State Highlights: Single-Payer Proposal In N.H. Draws Mixed Reactions; Judge Won’t Block Mo. Abortion Rule

Concord (N.H.) Monitor: N.H. Rep Proposes Statewide Single-Payer Health Care
A proposal to create a single-payer health care system in New Hampshire drew mixed reactions in the House on Monday, with some denouncing it as a wayward fantasy and others heralding an opportunity for a conversation on broader reform. The legislative service request, sponsored by Rep. Peter Schmidt, D-Dover, is titled “establishing a New Hampshire single payor (sic) health care system.” (DeWitt, 10/23)

KCUR: Judge Says New Missouri Requirement Does Not Impose ‘Undue Burden’ On Abortion Patients 
A Jackson County judge on Monday declined to block a Missouri law requiring abortion physicians to meet with their patients three days before the procedure. In rejecting a challenge to the law by Missouri’s two Planned Parenthood affiliates, Jackson County Circuit Judge S. Margene Burnett found that the requirement did not impose an “undue burden” on women seeking an abortion. (Margolies, 10/23)

Boston Globe: Heads Of Largest Hospitals Question State Senate Health Plan
Leaders of the state’s two largest hospitals made a rare appearance Monday on Beacon Hill to warn state senators against approving any policies that would slash their revenues in order to rein in health care spending. (Dayal McCluskey, 10/23)

The New York Times: New York State Bans Vaping Anywhere Cigarettes Are Prohibited
Electronic cigarettes, the popular vapor substitute to traditional tobacco cigarettes, will soon be banned from public indoor spaces in New York State — just like the real thing. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Monday signed a bill to ban vaping anywhere cigarettes are already prohibited, like workplaces, restaurants and bars. The ban goes into effect in 30 days. (Nir, 10/23)

The Associated Press: Law Provides Health Benefits To Volunteer NY Firefighters
New York volunteer firefighters who have been diagnosed with certain cancers will be eligible for health care benefits under a new state law. Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Sunday that he had signed legislation that will provide the benefit to the nearly 100,000 New Yorkers who serve as volunteers with fire companies across the state. (10/23)

Boston Globe: Growing Number Of Alzheimer’s Cases Seen As Challenge To Massachusetts
Massachusetts is facing an epidemic of people slipping into the shadows of dementia, and lawmakers want to make sure the state is prepared. The number of people in Massachusetts who have Alzheimer’s and other dementias will increase by 25 percent in just eight years, rising from 120,000 in 2017 to 150,000 in 2025, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. (Finucane, 10/23)

Concord (N.H.) Monitor: Faster Testing For Lead In Children’s Blood May Help Concord’s Very Low Testing Rate
Since exposure to lead at a young age can cause permanent neurological problems, it’s important to spot exposure early so something can be done to remove the source of the lead – usually old lead paint, which remains a serious problem in a state where 60 percent of housing units were built before 1978, when lead paint was banned. And that’s why health officials want to get more quick-testing units into pediatricians’ offices around the country. ...State officials hope to get more doctors and private practices to buy and use the devices, which cost about $2,500 to install and about $8 to run a test. The system is designed to provide quick information to the state so it can track outbreaks of lead poisoning more quickly than with current methods. (Brooks, 10/23)

KCUR: KU Hospital Receives $10 Million Donation For New Medical Tower
The University of Kansas Health System has received a major boost in achieving its goal of raising $100 million to complete a new hospital tower. Hospital officials announced Monday morning it was receiving a gift of $10 million from Cheryl Lockton Williams. The gift is to support the construction of Cambridge Tower A, a new hospital building on the northwest corner of Stateline Road and 39th Street in Kansas City, Kansas. (Smith, 10/23)

Los Angeles Times: As Flames Fade, Wine Country Grapples With Emotional Scars Of Devastating Fires
In the days since fires ravaged towns here, people have pulled together. Strangers at coffee shops share their trauma, talking of homes destroyed and loved ones lost. Almost everyone seems to know a neighbor who knocked on a door or lifted someone into a car, and saved a life. The phrase “The love in the air is thicker than the smoke” is on signs in shop windows, in Facebook posts and on people’s lips. (Karlamangla, 10/23)

Miami Herald: Still No Hurricane Food Stamps For South Florida. But When?
The Department of Children and Families still doesn’t have a specific timeline for when people will see post-hurricane food stamps. And the agency isn’t answering some key questions that have been raised recently. (Madan and Teproff, 10/23)

The Associated Press: Woman Says She Was Misled Into Mastectomy, Hysterectomy
A 36-year-old Oregon woman has filed a $1.8 million lawsuit against medical professionals who she says mistakenly suggested she undergo a double mastectomy and a hysterectomy. The Oregonian/OregonLive reported Monday that Elisha Cooke-Moore’s lawsuit says she underwent the life-altering surgeries after her gynecologist, Dr. William Fitts, determined that genetic blood tests indicated she had a 50 percent chance of getting breast cancer and up to an 80 percent chance of getting uterine cancer. (10/24)

Sacramento Bee: Carmichael Patients Shipped From One Troubled Nursing Home To Another
Eagle Crest in suburban Sacramento was among the chain’s worst-performing facilities nationwide, teetering toward decertification while federal regulators kept it on a consumer-beware list for three years. Now, with many of the former Eagle Crest residents shepherded off to other Genesis homes, The Bee’s analysis found that the troubles at Eagle Crest were not isolated at all. (Lundstrom and Reese, 10/23)

Tampa Bay Times: Report: Well-Being Of Black And Hispanic Children Continues To Lag In Florida
Despite making progress in health care access and parental employment, Florida has not improved its poverty rate for children over the past five years, a newly released national report shows. And that indicator, along with several others, bodes particularly poorly for children of ethnic minorities and immigrant families, who are disproportionately affected by poverty, the Annie E. Casey Foundation states in its 2017 "Race for Results" index. (Solochek, 10/24)

Pioneer Press: State Alleges Neglect In Death Of 86-Year-Old Man At Troubled Minnesota Care Center
Neglect by caregivers at a troubled north-central Minnesota assisted living facility led to the death of an 86-year-old man, the state Department of Health has reported. An investigation of the Heritage House in Pequot Lakes that was completed by the agency substantiated charges of neglect, described as improper catheter care and an unclean environment leading to death by a complex urinary tract infection. (Perkins, 10/23)

Los Angeles Times: Mann Packing Recalls Some Bagged Vegetables And Salads Because Of Listeria Concerns
Vegetable supplier Mann Packing has issued a voluntary recall for a number of bagged vegetables, salads and other vegetable products sold in the U.S. and Canada due to a potential risk of listeria contamination. The Salinas, Calif., firm said last week it issued the recall “out of an abundance of caution” after a “single positive result” for the germ, Listeria monocytogenes, was found on one of its products during a random test by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. (Masunaga, 10/23)

The Philadelphia Inquirer/Philly.com: Cherry Hill Man Gets 70 Months In Prison For $2.5M Medicaid Fraud
Cesar Tavera, the former executive director of a community health center in Camden, was sentenced Monday to more than five years in prison for stealing money from the nonprofit, which was created to provide mental health services for the city’s underserved residents. In addition to 70 months in prison, three years of supervised release was ordered by U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman in Camden. The judge also issued a $2.5 million restitution order. (Moran and Boyer, 10/23)