State Highlights: State Medicaid Fraud Units Net More Than $2B

Reuters: More Than $2B Netted By State Medicaid Fraud Units In 2014
State Medicaid fraud units recovered just over $2 billion in fiscal year 2014, down from nearly $2.5 billion the previous year, according to new data released by the federal government. About $1.71 billion of the recoveries came from civil investigations and about $290 million from criminal ones, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Inspector General. (Pierson, 2/27)

Connecticut Mirror: Legislators Grappling With Fast-Changing Health Care Landscape
Some are wary of the idea of out-of-state, for-profit companies buying Connecticut's nonprofit hospitals. Others see for-profit purchasers as a needed option for small hospitals looking for partners and capital, and worry the state’s regulatory climate will scare them off. The result is a flurry of proposed legislation that, together, reflect the challenge of adapting to a fast-changing industry – one that is both a top employer in many communities and a big driver of the health care costs that are straining state, local and business budgets. (Levin Becker, 3/2)

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Doctors Urge Larger Medicaid Pay Increase
House lawmakers this week voted to increase Medicaid payments to primary care doctors and OB/GYNs. But the roughly $4.5 million in additional funds falls far short of the $60 million doctors say they need to be able to meet the needs of Medicaid patients across the state. (Anderson, 3/2)

Kaiser Health News: When Health Care Is Far From Home
For decades, Hayfork had been fortunate. Well after the rise of urban health systems and their intricate business models, it had a tight-knit local "system" founded on the simple, generous commitment of two people: a general practitioner and a pharmacist. "He was everybody’s doctor," Barnett says of Dr. Earl Mercill, a GP who moved up from the Central Valley almost 50 years ago. "You never thought about going to anyone else." But it’s been years since Mercill retired. Now his clinic is staffed by doctors who rotate in from Weaverville once or twice a week, and otherwise it’s run by physician’s assistants. There are no hospitals for miles, though helicopters swoop in for emergencies when needed. (Hernandez, 3/2)

The Associated Press: Concierge Medicine Grows In Maryland
Three years ago, Dr. Wayne Benjamin — then 67 years old — was considering retirement. He was worn out, frustrated with the daily grind of his family medicine practice and the increasing pressure to see “more and more patients in shorter and shorter” amounts of time. (Gulin, 3/1)

The Washington Post: Ebola Nurse To Sue Dallas Hospital Parent Company Over Training, Privacy Concerns
A 26-year-old nurse who contracted Ebola while caring for a patient says she plans to sue, alleging privacy issues and a failure to properly train the Texas hospital’s staff, the Dallas Morning News reports. “I wanted to believe that they would have my back and take care of me, but they just haven’t risen to the occasion,” Nina Pham told the newspaper. (Larimer, 3/1)

Los Angeles Times: Scope Maker Olympus Faces Scrutiny Over Patient Deaths, Infections
Three years ago, Japanese electronics giant Olympus Corp. was in crisis amid a massive accounting scandal and plunging sales of its signature cameras. Executives vowed to save the 93-year-old firm by turning aggressively to healthcare and selling more medical scopes to doctors and hospitals in the U.S. and worldwide. The bet paid off: Medical sales soared 25% last year, and Olympus boasts a commanding 70% share of the global market for gastrointestinal endoscopes. But now the industry leader finds itself at the center of superbug outbreaks at U.S. hospitals, including UCLA, where two patients have died and nearly 180 more people may have been exposed to deadly bacteria on contaminated Olympus scopes. (Terhune and Peterson, 3/1)

The Associated Press: Settlement Could Be Near In Idaho Health Care Case
There are signs that a landmark lawsuit over juvenile mental health care in Idaho may be reaching a conclusion, resulting in a systemwide overhaul. But the Jeff D. case has a long history of being reopened as federal judges repeatedly have found the state has done too little to care for children with developmental disabilities and behavioral health issues. (Clark, 3/1)

The New York Times: Facing A Huge Deficit, Louisiana Governor Reconsiders Some Tax Credits
The proposed cuts are substantial, coming after years of routine and severe reductions. They would potentially result in the closures of community health care clinics and historic sites. Hospitals partly privatized by Mr. Jindal would get $142 million less than they had sought. Spending on higher education would be lower by $141 million, a further 6 percent reduction after years of cuts. (Robertson, 2/27)

The Associated Press: Wolf Proposes Increasing In-home Health Care For Seniors
Gov. Tom Wolf said Friday he wants more seniors to obtain health care in their home instead of a nursing facility. In an event at the AARP office in downtown Philadelphia, Wolf told about 30 people that his upcoming 2015-16 state budget plan would expand home- and community-based long-term care for an additional 5,500 people. The Democrat said the proposal would make long-term care for seniors more convenient and personal. (2/28)

The Associated Press: Oregon Weighs Banning Most Vaccine Exemptions
Jennifer Margulis has her kids vaccinated and she gets shots herself. But she doesn't like the idea of government telling parents they must get their children immunized. That's why she spoke at a recent legislative hearing to oppose an amendment to an Oregon bill that takes aim at the state's highest-in-the-nation rate of non-medical vaccine exemptions. (Kumar, 3/1)

The Associated Press: Walker Cuts Might Hit Disabled Hard, Advocates Say
Gov. Scott Walker's proposed cuts to programs that help people with disabilities live independently are being criticized as potentially devastating by advocates and those who use the services. Walker's proposed budget would expand the state's Family Care program by Jan. 1, 2017, at which point all other long-term care programs would be discontinued, including the IRIS program, which benefits 11,000 adults with long-term care needs. Walker has proposed cutting $14 million in funding to the Family Care program over the next two years. (Ferguson, 3/1)

Los Angeles Times: Christie Tells California GOP To Let Presidential Race Play Out
He did not mention these matters, instead touting his election -- twice -- in a blue state, five balanced budgets and tax cuts for businesses. He highlighted a healthcare and pension agreement with teachers unions last week as a way opposing forces can work together, an area where he said President Obama has failed. “We announced in New Jersey that we have signed a road map of reform with the teachers union to try to fundamentally change the way our pension and health systems work,” Christie said, to gasps of incredulity from the audience. (Mehta and Mason, 2/28)

The Baltimore Sun: Hogan Wades Into Maryland's Long Battle Against Heroin
With the creation of two panels devoted to combating heroin use, Gov. Larry Hogan has waded into a worsening crisis — one that has defied solutions for decades. It once looked as if Maryland had brought some measure of control to its long-standing battle against the drug, driving down fatal overdose rates for years. In Baltimore, for example, overdose deaths plunged from more than 300 in 1999 to around 100 in 2010. (Duncan and Puente, 2/28)

The Kansas Health Institute News Service: Legislative Change Affects Kansas Survey On Teen Substance Abuse
For more than 20 years, Kansas secondary students have taken a survey to track alcohol and drug abuse. But a new law requiring parents to give written permission to allow their children to take the survey is affecting the survey data, and those who use the data say it could be more challenging to obtain funds for prevention efforts. The Kansas Communities That Care (KCTC) survey, which was taken by nearly 100,000 sixth-, eighth-, 10th and 12th-grade students last year, is expected to have an estimated 60,000 fewer responses this year, according to officials at the Southeast Kansas Education Service Center at Greenbush. (Booker, 2/27)

The Peninsula Daily News: Abortion Referral A Practicality, Not Policy, Jefferson Healthcare Says Following ACLU Suit
Jefferson Healthcare's practice of referring women elsewhere for abortion services adequately serves those seeking such services, said the hospital's chief medical officer. The hospital does not perform abortions on-site because of practicality, not policy, according to staff members. The Seattle office of the American Civil Liberties Union has said it believes a public hospital that provides maternity care but not abortion services is in violation of state law. (Bermant, 3/1)

The Charlotte Observer: Former Mooresville Child Compensated By Federal ‘Vaccine Court’
Angelica’s case is one of thousands that have sought compensation from the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Since 1988, when the vaccine court was established by Congress, about 4,000 victims have received more than $2.8 billion in compensation for vaccine injuries, according to federal records. In fiscal year 2014 alone, the court granted $202 million to 365 vaccine-injury victims. Most people have never heard of the vaccine court or the compensation program. (Garloch, 2/28)