State Highlights: Report Sheds Light On States With High Hospital Costs, Higher Charges To Private Insurers; Low Pay Leads To Chronic Shortage Of Caretakers For Disabled In Missouri

Georgia Health News: Georgia Has Among Highest Hospital Prices, New Review Suggests
A recently published analysis of hospital prices shows Georgia in the top third among 25 states studied. The Rand Corp. data uses prices paid by health insurers under employer-based coverage, and compares that spending to what Medicare pays at the same facilities. (Miller, 8/6)

KCUR: Every Year, Half Of Missouri's Workers Who Care For The Developmentally Disabled Quit 
Missouri workers providing care for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities make less than a Walmart or Target worker, even after a pay increase that went into effect last month. The low pay is the main reason about half of Missouri workers quit each year, according to Missouri Developmental Disabilities Division Director Val Huhn. Starting wages now range between $9.50 and $10.50 an hour thanks to Missouri state lawmakers appropriating $20 million more in general revenue to providers. (Okeson-Haberman, 8/7)

Boston Globe: Three Hospitals Team Up On $3M Plan To Help Low-Income Families Pay The Rent
Three big Boston teaching hospitals are launching an initiative to help families facing eviction, collectively acknowledging the strong connection between stable housing and good health. Together, Boston Medical Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital plan to spend about $3 million over three years to fund housing programs through grants to community organizations. (Dayal McCluskey, 8/6)

The Associated Press: Official: 1 Death Linked To Legionnaires' Disease In Atlanta
The Georgia Department of Public Health has confirmed one death linked to a Legionnaires' outbreak at an Atlanta hotel. News outlets report 49-year-old Cameo Garrett died July 9 of coronary artery disease aggravated by Legionella. DeKalb County Medical Examiner Pat Bailey said Tuesday that Garrett had Legionnaires' disease when she died. (8/6)

The Hill: New Mexico Says EPA Abandoned State In Fight Against Toxic 'Forever Chemicals' 
New Mexico’s Democratic governor is pushing back against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to help the state fight contamination from “forever chemicals” spread by a military base. In a Friday letter to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said the lack of help from the EPA “is inconsistent with its mission to protect public health and the environment” and is an example of “EPA’s failure to uphold compliance with federal environmental laws.” (Beitsch, 8/6)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Governor Directs State Agencies To Identify Cuts
Georgia’s economy is still growing, but state agencies will have to look for ways to cut their budgets under a directive the Kemp administration sent out Tuesday. It is the first time budget cut proposals have been requested from agencies since the state was hammered by the after-effects of the Great Recession nearly a decade ago. (Salzer, 8/6)

The CT Mirror: Opponents Decry Rollback Of Federal Health Care Protections For Transgender People
Connecticut is the latest state to join an alliance opposing a Trump administration proposal to repeal and replace an Obama-era regulation prohibiting health care providers from discriminating against transgender people. The new rule would eliminate an expanded definition of sex which recognized gender identity as an avenue for sex discrimination. (Moore, 8/6)

Modern Healthcare: Alliance For Better Health, Insurer To Address Social Risks
Alliance for Better Health, a convener of providers and community groups, and managed-care organization MVP Health Care have partnered to invest $800,000 over two years in not-for-profit community organizations around Albany, N.Y. The new partnership, announced Tuesday, is called Healthy Alliance Independent Practice Association. Unlike other IPAs in the U.S., it doesn't involve physicians. Rather, the partnership focuses solely on helping community-based organizations provide services that address social determinants of health, said Dr. Jacob Reider, CEO of the Alliance for Better Health. (Castellucci, 8/6)

Houston Chronicle: Program To Connect Women-Led Startups With Large Health Care Organizations
The Ignite Healthcare Network has selected 13 women-led startups to participate in a program that connects entrepreneurs with potential clients for mentorship and a business pitch competition. Each entrepreneur is connected with a large organization, including health care systems such as Houston Methodist and Memorial Hermann, insurance company Humana, Next Level Urgent Care, University of Houston College of Medicine and psychiatric care provider the Menninger Clinic. (Leinfelder, 8/6)

Kaiser Health News: The New West: Smoke In The Sky, A Purifier At Home
When the Camp Fire began to rage in Paradise, Calif., last November, the owners of the family-run Collier Hardware store in nearby Chico faced a situation unlike any they’d seen. A business that might welcome 200 customers on an average day, Collier was suddenly dealing with five times that number — “and they all wanted the same thing,” co-owner Steve Lucena said. (Kreidler, 8/7)

Austin American-Statesman: 63% Of Medics Assaulted On Job In Past Two Years, EMS Survey Finds
About three out of five Austin-Travis County EMS medics say they have been physically assaulted more than once on the job in the past two years, a new survey by the department says. Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services conducted an internal survey earlier this year after noticing a worldwide increase in violence against medics, EMS Capt. Darren Noak said Tuesday. (Bradshaw, 8/6)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bublr Rolls Out Adaptive Bike Program For People Of All Abilities
Seventeen adaptive bikes will be distributed across the city in the coming days as part of a pilot program. There will be seven upright tricycles, seven two-person side-by-side tricycles and three handcycles. Deb Falk-Palec, chair of the Milwaukee County Commission for Persons with Disabilities, said often things done to help people with disabilities also help the general public, and that's true in this case, too. (Dirr, 8/6)

The Star Tribune: HealthPartners Will Add Allina In Medicare Health Plans
HealthPartners said Tuesday it will add Allina Health System next year to the network of doctors and hospitals in its Medicare Advantage health plans. It's another sign of how the state's Medicare market continues to be in flux following the elimination of Medicare Cost health plans across much of Minnesota at the start of the year. ...For 2019, more than 300,000 people with Cost plans in Minnesota had to switch coverage due to a federal law that enacted a long-delayed change to save money by eliminating Cost plans in counties where there's significant competition from Advantage plans. (Snowbeck, 8/6)

Miami Herald: Florida Pediatrician With Substance Abuse Issues Disciplined
Despite admitting to mental health and substance abuse problems, the Florida Department of Health says, 69-year-old Lehigh Acres pediatrician Enrique Luks has avoided retirement. So, the Department of Health restricted Luks’ license last month after another doctor diagnosed Luks with “severe” alcohol use disorder, “moderate-to-severe” cocaine use disorder, neurocognitive disorder and cannabis-use disorder. (Neal, 8/7)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: For Louisiana Patients With Few Options, Marijuana Gives Hope — Even If Science Is Still Catching Up 
Louisiana joins more than 30 other states in dispensing marijuana. But even as patients with debilitating diseases line up to get the drug, experts say the public approval for marijuana has outpaced the evidence that it’s the best treatment available to some patients.  ...The drug has been approved since 1978, but the Louisiana bill was not enacted until 2015, leaving many patients to take treatment and dosage into their own hands. (Woodruff, 8/6)