State Highlights: Kan. State Health Plan Shifts Costs To Workers; New Calif. Law Requires Vaccines For Daycare Workers

The Kansas Health Institute News Service: State Health Plan Costs Shifting To Employees
Over the past year, Kansas has changed its state employee health plan so employees shoulder more of the cost burden while the cash-strapped state pays less. State officials say the changes correct imbalances within the plan and shore up a reserve fund for the future. (Marso, 10/13)

Los Angeles Times: Vaccines Required For Daycare Workers Under New California Law
A new California law will require daycare workers to have vaccinations for measles and whooping cough by next year. The law was approved this week by Gov. Jerry Brown nearly a year after California's worst measles outbreak in 24 years began at Disneyland, infecting more than 130 California residents and more than two dozen other people who resided out of state. (LIn II and Xia, 10/13)

The Associated Press: California's Sweeping New Social Policies Could Set Trend
California ends its legislative season having enacted some of the country's most aggressive social policies: Laws requiring student vaccinations, granting terminally ill people the right to take life-ending medications, and mandating equal pay for women were among dozens approved. The range of sweeping new laws in the most populous state reflects legislators' desire to set a national trend on progressive social and environmental issues while sidestepping more thorny economic matters. (10/13)

The Texas Tribune: Dan Patrick Asks Senators to Study Fetal Tissue
Fetal tissue used for scientific research tops the list of topics Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has asked Texas senators on the Health and Human Services Committee to study before the Legislature reconvenes in 2017. (Walters, 10/13)

News Service Of Florida: Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Standards Eyed
Nneka Campbell spent the third anniversary of her daughter's death at a hearing at the Florida Department of Health in Tallahassee -- to honor, she said, the memory of 10-month-old Amelia, who died of complications following heart surgery at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach. Amelia was one of nine infants who died after heart surgery at St Mary's over four years, a death toll that drew national attention when CNN reported it in early June. At the time, St. Mary's and the state contested CNN's allegations. But in August, the hospital shuttered its pediatric cardiology unit; its chief executive resigned. (Menzel, 10/13)

News Service Of Florida: Court Gives Go-Ahead To HIV Disclosure Case
A woman who has HIV can pursue a lawsuit stemming from the alleged disclosure of her diagnosis by an employee of a primary-care clinic, a state appeals court ruled Monday. The 1st District Court of Appeal overturned part of a decision by a Duval County circuit judge who dismissed the lawsuit, which was filed by a woman identified in the ruling only as Jane Doe. A physician for Baptist Primary Care Inc., in 2006 diagnosed the woman as having HIV and began treatment. (10/13)

NPR: California Doctors Get Advice On How To Provide Aid In Dying
Now that California has legalized aid in dying, advocacy groups are planning statewide education campaigns so doctors know what to do when patients ask for lethal medication to end their lives. One of the first stops for doctors new to the practice is a doctor-to-doctor toll-free helpline. It's staffed by physicians from states where the practice is legal, who have experience writing prescriptions for lethal medication. (Dembosky, 10/13)

Kaiser Health News: Biking Behind Bars: Female Inmates Battle Weight Gain
The gym at Riverside Correctional Facility in Philadelphia is through the metal detector, two heavy doors and down the hall. There’s a basketball court like one you’d see at any high school, except there’s a corrections officer on guard near the three-point line. Sixteen stationary bikes are set up in a half circle in the corner. On bike number two, Lakiesha Montgomery, 32, from Philadelphia, is peddling fast and singing along to the Nicki Minaj’s song "Fly.” (English, 10/14)

NPR/ProPublica: Texas, Oklahoma Permit Companies To Dump Worker Compensation Plans
The NPR/ProPublica investigation into worker's compensation continues with a look at an emerging trend: employers opting out of worker's comp altogether. (Berkes, 10/14)

The Detroit Free Press: Flint Doctor Makes State See Light About Lead In Water
Under the steady gaze of a watercolor giraffe and tissue paper butterflies, a Flint pediatrician and mother of two last month forced the state of Michigan to snap to attention. But getting the state to concede the probability that Flint’s water is poisoning its children with lead — after months of assurances from both city and state officials that the water is safe — was far from easy. It required Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, 38, to sidestep bureaucracy. It meant awkward conversations and putting her hospital — city-owned Hurley Medical Center — smack-dab in a political minefield. (Erb, 10/12)