Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: In Special Session, Texas Senate Takes Up Abortion Bills; Ohio's Cost Transparency Law Stalls Amidt Strong Opposition
Texas Tribune: Texas Senate Tackles Special Session Abortion Bills
Under state Sen. Donna Campbell’s Senate Bill 10, in procedures where complications occur, physicians would be required, within 72 hours, to submit reports to the state health commission that include detailed information like the patient’s year of birth, race, marital status, state and county of residence, the date of her last menstrual cycle, the number of previous abortions, and the number of previous live births. Physicians who failed to comply with the reporting requirements would face a $500 fine for each day of each violation. (Smith, 7/24)
Texas Tribune: Texas Senate OKs Maternal Mortality Task Force
State senators on Monday tentatively approved a bill that would give a state task force more time to study why an alarming number of Texas mothers are dying less than a year after childbirth. Under Senate Bill 17, the state’s Task Force on Maternal Mortality and Morbidity would be able to continue its work until 2023. (Evans, 7/24)
Kaiser Health News: Price Transparency In Medicine Faces Stiff Opposition — From Hospitals And Doctors
Two years after it passed unanimously in Ohio’s state Legislature, a law meant to inform patients what health care procedures will cost is in a state of suspended animation. One of the most stringent in a group of similar state laws being proposed across the country, Ohio’s Healthcare Price Transparency Law stipulated that providers had to give patients a “good faith” estimate of what non-emergency services would cost individuals after insurance before they commenced treatment. (Bluth, 7/25)
The Philadelphia Inquirer/Philly.com: New Five-Year Contract Between Independence And Jefferson
Independence Blue Cross is pushing for new contracts with area health systems that accelerate the hoped-for transition from paying for volume of services to paying for positive results. But it is not taking a one-size-fits-all approach. “We need to adapt to different providers” because they have “different states of readiness,” Anthony V. Coletta, president of Facilitated Health Networks at Independence, said Monday after the announcement of a contract with Jefferson Health that starts Sept. 1 and will last five years. (Brubaker, 7/24)
The Star Tribune: Minneapolis Proposal To Restrict Menthol Tobacco Sales Sparks Debate
While public health advocates pushed for the restrictions at a packed public hearing — arguing that tobacco companies target black smokers and young people with menthol products — Minneapolis store owners said it's the latest example of City Hall overreach and would devastate their livelihoods. ...The City Council heard from dozens of speakers Monday in crowded council chambers and is expected to vote on the policy in August. (Belz, 7/24)
Minnesota Public Radio: Mpls. Council Gets An Earful Over Plan To Curb Menthol Tobacco
The Minneapolis City Council heard debate Monday on a proposal that would restrict where menthol tobacco products could be sold in the city. Only designated tobacco stores would be allowed to sell menthol tobacco, taking the products out of local convenience stores and gas stations. (Dornbach, 7/24)
The Associated Press: Family Of Brain-Dead California Girl Fights To Reverse Death
More than three years after a coroner declared a teenage girl dead, a Northern California judge is expected to soon decide whether to revoke her death certificate. (7/24)
San Francisco Chronicle: Jahi McMath’s Family Wins Backing For Argument That She’s Alive
It’s been more than three years since 13-year-old Jahi McMath was declared dead after something went terribly wrong following throat surgery at Children’s Hospital Oakland. Her family has never accepted the declaration and has kept her on life support ever since — and in a new twist, a prominent neurologist says recent videos of the girl show she is alive, with a partially functioning brain. (Johnson, 7/24)
The Philadelphia Inquirer/Philly.com: Horizon Blue Cross Ordered To Turn Over Omnia Documents
The New Jersey Supreme Court on Monday ordered Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, the state’s largest health insurer, to turn over a McKinsey & Co. report and other documents it used to establish two tiers of health systems for an insurance plan introduced in 2015. Providers in the second tier, including Capital Health System Inc. and St. Peter’s University Hospital Inc., sued, alleging that Horizon treated them unfairly and breached their contracts when it set up the tiers for its Omnia insurance plan. At the seven Tier One health systems in the Omnia Health Alliance consumers have lower out-of-pocket costs. (Brubaker, 7/24)
Texas Tribune: Texas To Lose Galveston And Hill Country Children's Therapy Providers
Children in the Galveston and Hill Country areas are going to be without state-funded speech, occupational and physical therapy services as two more providers prepare to leave the Early Childhood Intervention program. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission confirmed Monday that the University of Texas Medical Branch and Hill Country MHDD Centers are ending services through the program. (Evans, 7/24)
Nashville Tennessean: Children's ER At TriStar Centennial Opens
A new children's emergency room in Nashville — the city's second — is now seeing patients. The first patient at The Children's Hospital at TriStar Centennial arrived at 9:21 a.m. on July 24 to the new seven-bed, 6,000-square foot facility on the hospital's campus in Midtown Nashville. (Fletcher, 7/24)
Orlando Sentinel/Tampa Bay Tribune: Donations At Florida Hospital Breast Milk Depot On The Rise
Thanks in part to a drive-through, drop-off system at Florida Hospital for Women in Orlando, contributions to the institution’s milk depot have more than doubled since last year, spokeswoman Claudia Arbona said. Approved donors can pull up to the hospital’s entrance with their pre-pumped milk, and an employee will come out to collect the donation. (Cheatham, 7/24)
Columbus Dispatch: Mount Carmel Adding 80 Beds For Mental-Health Treatment
Mount Carmel Health System and Acadia Healthcare announced on Monday that they are teaming up to open an 80-bed inpatient behavioral health hospital in Columbus to replace a 20-bed hospital at Mount Carmel West hospital in Franklinton. Officials say they are still finalizing a site for the $26 million, 64,300-square-foot freestanding facility that will have units for adult and geriatric patients as well as for dual-diagnosis patients — those who are suffering from both mental-health and drug-addiction illnesses. (Viviano, 7/25)
The Baltimore Sun: CVS Opens First Maryland Hearing Center
CVS Pharmacy opened its first Maryland hearing center in an Ellicott City store, as part of the drug store chain’s move to capture more health related business in its retail outlets. The store, which sells and services hearing aids, is staffed by audiologists and can provide hearing screenings and fittings. Insurance is accepted for some services. (Cohn, 7/24)
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Johnson Amends Cleveland 'Lead Safe' Law Proposal To Exclude Owner-Occupied Homes
Cleveland City Councilman Jeff Johnson, after hearing from a slew of residents said today he's changing the 'Lead Safe' ordinance he plans to propose next month so that it excludes mandatory compliance and fines for homeowners who live in their properties. The ordinance -- which proposes that all city homes built before 1978 be certified safe from lead hazards by 2021 -- would still apply to rentals and apartments, which comprise the majority of the city's homes, as well as child care centers and schools constructed prior to 1978, Johnson said. (Dissell and Zeltner, 7/24)
KCUR: Safety Net Clinic To Reopen Facility In Quindaro Neighborhood
Southwest Boulevard Family Health Care, a safety net clinic in Kansas City, Kansas, will reopen its Quindaro facility after several years’ hiatus. The satellite clinic will be located in a church building owned by Family Health Care. Initially, it will be open a couple of half-days per week and, depending on demand, may increase its hours of operation. (Margolies, 7/24)
Columbus Dispatch: Medical Marijuana Set-Up Costing Ohio Taxpayers $6 Million More
The State Controlling Board, a legislative panel that oversees state expenditures, on Monday approved an additional $6 million to pay for startup expenses for the Ohio Medical Marijuana Program. That brings the total to about $11 million so far that taxpayers have paid for the program. (Johnson, 7/25)
San Jose Mercury News: Why California's Most Polluting Vehicles Aren't Required To Get Smog Checks
As Gov. Jerry Brown and the mayors of Los Angeles and Long Beach promise an emissions-free future, some diesel fumes aren’t going anywhere. That’s because, unlike your car, there’s no routine emissions-testing program for big rigs in California. (Uranga, 7/24)
