Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: Maine Crafts Transition Plan For Some Mental Health Patients; Judge Orders Illinois To Provide At-Home Care For 1,200 Children With Disabilities
The Associated Press: Plan: Transition Those Set To Lose Mental Health Services
State lawmakers are proposing a plan meant to ease the transition of some mental health patients in Maine who stand to lose access to intensive community mental health services. The Portland Press Herald reports that under Wednesday's proposal, the transition period for clients currently receiving daily living assistance would be extended to 120 days. Additional 90-day extensions would be offered through June 2017 for those who can't access other programs within MaineCare. (4/7)
The Associated Press: Illinois Ordered To Provide In-Home Care To 1,200 Children
Cash-strapped Illinois needs to provide in-home nursing care to more than 1,200 children with disabilities and severe medical conditions, a federal judge ordered Wednesday, responding to a lawsuit alleging the state has failed to fulfill its Medicaid obligations. "This is a systemic problem," said Robert Farley, one of the attorneys suing the state. (Moreno, 4/7)
The Texas Tribune: Foster Home Crunch Strands Children In Psych Facilities
Abused children in Texas are being left in psychiatric facilities longer than they were six years ago as the state's child protective services system grapples with federal court scrutiny and diminishing options, according to data obtained by The Texas Tribune. Last year, 17,151 Texas children were removed from abusive homes. While the agency could not say exactly how many were placed in private and state psychiatric hospitals, data from 2009 to 2015 shows roughly 4,000 psychiatric admissions for foster care children each year. (Langford, 4/7)
The Washington Post: ‘It’s Everyone’s Worst Fear’: How A Small College Survived An Outbreak
About dawn one Sunday morning, a health official at a small Jesuit college in California got an alarming phone call: A student had been rushed to the hospital. The ER staff quickly suspected meningitis. And while they treated and tested for the highly contagious, often fatal disease, scores of other students were streaming into the emergency room, frightened by their own symptoms. “It’s everyone’s worst fear in college health,” said Joshua M. Sharfstein, associate dean at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “Meningitis strikes very quickly. Someone looking well one day could be dead the next.” (Svrluga, 4/7)
The Associated Press: Suspected Norovirus Sickens University Of Minnesota Students
Twenty-eight students in a University of Minnesota residence hall have gotten sick with what's suspected to be a viral infection. Minnesota Department of Health spokesman Doug Schultz said Thursday that 28 students in Frontier Hall have suffered from what's suspected by state health officials to be a norovirus strain. He says reports of the illnesses starting coming into his department Wednesday. (4/7)
The Associated Press: Flu Remains Widespread In Kentucky
Kentucky health officials say that the flu is continuing to rage across the state and is expected to continue to be a problem well into next month. The Kentucky Department for Public Health sent out a health alert Wednesday, announcing flu activity in the state to be "widespread" for the ninth consecutive week, with flu-like activity or outbreaks having been reported in at least half of the state's regions. (4/8)
