State Highlights: N.C. Budget Bill Would Cut State Workers’ Retiree Health Benefits; Conn. Surgery Centers Fight Proposed Tax

The Charlotte Observer: Future NC Workers Would Not Receive Retirement Health Care Under Senate Budget
Future state employees could lose one of the biggest perks of government work: Free health insurance in retirement. The proposed change appears deep within the Senate’s 500-page budget bill and attracted little notice when the budget was debated last week. Senate leaders say the state must rein in rising costs associated with retiree health coverage. (Campbell, 6/24)

The Associated Press: Connecticut Surgery Centers Worried About Tax Proposal
Operators of surgery centers across Connecticut are working to persuade state lawmakers to scrap a new tax in the Democratic budget they claim will prompt some facilities to close. The centers provide colonoscopies, cataract removal and other outpatient procedures. The Connecticut Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers says about 15 of the group's 61 member centers will be forced to close if the 6 percent "provider tax" included in the two-year, $40.3 billion budget becomes law. (Haigh, 6/24)

Los Angeles Times: Gov. Jerry Brown Signs New $167.6-Billion State Budget
Gov. Jerry Brown signed a new $167.6-billion budget Wednesday that expands child care, boosts funding for public schools and opens the state's public healthcare program to children in the country illegally, but leaves some key issues unresolved. (Megerian, 6/24)

Modern Healthcare: Prices Hard To Come By For Massachusetts Patients Despite Transparency Law
Households may find medical bills absorb an increasing share of their income, but as consumers, their ability to shop among hospitals and clinics remains limited. For more than a year, Massachusetts hospitals and clinics have been required to respond within two business days to consumers' request for a price. That proved to be difficult for some Massachusetts hospitals surveyed by the public policy think tank Pioneer Institute, which surveyed 22 hospitals and 10 clinics on the price of a common and uncomplicated imaging service, an MRI without contrast. (Evans, 6/24)

The Associated Press: Ambulance, Paramedic Service In Camden Could Be Overhauled
The provider of ambulance and paramedic services in Camden could change abruptly if a bill that's moving quickly through the state Legislature is adopted. The move would benefit Cooper University Hospital, where the chairman of the board is Democratic powerbroker George Norcross. Supporters of the change said it could also improve public health, but the hospital that now provides paramedics in the city said it's not the way a change should be made. (Mulvihill, 6/24)

The Pioneer Press: Infant Welfare Clinic Seeks Grant To Meet Increased Needs
As the Oak Park River Forest Infant Welfare Society Children's Clinic looks after the area's most needy patients, the clinic still hopes it can offer even more.The clinic is one of three organizations in the running for a $100,000 grant offered by the Delta Dental Foundation, and clinic officials have big plans for the award if they are the lucky recipients. In addition to providing health services, the clinic, located at 320 Lake St. in Oak Park [Illinois], offers its patients dental and behavioral health services as well. (Schering, 6/24)

Reuters: Stroke Centers More Common When Laws Encourage Them
State laws have played a big part in boosting the number of hospitals where specialized stroke care is available, a new study shows. During the study, the increase in the number of hospitals certified as primary stroke centers was more than twice as high in states with stroke legislation as in states without similar laws. At these hospitals, a dedicated stroke-focused program staffed by professionals with special training delivers emergency therapy rapidly and reliably. (Doyle, 6/24)

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Opportunities Seen In Private Health Care Exchanges
From their work as benefit consultants, Jennie Korth and Melissa Marrero sensed an opportunity in an emerging trend, and they had enough confidence in their instincts to strike out on their own. Korth and Marrero, who worked for Towers Watson, one of the country's largest benefit consulting companies, started Health Exchange Resources, a consulting firm that specializes in private exchanges, in February 2013. (Boulton, 6/24)

The Charlotte Observer: Charlotte Leaders, On Nashville Trip, Talk Health Care And Transit
Charlotte business leaders and public officials arrived in Nashville on Wednesday to learn economic development do’s and don’ts from a city that officials said outperforms Charlotte in some ways but lags it in others. Officials from Charlotte also discussed how more collaboration within its own health care sector could help it grow, in the same way the industry has expanded in Nashville. Roughly 130 Charlotte leaders, including Mayor Dan Clodfelter, were estimated to be part of the first day of the Charlotte Chamber’s annual intercity visit, which runs through Friday. It marks the first time it’s been in Nashville since 2004. (Roberts, 6/24)

North Carolina Health News: Tobacco Cessation Funds Missing From NCGA Budgets
In 2011, the North Carolina youth smoking rate hit an all-time low. In 2013, the state hit a different kind of low — legislators reduced funding for tobacco control and prevention programs to zero, and it’s stayed there ever since. Tobacco use rates among high school students rose from 25.8 percent to 29.7 percent between those two years, according to the North Carolina Youth Tobacco Survey. (Herzog, 6/25)