State Highlights: Ore. Hospitals To Keep Up Community Benefit Spending; N.Y. Advocates Push For Continuation Of Online Doc Listings

The Associated Press: Oregon Hospitals To Maintain Community Benefit Spending
Oregon hospitals won't reduce spending on services that benefit the community, even though the facilities are spending far less on uncompensated charity care because more people are insured, an industry group said Tuesday. The need for charity care has dropped precipitously since President Barack Obama's health care overhaul — the Affordable Care Act, or ACA — took effect. Only 5 percent of state residents remain uninsured, compared to 14 percent before the ACA. (Cooper, 3/18)

The Associated Press: Consumer Advocates Want NY Doctor Listings Continued
Consumer and patient advocates in New York are urging lawmakers to continue funding for the state's online profiles of doctors with credentials and safety records. The Cuomo administration has proposed eliminating the program in the coming year, saying the information is available on other publicly available websites. (3/18)

Bloomberg Business: Retirees Could Lose 'Guaranteed' Health Care Benefits
California's struggling to pay for health care for retired state employees, with an estimated $72 billion in medical costs coming in the next 30 years. Governor Jerry Brown's solution: Make workers start contributing money to pay for the health care they'll need after retiring. Three years ago Brown pushed through a pension system reform to increase the amount public workers must contribute to their pensions, but that effort left health costs for retirees untouched. And while pensions are certainly in trouble, retiree health care is potentially a much bigger deal. Health-care inflation rises faster than pension inflation, and unlike with pensions, employers are not required to prefund health benefits. (Schrager, 3/18)

The Associated Press: Measure Would Require Providers To Offer Safer Painkillers
An Illinois House committee has advanced a measure designed to make it harder to abuse prescription painkillers. The Human Services Committee approved the measure 9-3 Tuesday. It moves to the House floor. The legislation would require government and insurance programs to cover the use of painkilling opioids that can't be crushed into powder. (3/18)

Georgia Health News: Key Panel Gives Doctors A Pay Raise For Medicaid
A state Senate panel gave Georgia primary care doctors a potential financial boost Wednesday, putting millions of dollars into the state budget for a pay raise to deliver services to Medicaid patients. The Senate Appropriations Committee passed a budget that awards $5.9 million in state funds for a Medicaid pay raise to ob/gyns, and $13.6 million to internists, pediatricians and family medicine physicians. (Miller, 3/18)

North Carolina Health News: Nurse Practitioners Ask Lawmakers To Ease Restrictions For Practice
Nurse practitioners from across North Carolina came to the General Assembly on Tuesday to advocate for loosening the grip on the way they are allowed to practice. In light of a new study conducted by Duke University economist Chris Conover and commissioned by the North Carolina Nurses Association, nurse practitioners swarmed the legislature with optimism that they’d be able to convince lawmakers on the positive economic and health care impacts of allowing nurse practitioners to practice without license restrictions. (Namkoong, 3/19)

North Carolina Health News: State-Run Substance Abuse Centers Closer To Transition
A move to place state-run substance abuse centers under the control of local mental health agencies is one step closer, as members of the House Health Committee gave House Bill 119 a favorable report on Wednesday morning. The bill now goes to the appropriations committee. If passed, HB 119 would significantly change the funding and management of the three state-run alcohol and drug abuse treatment centers and create a data system to track long-term outcomes of patients, such as employment or if people are abstaining from drugs and alcohol. (Namkoong, 3/19)

The Seattle Times: Feds Warned Premera About Security Flaws Before Breach
Three weeks before hackers infiltrated Premera Blue Cross, federal auditors warned the company that its network-security procedures were inadequate. Officials gave 10 recommendations for Premera to fix problems, saying some of the vulnerabilities could be exploited by hackers and expose sensitive information. Premera received the audit findings April 18 last year, according to federal records. (Baker, 3/19)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Sues Feds Over Benefits For Same-Sex Couples
The state of Texas is suing the Obama administration for giving medical leave benefits to certain same-sex couples, according to an announcement Wednesday from Attorney General Ken Paxton. The lawsuit comes in response to a rule change announced by the president last month, which grants paid time off to legally married same-sex couples, even if they are living in a state, like Texas, that does not recognize gay marriage. The rule change to the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA, is scheduled to take effect March 27. (Walters, 3/18)

The Texas Tribune: Post-Scandal, Texas Lawmakers Change Gears On Health Agency
As the state’s largest health agency reels from a scandal over how it awarded contracts to private vendors, lawmakers on Wednesday said they are slowing down on their ambitious — and controversial — plan to restructure it. A panel of lawmakers and citizens last year recommended that the state’s five health and human services agencies, including the massive Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), be combined into one “mega-agency” that was supposed to be more efficient. But now that lawmakers are scrutinizing HHSC's awarding of a $110-million contract outside of the competitive bidding process, state leaders say the massive structural changes recommended by the so-called Sunset Commission should take more time than originally planned. (Walters, 3/18)

The Baltimore Sun: Bill Would Require Fertility Benefits For Lesbians
If Fiona M. Jardine had a husband, the expensive fertility treatments she's now undergoing would be covered by her health plan. But Jardine, 29, is married to a woman, so she and her wife have to pay out of pocket. A bill that would grant married lesbian couples the same fertility treatment benefits as husbands and wives is advancing in the Maryland General Assembly. The measure passed unanimously in a House subcommittee Tuesday, and full Senate and House committees are likely to vote this week. (Dresser, 3/18)

The Denver Post: Colorado Vaccination Law Lacks Enforcement, And No Change Is In Works
The law Colorado has on the books for vaccination reads strong — parents must either show proof their schoolchildren have had specific vaccines at certain times or provide documentation of an exemption. If they don't, schools are to suspend or expel students. But many schools don't document either a child's immunization or the exemption. Nor do they bar anyone from school. As a result, officials don't know if Colorado has the worst vaccination rates in the country or just the worst records. (Draper, 3/18)

The Washington Post: VA’s Colorado Hospital Has A ‘shocking’ Sticker Price: $1.7 Billion. Yes, Billion
The troubled new Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in Aurora, Colo., is expected to cost what Congress members are calling a “shocking” $1.73 billion, more than five times its original $328 million estimate, according to fresh estimates from VA officials. The hospital is one of four VA medical center projects — including sites in Las Vegas, Orlando and New Orleans — that were listed as behind schedule and over budget, with a total cost increase of $1.5 billion and an average increase of $366 million, according to a Government Accountability Office report in 2013. (Wax-Thibodeaux, 3/18)

The Washington Post: Sen. Ted Cruz Seeks To Upend D.C. Laws On Contraception Coverage, Gay Rights
One, the Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment Act of 2014, would prevent employers from taking action against workers based on their decision to use birth control or seek an abortion. (Davis and DeBonis, 3/18)

USA Today/The Tennessean: 'Right To Try' Law Would Be No Miracle Cure
Marty Nord does not expect a miracle cure if Tennessee gives her the right to try experimental drugs for Lou Gehrig's disease. Her disease has progressed to the point that she uses a wheelchair and relies on a device to help with breathing. Nevertheless, she supports a Tennessee bill that would allow doctors to prescribe medicines not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration — legislation being pushed by the Goldwater Institute, an organization that advocates for personal freedoms over federal regulations. (Wilemon, 3/19)

USA Today: Deadly Bacteria Outbreak Inflames Disinfection Concerns
The outbreaks in Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago and other cities infected scores of patients with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, mostly a strain called CRE that has nightmarish mortality rates of 40% or more. And in each case, the hospital relied on an automated endoscope reprocessor, or AER, to disinfect the scopes between uses, an ongoing USA TODAY investigation finds. (Eisler, 3/18)