State Highlights: Baltimore Protests Focus Attention On City’s Public Health Infrastructure; N.Y. To Crack Down On Exploitative Nail Salons
News outlets examine health care issues in Maryland, New York, South Carolina, Texas, North Carolina, California, Georgia, Wisconsin, Missouri, Alaska and Washington,
Modern Healthcare:
Baltimore Unrest Draws Attention To Health Disparities
Along with everything else, the city of Baltimore's public health infrastructure took a hit during the demonstrations and rioting following the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died April 19 from injuries suffered while in police custody. Two of the city's most prominent physicians wrote a commentary posted on the JAMA website addressing the past and current roles public health efforts have played in mitigating Baltimore's social inequities and healthcare disparities. The authors called on the city's healthcare professionals to use their economic and human resources to address the underlying causes of social unrest. (Robeznieks, 5/11)
CNN:
NY Cracks Down On Nail Salons That Exploit Workers
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is cracking down on nail salons that steal workers' wages and expose them to hazardous chemicals. Cuomo issued an emergency order Sunday calling for new rules to protect the thousands of workers in the state's nail salons. The move follows reports published last week in The New York Times exposing the systemic mistreatment of manicurists in salons across the state. (Rooney, 5/11)
The Associated Press:
NY Expanding HIV-Prevent Effort To Fund Support Services
New York is expanding efforts to prevent the spread of the virus that causes AIDS by funding counseling, testing and other support for infected patients prescribed the effective drug. State health officials have taken several steps already to boost diagnosis and treatment HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, with antiviral medications. (5/12)
Georgia Health News:
Where You're Born Can Shorten Your Life
Children born just a few miles apart in Atlanta can have life expectancies that vary by more than 10 years, an analysis shows. A child born in the 30305 ZIP Code in the affluent Buckhead district can be expected to live to age 84, according to a map recently created by Virginia Commonwealth University researchers. But across I-75 in northwest Atlanta, a child in the 30318 ZIP Code would have an average life expectancy of 72 years. (Miller, 5/11)
The Charlotte Observer:
Who Should Save Sight Of S.C. Man Who Can't Afford Surgery?
To start a lively discussion of America’s health care system, let’s consider who’s responsible for saving the sight of Luis Lang. Lang, a 49-year-old resident of Fort Mill, S.C., has bleeding in his eyes and a partially detached retina caused by diabetes. That’s when he turned to the Affordable Care Act exchange. Lang learned two things: First, 2015 enrollment had closed earlier that month. And second, because his income has dried up, he earns too little to get a federal subsidy to buy a private policy. Lang, a Republican, says he knew the act required him to get coverage but he chose not to do so. But he thought help would be available in an emergency. He and his wife blame President Obama and Congressional Democrats for passing a complex and flawed bill. (Helms, 5/12)
California Healthline:
California Proposes To Expand Incentive Pay For Some Medi-Cal Providers
California officials are negotiating with the federal government over an ambitious proposal that would expand an incentive pay program for hospitals and introduce shared savings and other performance pay to Medi-Cal managed care plans. The proposal is part of California's Section 1115 Medicaid Waiver renewal process. The state's current five-year $10 billion waiver, which began in November, 2010, expires on Oct. 1. The new waiver proposal would build on the existing one, state and interest group representatives said. (Vesely, 5/11)
California Healthline:
Telehealth Project Aims To Improve Health Care Access For Inland Empire Tribes
A health care system serving nine American Indian tribes in the Inland Empire is using telehealth to reach patients in remote areas and address rising rates of diabetes, a particular problem among American Indians. Riverside-San Bernardino County Indian Health serves nine tribes in the expansive Inland Empire region of Southern California. The region encompasses nearly 30,000 square miles, an area the size of Vermont and New Hampshire combined. Patients who live in rural parts of Riverside and San Bernardino counties must travel long distances for health care. Those who live near the Colorado River and in cities such as Needles and Blythe, which lie along the Arizona border, sometimes must travel several hours for specialty care. (McSherry, 5/11)
The Associated Press:
NY Governor Creates Task Force To Conduct Nail Salon Probes
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday said he was creating a task force to investigate nail salons and crack down on worker abuse following a report of widespread exploitation and health problems of manicurists. "We will not stand idly by as workers are deprived of their hard-earned wages and robbed of their most basic rights," he said in a statement. (5/11)
The Texas Tribune:
Half Of TX Women Face Barriers To Reproductive Health
More than half of Texas women faced at least one barrier to accessing reproductive health care in the years after lawmakers dramatically altered the state’s family planning services, according to a new report by the Texas Policy Evaluation Project. The project's researchers, who are based at the University of Texas at Austin, focused on access to reproductive services — including family planning, cervical cancer screenings and contraception — starting in 2011. That's the year the Republican-led Legislature cut the state’s budget for family planning by two-thirds and rejected a federally financed women’s health program in favor of a state-run program. (Ura, 5/12)
The Charlotte Observer:
North Carolina Grabs Attention Of U.S. Health Secretary
When U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell visited Charlotte last week, she dropped by the Observer for an interview about the state of the nation’s health. Her visit coincided with the announcement of a federal grant for Charlotte Community Health Clinic, which serves low-income residents. With the grant, the clinic will begin serving Medicaid patients. But there won’t be that many because N.C. legislators rejected federal Medicaid expansion under the ACA. Burwell noted that Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear accepted Medicaid expansion through “executive authority” when legislators refused. Asked if she’s talked to N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory about taking a similar action, she said only that they had talked about a “range of issues” on her previous visit. (Garloch, 5/11)
Dallas Morning News:
Merger Planned For San Antonio, Dallas-Area Health Exchanges
The big health information exchanges of Dallas and San Antonio are planning a merger that would bring together the electronic health records of millions of Texans along the Interstate 35 corridor. Joe Lastinger, CEO of the North Texas Accountable Healthcare Partnership, said a merger would save Dallas-area hospitals and physicians time and money in building an information technology grid. And he said it might be large enough to entice health insurers to add their patient records to the grid as well. (Landers, 5/11)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Green Bay Health Records Company IOD Inc. To Merge With Competitor
IOD Inc., a Green Bay company that contracts with hospitals and clinics to handle requests for medical records, plans to merge with HealthPort, a competitor based in an Atlanta suburb. The merger, expected to close by July, will create a company with combined revenue of more than $450million, the companies said in a news release.
The Associated Press:
Missouri Home Care Workers Push For Higher Wages
Missouri home care workers on Monday pressed lawmakers to allow a proposed increase in their minimum wage to take effect, despite opposition from home health care companies arguing it could cause them financial hardship. Under scrutiny is an agreement ratified by the state Quality Home Care Council that allows those they care for to pay workers between $8.50 and $10.15 an hour, up from the current $7.50 an hour minimum. (Ballentine, 5/11)
The Texas Tribune:
Senate Approves Bill To Keep Execution Drug Providers Secret
A state Senate measure to keep the names of execution drug providers from the public won initial approval on Monday in a 23-8 vote. Final passage is expected on Tuesday. State Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, told lawmakers her legislation, Senate Bill 1697, was a "practical solution" to the harassment and threats faced by companies providing the state prison system with pentobarbital, the single drug used in Texas to execute inmates convicted of capital murder. (Langford and Smith, 5/11)
Fox News:
Will Pregnancy Tests In Alaska Bars Dissuade Moms-To-Be From Drinking?
The Peanut Farm and a few other bars in Alaska have begun offering the free pregnancy tests as part of a two-year, state-funded pilot project. ... Alaska has a high rate of women who binge drink, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. State health officials estimate that more than 120 children born in Alaska each year suffer from fetal alcohol symptoms ranging from mental and physical disabilities to impaired growth and organ damage. (Kelly, 5/10)
The Seattle Times:
Banking On Faith: Cost-sharing Ministries Offer Alternative To Obamacare
When Melissa Mira suffered sudden heart failure at the end of her second pregnancy last year, she worried first about her health and her baby then about the more than $200,000 in medical bills that began rolling in. For Mira and her family, the answer came not through traditional health insurance, but through faith that fellow Christians would step forward to pay the bills. (Aleccia, 5/11)