State Highlights: Minn. Nurses Union Challenges 2 Health Systems’ Flu Shot Policies; Several Ill. Health Plan Administrators Face Legal Action After Failing To Pay Millions In Medical Bills

Pioneer Press: Nurses Union Hits Duluth Health Care System Over Requiring Flu Shots
As Essentia Health was in court with one union over its new mandatory flu shot policy on Tuesday, another was challenging the Duluth-based health system over the same policy. The Minnesota Nurses Association, which represents 2,000 Essentia nurses, charged in a statement on Monday that the health system hadn’t made good on a promise to hold off on enforcing the policy until negotiations took place. Instead, the MNA said, Essentia was ignoring that process and threatening to fire nurses who did not comply. (Lundy, 11/8)

Chicago Tribune: Feds Allege Illinois Company, Others, Failed To Pay $26 Million In Medical Bills
A federal court has ordered several companies to stop administering health plans for small businesses in Illinois and across the country after they allegedly failed to pay $26 million in members’ medical bills while keeping large amounts of money for themselves. Illinois-based Black Wolf Consulting, along with Texas-headquartered AEU Holdings and one of its subsidiaries, allegedly failed to pay medical bills for many of the 14,000 members of health plans administered by the companies for small businesses in Illinois and across the country, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, which investigated after complaints from members. Black Wolf is based in Monee, according to court documents. (Schencker, 11/8)

The Wall Street Journal: Outcome Health Fires Back Against Fraud Claims By Investors
Outcome Health on Wednesday fired back at investors suing the prominent Chicago advertising startup, saying that their accusations of fraud are baseless and that their effort to freeze $225 million in funds controlled by the founders was unfair and could financially damage the company. (Winkler, 11/8)

WBUR: Whistleblower Lawsuit Says Mass. Mental Health Center Defrauded The Government By Using 'Unqualified' Employees
A whistleblower lawsuit accuses South Bay Mental Health Center Inc. of defrauding the federal and state government of $130 million through fraudulent billing practices. ...The suit states that more than 30,000 patients a year were treated by unqualified clinicians and calls that a clear violation of regulations and requirements of the state's Medicaid program. (Boeri, 11/8)

Houston Chronicle: TMC Venture Fund Launches With $25M For Med Startups
The Texas Medical Center is launching a $25 million venture fund to support early-stage companies developing technologies in the health-care field. "The TMC Venture Fund is a quintessential example of the Texas Medical Center's ongoing commitment to driving collaboration across our medical city and further establishing Texas as the 'third coast of life sciences' in the United States," said Bill McKeon, TMC president and CEO in a statement Wednesday. (Najarro, 11/8)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Genesis Healthcare Takes $532 Million Write-Down, Warns Of Possible Bankruptcy
Genesis Health Inc., one of the nation’s largest nursing home operators, warned Wednesday that without relief from creditors it may have to file for bankruptcy protection. “As currently structured, it is unlikely that the company will be able to generate sufficient cash flow to cover required financial obligations, including its rent obligations, its debt-service obligations and other obligations due to third parties,” the Kennett Square company said in its quarterly report to the Securities and Exchange Commission. (Brubaker, 11/8)

Kaiser Health News: Breathing Fire: Health Is A Casualty Of Climate-Fueled Blazes
As the deadliest fires in California history swept through leafy neighborhoods here, Kathleen Sarmento fled her home in the dark, drove to an evacuation center and began setting up a medical triage unit. Patients with burns and other severe injuries were dispatched to hospitals. She set about treating many people whose symptoms resulted from exposure to polluted air and heavy smoke. “People were coming in with headaches. I had one. My eyes were burning,” said Sarmento, the director of nursing at Santa Rosa Community Health, which provides health care for those who cannot afford it. But respiratory problems — coughs and shortness of breath — were among the biggest risks. “We made sure everyone had a mask.” (Upton and Feder Ostrov, 11/9)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cuyahoga County Churches Mobilize To Reduce Infant Mortality
Ministers in Cleveland and inner-ring suburbs are preaching the gospel about prenatal care and safe sleep in an initiative to reduce infant mortality. ...The city-county collaborative was formed in December 2015 by a coalition of elected officials and health leaders to address the region's abysmal infant mortality rate, which is among the highest in the nation. (Farkas, 11/8)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cleveland Clinic, CareSource Sign Long-Term Contract
The Cleveland Clinic and CareSource signed a long-term Medicaid contract, after months of negotiations. ...An estimated 61,000 people with CareSource receive primary care through the Clinic. (Christ, 11/8)

Kaiser Health News: Grass-Roots Network Of Doctors Delivers Supplies To Puerto Rico
After Hurricane Harvey flooded her city of Houston in August, Dr. Jennifer McQuade planned to donate socks to those affected. Instead, surprised by the lack of medical care at a nearby shelter, McQuade, an oncologist, became the unofficial leader of a group of physicians and mothers providing emergency aid at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. She triaged patients, solicited donations and recruited more doctors to join. (Martyn, 11/9)

San Francisco Chronicle: California’s New Birth Certificate Heralds Third-Gender Intersex Rights
The Gender Recognition Act, which Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law on Oct. 15, puts California in the lead nationally in legal recognition for nonbinary genders. ...The new law allows the designation of a third gender on birth certificates. (Knight and Tamar-Harris, 11/8)

The Washington Post: Chuck Norris Claims His Wife Was Poisoned During MRI Scans, Sues For $10 Million
Actor and martial artist Chuck Norris is suing several health-care companies, claiming his wife was poisoned by a chemical used during magnetic resonance imaging scans. In a lawsuit filed last week in San Francisco Superior Court, Chuck and Gena Norris argued that gadolinium, a metal used as a contrast agent in MRI scans, caused Gena to sustain gadolinium deposition disease, experiencing “multiple, debilitating bouts of pain and burning throughout her body” and suffering long-term damage. (Bever, 11/8)