Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: Layoffs Hit Conn. Mental Health And Addiction Department; Calif. Bill Would Require Troubled Docs To Notify Patients
The Connecticut Mirror: State Worker Layoffs Continue At Three Agencies
The administration served a total of 165 notices Monday to workers in the Department of Children and Families — including those at Connecticut Juvenile Training School — and at the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. One of state government’s largest departments, Social Services has been criticized by legislators, union leaders and social services advocates for years for being understaffed. (Phaneuf and Levin Becker, 4/12)
KQED: Bill Requiring Disciplined Physicians To Notify Patients Advances In Sacramento
Doctors who are on probation after being disciplined by state regulators would have to share that information with patients before providing care under a bill making its way through the state Senate. (Fine, 4/12)
The Boston Globe: Pay Raise Sought For Nursing Home Workers
The employees who do much of the backbreaking work in Massachusetts nursing homes are lucky if they make $13 an hour — many make considerably less. Nearly half of those who bathe, feed, and care for residents need food stamps or other government assistance to survive. (Lazar, 4/13)
The Connecticut Mirror: Malloy, House Democrats Clash Over New Budget Plan
In a plan drafted in response to an unbalanced proposal recently adopted by the Appropriations Committee, [Gov. Dannel P.] Malloy also proposed more than $100 million in further reductions aimed largely at social services and education to compensate for shrinking income tax receipts. (Phaneuf, Rabe Thomas, Levin Becker and Pazniokas, 4/12)
North Carolina Health News: McCrory Budget Emphasizes Dollars For Mental Health, Substance Abuse Treatment
Flanked by lawmakers and law enforcement officers on the steps of the gubernatorial mansion, Gov. Pat McCrory rolled out his priorities for this year’s health and human services budget, which includes at least $48 million in money for priorities ranging from expanding drug and mental health courts to adding several hundred more children to the NC Pre-K program. (Hoban, 4/12)
The Sacramento Bee: California Soda Tax Bill Pulled Without A Vote
Elections come and go, legislative leaders rise and fall, but one constant remains in Sacramento: Soda taxes can’t get traction. A bill to impose a two-cents-per-ounce tax on sugary beverages was pulled by its author ahead of its scheduled first committee vote on Tuesday, with Assemblyman Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica, concluding he lacked the votes. Assembly Bill 2782 is likely done for the year, the latest setback for a protracted but largely unsuccessful public health campaign. (White, 4/12)
The Chicago Tribune: Nonprofits Serving People With Disabilities Report Staffing Crisis
Organizations that provide care to people with disabilities are reporting crisis-level shortages of employees needed to feed, bathe and perform other essential tasks for residents in Illinois, a situation that has prompted the closure of some group homes and kept hundreds of families on waiting lists for services. (Healy, 4/13)
The Associated Press: Former Oklahoma Dentist Charged With Money Laundering
A former Oklahoma oral surgeon whose filthy clinics led to thousands of patients being tested for HIV and hepatitis faces a federal charge of money laundering, prosecutors announced Tuesday. (Juozapavicius, 4/12)
Reuters: Judge Will Not Reconsider Dismissal Of DePuy Whistleblower Case
A Boston federal judge on Monday refused to reconsider his dismissal of a whistleblower lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson unit DePuy Orthopaedics Inc over alleged false claims submitted to government healthcare programs for its hip implants. (Pierson, 4/12)
