State Highlights: Minn.’s Hospitals See Drop In Uncompensated Care Costs; Fla. Report Shows Skepticism About Health Plan Pricing Tools

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Unpaid Care Costs Fall At Hospitals In Minnesota, State Health Department Says
The costs of unpaid care at Minnesota hospitals fell 6 percent last year as medical centers in the state reported a significant decline in charity care costs. The drop in unpaid care is the largest in at least 20 years, and suggests financial burdens were less of a barrier to care for hospital patients last year, according to a report released Tuesday by the Minnesota Department of Health. (Snowbeck, 9/29)

Health News Florida: Few Consumers Use Health Plan Pricing Tools
Most health insurance providers offer pricing tools for consumers. But Floridians are skeptical of the information they see on these sites, the Governor's Commission on Healthcare and Hospital Funding learned Monday in Tampa. The nonprofit Catalyst for Payment Reform (CPR) shared its 2015 "Report Card on State Price Transparency Laws," which shows Americans don't trust their insurance companies to give them accurate price information. (Miller, 9/29)

U.S. News & World Report: The Next Religious Freedom Fight?
A court battle in the Pacific Northwest has opened another front in the fight over religious liberty, raising questions over whether pharmacies are legally obligated to provide patients with emergency contraception despite moral objections. Plaintiffs in Washington state are challenging a mandate that pharmacists not refer customers elsewhere because of religious objections to drugs like the so-called morning-after pill. The state, thought to have the most restrictive policies in the nation, also requires that pharmacies stock a representative assortment of drugs – such as the pill – to meet patients' needs. And with the country's renewed focus on religious freedom in the wake of a Kentucky clerk's denial of same-sex marriage licenses, the debate could ripple to other states – particularly if the case ends up before the Supreme Court. ( Leonard, 9/30)

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Judge Approves Ambitious State Plan To Reform Disability Services
Hundreds of Minnesotans with disabilities could gain access to better jobs, housing and medical care under an ambitious state plan approved this week by a federal judge. In a ruling late Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank applauded the state for creating a detailed blueprint with realistic goals, while pushing back against the perception that the plan would forcibly integrate people against their wishes. (Serres, 9/29)

New Hampshire Public Radio: State Launches Investigation Into How Opioids Were Marketed In N.H.
The New Hampshire Attorney General’s office is investigating marketing claims by the manufacturers of prescription opioids, action that could lead to lawsuits against the companies for deceiving physicians and patients about the drugs. (Wallstin, 9/29)

The Associated Press: Delaware Hospital Agrees To $4 Million Federal Settlement
Federal prosecutors say St. Francis hospital in Wilmington has agreed to a $4 million settlement related to improper Medicare and Medicaid billing. The settlement announced Tuesday involves improperly billing Medicare and Medicaid for patients admitted into a Wilmington inpatient rehabilitation unit between 2007 and 2010 when admission was not medically necessary and services did not fully qualify for reimbursement. (9/29)

USA Today: Houston Tries To Slim Down With Food, Fitness
This sprawling Southwestern metropolis used to have a Texas-sized obesity problem, topping the scales as America’s fattest city. And no wonder — healthy food and safe places to exercise were hard to come by for many residents. But an initiative launched by Mayor Annise Parker in 2012, called Go Healthy Houston, has worked to change that dubious distinction by giving people better access to healthy foods, physical activity and tobacco-free zones. It’s one of many similar initiatives in cities across the nation aiming to improve health and reduce the cost of care among whole populations by creating an environment that makes healthy choices easier. (Ungar and O'Donnell, 9/29)

NPR: Telemedicine Expands, Though Financial Prospects Still Uncertain
Say you're a Midwestern farmer in a hospital bed, recovering from surgery or a major illness. It's time for the nurse's check-in, but there's no knock on the door. At Mercy Hospital in St. Louis, a camera attached to the wall over the foot of the bed whirls around, as a video monitor next to the camera lights up to show a smiling face with a headset on. "Good afternoon, this is Jeff with SafeWatch," the smiling face says. "Just doing my afternoon rounds." (Smith, 9/30)

Reuters: U.S. 'Right To Try' Laws May Not Help Dying Get Unapproved Drugs
So-called “right to try” laws, intended to expand dying patients’ access to experimental treatments, may not work as expected – and might strip patients of federal safety protections, some experts say. The laws, enacted in at least 24 states, have been promoted as a way to help dying patients get hold of medicines and devices that haven’t been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). (Rapaport, 9/28)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Forms Health 'Super Agency,' But Some Fear It Will Be Unwieldy
At a time when private healthcare is increasingly connected and holistic, critics complain that Los Angeles County's sprawling public health system is neither. A patient who arrives at a county hospital emergency room with a broken arm faces a bureaucratic maze. If he needs follow-up physical and mental health service, as well as substance abuse counseling through the county system, he might have to fill out different sets of forms at three different clinics. And his health professionals in one department won't have access to health records maintained by the other departments. (Sewell, 9/29)