State Highlights: New Emphasis On Family Caregivers; South Dakota Telemedicine Hub Draws NATO Attention

Stateline: In Some States, A New Focus On Family Caregivers
Iraq war veteran Doug Mercer had been home in McAlester, Oklahoma, for just four days when he was in a motorcycle accident that left him broken and brain-damaged. His wife Michelle became his caregiver after he left the hospital, but nobody there explained how to transport him safely. A few weeks later, Michelle struggled as she tried to get Doug from the car to his wheelchair, breaking his leg. The Mercers’ story was a driving force behind an Oklahoma law that took effect in November that requires hospitals to train a designated family caregiver to tend to the medical needs of a released patient. Since then, 12 more states (Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Virginia and West Virginia) have approved similar laws. In Illinois and New York, legislation is awaiting the governor’s signature. (Milligan, 6/22)

The Associated Press: NATO Working With South Dakota Telemedicine Hub
NATO leaders are working with a telemedicine hub in southeast South Dakota to develop a multinational system that could deliver medical services remotely during natural or manmade disasters. Representatives from NATO nations, including Romania, the United Kingdom and the U.S., are visiting Avera Health's telemedicine center in Sioux Falls this week to look at the technology and equipment options available to provide health care services from distant locations. The goal of the NATO-funded research project is to increase survival rates in emergency situations, when immediate access to medical specialists is not always possible. (Cano, 6/22)

Marketplace: The New Math In Healthcare: Make Money By Saving Money
The idea sounds simple, right? Spend $100 for a week’s worth of meals as a way to head off the repeated trips to the hospital that can run $6,000 to $10,000 a visit. Save a lot of healthcare by spending a little bit more on social services. But here’s the problem: Doctors don’t know who is going to end up in the hospital. (Gorenstein, 6/22)

Reuters: Judge Cuts Georgia's $90M Award In Medicaid Case
A federal judge who ordered the government to return $90 million in Medicaid funds it was mistakenly credited by Georgia's health department has reduced the figure to $75 million, finding that the remainder of the claim was time-barred. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler of the District of Columbia ruled on Monday that Georgia could collect only the money it had actually paid to the federal government. The remaining $15 million was federal funding that Georgia would otherwise have received, but instead used to offset the $90 million credit. (Pierson, 6/22)

Los Angeles Times: Nation Of Islam Opposes California Vaccine Mandate Bill
A split among African American leaders on the issue of government-required vaccination has roiled the Capitol as lawmakers consider whether to eliminate most exemptions to state immunization laws. A leader of the Nation of Islam has warned African American lawmakers of political repercussions if they support a bill that would require many more children to be vaccinated. A coalition of other black organizations on Monday countered that message with support for the measure. (McGreevy, 6/22)

The Associated Press: Hood Says Mississippi Settles Some Tobacco Claims For $15M
Mississippi’s attorney general says the nation’s largest tobacco company will pay the state $15 million to settle claims that it was underreporting the number of cigarettes it was shipping to the state. On Monday, Attorney General Jim Hood announced the settlement with Reynolds American of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Reynolds American succeeded two companies that Mississippi raised claims against - R.J. Reynolds and Brown & Williamson. (Amy, 6/22)

Reuters: Planned Parenthood Rolls Out STD Testing Apps
Planned Parenthood has launched mobile apps that let users in California, Minnesota and Washington state request a home lab kits that tests for two of the most common sexually transmitted diseases. Residents of those states can download Planned Parenthood Direct through Apple or Android app stores and order a kit to test for chlamydia and gonorrhea. Downloading the app is free, but the test kit costs $149; users pay through the app with a credit or debit card. (Gaitan, 6/22)

The Associated Press: Testimony: Abortion Clinic Likely To Close If Law Enforced
The medical director of a northwest Louisiana abortion clinic testified Monday that it probably would close if the state is allowed to enforce a law requiring doctors who perform the procedure to be able to admit patients to a hospital within 30 miles of their clinics. (McConnaughey, 6/22)

CQ Healthbeat: Indiana Health Official Pushes Needle Exchanges For Addicts
Indiana’s top health official, Jerome Adams, says he understands the backlash that often greets proposals for needle-exchange programs, even though most public health experts say they are key to stopping disease outbreaks related to a nationwide surge of opioid abuse. “As the brother of someone who suffers from addiction, I would be insulted if someone just tried to hand him a needle,” Adams tells CQ. Adams’ experience pleading alongside his parents and siblings in court to get their brother treatment, and growing up in rural southeast Maryland where poverty and drug abuse were the norm, influenced his handling of public health challenges since being appointed Indiana State Health Commissioner last October. (Evans, 6/22)

Health News Florida: Prom Queen, 18, And HIV Positive
Each year in Jacksonville, a nonprofit called JASMYN hosts a prom for LGBT youth. Kourtnee Armanii Davinnie was crowned this year’s prom queen. She’s scared of horses, but loves unicorns. And she sometimes snaps when she talks. Davinnie is a trangender teen, just 18-years-old. Davinnie is not the name she was given at birth, it’s the name she’s chosen as a woman. This day, Davinnie wore a navy blue dress, gold wedge sandals and gold tone eyeshadow. On her wrist, a black wristband says “SPEAK OUT.” It’s part of a campaign to get people talking about HIV. Davinnie was underage when she got into treatment. She hadn’t told her parents, and JASMYN shuttled from appointment to appointment. That kind of support and access to care is critical. About 1,000 youth a year are diagnosed with HIV in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . In Florida, roughly 15 percent of all new HIV infections happen to people who haven’t hit their 25th birthday. (Aboraya, 6/22)

Health News Florida: Sex Doesn't Get Safer With Age
If you're talking about older people and sex, you have to talk to Kate GeMeiner. "I'm also known as Doctor Truth, the Condom Lady," the 85-year-old says. GeMeiner lives in Broward County, and spends a lot of her time at senior centers, nursing homes and assisted living facilities. "And I ask the seniors: How old do you think you are when you stop thinking about sex? And they all say, when you're dead,” she says with a laugh. “Or they'll say things like when the casket is closed or something like that." (Watts, 6/21)

Reuters: Massachusetts Launches Plan To Counter Heroin Epidemic
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker unveiled a $27 million plan on Monday to increase the state's capacity to treat drug addicts and reduce the stigma around addiction, as the United States battles a surge in heroin and opioid use. Heroin overdose deaths in the United States tripled from 2010 to 2013, according to a study by researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with most users turning to heroin after first using prescription opioids. (Tempera, 6/22)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County's Foster Center Should Be Closed Immediately, Panel Says
As the report was being drafted, the state was moving on a parallel track to require changes to the Youth Welcome Center for children 12 and older and the Children's Welcome Center for younger youths, requiring the county to come up with solutions to care for this particularly challenging population. The two centers, the only foster care facilities that turn no child away, are on the campus of Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. Together they serve hundreds of children and teens each year as they wait to be placed in increasingly scarce foster homes. Most young people at the Youth Welcome Center are older teenagers. Many have some type of mental illness or medical issue. Some are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. Most have been thrown out of multiple foster homes. (Therolf, 6/22)