State Highlights: Texas Senate Advances Abortion Bill; Synthetic Drug Raises Concerns In Fla.

The Texas Tribune: Texas Senate Clears Bill Restricting Minors Seeking Abortions
After four hours of debate and more than a dozen failed amendments offered by Democrats, the Senate on Monday gave preliminary approval to far-reaching restrictions on minors seeking abortions in Texas without parental consent. ... After it reached the Senate, Perry did some rewriting on HB 3994 to address two of the bill's most controversial provisions on which both Democrats and some conservatives had raised concerns. As expected, he gutted a provision that would have required all doctors to presume a pregnant woman seeking an abortion was a minor unless she could present a “valid government record of identification" to prove she was 18 or older. (Ura, 5/25)

The Texas Tribune: Funding Program Shields Nursing Homes From Lawsuits
The nursing home industry has never accused Texas of being too generous with its Medicaid dollars — the state is among the worst in terms of the money it reimburses such facilities for providing care to needy Texans. So when a program began in March that allowed nursing homes to receive supplemental federal funding, hundreds of Texas facilities quickly signed up. There's a catch to the "Minimum Payment Amounts Program": To draw down those funds, nursing homes have to be government-owned. (Walters, 5/24)

The New York Times: Police In Florida Grapple With A Cheap And Dangerous New Drug
A hazardous new synthetic drug originating in China is being blamed for 18 recent deaths in a single South Florida county, as police grapple with an inexpensive narcotic that causes exaggerated strength and dangerous paranoid hallucinations. On Thursday, the Fort Lauderdale police killed a man, reportedly high on the man-made street drug, alpha-PVP, known more commonly as flakka, who had held a woman hostage with a knife to her throat. ... Law enforcement agencies have had difficulty tamping down a surge in synthetic drugs, which were banned after becoming popular in clubs five years ago only to re-emerge deadlier than ever under new formulations. (Robles, 5/24)

Jackson (Miss.) Clarion Ledger: South Jackson Hospital Could Lose Medicare Funds
Merit Health Central Hospital must prove it has made changes in handling emergency care patients, or it could lose Medicare funding, officials have warned the Jackson hospital. ... But administrators at the Merit Health hospital, formerly known as Central Mississippi Medical Center, say corrections were made after these allegations arose two years ago and their current health care meets or exceeds standards. ... In 2014, The Clarion-Ledger reported about the for-profit hospital in south Jackson repeatedly transferring emergency patients it was paid by the state to treat, possibly violating state hospital regulations and federal law. The hospital was then owned by HMA. (Mitchell, 5/23)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: At Home With Hope
Joseph Beinlich is being kept alive by an artificial heart. Temple University Hospital surgeons removed his own, badly diseased organ in August and replaced it with the 5.6-ounce plastic device. More than 1,000 other patients have gotten the implants since the Food and Drug Administration approved them in 2004. These days, some patients are able to leave the hospital, hooked to a portable, battery-powered "driver," instead of being tethered in the hospital to a clunky unit and cart that together can weigh well over 100 pounds. After a few months of recuperation, Beinlich in November became the first such recipient to go home from a Philadelphia hospital. (Avril, 5/24)

The Associated Press: Ohio Bill Would Allow Patients To Get STD Meds For Partners
A bill in Ohio seeks to expand access to treatment for certain sexually transmitted diseases by allowing doctors to prescribe medication to their patients' partners without examining them. Licensed health professionals in Ohio must first see patients before prescribing them antibiotics. But legislation before state lawmakers would create a limited exception for partners of patients who have been diagnosed with chlamydia, trichomoniasis or gonorrhea. The aim is to reduce infections. Ohio is one of four states that prohibit expedited partner therapy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Others are Florida, West Virginia and Kentucky. (Sanner, 5/25)

The Arizona Republic: Arizona Keeps Costs Low On Long-Term Care Spending, Moody's Says
Arizona faces steep potential budget pressures in providing care for people over 65, yet so far the state's government has met the challenge. That's the upshot of a new analysis by Moody's Investors Services that indicates Arizona has controlled Medicaid spending on long-term care for the 65-and-up population. Compared with national long-term care spending increases averaging 6.5 percent a year from 1999 to 2009, the period of the study, Arizona was one of six states that held its spending rate below 4 percent, Moody's said. (Wiles, 5/23)

Politico Pro: UPMC, Highmark Move On After Messy Breakup
In the aftermath of the messy breakup between this region’s largest health insurer and its largest health system, the two industry foes are facing perhaps their toughest challenge yet — proving that this health care cold war is the best possible outcome for patients. (Pradhan, 5/22)

The Register-Guard: U Of Oregon Considers Creating Student Health Plan
The University of Oregon is proposing to create its own health insurance plans — UOCare — and to sweep all new and returning students into one of the plans come fall. The plan would include the existing on-campus health care plus a yet-to-be-identified net­work of off-campus doctors, counselors, urgent care and hospital services. (Dietz, 5/24)

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Doctor Burnout Is A Rising Problem In Minnesota Medicine
Physician burnout is on the rise in Minnesota and across the country, as the traditional strains of a medical practice — long hours and draining cases — are compounded by new challenges, such as computerized records and payment reforms that judge doctors by their patients’ health. (Olson, 5/24)

The Associated Press: In Rhode Island, Residents Gush About Paid Family Leave
As President Barack Obama pushes for a federal law to get paid leave to care for a new baby or an ailing relative, residents of one of the three states that already provide it sing its praises, hinting at the reception it could receive if rolled out nationally. Rhode Island last year began allowing workers to take up to four weeks of paid leave. Many workers say they love the program, and employers say it hasn't hurt business as some had feared. (McDermott, 5/25)

The Associated Press: Mississippi Hospital Whistleblower Gets $3.5M In Settlement
Former employee of a Mississippi hospital is getting almost $3.5 million as part of a string of settlements where 18 hospitals in seven states have agreed to pay $20.4 million over allegations they broke federal law by receiving Medicare reimbursements for psychiatric services that were not "medically reasonable or necessary." (Amy, 5/23)

The Kansas Health Institute News Service: Kansas Supreme Court: Highway Patrol Must Pay Offender's Hospital Bills
The Kansas Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that the Kansas Highway Patrol must pay the University of Kansas Hospital for medical treatment the hospital provided to an uninsured man who was brought in by state troopers after crashing his car in a high-speed chase. (Marso, 5/22)