State Highlights: Insurance Market Has Inequity Problem, Mass. AG Says; In N.C., Carolinas Blasts Feds’ Challenge To Hospital Contracts

Boston Globe: Attorney General: State’s Health Insurance Market Has An Income Inequality Problem 
Massachusetts’ health insurance market has an income inequality problem, according to a report from Attorney General Maura Healey’s office, whose findings mirror national studies. The analysis found that more health care dollars are spent on higher-income communities than on lower-income communities — even though the latter tend to have greater medical needs. Healey’s office called this a “distressing” trend that has persisted for years. (Dayal McCluskey, 10/13)

Modern Healthcare: Carolinas HealthCare Blasts Feds' Challenge To Hospital Steering Contracts As Flawed 
North Carolina's largest healthcare system is fighting back against a lawsuit by the U.S. Justice Department that alleges the system imposed anti-competitive contract requirements on insurers, saying a federal appeals court has completely rejected the government's arguments. Carolinas HealthCare System urged a North Carolina federal judge on Wednesday to toss out Justice Department's suit after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit rejected the government's arguments against similar contract arrangements in a case involving American Express. (Teicert, 10/13)

The CT Mirror: After Law Change, Children Begin Receiving Medical Marijuana
Henry [Lloyd] is one of three minors who now have approval to participate in Connecticut’s medical marijuana program. Two other minors have applications pending. Another, whose application was approved, died. To qualify, children or teens must have one of six conditions – cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, severe epilepsy, a terminal illness requiring end-of-life care, or irreversible spinal cord injury with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity. (Levin Becker, 10/13)

Boston Globe: Partners And BMC Join National Effort Aimed At Personalized Medicine 
Partners HealthCare and Boston Medical Center are joining a sweeping national effort to gather medical data on at least 1 million people and use it to better understand how disease works. They are among several health care organizations across the country that will participate in the national Precision Medicine Initiative, federal officials said Thursday. Precision medicine is an emerging approach in which a patient’s medical treatments are based on his or her genes, lifestyle, and other factors. (Dayal McCluskey, 10/13)

Orlando Sentinel: Schools Scramble To Fight State's Nurse Shortage 
The number of unfilled nursing jobs has climbed since 2013, and the state is expected to add about 10,000 new registered nurse positions by the end of this year. Despite that demand, some of the region's state colleges and the University of Central Florida — all with well-regarded nursing programs — routinely turn away qualified applicants because they cannot afford to expand their programs. UCF's College of Nursing, for example, this year rejected more than half of the 306 students who applied and met admission requirements, enrolling 126 of them in the nursing program on its main Orlando campus. (Postal, 10/13)

The CT Mirror: State Employee Unions Suing To Block Group Home Privatization 
State employee unions plan to ask a judge to block the privatization of group homes for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, saying the layoffs caused by those changes violate Connecticut law and will eventually be blocked by the state labor board. If that happens, the unions say in their request for an injunction, clients would have their lives upended twice – first by having to go through a change in staff in state-run group homes where they have developed relationships with caregivers, and then again if the labor board orders the laid-off state employees to be reinstated. If the unions are successful, they could block a major component of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s plan to shrink the state workforce — a plan that already is lagging behind schedule. (Levin Becker and Phaneuf, 10/13)

ProPublica: Maryland’s Move To Pull Children From Group Homes Came Too Late For Teenager Who Died 
Once again, government actions against a controversial for-profit company’s chain of group homes for the disabled may have come too late to protect a child. ProPublica has learned that Maryland had begun pulling about 30 children out of homes owned and managed by AdvoServ in August, but hadn’t yet relocated a teenage girl when she died a month later after being manually restrained by staff. Maryland’s Department of Human Resources had also stopped placing children in AdvoServ homes, following inspections that identified deficiencies in quality control, record-keeping, and conditions in residential and common areas. (Vogell, 10/13)

Atlanta Journal Constitution: 4 Resources In Metro Atlanta To Help Smokers Kick The Habit
Quitting smoking can be hard to do, but it's a step that most cigarette smokers want to take, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And despite its difficulty, many people succeed. In fact, the CDC reports that the number of former smokers has exceeded the number of current smokers since 2002. (Caldwell, 10/13)