Friday, May 17, 2024 – KFF Health News

Politico: Effort to create universal health care in California dies in committee

A bill to make California the first state to create universal health care through a single-payer system was rejected during a state Assembly appropriations hearing Thursday. Bay Area Democrat Ash Kalra’s proposal, Assembly Bill 2200, would establish CalCare, a state-run insurance system for all residents with no premiums, deductibles or copays. (Lynch, 5/16)

NBC News: California bill aimed at tackling skin care overuse fails to advance

A bill aiming to ban the sale of anti-aging skin products to children under 13 in California failed to pass the state Assembly on Thursday after being brought up in an Appropriations Committee meeting. Democratic Assemblyman Alex Lee introduced AB 2491 last month to tackle a controversial skin-care fad affecting young children online. (Yang and Griffin, 5/16)

San Francisco Chronicle: SF homelessness rises despite city spending more

Despite a huge increase in funding for homelessness, San Francisco has seen its unhoused population increase by 7% over the past two years, according to preliminary data from a one-night snapshot released Thursday that last count showed. This is contrary to the gains made. There were 8,328 homeless people citywide, up from 7,754 in 2022. The number of unsheltered homeless people, which includes people living in tents, sidewalks and vehicles, dropped by 1%, according to city estimates. (Anger, 5/16)

In other news from across the country –

WUSF: VA adds a Veterans Health Clinic in East Tampa neighborhood

A new satellite clinic operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs in East Tampa is open for veterans to receive primary care, mental health support and other services. It is part of a growing partnership between the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense. (Colombini, 5/16)

Chicago Tribune: More health care facilities would have to report abuse under new bill

Doctors’ offices and clinics affiliated with hospitals would be required to report allegations of patient abuse to the state health department under a measure introduced by Illinois lawmakers this week — legislation that comes nearly three months after a Chicago Tribune investigation into the issue. Has come after investigation. (Horner, 5/16)

USA TODAY: CDC wants to cure American suicides. People find salvation in NYC Clubhouse

Samantha Alexander calls Manhattan’s Fountain House her “earthly salvation.” Months earlier, while living in a midtown homeless shelter, he attempted to take his own life. Despite being male at birth, she knew from childhood that she was female. She said, she was suffering from depression for a long time since childhood and had tried many medicines to treat it. After her attempt, she agreed to go with a friend to Fountain House, a mental health nonprofit located near the shelter. (Cuevas, 5/16)

Concord Monitor: NH Senate rejects medical aid in final resolution

The New Hampshire Senate on Thursday rejected a bill that would have allowed medical aid in dying, eliminating the opportunity for terminally ill people to end their suffering through self-administered medication. (Gopalakrishnan, 5/16)

St. Louis Public Radio: Pharmacists, patients say Express Scripts limits access to drugs

Pharmacists and patient rights advocates plan to protest Express Scripts’ business practices outside the company’s headquarters in north St. Louis County on Friday. They claim that the company’s negotiation tactics have resulted in reduced availability of drugs to consumers and higher prices. (Fantome, 5/17)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: BJC Adds Rehab Hospital to Open in West St. Louis County

Patients who are ready to be discharged from the hospital but not well enough to return home may sometimes have to wait for an available room in a rehabilitation facility. This means that not only are they holding up a hospital bed for someone who might need it, but they are also not getting the intensive care they need. The opening this month of the Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis-West County, a 40-bed inpatient rehabilitation facility, is expected to shorten any wait. (Munz, 5/16)

Boston Globe: Cape Cod hospital to pay $24.4 million for Medicare billing issues

Cape Cod Hospital has agreed to pay approximately $24.4 million to the federal government to resolve allegations that it knowingly submitted Medicare claims that failed to comply with billing requirements. A Justice Department investigation found that cardiac surgeons at the hospital did not adequately document patient evaluations for transcatheter aortic valve replacement, known as TAVR, required for Medicare reimbursement. Richard Zelman, the hospital’s former cardiologist who first drew attention to the flaws in a 2022 lawsuit against the hospital, will receive about $4.4 million of a civil settlement for his whistleblower role. (Johnston, 5/16)

Reuters: Parents sue weighted sleep sack company amid dispute over product safety

A company selling weighted sleep sacks for babies faces a proposed class action in Massachusetts federal court amid a dispute over whether the products are safe. Los Angeles mother Rose Saidi filed a lawsuit against Nested Beans on Wednesday, accusing the company of selling millions of sleep bags while knowing that the weighted products were unsafe for babies. Saidi said she used the sack twice with her child and was concerned that the child was having difficulty breathing while wearing it. (Novak Jones, 5/16)

Too –

KFF Health News: Clean Needles Save Lives. In some states, they may not be legal

Kim Boetticher hardly considers herself a criminal. On the main floor of a former Catholic church in Bolivar, Pennsylvania, Boetticher runs a flower shop and café. In the basement of a former church, she also operates a non-profit organization focused on helping people caught up in the drug epidemic get back on their feet. (Mahon and Bowden, 5/17)