Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: Son's $1M Cancer Bill Cost Mass. Teacher Her Job, Complaint Claims; Texas Law To Protect Patients From Surprise Bills Leads To More Confusion
The Associated Press: Teacher Says She Got Fired Because Son’s Cancer Cost $1M
A teacher who says she was fired from a Massachusetts elementary school because of the high cost of her son’s cancer treatment has filed a discrimination complaint. Jacquelyn Silvani tells the Eagle-Tribune that her son’s treatment cost Andover Public Schools about $1 million before she lost her job at West Elementary School in 2016. Her son was 3 at the time.Silvani says she was told that federal funding for the position had been cut, but her complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination says the district later hired someone else. (2/26)
Dallas Morning News: That Freestanding Emergency Room Is Probably Not In-Network, No Matter What The Website Says | Health Care | Dallas News
A Texas law aimed at protecting patients from shocking medical bills after visits to free-standing emergency rooms may not be reducing consumer confusion as intended. The law, which went into effect in September, requires the ERs to say on their websites and at their facilities whether they are in-network or out-of-network for insurance carriers. (Rice, 2/26)
Kansas City Star: Medicare Rankings Show Best, Worst Nursing Homes In Kansas, Missouri
Fred Rich did not check Medicare’s ratings for nursing homes before he picked one in Overland Park last month after breaking his back. The 71-year-old from Kansas City now says that doing so might have saved him a lot of frustration. "The absence of staff, particularly well-trained staff, competent staff, makes it a very difficult place to live,” he said. (Ryan and Marso, 2/26)
Chicago Tribune: More Women Seem To Be Crossing State Lines To Have Abortions In Illinois
More women appear to be traveling from out of state to have an abortion in Illinois even as the total number of terminated pregnancies statewide decreased, according to the most recent figures from the Illinois Department of Public Health. [Alison] Dreith is among the 4,543 women who crossed the state border to terminate a pregnancy in 2016, an increase from the 3,210 abortions provided to out-of-state women reported in the previous year, based on a state report released in December. Overall, abortions in Illinois dropped from 39,856 in 2015 to 38,382 in 2016.
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Anthem: New ER Rule Extends Beyond The Self-Insured
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield on Monday disputed the way the Ohio Department of Insurance has publicly characterized the insurer's new practice of denying some emergency-room claims. Anthem spokesman Jeff Blunt said the department inaccurately reported that the practice only applied to policyholders whose employers were self-insured, according to Capitol Letter, cleveland.com's daily Statehouse tip sheet. (Hancock, 2/26)
The Oregonian: Democrats' Plan To Ask Oregon Voters To Approve Constitutional Right To Health Care Is Dead
Supporters of the drive to enshrine health care as a universal right in Oregon’s Constitution acknowledged on Monday that it is dead, at least for this legislative session. Senate Democrats said they lacked the votes to advance the plan by a crucial Tuesday deadline to move it out of committee. ... Democrats in the Oregon House already passed House Joint Resolution 203 to send the health care proposal to the ballot earlier this month. They did so without securing a single Republican vote. (Borrud, 2/26)
LA Daily News: LA County Offers To Pay Off Student Debt For New Doctors — If They Work In Its Jails
On the outside, Richard Brent was a thief and a user. He stole and used meth and heroin, acted tough and aggressive, all of which got him a 90-day sentence to Los Angeles County’s Men’s Central Jail. But for Dr. Lauren Wolchok, his physician on the inside, Brent is neither criminal nor inmate. For her, he is a person in need of medical care like anyone else. (Abram, 2/26)
Los Angeles Times: Santa Ana River Homeless Camp Cleared After More Than 700 People Relocated
The gates were locked and the Santa Ana River trail was quiet Monday night after a massive push, spanning six days, to relocate more than 700 people to motels and shelters across Orange County. "This was a landmark process with so many different groups combining forces," said Brooke Weitzman, an attorney who sued Orange County on behalf of seven homeless people, alleging that officials' goal to empty the tent city last month violated her clients' civil rights. (Do, 2/26)
Denver Post: Acne Drug Accutane May Be Blamed In Teen's Murder Trial
Attorneys for a Colorado boy accused of a fatal stabbing hinted in court that Accutane — an acne-treatment drug that some have linked to erratic behavior — may be cited by the defense in explaining the teen’s alleged actions. Aiden von Grabow, 15, is charged with first-degree murder and 10 other counts in the stabbing death of Makayla Grote, 20, in Longmont, Colo., on Nov. 18, 2017. (Byars, 2/26)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Mother Of Missing CDC Researcher Says Family Is Expecting His Return
Two weeks later, the search to find him continues. “We will be here indefinitely until Tim returns. And we’re expecting him to return, that’s our prayer,” Cunningham’s mother, Tia-Juana Cunningham, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday. “There are a lot of people praying for him nationally, and that’s how we maintain our spirit and faith.” (Stevens, 2/26)
Kaiser Health News: Following The Fire: Montana Scientists Seize Chance To Scrutinize Smoke Exposure
Jean Loesch and her family live in Seeley Lake, Mont., which saw the longest and most intense smoke from Montana’s wildfires last summer. Loesch has 10 children, adopted or in her foster care, and they are learning what it’s like to have lingering respiratory problems. The smoke from the fires was so thick outside, Loesch said, the family couldn’t see the trees across the street, so they stayed inside. It was still really hard to breathe. (Saks, 2/27)
The Star Tribune: Proposed Children's Mental Health Facility In Forest Lake Draws Support At Hearing
In a sign of mounting frustration with Minnesota’s mental health care system, more than 100 people packed a Forest Lake City Council hearing Monday night to support a controversial psychiatric residential treatment center for children and adolescents. “We desperately need mental health facilities in this state and around the region,” said Marisa Gotsch, whose adult brother never received adequate treatment as a child for his mental illness and is now committed to a state mental hospital. (Serres, 2/26)
The Associated Press: Indiana Close To Becoming 2nd State To Ban Eyeball Tattoos
Indiana could become the second state to effectively ban the unusual practice of tattooing eyeballs, after a committee on Monday unanimously backed a proposal whose sponsor calls it “the grossest bill of the session. ”Republican Sen. John Ruckelshaus of Indianapolis says he is not aware of any health-related issues that have arisen in Indiana from the process, in which ink is injected into the eye to make the whites change color. (Chuang, 2/26)
Kansas City Star: Dialysis Clinics In Kansas Get Third Party Accreditation Option
Dialysis patients in Kansas won’t have to wait as long for new clinics to open in the future, after Congress passed a law allowing the clinics to hire private-sector inspectors. But some health care experts are concerned about what that might mean for patient safety. The provision was included in the budget bill President Donald Trump recently signed. It was promoted by U.S. Rep Lynn Jenkins, a Topeka Republican, and other lawmakers in places where state agencies have fallen behind on the inspections. (Marso, 2/23)
The Baltimore Sun: Chase Brexton Workers Approve First Union Contract, Say Relations With Management Have Improved
Chase Brexton employees voted overwhelmingly Monday to approve their first contract under a union formed nearly 18 months ago amid a rancorous dispute with management over long work hours and other issues. Employees said they thought the contract, which includes pay raises and a new scheduling system that allows them to spend more time with patients, addressed many of the grievances they had regarding working conditions. They also said a new CEO and other senior leadership have improved the relationship between management and rank-and-file employees, including doctors, psychologists and nurses. (McDaniels, 2/26)
WBUR: Massachusetts To Move Most Shattuck Hospital Care To South End
The Baker administration plans to purchase the former university hospital on Boston Medical Center's (BMC) campus and transfer patients currently treated at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital on the edge of Franklin Park there in 2021. The main reason: Moving the 260 patient beds will cost about half as much as renovating Shattuck would. (Bebinger, 2/26)
WBUR: Agreeing To Staggered Rollout Of Laws, State Votes To Delay Marijuana Home Delivery, Cafes
The Cannabis Control Commission acquiesced Monday to criticism from Gov. Charlie Baker's administration, the Legislature and others, and agreed to delay the launch of home delivery and social consumption until at least this fall, a move that addressed two of the most commonly-condemned parts of the agency's draft industry regulations. (Young, 2/26)
Richmond Times Dispatch: Lead Tests In School Systems Trigger Action From Officials
The amount of lead from the water fountain in the girls’ locker room was nearly three times what the state considers acceptable. That water fountain at Salem Middle School in Chesterfield County has since been replaced, and was rarely used to begin with, Salem Principal LaShante Knight wrote in a letter to parents. ... Other school systems in the Richmond area also are taking a closer look at lead levels in their drinking water after a state law enacted last year required them to create and implement a testing plan. (Remmers and O'Connor, 2/26)
