Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: Wyo. House Cuts Funding To Help Hospitals With Uninsured; Walker To Sign 20-Week Abortion Ban
The Associated Press: Wyoming House Cuts Bill To Pay Hospitals
The Wyoming House voted Tuesday to cut most of the funding from a bill that Senate lawmakers had passed to help hospitals in the state cover the cost of treating uninsured patients. The House on Tuesday voted to cut the funding in the bill from $5 million to $1 million. (Neary, 3/3)
Politico Pro: Walker Would Sign 20-Week Abortion Ban
Shifting his tone to reassure social conservatives, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker declared Tuesday that he intends to sign a state law in the coming months that bans abortion after 20 weeks. (Hohmann, 3/3)
The Associated Press: Wisconsin State Health Secretary Defends SeniorCare Cuts
Wisconsin Department of Health Services Secretary Kitty Rhoades says no one will get kicked off the state’s popular prescription drug program SeniorCare under Gov. Scott Walker’s budget. Walker’s proposal requires that SeniorCare enrollees first sign up for the Medicare Part D prescription drug program and use state benefits under SeniorCare as a supplement. (3/3)
The Washington Post: Legislative Session A Mixed Bag For McAuliffe
But the session was a mixed bag for McAuliffe, who saw many of the liberal causes he championed, as well as his renewed push for expansion of Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act, go nowhere in the Republican-controlled legislature. ... But this year, social issue bills, including those that would have prohibited abortion after 20 weeks or expanded gay rights, died quietly. Two antiabortion measures made it to a vote of the full House, but only because they were attached to the budget. They later died in behind-closed-doors budget negotiations. ... But the budget plan does provide the millions the governor had sought to expand mental-health services and school breakfast programs. (Portnoy and Vozzella, 3/3)
Stateline: Older Americans Act Limps Along At 50, Stressing Local And State Agencies
This year marks a half-century since Congress created the Older Americans Act, the major vehicle for delivering social and nutrition services to people over 60. But there’s little to celebrate on the golden anniversary of the law that helps people age at home. Federal funding hasn’t kept up with the skyrocketing number of America’s seniors, now the largest elderly population in history. That’s left states and communities struggling to provide the in-home support, meals, case management and other nonmedical services that help seniors avoid more costly nursing home care and enrolling in taxpayer-funded Medicaid. (Beamish, 3/4)
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Wolf To Restore Public Health Nurses' Posts Cut Under Corbett
The Wolf administration is restoring more than two dozen public health nursing positions eliminated under the Corbett administration. The move comes almost four months after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered the Corbett administration to reverse course on its plan to eliminate 26 nurse consultant positions - half of the statewide total - and close 26 state health centers, mostly in rural parts of the state. (3/3)
Bloomberg: N.Y. Seeks Medicaid Contract Extension With Computer Sciences
New York state is seeking to extend a contract with Computer Sciences Corp. to run its Medicaid computer system because a deal for Xerox Corp. to take over the program is stalled. The length of the extension is still being negotiated, though it will reflect the time needed for Xerox’s five-year, $500 million contract to be finished, Jeffrey Hammond, a state Health Department spokesman, said by e-mail. More than nine months after it was awarded, the Xerox accord is awaiting approval from Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. (Kopott, 3/3)
ProPublica: N.Y. Bill Would Make It A Felony To Film Patients Without Prior Consent
Newly proposed legislation would make it a felony in New York to film patients receiving medical treatment without prior consent. State Assemblyman Ed Braunstein, a Queens Democrat, filed the bill last month in response to a ProPublica article, published in January with the New York Times. The story detailed how the TV show “NY Med” aired the final moments of Mark Chanko’s life while he was being treated at NewYork-Presybterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Neither Chanko nor his family had given the show permission to film him. Although Chanko’s face was blurred on the broadcast and his voice altered, his widow immediately recognized him when the episode aired in August 2012. (Ornstein, 3/3)
St. Louis Public Radio: Planned Urgent Care In North St. Louis 'Isn't Going To Make Much Of A Dent'
When Missouri regulators approved his proposal Monday, St. Louis developer Paul McKee got one step closer to realizing his $6.8-million dollar project to build an urgent care center in north St. Louis. It's a start but won't fully address the area's needs, health experts say. The three-bed clinic is to be built at the former Pruitt-Igoe site at 1120 North Jefferson Ave., covering 12 percent of the 33-acre site. A spokesman for McKee told St. Louis Public radio that the developer intends to purchase the $1 million tract of land from the city’s land bank within the next year. (Bouscaren, 3/3)
The Des Moines Register: Medical Marijuana Backers Express Hope For Law Expansion
After weeks of talking about it, Democratic lawmakers have formally started the debate over whether Iowa should expand its limited medical marijuana law. Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, introduced a bill Monday that would let patients use the drug for a range of chronic health conditions besides epilepsy, which is the only disease for which marijuana possession is legal under the state's current law. The bill also would allow tightly-regulated production and distribution of marijuana products for medical purposes. (Leys, 3/3)
