Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: Va. Abortion Law Vote Postponed; Most Californians Back Drug Pricing Ballot Measure
Richmond Times Dispatch: Virginia Board Of Health Postpones Vote On Controversial Abortion Facility Regulations
After some administrative mistakes by Virginia’s Department of Health, the State Board of Health postponed an expected vote on proposed amendments to regulations for the licensure of abortion facilities. The vote originally was slated for Thursday, but the board decided instead to hold a specially scheduled meeting before Dec. 1 to vote on the regulations. (Demeria, 9/15)
Reuters: Poll Shows 66 Percent Of California Voters Favor Drug Price Initiative
An initiative on California's November ballot aimed at reining in prescription drug prices is favored by 66 percent of state voters, according to a new poll released on Thursday. The California Drug Price Relief Act, also known as Proposition 61, seeks to restrict state-run health programs from paying more for medications than prices paid by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which is billed about 25 percent less for drugs than other government agencies. (Beasley, 9/15)
Kaiser Health News/NPR: California Aims To Limit Surprise Medical Bills
The unexpected charges come when patients are treated by an out-of-network provider at an in-network facility. After several failed attempts in recent years, the California legislature passed AB-72, which aims to protect patients’ pocketbooks when they’re hit by these surprise bills. Gov. Jerry Brown has until the end of September to sign or veto the legislation. He is expected to sign it into law. (O'Neill, 9/16)
Stateline: 'Pay-For-Performance' Aims To Save Money On High Drug Prices
Can states save money on increasingly expensive prescriptions for Medicaid patients by setting prices based not on drugmakers’ wishes, but on how well the medicines control, contain or cure disease? The notion of tying drug payments to results, called “pay-for-performance pricing” or “value-based pricing,” already is being tested by some health insurance companies, some pharmaceutical companies and Medicare. And just last week, the Oregon Health & Science University announced it will undertake a large-scale research project to examine how states could apply the concept to Medicaid. (Ollove, 9/16)
Kansas Health Institute: Kansas Mental Health Centers Face New Budget Realities
After a series of hits to their budgets, community mental health centers in Kansas are adjusting through cutbacks, changes in services or a combination of the two. In Topeka, Valeo Behavioral Health Care plans to limit sessions for uninsured patients. Valeo provided about $2 million in charitable care last year but can’t offer that much this year because of cuts to Medicaid and other revenue streams, CEO Bill Persinger said. The center won’t turn anyone away, but patients who don’t have a form of insurance covering mental health care may receive fewer therapy sessions than in the past, he said. (Hart, 9/15)
California Healthline: Newly Covered By Medi-Cal, Undocumented Children Also Seek Dental Care
Young Erika is one of almost 138,000 undocumented children in California who have gained Medi-Cal coverage under the so-called “Health for All Kids” law, which provides health care for all California children regardless of their immigration status. Dental coverage under the state’s Denti-Cal program is included in the expanded benefits, and there is widespread hope that it will improve pediatric oral care in California. But delivering on that promise could be a stiff challenge for a program in which more than half of children who were covered before the law took effect had not seen a dentist in the previous year. (Ibarra, 9/15)
Health News Florida: Why Orange County Won't Use Aerial Spraying To Fight Zika
Orange County will refrain from aerial spraying of the insecticide naled to fight Zika, even if there is local transmission.Miami residents have protested the use of naled because of health and environmental concerns. The insecticide has been used for decades in the U.S., but was banned in the European Union in 2012. The chemical made headlines when millions of bees died in South Carolina when the chemical was sprayed during the day because of Zika fears. (Aboraya, 9/15)
The Wall Street Journal: U.S. To Provide Trauma-Treatment Grants For Students In Cities That Faced Civil Unrest
Public school students traumatized by civil unrest in their communities can get professional help under new federal grants announced Thursday. The U.S. Education Department’s Promoting Student Resilience program provided $1.4 million in funding to St. Louis schools, $2.4 million to Baltimore schools and $1.3 million to schools in Chicago. The funding is for the establishment of school-based mental-health, counseling and behavioral programs. (Hobbs, 9/15)
The Baltimore Sun: City Health Department Gets $5 Million Grant To Address Trauma In West Baltimore
The Baltimore City Health Department has received a $5 million federal grant to help families in West Baltimore deal with the traumatic affects of living in violent communities. The five-year grant will be used to set up programs in Sandtown-Winchester, Penn North and Upton/Druid Heights that will include mentoring, yoga and other mindfulness activities, youth development and healing circles. The activities will center around trauma-informed care, which takes into accounts the way people's life experiences impact behavior and health. (McDaniels, 9/15)
Dallas Morning News: There Are Fewer Uninsured North Texans, But D-FW Census Stats Aren't All Rosy
About one-fifth of the 2.5 million people living in Dallas County were uninsured in 2015, according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s an improvement from 2012, when nearly a third of the county was uninsured.The census provides statistics on changes in the rate and distribution of health insurance coverage as part of its annual American Community Survey. The changes can reflect evolving economic and demographic trends as well as the impact of policy changes on access to care. (Rice, 9/15)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Schneider: Nobody 'Bought' The Lead Paint Law Change
With this stroke of the pen, the liberal-controlled court made Wisconsin the first state to utilize a ridiculous “risk contribution” theory to target businesses that hadn’t done anything wrong. It maintained that even if a plaintiff couldn't identify which lead-based product made him or her sick, they could still sue paint manufacturers for their contribution to a "general risk." Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Diane Sykes would call the standard " a form of collective tort liability untethered to any actual responsibility for the specific harm asserted." (Schneider, 9/15)
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Wills Eye In Medicare Dispute
Wills Eye Hospital and Medicare are in a heated licensing dispute centered on the ratio of inpatient to outpatient services a facility must provide to qualify as a hospital. Both sides say the outcome could have "cataclysmic" consequences. Three years ago, Wills finished a $6.5 million renovation of its building at Eighth and Walnut Streets in Center City, including the addition of four inpatient beds in what had been licensed as an ambulatory surgery center. (Brubaker, 9/15)
The Star Tribune: Now 9 Legionnaires' Cases Have Been Tied To Hopkins
Minnesota health officials have confirmed nine cases of Legionnaires' disease in Hopkins — up from five late last week — in the state's largest outbreak of the disease since the mid-1990s. Investigators with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) are homing in on the source of the bacteria, which has infected only people who live and work in Hopkins. Health investigators from Hennepin County and the state are looking at several Hopkins-based businesses, including a Supervalu warehouse, a plastics facility called Thermotech and an outdoor Cargill fountain, among other sources, said Health Department spokesman Doug Schultz. (Sawyer, 9/15)
Tampa Bay Times: Hand, Foot And Mouth Disease Outbreak Reported On FSU Campus
Florida State University officials say more than a dozen cases of hand, foot and mouth disease have been reported on campus, prompting the cancellation of several on-campus events. According to officials, the disease is a common viral illness that typically affects children under 5 years old and includes symptoms such as fever, sore throat, mouth sores and skin rash. (9/15)
Cincinnati Enquirer: Health Commish Search May Drag On Longer
The two nominees to fill open seats on the Board of Health have a tall order facing them – helping to decide how to search for a new health commissioner. Mayor John Cranley has selected Dr. Christopher Lewis, a UC Health primary care physician, and insurance consultant Ronald Robinson to join the nine-member Board of Health. City Council is expected to vote on the nominations Wednesday.If the men are approved, they will attend their first regular monthly Board of Health meeting Sept. 27. (Saker, 9/15)
Columbus Dispatch: High-Tech Medical Dummies Add Realism To Training For Emergencies At Blue Jackets Games
In any one of the 60 minutes of a regulation hockey game, a variety of bad things can happen on the ice. So, as the NHL season approaches, Blue Jackets players aren’t the only ones in Columbus training. On Monday, the team’s medical and athletic-training staff joined more than 30 Columbus Division of Fire paramedics and six emergency physicians from OhioHealth on the rink at Nationwide Arena to prepare for the worst. (Mogan Edwards, 9/16)
