State Highlights: States Move To Enforce Mental Health Parity; D.C. Home-Health Workers File Class-Action Suit Seeking Back Pay

Politico Pro: States Step In On Mental Health Parity Enforcement
States are stepping in to enforce a little-known federal law that’s supposed to improve insurance coverage of mental health care for millions of Americans. The parity law has been on the books since 2008, but mental health advocates say the federal government has been slow to make sure it’s been put into practice. (Villacorta, 4/8)

The Washington Post: D.C. Home Health-Care Workers File Class-Action Suit Alleging Wage Theft
D.C. home health-care workers filed a class action lawsuit against four agencies Wednesday, alleging that they were cheated out of wages and denied overtime and sick pay. The suit against four local agencies — Capitol View Home Health Agency, Human Touch, T&N Nursing and VMT Home Health — comes a week before home health-care workers and other low-wage workers across the country are expected to rally for a $15 wage on April 15 as part of the “Fight for 15 movement.” (Stein, 4/8)

CNN Money: Home Health Care Workers Sue Employers For Back Pay
A group of home health workers in Washington, D.C., are suing several staffing agencies in the district for allegedly stealing their wages. In a class action lawsuit, filed in the D.C. Superior Court, the workers claim they were not paid the hourly wage they were entitled to and were denied overtime and sick days in violation of the law. It's the second in a series of lawsuits against home care agencies. (Rooney, 4/8)

Connecticut Mirror: Nursing Home Workers Vote To Strike, Send Message To Both Employers And Lawmakers
Workers at 27 nursing homes [in Conn.] have voted to go on strike April 24, a move aimed at both their employers and state lawmakers wrangling over a state budget that has significant implications for nursing homes. (Levin Becker, 4/8)

Los Angeles Times: Former Blue Shield Executive Sues Insurer Over Dismissal, $450,000 Bonus
Former executive at Blue Shield of California has sued the health insurance giant, claiming he was wrongly fired right before he was due a $450,000 bonus. Aaron Kaufman, the insurer's chief technology officer since 2013, sued Blue Shield on Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court for wrongful termination and breach of contract. (Terhune, 4/8)

The Associated Press: Missouri House OKs Bill Requiring Hospital Disclosures
Supporters say a measure requiring hospitals to disclose whether a person is being admitted is needed to protect consumers. The Missouri House on Tuesday gave first-round approval to a bill that would require written notices when a patient is admitted or placed on observational status by a hospital. (4/8)

The Associated Press: Ex-Mental Health Providers In NY To Pay $3M To End Suit
A federal judge has approved a $3 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit by patients at a former state-licensed mental health facility in Putnam County alleging abuse. The suit filed in 2007 alleges patients were illegally restrained, assaulted, punished and isolated by SLS Residential staff, while the facility falsely advertised compassionate care and effective treatment and received up to $900 a day from patients' insurance companies. (4/8)

Stateline: Wanting Mental Health Treatment And Not Getting It
More than a half-million adults who said they wanted help with their serious mental conditions last year couldn’t get it because they lacked the resources and weren’t eligible for Medicaid to pay for treatment, a new study finds. Those people — an estimated 568,886 adults ages 18 through 64 diagnosed with a serious mental illness, serious psychological stress or substance use disorder at the start of last year — lived in 24 states that didn’t expand Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act in 2014, according to a study published this week from the American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA). (Ollove, 4/8)

The Oregonian: Solitary Confinement Of Oregon Inmates With Most Severe Mental Illnesses Must Stop, Advocacy Group Says
Prisoners in the Oregon State Penitentiary unit reserved for inmates with the most severe mental illnesses spend months, sometimes years in small cells with no natural light or outdoor access and rarely get to speak with others, according to an investigation by Disability Rights Oregon. (Bernstein, 4/8)

The Associated Press: Suit Claims AIDS Foundation Scammed Medicare $20M
One of the nation's largest suppliers of HIV and AIDS medical care is accused of bilking Medicare and Medicaid in an elaborate $20 million dollar scam that spanned 12 states, according to a lawsuit filed in South Florida federal court. Three former managers of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation filed a suit last week alleging the company paid employees and patients kickbacks for patient referrals in an effort to boost funding from federal health programs. Employees were paid $100 bonuses for referring patients with positive test results to its clinics and pharmacies. (Kennedy, 4/9)

Kansas City Star: Missouri Senate Approves Budget That Would Expand Medicaid Managed Care
Shortly before 4 a.m. Wednesday, after a six-hour filibuster and bipartisan resistance nearly derailed the process, the Missouri Senate finished its work on the state’s $26 billion budget. Perhaps. Major differences in how the state will fund its social welfare programs, as well as how much money should be divvied out to public schools and colleges, must be worked out with the Missouri House. The debate is complicated by a dramatic proposal to turn over most management of Medicaid to private companies. Meanwhile, Gov. Jay Nixon has expressed serious concerns, setting the table for potential budget battles between the Democratic governor and a Republican-dominated General Assembly. (Hancock, 4/8)

Georgia Health News: Will Dental Ruling Send Ripples Through Health Care Industry
A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling about teeth-whitening services may have long-term implications for health care professionals and their practices across the country. The dispute involves the right of dental hygienists to perform such services in North Carolina. The Federal Trade Commission brought a major anti-competition case on the matter. The high court did not settle the case, but rejected the state dental board’s claim that its actions were immune from FTC scrutiny. (Kanne, 4/8)

The Kansas Health Institute News Service: Alliance Brings The Latest Cancer Treatments To Rural Kansas
A cancer diagnosis is often the beginning of a life-or-death struggle. Patients want to go into that fight armed with the most powerful weapons available. In many cases, that involves treatments still in their experimental stages that are only available through clinical trials, which are typically found at academic medical centers. But the University of Kansas Cancer Center has created a partnership to bring those options closer to home for rural Kansans. (Thompson, 4/8)