arizona Costs Country $23 Billion
A family member in prison. A mother who was treated violently. Emotional or physical neglect. Even simply growing up with just one parent. These are examples of "adverse childhood experiences," and they are ravaging Arizona. A national survey released last year found that 44.4 percent of Arizona children ages 12 to 17 suffered two or more such traumatic experiences, far surpassing the national average of 30.5 percent. (Vandell, 10/21)

Health News Florida: State Workers Wonder About Provider Changes During Enrollment
It's open enrollment time for many people who have health insurance through their job, and Florida’s state employees are among those who are thinking about making changes to their plans. Monthly premiums for health insurance plans through employers, on average, went up about 4 percent in 2014, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. (Watts, 10/21)

Health News Florida: FL To Get Cut Of $256M Health Care Fraud Settlement
One of the nation’s largest drug testing laboratories will pay $256 million to settle allegations it over-billed the U.S. government for urine drug tests. The Justice Department found that Millennium Health billed the government for unnecessary urine drug tests and genetic testing. The whistleblower in the suit was Melbourne, Florida-based Omni Healthcare Inc. As a whistleblower, Omni Healthcare will get a cut of the settlement. (Aboraya, 10/21)

The Sacramento Bee: CalPERS Orders Former Loomis Fire Chief To Pay Back $450,000
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System board on Wednesday ordered former Loomis Fire Chief David Wheeler to pay back more than $450,000 in pension benefits after an administrative law judge determined that Wheeler had violated state law. (Branan, 10/21)

The Sacramento Bee: Big Money, Frictions Light Up 2016 Pot Initiative Drive
Big donors, led by former Facebook president Sean Parker, are lining up to fund a 2016 California initiative to legalize marijuana for recreational use. But behind the scenes, legalization efforts are splitting California marijuana advocates with national drug-policy groups over such things as including initiative language to protect marijuana users from job discrimination or over how tightly to restrict pot cultivation or cannabis industry operations. (Hecht, 10/21)

The Seattle Times: Mending Hearts: UW Gets $10M For Stem-Cell Trials
A technique developed at the University of Washington to repair damaged hearts with stem cells is getting a $10 million boost from a little-known Seattle foundation. The grant from the Washington Research Foundation will allow scientists to answer several key questions and start the first human trials within a few years. If the approach works as well in people as it has in animals, it could lead to new treatments for heart disease — the No. 1 killer in the United States and around the world. (Doughton, 10/21)