Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: Mandatory Vaccines Not Unprecedented; Miss. Abortion Ruling; Vt. Health Costs
NPR: Why A Court Once Ordered Kids Vaccinated Against Their Parents' Will
A highly contagious disease was sweeping across the United States. Thousands of children were sick and some were dying. In the midst of this outbreak, health officials did something that experts say had never been done before and hasn't been done since. They forced parents to vaccinate their children. It sounds like something that would have happened a hundred years ago. But this was 1991. And the disease wasn't particularly deadly. It was measles. (Kelto, 2/19)
Reuters: Mississippi Asks Supreme Court To Review Ruling Blocking Abortion Law
Mississippi asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to review a lower court decision blocking a law that would shut the state's sole abortion clinic. Mississippi is among several states that have passed laws requiring abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of their clinics. Some of the measures are under court review. A federal district court judge issued a temporary injunction in 2012 blocking the Mississippi law because it would have forced women seeking abortions to go out of state. (Kaminsky, 2/18)
The Associated Press: Vermont Governor Says Health Program Lowering Patient Costs
Federal studies show Vermont's Blueprint for Health — a program aimed at reaching patients with chronic conditions, keeping them in better heath and saving money by reducing hospitalizations and medical procedures — is helping slow the growth of Vermont health care costs, Gov. Peter Shumlin said Wednesday. Shumlin wants to increase spending to $9 million for the pilot program, which began in 2003. (Rathke, 2/19)
Bloomberg: At Yale, Sick Students Pay Dearly For Time Off
Alexa Little was halfway through the spring semester of her sophomore year at Yale University in 2013, when her health began deteriorating. “I was in near-constant pain, and every day was a struggle,” Little says. She considered leaving school to get medical treatment, but learned if she withdrew mid-semester, she’d have to pay tuition for the full term, borrow money to take courses while she was away, and reapply to Yale when she returned—with no guarantee she’d be readmitted. “I had several panic attacks over spring break,” she says. “The cold logic that saved my life was the thought that my family would rather take on $25,000 in debt than see me die.” (Otani, 2/19)
Bloomberg: IPC The Hospitalist Must Face Federal Overcharge Lawsuit
IPC The Hospitalist Co., which employs doctors and acute-care specialists for hospitals in 27 states, must face federal claims that it overcharged U.S. health-care programs by millions of dollars. U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow in Chicago on Wednesday refused to dismiss a government lawsuit accusing the North Hollywood, California-based company of pressing doctors to “upcode,” or charge for more costly services than those provided. (Harris, 2/18)
Arizona Republic: Judge Approves Arizona Inmate Health Care Settlement
A federal judge on Wednesday approved a settlement that will provide improved health-care coverage for about 34,000 Arizona inmates in state-run facilities at a cost to taxpayers of at least $8 million a year. (Harris, 2/18)
The Washington Post: Is Court-Ordered Outpatient Treatment Of The Mentally Ill Worth The Cost?
Money. State and local governments never seem to have enough to meet the demand for mental health services. For years now, a much-touted solution to that problem has been mandatory outpatient treatment, also known as assisted outpatient treatment, or AOT. Such programs have typically targeted a small portion of the seriously mentally ill — sometimes less than two percent — who are frequent fliers in state hospitals and local jails, and thus responsible for a disproportionate chunk of public spending on those services. ... Only a handful of states, including Maryland, have either not adopted or not implemented mandatory outpatient treatment laws. (Shin, 2/18)
