State Highlights: Kaiser Permanente, Target Set Up Clinics; Mass. Town Irate About Smoking Plan
A selection of health policy stories from California, Kansas, Arizona, Massachusetts, New York and Iowa.
Los Angeles Times:
Kaiser Permanente Joins Forces With Target Corp. On In-Store Clinics
HMO giant Kaiser Permanente entered the growing retail clinic business for the first time by joining forces with Target Corp. on four in-store locations in Southern California. Three Kaiser clinics inside Target stores opened Monday in Fontana, San Diego and Vista. A fourth clinic in Fullerton is scheduled to open next month. These types of in-store clinics are expanding nationwide, driven by a shortage of primary care doctors and an influx of newly insured patients under the federal health law. (Terhune, 11/17)
San Jose Mercury News:
Kaiser Partners With Target To Run Clinics
Kaiser Permanente has teamed with Target for a new approach at the retailer's in-store health clinics that will broaden the level of medical care offered. Kaiser plans to launch four clinics in Southern California Target locations before the end of the year, staffed with licensed nurses and equipped with teleconference lines for physician consultation. Target said it operates 79 clinics staffed by Target employees, but will be able to include more care options at Kaiser-staffed clinics, such as pediatric care and women's wellness exams, while offering convenient flu shots and other simple offerings. (Owens, 11/17)
The New York Times:
Firestorm Erupts In Anti-Smoking Massachusetts Town
The fury — and make no mistake, it is white-hot fury — went way beyond the ordinary wrath of offended citizenry. A plan [in Westminster, Mass.] to ban the sale of tobacco has ignited a call to arms. The outrage is aimed at a proposal by the local Board of Health that could make Westminster the first town in the country where no one could buy cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco. (Seelye, 11/17)
Kaiser Health News:
Laws Spreading That Allow Terminal Patients Access To Experimental Drugs
Earlier this month, Arizona voters approved a referendum that allows terminally ill patients to receive experimental drugs and devices. It’s the fifth state to approve a "right-to-try" law this year. Supporters say the laws give dying patients faster access to potentially life-saving therapies than the Food and Drug Administration’s existing "expanded-access" program, often referred to as "compassionate use." But critics charge they’re feel-good laws that don’t address some of the real reasons patients may not receive experimental treatments. (Andrews, 11/18)
The New York Times:
Brooklyn Hospital Is Told To Keep Girl, 2, On Life Support Amid Organ Donation Fight
A judge on Monday ordered a Brooklyn hospital to keep a 2-year-old girl on life support for at least another day, as her parents argue over whether her organs should be donated. The girl, Thaiya Spruill-Smith, was declared brain-dead on Friday, after injuries apparently caused by her stepfather violently shaking her. Almost since birth, the little girl has been the subject of a custody dispute between her father and mother; that argument will resume in court on Tuesday, with the resolution likely to determine the fate of her organs. (Clifford and Hartocollis, 11/17)
California Healthline:
State Tweaks Timeline For Duals Project
State health officials last week dropped Alameda County and its 26,000 dual-eligibles from Cal MediConnect, California's demonstration project for Californians eligible for Medi-Cal and Medicare. (Gorn, 11/17)
The Des Moines Register:
Pharmacy Regulators Hear Testimony On Medical Marijuana
Patients, medical professionals and drug-abuse prevention specialists testified Monday about whether Iowa should relax its strict ban on medical uses of marijuana. The conflicting opinions were offered to a committee of the Iowa Board of Pharmacy, which is considering renewing its recommendation that the state reclassify marijuana in a way that could make it easier to use legally for medical purposes. (Leys, 11/17)
NPR:
In California, That MRI Will Cost You $255 — Or $6,221
Prices for common medical tests like mammograms and MRIs are notoriously opaque. Negotiated rates between insurance companies and doctors or hospitals are sealed tight by contract. We know there's price variation, but comparing what one insurance company pays versus another is virtually impossible. That's why we here at KQED in San Francisco turned to members of our audience to help us find out what medical tests and devices cost. Together with our collaborators KPCC in Los Angeles and ClearHealthCosts.com, a New York City startup dedicated to health cost transparency, we created an online form to make it easy for people to share what they paid — and to make it easy for you to see apples-to-apples comparisons of prices. (Aliferis, 11/17)
The Topeka Capital-Journal:
Kansas Trying Software For Mental Health Treatment
Kansas is piloting a software program that led to improved health for people with serious mental illnesses in Missouri. The Association of Community Mental Health Centers of Kansas received a $40,000 grant from the Tower Mental Health Foundation to begin using Care Management Technologies software with Medicaid-eligible patients who receive mental health care and primary care for a chronic condition at one of their centers. Eight community mental health centers are participating in the pilot. (Hart, 11/17)
