State Roundup: Federal Appeals Court Set To Review Texas Abortion Law
A selection of health policy stories from Texas, Colorado, California and Connecticut.
Los Angeles Times: Federal Appeals Court Could Rule Soon On Texas Abortion Law
A federal appeals court in New Orleans had yet to rule Wednesday on Texas officials' request for an emergency order allowing a set of new abortion restrictions to take effect in their state as scheduled. On Monday, a federal judge in Texas issued a ruling that blocked some of the restrictions that he found unconstitutional, including a provision requiring doctors at abortion clinics to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and limits on medication-induced abortions (Hennessy-Fiske, 10/30).
Kaiser Health News: Help Flies In For Troubled Hospital In Estes Park, Colo.
Estes Park, Colorado, is weathering a tough season. Seven weeks ago floods wiped out all but one road into the small, tourism-dependent community adjacent to Rocky Mountain National Park. Hotels and businesses were just getting cleaned up and the town was hoping to salvage some kind of fall color season, when the government shutdown hit, closing the park for ten days (Whitney, 10/30).
California Healthline: Assembly Member Urges Senate To Create New Committee On Aging, Long-Term Care
The California Senior Legislature yesterday awarded its Legislator of the Year award to Assembly member Mariko Yamada (D-Davis) at the group's annual meeting in Sacramento. Yamada, chair of the Assembly Committee on Aging and Long-Term Care, said it's unthinkable that the state Legislature doesn't have a similar subcommittee on the Senate side. "I would be remiss, as I enter my final year [as an Assembly member], to fail to note that, for some reason, there is no committee on aging -- or even a subcommittee -- on the Senate side," Yamada said (Gorn, 10/30).
The CT Mirror: Health Care Redesign Plan Focuses On primary Care, Doctor Payments And Reducing Waste
A team of state officials and health care industry representatives are trying to redesign the way health care is paid for and delivered to the vast majority of Connecticut residents. According to a draft of their plan, their vision includes bolstering primary care practices to take on a larger role in patient care and offer treatment during expanded hours. It calls for better linking of medical practices with social services and other supports that could help people in high-risk communities. And it includes changing the way health care providers are paid by giving them an incentive to rein in what their patients' care costs -- a model that's been embraced by Medicare and insurance companies but has drawn fire from patient advocates (Becker, 10/30).
