State Highlights: MassHealth Savings Key To Balancing State Budget; Calif. Chiropractors Lobby Against Bill Ending Vaccine Exemptions
A selection of health policy stories from Massachusetts, California, Wisconsin, Utah, Georgia, Wyoming, Iowa and Colorado.
The Boston Globe:
Baker’s Budget Plan Shifts Medicaid Payments
A significant part of Governor Charlie Baker’s proposal to tame a projected $1.8 billion state budget shortfall involves squeezing savings out of Medicaid, the state-federal health care program for the poor and disabled, which has ballooning costs. (Miller, 3/5)
The Associated Press:
Baker Administration Details Plan To Trim $761M From Budget
Gov. Charlie Baker's administration is detailing a proposal to trim $761 million in Medicaid spending, a key part of its overall plan for keeping the state budget in balance. Administration officials said Thursday about 60 percent of the Medicaid savings would be achieved by moving some provider payments due in the next fiscal year to the following year. They said that would give the administration more time to craft long-term solutions for reining in Medicaid. (3/5)
WBUR:
Baker Deputies Outline Plan To Tame MassHealth Costs
Leaning heavily on the extraction of savings from MassHealth to balance their state budget proposal, top Baker administration health officials on Thursday said that changes to benefits for patients were mostly taken off the table, but the administration may look at co-payments or other commercial market solutions to control cost growth in the future. (Murphy, 3/5)
Los Angeles Timies:
Chiropractors Lobby Against Bill Ending Belief Exemptions For Vaccines
Legislation that would do away with personal-belief exemptions for childhood vaccines, filed in response to the recent measles outbreak in California, has quickly emerged as one of this year's most polarizing bills. One interest jumping into the fray: chiropractors. (Mason, 3/5)
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:
Gov. Walker Proposes Overhaul Of Wisconsin's Long-Term Care Program
Tucked into Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget is a massive overhaul of the system that provides long-term care to more than 50,000 elderly or disabled people in Wisconsin — a dramatic change that blindsided those currently managing the care. (Boulton, 3/6)
Deseret News:
'Death With Dignity' Bill Put On Hold For Further Study
Utah lawmakers put on hold Thursday a legislative proposal that would have created a process to allow terminally ill Utahns to obtain prescription medication they could self-administer “for a humane and dignified death.” After hearing emotional testimony on both sides on HB391, the proposed Utah Death with Dignity Act, the House Health and Human Services Committee voted to refer the issue to interim study. (Cortez, 3/5)
California Healthline:
California Supreme Court To Decide Fate Of Medical Board's Access To Rx Database
The California Supreme Court this year is poised to decide what further limitations -- if any -- should be placed on third-party investigators' access to the state's prescription drug monitoring database. (Infantino, 3/5)
Georgia Health News:
A Hospital's Main Strategy - Survival
Financial pain has spread across the Georgia hospital industry, from rural facilities to urban systems.
Since the beginning of 2013, five hospitals in the state have closed, and four of those were in rural areas, where patients often have no easily accessible alternatives. On the urban side, two Columbus hospitals have announced moves to counter financial pressure. (Miller, 3/5)
The Associated Press:
Wyoming Hospital Identifies Need For More Internists
Campbell County's need for medical internists is getting worse. Two internists this week notified Campbell County Memorial Hospital that they will be leaving this fall. The departures come as the hospital has already identified a need to recruit one full-time internist. (3/5)
The Associated Press:
Workers At State Mental Health Facility Get Layoff Notices
Layoff notices are going out to employees at a state mental health institution in Mount Pleasant that is slated for closure. [Iowa] Department of Human Services spokeswoman Amy McCoy says Thursday that notices had gone out to 36 workers. The layoffs will be effective April 6. There currently are about 74 people working at the facility. (3/5)
Los Angeles Times:
Port Workers' Families Denied Medical Claims, Lawsuit Says
The spouses of two West Coast dockworkers and a doctor have sued a union health insurance plan for longshoremen, alleging millions of dollars in legitimate unpaid claims in the last two years. The suit, which seeks class-action status, comes just after shipping companies and dockworkers with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union resolved a long-standing labor dispute that led to severe congestion at West Coast ports in recent months. (Kirkham, 3/5)
The Washington Post:
Widening Superbug Outbreak Raises Questions For FDA, Manufacturers
Young is among seven patients at UCLA who were infected with a hard-to-treat “superbug” that hospital officials traced to two specialized scopes that they said were contaminated despite being thoroughly cleaned. Two of the patients later died, and scores more were potentially exposed. After the incident became public, the Food and Drug Administration warned that the devices, called duodenoscopes, can be difficult to sanitize and “may facilitate the spread of deadly bacteria.” (Dennis, 3/5)
NPR:
Colorado Debates Whether IUDs Are Contraception Or Abortion
A popular contraception program in Colorado is receiving criticism from conservative lawmakers who say that the program's use of intrauterine devices, or IUDs, qualify as abortions. More than 30,000 women in Colorado have gotten a device because of the state program, the Colorado Family Planning Initiative. An IUD normally costs between $500 and several thousand dollars. Through the program women could receive one for free. (Verlee, 5/5)