Friday, June 21, 2024 – KFF Health News

Missouri Independent: Missouri violated the law by keeping mentally ill people in nursing homes

In a scathing report published Tuesday, the U.S. Justice Department said Missouri is violating federal disability law by needlessly institutionalizing thousands of adults with mental illness in nursing homes. The report, based on a year-and-a-half investigation, found that people with mental illness “remain unnecessarily in nursing facilities, generally due to a series of systemic failures by the state.” (Bates, 6/20)

Modern Healthcare: Medicaid fraud lawsuit: New York nursing home owners lose 2 New Jersey operations

Trouble is mounting for three nursing home owners facing an $83 million fraud lawsuit filed last year by New York Attorney General Letitia James (D). A New Jersey Superior Court judge on Monday appointed an independent receiver to run two nursing homes in the state owned by Kenneth Rosenberg, Beth Rosenberg and Daryl Hagler. The three collectively own about 40 nursing homes, mostly in New York and New Jersey. (Eastabrook, 6/20)

Washington Post: Maryland health official resigns weeks after nursing home lawsuit

The head of the Maryland agency that regulates nursing home and hospital safety will resign effective June 27, several weeks after a lawsuit that revealed significant backlogs in inspections and complaint investigations. … The Department of Health did not give a reason for her resignation in a news release Thursday afternoon. (Shepherd, 6/20)

More health news from across the US —

NPR: California to protect indoor workers from dangerous heat

California’s Occupational Health and Safety (Cal/OSHA) Standards Board voted Thursday afternoon to implement rules to protect indoor workers from excessive heat. California now joins a handful of other states, including Oregon and Minnesota, in protecting people who work indoors in facilities such as warehouses, restaurants and refineries. The state estimates the new rule will apply to about 1.4 million people who work indoors in environments that can easily become dangerously hot. (Borunda, 6/21)

KFF Health News: California leaders feud with healthcare industry over billion-dollar new deal for Medi-Cal

Governor Gavin Newsom, state lawmakers and healthcare industry leaders have a small window to reach a new deal worth billions of dollars for Medi-Cal before the measure goes before voters in November. An initiative backed by nearly every sector of the state’s healthcare industry, as well as the local Republican and Democratic parties, would lock in funding for Medi-Cal, California’s version of the Medicaid health insurance program for low-income residents. The money would be used primarily to raise payment rates for healthcare professionals who serve Medi-Cal patients. (Wolfson, 6/20)

AP: Bill to allow doctor-assisted suicide in Delaware fails in Senate

A bill to allow physician-assisted suicide in Delaware failed to win approval in the state Senate on Thursday, after it narrowly passed the House earlier this year, but it could be approved again next week. The bill failed by a 9-9 margin in the Democrat-led Senate, as three members of the Democratic caucus spoke against the measure. No Republican lawmakers voted in favor. (Chase, 6/20)

Washington Post: Amid backlog of untested rape kits, Maryland launches new tracking system

In the long journey of sexual assault victim Angela D. Wharton, Thursday was a day that signaled that cases like hers should not happen anymore in Maryland. In 1996, Wharton was raped at gunpoint outside her apartment building in Baltimore. Two years later, police destroyed her untested sexual assault kit and other evidence — an act she learned about 20 years later. (Jackman, 6/20)

Texas Tribune: Seven state psychiatric hospitals in Texas to be built or renovated

Texas will begin construction on seven new state psychiatric hospital projects this year as it continues to try to address the mental health crisis. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission projects are funded by $1.5 billion that lawmakers approved to expand, renovate and build new facilities across the state through 2023. The agency owns and operates nine state hospitals and a residential treatment center for youth. (Simpson, 6/20)

AP: North Carolina Senate gives preliminary approval to legalize medical marijuana

North Carolina moved one step closer to legalizing medical marijuana on Thursday when the state Senate gave it its preliminary approval. The Senate approved the measure to legalize medical marijuana in its first of two votes, 33-9, with nine Republicans breaking away from the rest of the party to oppose it. If approved a second time, the bill will head to the state House, which has historically blocked Senate attempts to legalize medical use of the drug. (Seminara, 6/20)

KFF Health News: Super Bowl parade shooting survivors await promised donations while bills pile up

Abigail Arellano keeps her son Samuel’s medical bills in a blue folder in a cabinet above the microwave. Even now, four months after the 11-year-old was shot at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade, the bills keep coming. There’s a bill for $1,040 for an ambulance ride to the hospital that February afternoon. There’s another bill for $2,841.17 for a visit to the emergency room three days after the shooting because the bullet wound seemed to be infected. More follow-ups and counseling in March added another $1,500. (Lowe and Sable-Smith, 6/21)