State Highlights: Mass.’s New Health Plan Limits Irk Unions; Ark. Nursing Home ‘Failed’ To Address Infestation

Boston Globe: Public Employee Unions Cry Foul After State Cuts Health Insurance Options
Labor unions that represent Massachusetts public employees are fuming over a stunning decision by a state commission to limit their health plan options and are lashing out against the move, which affects hundreds of thousands of people and shakes up the local insurance industry. Under the changes, which take effect in July, commercial plans from the popular insurers Tufts Health Plan, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, and Fallon Health no longer will be available. (Dayal McCluskey, 1/23)

The Associated Press: Arkansas Scabies Cases In Nursing Homes Linked To Inaction
A scabies outbreak at a south Arkansas nursing home spread throughout the facility and into the community after those in charge failed to act, according to a government report. Government documents show that officials at Longmeadow Nursing Care in Camden told nursing staff in some cases not to leave any documentation indicating they were treating residents for scabies, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported . Scabies is a highly contagious skin condition caused by mites, according to the U.S. Library of Medicine. (1/22)

The Associated Press: Vermont Governor With 'Mixed Emotions' Signs Marijuana Bill
Gov. Phil Scott on Monday privately signed Vermont's marijuana bill into law, making the state the first in the country to authorize the recreational use of the substance by an act of a state legislature. The law, which goes into effect July 1, allows adults to possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana, two mature and four immature plants. (1/22)

The Washington Post: Emanuel Zayas Dies After Doctors Remove 10-Pound Tumor From Cuban Boy’s Face
The basketball-size tumor was finally gone, and the first signs after Emanuel Zayas’s surgery were deceptively encouraging. The 14-year-old’s eyes had begun to react to stimulation. The muscles on his face were strengthening. For a moment, his family, doctors and other supporters exhaled. But inside, the teen was already dying, according to Miami NBC-affiliate WTVJ. (Wootson, 1/22)

The Star Tribune: Blue Cross Shifting Work To Anthem 
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is shifting back-office work for its management of state public health insurance programs to a subsidiary of Indiana-based Anthem, one of the nation's largest health insurers. The move comes while the state's relationship to health insurers in the public programs is in flux, with Minnetonka-based Medica largely dropping the business last year and state lawmakers opting in early 2017 to open the market to for-profit HMOs for the first time in decades. (Snowbeck, 1/22)

Georgia Health News: Shortage Of Mental Health Providers Harms Georgia Kids, Report Says
The report from Voices for Georgia’s Children cites a “severe shortage’’ of child and adolescent psychiatrists statewide. It also reported that 76 of the state’s 159 counties do not have a licensed psychologist in 2015, and that 52 counties did not have a licensed social worker. (Miller, 1/22)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Nonprofits That Deliver Crucial Human Services Struggle Financially
Impact’s hotline might be on society's front lines but its constant financial straits have become commonplace among the tens of thousands of nonprofits across the nation that rely on government grants to deliver crucial human services to an estimated one in five Americans. According to a new report, the financial health of the nation’s community-based organizations — or CBOs — is increasingly precarious. (Schmid, 1/22)

The Baltimore Sun: Kool Smiles To Pay Millions Over Allegations It Performed Unnecessary Dental Procedures On Maryland Children 
Kool Smiles must pay the state of Maryland more than $1 million as part of a national settlement for allegedly performing unnecessary tooth extractions and other dental procedures on children and then billing Medicaid. The settlement is part of $23.9 million the Georgia-based dental company agreed to pay to the federal government and 19 other states. Kool Smiles has more than 100 offices across 16 different states, including five in Baltimore, according to the company’s website. (McDaniels, 1/22)

Pioneer Press: Minnesota, Wisconsin Infants: Free Baby Boxes Can Be Yours (Parent Education Required) 
Starting Jan. 23, the company is launching a program in Minnesota and Wisconsin that will give parents across the two states free access to resources, education and boxes of their own through a program called Baby Box University. ...This social experiment is as much about education as it is about boxes: Parents are required to take an online Baby Box University course to receive a free box that the company says serves as a safe sleep space. Minnesota health care experts and educators work alongside the Baby Box University team, the company says, to ensure that there is a “guiding vision and clear strategy for creating the platform’s courses and videos, which includes myriad topics on safe sleep practices, postpartum depression, breastfeeding, brain-boosting activities and more.” (Guthrey, 1/22)

Detroit Free Press: DMC Announcing Layoffs, Reboot Of Administrative Structure
The Detroit Medical Center announced a long-planned organizational reboot on Monday that that will simplify its management structure and result in what could be significant job reductions. The exact number of jobs that will be cut was not disclosed. DMC has eliminated about 100 positions per year for the past three years in year-end cost-cutting, but this year's reductions are expected to be deeper, perhaps around 300. (Gallagher, 1/22)