Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
FDNY Union Officials Demand Answers On 9/11 Toxic Air Report
6ABC Philadelphia: FDNY Unions Demand Answers On 170,000 Pages Of Newly Released 9/11 Toxic Air Records At Ground Zero
The city's fire unions call it a shocking betrayal that their members, office workers and Lower Manhattan residents were repeatedly told the air was safe to breathe when officials knew it was not. FDNY Uniformed Firefighters Association President Robert Eustace and Uniformed Fire Officers Association President James Brosi, both Ground Zero responders, joined firefighters and fire officers in Manhattan on Wednesday morning to speak about the continuing health crisis facing those who spent months working at the disaster site. "For all those people that said they would never forget, they went to great lengths making sure you did not know the totality of the situation and what they knew when they made the choice to sacrifice its residents and its first responders for what they believed was the greater good. And that is the atrocity that happened after 9/11," Brosi said. (9/10)
In other updates from New York City —
The New York Times: Lawmakers Question N.Y.C. Tech Official About 911 System Breakdown
New York City lawmakers on Wednesday grilled the leader of a city technology agency at the center of a 911 system outage that prevented hundreds of callers from reaching operators, and was not disclosed for hours. Lisa Gelobter, the chief of the city’s Office of Information and Technology, which oversees the technology behind the 911 system, withstood more than three hours of criticism during a City Council hearing about the partial breakdown on Aug. 18. (Cramer and Marcius, 9/9)
More health news from across the U.S. —
Fierce Healthcare: OBBBA's State-Directed Payment Caps Will Trim Some States' Medicaid Spend By A Quarter: Study
Upcoming statutory limits on providers’ state-directed payments (SDPs) are expected to trim tens of billions of dollars from states’ Medicaid spending, and for 17 hard-hit states could range from 10% to 25% of their total annual Medicaid spending, according to a newly published analysis warning of subsequent reductions in care access. (Muoio, 9/9)
FOX45 News: Lawmakers Press Health Officials On Questionable Medicaid Payments
Maryland lawmakers pressed state health officials Wednesday over millions of dollars in questionable Medicaid payments and other repeat problems flagged by state auditors, including claims tied to people who were incarcerated or already dead. (Pryor, 9/9)
The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Hospital Outages Test Emergency Plans, Cyber Defenses
An Eastern Shore hospital system lost Internet, phone service and access to electronic records last month after construction workers inadvertently struck a sprinkler pipe that damaged an IT area. TidalHealth’s clinical teams sprang into action, shifting to paper documentation using pre-printed forms, switching to backup communications and setting up an incident command structure across the health system. The Aug. 13 response was the same as it would have been had the 30-medical-site system been hit by a cyberattack. (Mirabella, 9/10)
Los Angeles Times: L.A.'s Homeless Authority Is Put On Notice It Will Have To Compete To Save Itself
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority has been put on notice that it will have to compete for the first time with other applicants for key federally-mandated functions, setting the stage for a possible breakup of the city-county joint powers authority. (Smith and Zahniser, 9/9)
The Texas Tribune: Texas Prisons Seek $298 Million To Air Condition Hot Lockups
Texas’ prison agency has asked the Legislature for $298 million over the next two years to add more than 15,700 air conditioned beds, saying the request will help deliver “significant and measurable progress” toward addressing dangerous summer heat in state lockups. (Nguyen, 9/9)
On measles —
AP: Pennsylvania Measles Deaths: Coroner Releases More Details On Infants
The two measles-related deaths in Pennsylvania last month involved infants, and the virus itself caused one of the deaths, a Pennsylvania coroner confirmed Wednesday. Lancaster County’s coroner, Dr. Stephen Diamantoni, said he told the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of his conclusions. CDC officials, however, have not said whether they will count either death as measles-associated, and the agency’s website still carries a disclaimer about them. Ivan Miller died on Aug. 14 shortly after his birth of a ruptured spleen, Diamantoni said. (Stobbe, 9/9)
CIDRAP: Pediatrics Group Publishes FAQ On Congenital Measles
Late last month in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a mom with measles delivered a stillborn baby, who died of a ruptured spleen, what the coroner called a measles-associated death. The midwife attending the birth told the mom that the baby died because of the unvaccinated mom’s serious case of measles, per The Atlantic. Few pediatricians have treated a newborn with congenital measles—meaning a case in a newborn contracted from the mother—especially one with such a tragic outcome. (Holohan, 9/9)
In reproductive health news —
Politico: Louisiana’s Abortion Pill Case Could Wipe Out Access In Blue States
The next phase in the abortion wars may come down to one question: Do the rights of red states to enforce bans override the rights of blue states to protect access? Louisiana will argue before a federal appeals court this week that FDA rules allowing telehealth prescription and mail delivery of the drug mifepristone infringe on the state’s right to prohibit abortion within its borders. But should its lawsuit succeed — or one of the others like it filed by Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri or Texas — it would wipe out online and mail access in states where abortion is legal, cutting off millions of residents from a method they increasingly depend on. (Ollstein, 9/9)
Wyoming Public Radio: More Western States Are Letting Medicaid Reimburse For Doula Care
The majority of western states now let Medicaid help cover the cost of doulas, the trained professionals who provide emotional support and information to people before, during and after childbirth. (Merzbach, 9/9)
AP: Former Amazon Employees Allege Discrimination Against Pregnant Warehouse Workers In Lawsuit
A group of former Amazon warehouse employees is suing the company for systemically discriminating against pregnant workers, accusing the company of denying them basic accommodations and penalizing some who took breaks to pump milk or time off for hospital visits. (Savage, 9/9)
