State Highlights: Study Finds Vast Disparity In What Colorado Hospitals Charge Over Other States; Athenahealth Agrees To Buyout From New York Financial Firms

Denver Post: Colorado Hospitals Charge Patients More Than 5 Other Jurisdictions, Survey Finds
Colorado hospitals charge their insured patients significantly more for inpatient and outpatient care than hospitals in five other jurisdictions studied, a report released on Thursday found. The analysis reviewed health care costs in Colorado, Minnesota, Utah, Oregon, Maryland and St. Louis. It found the price of inpatient care at Colorado hospitals in 2016 was 31 percent higher than the average for the six jurisdictions reviewed. The cost of outpatient care in Colorado that year was 15 percent higher than the average for all the jurisdictions. The study was conducted by the Portland, Maine-based Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement. (Osher, 11/9)

Boston Globe: New York Financial Firms To Buy Athenahealth, Report Says
Athenahealth, the Watertown health care software company, has agreed to a $5.5 billion buyout offer from a pair of New York financial firms, Veritas Capital and Elliott Management, according to a news report. The company has faced more than a year of uncertainty leading up to the decision. Athenahealth has been in the crosshairs of Elliott, a major shareholder whose complaints about sluggish profits led company management to grudgingly put it up for sale. (Rosen, 11/12)

Wyoming Public Radio: Colorado And Utah Have Third Gender Option On Licenses
Two Mountain West states are part of a dozen across the country that allow people to select non-binary gender on legal documents. Colorado residents, who do not identify as male or female, will be able to choose "X" as their gender on driver's licenses starting on Nov. 30. "It's really important that Colorado is now allowing another opportunity for male, female and non-binary -- people who identify as neither male or female -- to also have an identity document who matches who they are," said Daniel Ramos, executive director of One Colorado, an LGBTQ advocacy organization. (Daniel, 11/9)

Georgia Health News: State OKs New Hospital For Children’s Healthcare
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta has received state approval for its planned 446-bed hospital in Brookhaven. The approval of the certificate-of-need application was announced late last week. The project was not opposed by any other hospital system. (11/11)

KCUR: Wichita Clinic Challenges Kansas Law Banning Medication Abortions Via Telemedicine 
A Kansas law prohibiting drug-induced abortions via telemedicine is being challenged by a women’s health clinic in Wichita that provides abortions. Trust Women Wichita on Thursday filed a lawsuit seeking to block the law from taking effect on Jan. 1. “Our mission as an organization is to provide reproductive health care to people in the state of Kansas and elsewhere, and to provide that care to underserved communities,” said Julie Burkhart, founder and CEO of Trust Women Wichita. (Margolies, 11/9)

The Washington Post: Former Fairfax Teachers Allege Pregnancy Discrimination By School System
A former Fairfax County teacher has filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that administrators at the nationally recognized Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology discriminated against her after she became pregnant. The social studies educator, Amanda Hurowitz, said she was on maternity leave in April with her second child when she learned from the school’s principal, Ann Bonitatibus, and an assistant principal that her contract as a part-time teacher would not be renewed for the 2018-2019 academic year. (Truong, 11/11)

The Star Tribune: 'Change Is Very Alarming' For Some As Insurers Take A New Approach To Medicare Incentives 
Free rides to the doctor. Smartwatch fitness trackers. Hearing aid discounts. Health insurers are dangling extra benefits in front of roughly 1 million Minnesotans on Medicare who have the chance in the coming weeks to pick a health plan for next year. Always a busy time for some Medicare consumers, this year’s insurance shopping season is particularly volatile as a federal law forces more than 300,000 people in Minnesota to find new coverage. While there are more extra benefits in the mix this year, many consumers seem focused on just trying to figure out the basics of what’s happening. (Snowbeck, 11/10)

NPR: Retailers Plan To Clear Deadly Paint Removers From Shelves, As EPA Delays Ban
In October 2017, Drew Wynne collapsed inside a walk-in refrigerator at his coffee business in North Charleston, S.C. By the time his business partner found him crumpled on the floor, Wynne was dead. He had suffocated on a chemical called methylene chloride. The 31-year-old's death is one of dozens blamed on popular paint removers sold under the brand names Goof-Off, Strypeeze, Klean Strip and Jasco among others. (11/12)

The Associated Press: Delaware Psychotherapist Pleads Guilty To Health Care Fraud
A psychotherapist in Delaware has pleaded guilty to health care fraud. The News Journal of Wilmington reports 47-year-old Sachin Karnik was sentenced to two years in prison. He was charged last year with fraud, falsifying business records and theft by false pretenses. The state’s Department of Justice said Friday that Karnik submitted fraudulent claims to Medicaid for counseling sessions. The state says Karnik also lied about his educational background. (11/12)

Kansas City Star: Group Busted By KC Health Officials Feeds Homeless Again
One week after Kansas City health officials busted up several picnics for the homeless, the cooks and their meals returned Sunday afternoon. This time, the volunteers with Free Hot Soup KC were ready if health officials returned with their trash bags and bleach, said Nellie McCool of Merriam.“Everybody was ready to stand up for themselves,” she said. “We’re prepared to face the law.” (Robertson, 11/11)

The Associated Press: Delaware Woman Sentenced For Embezzling From Hospital
Authorities say a Delaware woman has been sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to embezzling more than $100,000 from a hospital. A news release from the Delaware Department of Justice said Friday that 49-year-old Hope Abram was sentenced to 25 years, though much of it was suspended. The release said the sentence includes 2 years in prison, followed by home confinement. (11/11)

Chicago Tribune: Walgreens Cuts Manager Bonuses Following Employee Benefit Changes 
Walgreens is slashing bonuses received by store managers and others in management, in many cases by thousands of dollars each – a move that follows a series of changes to the store's employee benefits. Deerfield-based Walgreens told managers about the cuts to their bonuses in late October, according to sources familiar with the situation. Store managers and others receive annual bonuses based on a number of factors, including individual, store and company performance. This year, those bonuses were much lower than what store managers typically receive and expected to get, sources said. (Schencker, 11/9)

Seattle Times: At Swedish’s Neuroscience Unit, Some Staff See A Better Culture; CEO Vows More Improvements 
Two years ago, Bernedette Haskins left her job as a nurse inside Swedish Health’s acclaimed neuroscience institute, alarmed that her concerns about surgical scheduling, staffing and patient safety weren’t being addressed. But after internal turmoil and a 2017 Seattle Times investigation that exposed concerns about the organization’s culture, Swedish implemented changes that assured Haskins she could again care for the brain-surgery patients who have long been a passion of hers. She returned to the neuroscience institute a year ago and says the culture has undergone a substantial overhaul. (Baker, 11/9)