State Highlights: Ind. Lawmakers Approve Ban On Building New Nursing Homes; Conn. Hospitals Seek To Undo Gov.’s Proposed Budget Cuts

The Associated Press: Indiana Lawmakers Back 3-year Ban On Building Nursing Homes
Three-year moratorium on construction of most new nursing homes around Indiana has been approved by state lawmakers. Supporters say the moratorium is needed because Indiana has thousands of unused nursing home beds, which are costing the state millions in annual Medicaid costs based on a payment formula that includes construction costs. (3/31)

The Associated Press: Hospitals Ask Connecticut Lawmakers To Replenish Budget Cuts
Leaders of state hospitals urged state lawmakers Tuesday to replenish the cuts in Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's proposed budget, predicting the suggested changes could lead to deep reductions in medical services and staff. They said Malloy's suggested budget plan is especially worrisome considering recent cuts in federal funding. (Haigh, 3/31)

The Dallas Morning News: Texas Senate Votes To Overhaul Contracting Rules
The Senate voted unanimously Tuesday to reform state contracting rules and strengthen oversight of contracts at all state agencies. The action came in response to revelations of financial irregularities at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. (Stutz, 4/1)

The Dallas Morning News: AIDS Healthcare Foundation Sues To Get Portion Of Federal Funds
A local agency serving AIDS patients is suing Dallas County, its health department and director Zachary Thompson, hoping to get nearly $1 million in federal funding this year. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which has had a North Dallas clinic since mid-2013, accused the county of not giving the agency a fair chance to qualify for federal AIDS funding. (Jacobson, 3/31)

Health News Florida: Hospice Seeks Stay In Dispute With AHCA
Warning of potentially "devastating consequences," a Central Florida hospice firm Monday sought a stay from the 1st District Court of Appeal in a dispute with the Agency for Health Care Administration about the firm's license. Compassionate Care Hospice of Central Florida Inc., which serves patients in Polk, Highlands and Hardee counties, was notified March 9 that its license had expired and that it would have to cease operations in the area. (3/31)

Stateline: How Severe Is The Shortage Of Substance Abuse Specialists?
The number of people with insurance coverage for alcohol and drug abuse disorders is about to explode at a time there’s already a severe shortage of trained behavioral health professionals in many states. Until now, there’s been no data on just how severe the shortage is and where it’s most dire. Jeff Zornitsky of the health care consulting firm Advocates for Human Potential (AHP) has developed the first measurement of how many behavioral health professionals are available to treat millions of adults with a substance use disorder, or SUD, in all 50 states. (Vestal, 4/1)

The Kansas Health Institute News Service: Changes To Mental Health Drugs, KanCare Committee Advance
Changes to Kansas Medicaid’s mental health drug reimbursements and the KanCare oversight committee moved forward Tuesday. Officials with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment had worked to hammer out a compromise on House Bill 2149 after mental health advocates objected to ending a ban on the state using regulatory tools like prior authorization for mental health prescriptions in Medicaid. The new bill, which allows for prior authorization subject to review by an advisory board that includes mental health professionals, passed both chambers unanimously. (Marso, 3/31)

The Des Moines Register: Mammogram Bill Not Being Considered By House
A bill that would require clinics give more specifics in mammogram reports to patients has apparently run aground in the Iowa House of Representatives for the second straight year. Senate File 205 would require that clinics tell patients if their mammograms indicated they had dense breast tissue. Supporters of the bill say such tissue can make it harder for radiologists to spot tumors in breast scans, which could raise the risk of cancer growing before it's noticed. Women who receive such notices might consider obtaining other types of scans beyond their initial mammogram. (Leys and Pfannenstiel, 3/31)

CQ Healthbeat: States Aim To Make Vaccine Exemptions Harder To Get
Lawmakers in a dozen states are debating whether to make childhood vaccine exemptions harder to get, with some considering more paperwork and others proposing to eliminate personal belief and religious exemptions. The debates began after a measles outbreak at Disneyland in California over the 2014 holiday season and a growing number of parents seeking the exemptions forced lawmakers to consider if the requirements should be tightened. Twenty-one states have bills related to vaccine exemption laws, according to the Immunization Action Coalition. (Evans, 4/1)

The New York Times: Arizona Doctors Must Say That Abortions With Drugs May Be Reversed
Once again, Arizona finds itself on the frontier of anti-abortion legislation: Late Monday, it became the first state to pass a law requiring doctors who perform drug-induced abortions to tell women that the procedure may be reversible, an assertion that most doctors say is wrong. The provision is part of a broader law signed by Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, meant to prevent plans offered in Arizona through the federal health care exchange from providing coverage for most abortions. (Rojas, 3/31)