Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: New York Lawmakers Mull Aid-In-Dying Proposal; Texas Ruling On $11,000 ER Visit May Shed Light On Confidential, Discounted Rates
The Associated Press: NY Lawmakers To Hold Hearing On Physician-Assisted Suicide
State lawmakers in New York are taking a closer look at a legislative proposal to give terminally ill people the right to seek life-ending medication from their physician. The Assembly's Health Committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the measure Thursday in Manhattan. It comes after a hearing last month in Albany. (5/3)
Dallas Morning News: Texas Ruling On $11,000 ER Bill May Have Long-Lasting Effects, Experts Say
The health care industry is closely watching a recent decision by the Texas Supreme Court that some say could have broader implications on how hospitals and health insurers negotiate their rates. The court sided with an uninsured woman who was billed $11,037 after an emergency room visit. The justices said that in order to prove her bill was “reasonable” compared with what an insured patient would be billed, the medical center would need to share in court details about the discounted rates it had with health insurers, data that’s generally seen as proprietary and confidential. (rICE, 5/2)
WSBTV: Is It Really An Emergency? New ER Policy Costing Georgians Thousands
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia put a new emergency room policy in place in the summer of 2017. Under it, Blue Cross will not pay for ER visits it finds inappropriate. ...Piedmont Healthcare told us it has documentation of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia, a subsidiary of Anthem, denying ER claims for about 75 people treated in its ERs. (Huddleston, 5/2)
The Star Tribune: Amid Regulator Concern, Smaller Regions Hospital Plan Suggested
A plan to expand the bed count at Regions Hospital by 20 percent likely overstates the future demand for hospital care in the east metro, according to state regulators, and could pressure nearby competitors to drop services like inpatient mental health care that generate less revenue. The concerns prompted the Minnesota Department of Health to conclude in a preliminary analysis that a 100-bed expansion plan at Regions is not in the public interest, according to a report released Wednesday. (Snowbeck, 5/2)
New Hampshire Public Radio: Transgender Rights Bill Heads To Governor Sununu
The state senate passed a bill on Wednesday that would create legal protections for transgender people in New Hampshire. The bill would add gender identity to the state’s existing anti-discrimination laws. (Moon, 5/2)
Houston Chronicle: Four Houston Hospitals Land On List Of Nation's Best
Four Houston hospitals are among the nation's best, according to a major healthcare clinic magazine. Becker's Hospital Review recently released its list of the 100 greatest hospitals in America." The hospitals included on this list have been recognized nationally for excellence in clinical care, patient outcomes, and staff and physician satisfaction," the magazine wrote. In order to compile the list, researchers selected hospitals that were recognized by awards and other rankings, like U.S. News & World Report's 2017-18 rankings or quality ratings by the U.S. Department of Health. (Ramierz, 5/2)
Boston Globe: Here Are The 19 Mass. Quasi-Public Agencies That Have Failed To Report Spending Records
At least 19 agencies in Massachusetts appear to have flouted state law by failing to publish millions of dollars in payroll and spending data on a state transparency website as required by a 2010 law that mandated such public disclosures. All of the missing data belonged to so-called quasigovernment agencies, which are established by the state. (Rocheleau, 5/2)
The CT Mirror: To Avert A Strike, House Boosts Money For Care Of The Disabled
The House Wednesday passed a bill aimed at raising wages and heading off a strike scheduled for Monday by about 2,500 union members who take care of the disabled. These employees are represented by SEIU 1199 New England and work for private agencies in group homes and day programs that receive state Medicaid funding. (Rigg, 5/2)
Modern Healthcare: Trinity Health Moving To A Single Epic Platform
Trinity Health will put all its facilities on a single Epic Systems Corp. electronic health record and revenue-cycle management platform from a mix of Epic and Cerner programs, the system announced Wednesday. The health system plans to migrate its 94 hospitals and 109 continuing-care facilities to a single version of Epic over four years, according to Mike Slubowski, president and chief operating officer at Trinity. Slubowski declined to provide information about the estimated cost of the switch. (Arndt, 5/2)
Houston Chronicle: Houston Partnership Launches Center For Health & Nature
Former First Lady Laura Bush’s conservation organization is creating a Center for Health & Nature at Houston Methodist Hospital, a first-of-its-kind attempt to investigate the potential therapeutic benefits of the outdoors. The center, a partnership of Texan By Nature, Methodist and the Texas A&M University System, will conduct research, convene symposiums and feature a “healing garden” for patients and caregivers. It was announced at a news conference at Methodist Wednesday. (Ackerman, 5/2)
Minnesota Public Radio: Mayo: Sediment Caused Discolored Water In Hospital Taps
Mayo released a statement Wednesday evening that, according to a preliminary analysis, the sediment had come from filtering material from the well at Saint Marys and that the water supply has been deemed safe, adding that "Initial tests have not found issues with bacterial contamination or heavy metals." (Richert, 5/2)
KCUR: What The Different Paths Into Nursing Careers Say About Inequality In High School Education
Traditionally, a lot of nurses got their start as certified nursing assistants. It’s an entry-level job: CNAs provide basic, hands on care, such as taking vital signs or helping patients bathe. They worked at hospitals or long-term care facilities under the supervision of licensed nurses while studying for boards. Most vocational nursing programs at the high school level prepared students to sit the CNA exam, but that’s no longer the case at Summit Technology Academy, Lee’s Summit’s career and tech ed center. (Moxley, 5/3)
The Star Tribune: Obesity Disparity Between Minnesota's Richest And Poorest Is Growing
Money appears to be a strong separator between the lean and the obese in Minnesota, which has one of the nation’s widest economic gaps when it comes to excess weight gain. Minnesota ranked 42nd among states for its disparity, because the obesity rate of 28 percent for all adults in the state in 2016 bloated to 38 percent among those in the lowest income bracket, according to a state report card released Thursday by the Commonwealth Fund, a Washington, D.C., health policy research foundation. (Olson, 5/3)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Need A Job? Program Wants To Help With Milwaukee's Chronic Trauma
They are the last questions anyone would expect when applying for an entry-level temp job. Were you ever attacked with a gun or knife? ... They are also at the heart of a pioneering program meant to address one of the single-most crippling impediments to employment in one of the nation’s most impoverished cities: traumatic stress on such an epidemic scale that it undermines the workforce. (Schmid, 5/2)
Georgia Health News: Flu Season Has Left A Trail Of Deaths, And Perhaps A Few Lessons
The worst is over, Georgia public health officials say. But the important legacy, they say, is that this season may serve as an alert to the general public on how unpredictable and deadly the flu can be. (Miller, 5/2)
Des Moines Register: Hy-Vee Part-Time Workers Will Be Getting Health Insurance
Hy-Vee Inc. is now offering health insurance and other benefits to 58,000 part-time workers in an effort to attract and retain employees. ...The company began offering benefits to workers 19 and older who work 20 or more hours a week in January. Eligible employees who work for Hy-Vee or its subsidiary Midwest Heritage bank can choose from among 11 options including: health, dental; short-term disability; vision; group life; accident; critical illness; hospital indemnity; individual life and disability; auto, homeowners and renters; and pet insurance. (Johnson, 5/2)
Sacramento Bee: Senate Bill Would Expand Marijuana Delivery To All Of California
With limited time to craft rules before the law took effect at the start of the year, many towns approved outright bans of all marijuana businesses. The patchwork of local laws have created vast "pot deserts" that will remain until cities and counties opt to reconsider rules. (Luna, 5/2)
