State Highlights: NYC Legionnaires’ Disease Death Tally Reaches 12; Texas Law To Curb Surprise Medical Bills Soon To Take Effect

The Wall Street Journal: 12 Dead in NYC Legionnaires’ Disease Outbreak
City and state workers have tested dozens of cooling towers for Legionnaires’ disease in the Bronx, a painstaking process augmented over the weekend by six staffers and three vehicles from Westchester County. The workers got along well, said Caren Halbfinger of the county health department. “These are all professionals who are used to responding to emergencies,” she said. (Ramey and Dawsey, 8/10)

The Texas Tribune: New Law Seeks To Curb Surprise Medical Bills
Patients with health insurance can still suffer sticker shock when the bill comes from a hospital visit. That’s because even an in-network hospital can contract with out-of-network doctors — physicians whose charges aren’t fully covered by a patient’s insurance. A new law that takes effect Sept. 1 will allow more consumers to challenge so-called "balance bills" they get from an out-of-network doctor, but only if the charge is more than $500. (Rocha, Dehn and Walters, 8/10)

The Associated Press: Arkansas Ending Program Providing Home Health Care To 13K
Arkansas health officials announced Monday that the state is ending a home health care program that serves thousands of people, a move that could leave 2,300 workers and contractors seeking new jobs. Arkansas Department of Health Director Nathaniel Smith told workers with the state's In Home Services program that the state would begin phasing out the program. (DeMillo, 8/10)

The Laurel Leader: Politicians, Residents Call For Laurel Regional Hospital To Stay Put
City, county and state officials representing Laurel pledged to push back against plans to convert Laurel Regional Hospital to an ambulatory care center at a forum attended by more than 100 people Monday evening. The board of Dimensions Healthcare, which runs the hospital, announced the decision July 31. The hospital has struggled to remain profitable in recent years, prompting a consultant to recommend major changes. The board's plan is to build a new, $24 million outpatient facility for Laurel that would continue to provide emergency and diagnostic services as well as outpatient surgery. The number of beds in the facility would be downsized to 30. (Yeager, 8/11)

Minnesota Public Radio: UCare Pushes Back As State Pulls Medicaid, MinnesotaCare Business
UCare is pushing back after the state decided to take away 70 percent of the health plan's business. UCare officials met with senior Dayton administration staff Monday but still want to make their case directly to the governor. Without the intervention, UCare will lose 360,000 clients who will have to find another plan, and competition in the marketplace will suffer, said UCare CEO Jim Eppel. But the state Department of Human Services, he said, isn't budging. (Zdechlik, 8/10)

Stateline: To Address Doctor Shortages, Some States Focus On Residencies
Last year, 369 students graduated from Iowa medical schools, but at least 131 of them had to finish their training elsewhere because Iowa had only 238 residency positions available. The story was the same for at least 186 students who graduated from Missouri medical schools and 200 who studied at Tennessee schools. States such as New York, California, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania were happy to take them—all four states took in more residents than students they trained. (Beitsch, 8/11)

The Baltimore Sun: From Diaper Bags To Disease Management, Maryland Center For Entrepreneurship Helps Guide Market Success
Soon after Tonika and Cory Myers settled into their seats with their three children for a family wedding in South Carolina a few years ago, they realized a diaper change for their 1-year-old daughter was in order. A quick peek into their diaper bag revealed an all-too-familiar sight: No disposable diapers and no wipes. Before strains of "Here Comes the Bride" could fill the air, the Ellicott City couple was forced to flee the ceremony with children in tow, hunt for a drugstore, change Cori and rush back — only to find the wedding was over. (Holzberg, 8/10)

WBUR: State-Funded Lab At Harvard Medical Aims To Reinvent Drug Discovery
[Peter] Sorger and his team at the Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology are focused on cancer and on analyzing the ways cancer drugs affect the whole body. They aim to reinvent the drug development process through this systems approach, by going much deeper than would scientists supervising a typical clinical trial and by establishing a new model of collaboration. (Bebinger, 8/10)

The Associated Press: Connecticut Brain Injury Advocates See More Services
Advocates for people with brain injuries plan to urge Connecticut lawmakers this week to add more slots to the state's community-based services program, saying it's difficult for families to wait two years or more for help. Julie Peters, executive director of the Brian Injury Alliance of Connecticut, said there was hope that a new initiative enacted last year would significantly reduce or eliminate an existing waiting list for services such as case management, day programs and community living supports. However, she said that hasn't happened. (Haigh, 8/10)

The Washington Post: How One Couple’s Experience With Their Disabled Child Inspired Them To Launch A Powerful Digital Community
Slowly, a path emerged: Their son Isaac, born without a kidney, appeared to have no larger health issues. Annabel finally had a diagnosis that put a name to her mysterious symptoms, and a small but supportive digital community of Dup15q syndrome families showed them how to cope. A third child, Henry, came along. And then in early 2014, Porath was inspired to launch The Mighty, a digital platform for all people with disease and disabilities, and their families. Less than 18 months old, The Mighty now has an editorial team of 10 and nearly a thousand community contributors, and provides news and analysis of disability-related issues in popular culture, scientific research and social networks. It’s Huffington Post-meets-disability-and-disease-support-groups. (Tenety, 8/11)

Los Angeles Times: Mentally Ill Woman In LAPD Assault A Case Study In System's Lapses
After a court hearing examining county inmate Trishawn Carey's extensive medical and mental health history, a judge last month ordered her released to the care of a South Los Angeles residential treatment program for women just out of jail or prison. Two days later, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department dropped the homeless woman at the emergency room entrance of the county hospital. She ended up on skid row, where supporters found her five hours later at the scene of her March 1 arrest, without any medication. (Holland, 8/10)

Reuters: 4th Circuit Says 'Manager Rule' Has No Place In Title VII Cases
A rule barring managers from suing for retaliation over incidents in which they were acting within the scope of their employment does not apply to claims brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a U.S. appeals court said on Monday. A unanimous three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals became the second federal appeals court to conclude that the "manager rule" developed in wage-and-hour cases does not apply under the landmark discrimination law, and revived a retaliation lawsuit against Virginia-based healthcare provider Carilion Clinic. (Wiessner, 8/11)

Los Angeles Times: In A First, California Agrees To Pay For Transgender Inmate's Sex Reassignment
California is first in the nation to agree to pay for a transgender inmate's sex reassignment operation, but the state's settlement of a recent court case sidesteps the question of whether such surgery is a constitutional right. The state concedes that Shiloh Quine, who entered the California prison system in 1980 as Rodney, suffers severe gender dysphoria that can be treated only by physically conforming her body to her psychological gender. (St. John, 8/10)

CQ Healthbeat: Kentucky's 5th District Leads In Cancer Death Rates, Study Says
Kentucky's southeastern region has the highest rate of cancer deaths for men and women, while the lowest ones for both sexes were in parts of Utah, a new analysis found. The cancer fatality rate for men was 300 deaths per 100,000 people in Kentucky's 5th District, almost double the 159 deaths per 100,000 people for Utah’s 3rd District. Among women, the rate also was highest in Kentucky’s 5th district at 196 deaths per 100,000 people, with Utah’s 1st District having the lowest rate at 112 deaths per 100,000 people, according to the analysis by American Cancer Society researchers. (Young, 8/10)