Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: Rhode Island Discusses Better Training For 911 Call Takers After Baby's Death; Some Foster Families In Massachusetts Opt Out, Citing Inadequate System
ProPublica: After Baby’s Death, Rhode Island 911 Operators May Receive Enhanced Training
Rhode Island’s state police superintendent is recommending that all of the state’s 911 call takers be trained to provide emergency medical instructions over the phone before first responders arrive. Col. James M. Manni on Friday confirmed that he is asking Gov. Gina Raimondo to have all 34 telecommunicators and eight supervisors in the 911 emergency center certified in emergency medical dispatch, or EMD. EMD certification is required for people who answer emergency medical calls in every other New England state. (Arditi, 4/12)
Boston Globe: For Foster Parents, Chaotic State System Makes Job Even Harder
Some 2,000 families have stopped accepting foster children in the past five years — almost as many as the total number of foster families currently in the system. The departures have further strained the longstanding gap between available foster homes and the thousands of abused and neglected kids who need a safe haven. (Lazar, 4/13)
The Wall Street Journal: California Governor Proposes Fixes To State’s Wildfire Crisis
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday released a suite of proposals for how to confront the soaring wildfire liability costs that pushed PG&E Corp. into bankruptcy and threaten the financial health of the state’s other utilities. The ideas include creating a California wildfire fund to spread costs from fire-related lawsuits, and modifying a state liability standard that makes utilities responsible for damages arising from fires sparked by their equipment, even if they aren’t found negligent in maintaining it. (Blunt, 4/12)
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Ohio Insurers Deny 20% Of Obamacare Claims
As many as one out of five in-network claims made for Ohio patients with Obamacare are denied, according to research by the Kaiser Family Foundation.When a health insurance claim is denied, that leaves patients or providers to cover the cost, leading to unexpected medical bills for patients or unpaid debt for health systems. (Christ, 4/14)
The Associated Press: Strong Storms In US South Kill At Least 8 And Injure Dozens
Powerful storms swept across the South on Sunday after unleashing suspected tornadoes and flooding that killed at least eight people, injured dozens and flattened much of a Texas town. Three children were among the dead. Nearly 90,000 customers were without electricity in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Georgia as of midday Sunday, according to www.poweroutage.us as the severe weather left a trail of destruction. Two children were killed on a back road in East Texas when a pine tree fell onto the car in which they were riding in a severe thunderstorm Saturday near Pollok, about 150 miles (241 kilometers) southeast of Dallas. (4/14)
The Associated Press: Migrants Dropped Off In New Mexico; City Asks For Donations
Border Patrol agents dropped off asylum-seeking migrants in New Mexico's second most populous city for the second day in a row Saturday, prompting Las Cruces city officials to appeal for donations of food and personal hygiene items and a state medical program to seek volunteers to provide health assessments of migrants. The migrants were being temporarily housed at a homeless shelter in Las Cruces, a city recreation center and a campus of social service agencies, city officials said in a statement. (4/13)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Colleges Embrace Students With Intellectual Disabilities
The Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency is assisting nearly 8,000 people between the ages of 16 and 24 with intellectual disabilities, helping some obtain certifications for everything from nursing to robotics. The program at Georgia Tech, one of the country’s elite universities, represents perhaps the most ambitious attempt yet to “mainstream” such young adults after a long history of segregating, isolating and giving up on them. (Oliviero, 4/12)
North Jersey Record: Autism: New Jersey Preschoolers Have Highest Rates In US
New Jersey preschoolers have the highest rates of autism ever measured in the United States, a rate that has increased faster than in other states studied, researchers at Rutgers University reported Thursday. The rate of autism among children in the state has tripled in a generation. (Washburn, 4/12)
Politico Pro: Texas Lawmakers Eyeing Nursing Home Reform
Texas lawmakers are considering reforms aimed at improving the state's worst-in-the-nation nursing home quality, seeking to build on laws passed in recent years that have yet to demonstrate an effect. The proposals — to limit antipsychotics and improve hiring practices — come against a backdrop of decreased federal oversight and few new initiatives to lift quality in other states. (Rayasam, 4/15)
KCUR: Kansas Foster Care Agency Has New Rules For Dealing With Child-On-Child Sexual Assault
A new law standardizing Kansas’ response to child-on-child sexual assault could cost $126,000 and result in more than 3,200 treatment referrals a year. Gov. Laura Kelly signed legislation Friday that directs the Department for Children and Families to immediately refer a minor to treatment if the agency receives a report that the child sexually abused another child. The new statute also requires the department to document whether treatment was provided to the child accused of abuse, the reasons for needing it and the outcome. (Ujiyedin, 4/12)
Boston Globe: Mass. Marijuana Industry Is Mostly Corporate And White. Inside One Boston Battle To Change That
Massachusetts was the first state in the nation to make social justice goals a cornerstone of marijuana legalization. But two years in, those equity provisions are giving way to old inequities, small players are being squeezed by the bigger national ones, and the question of which minority entrepreneur most deserves the neighborhood’s trust is proving to be hard to discern, a Spotlight Team review shows. (4/13)
Kansas City Star: University Of Missouri Medical Marijuana Study Questioned
The state of Missouri needs to know how many patients will be asking for legal medical marijuana in the next few years, but first officials must decide which estimate to believe. Advocates who spearheaded November’s successful ballot measure legalizing the drug have put the number at about 200,000 users. (Marso, 4/12)
