Thursday, June 6, 2024 – KFF Health News

Military.com: Phone carrier technical issues briefly disrupted Veterans Crisis Line

Some callers to the Veterans Crisis Line on Tuesday faced difficulties reaching the Department of Veterans Affairs directly through the service’s “Press 1” option, a problem VA officials said was resolved within hours. The VA issued an alert on its websites and social media on Tuesday evening after learning of problems with the service, which officials said were the result of an “external issue” beyond the Crisis Line’s control and caused by a technical glitch at a phone carrier’s facility in Indiana. (Kimme, 6/5)

NBC News: First-of-its-kind Youth Mental Health Corps trains young people to help their peers

The Youth Mental Health Corps is a first-of-its-kind initiative that will launch this fall, initially in four states, to address the nation’s youth mental health crisis. This innovative program will recruit young volunteers who will work to help other young people struggling with mental health problems. Volunteers who sign up will receive training and a state-specific certification in the behavioral health field. Corps members will spend a year (or two years, if they prefer) working with schools, community organizations or nonprofits with the goal of connecting other young people to mental health support. They will also receive a living stipend for their work. (Reyes, 6/5)

Houston Chronicle: Harris County may seek new company for 911 diversion program

Harris County officials on Tuesday began formulating new plans to expand a program that dispatches social workers instead of sheriff’s deputies to some nonviolent 911 calls, an effort that was thrown into doubt last week over questions about the contractor running the program. (McGuinness, 6/4)

Axios: Medicaid expands mental health clinic funding

A Medicaid experiment supporting comprehensive and crisis mental health care at community clinics is expanding to 10 new states. Why it matters: The initiative provides permanent funding to help clinics serving low-income patients provide mental health and substance abuse treatment. (Goldman, 6/6)

On the gun violence epidemic –

KFF Health News: White House enlists doctors and hospitals to tackle gun violence

The White House is calling on hospital executives, doctors and other healthcare leaders to take bolder steps to prevent gun violence, including collecting more data on gunshot injuries and regularly counseling patients about the safe use of firearms. Biden administration officials are holding back-to-back events at the White House on Thursday and Friday for about 160 healthcare officials, calling gun violence a “public health crisis” that requires them to take action. (Young, 6/6)

San Francisco Chronicle: California bans ghost gun sales under compromise

Authorities announced Wednesday that three manufacturers of “ghost guns,” homemade, largely unidentified firearms used in a growing number of deadly shootings, have agreed to stop making or selling these guns in California and will pay a $675,000 civil penalty to the state. … Ghost guns, which bear no serial numbers and are sold in parts that can be quickly assembled, have accounted for 25% to 50% of the firearms found at California crime scenes in recent years. (Agelco, 6/5)

Washington Post: Children shooting themselves raises concern about ghost guns in Maryland

A 4-year-old and a 7-year-old in Maryland were playing an innocent game of hide-and-seek Sunday evening when the younger child found something he didn’t know: a loaded 9mm handgun. He pulled the weapon, a ghost gun, from under the bed it had been hidden under and shot himself, authorities said. The incident was one of two in recent days in which police say a child in the D.C. area found such a weapon and shot himself. The cases highlight two alarming public safety trends across the country that worry gun safety experts and police: the growing prevalence of homemade, untraceable weapons known as ghost guns and a rise in unintentional shootings by children. (Morse and Hilton, 6/5)

Other health news from across the US –

Los Angeles Times: California returns $52 million to US government for migrant care

California must pay the federal government more than $52 million after improperly claiming reimbursement from the Medicaid program for some immigrant patients, according to a recently released report by federal inspectors. The findings, released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General, come as California faces a $44.9 billion deficit. (Alpert Reyes, 6/5)

Reuters: Ohio can’t enforce law barring chiropractors from contacting accident victims, court rules

An Ohio state appeals court has ruled that a law barring chiropractors and certain other healthcare practitioners from conducting business with victims of car accidents and other crimes within 30 days of their injury cannot be enforced. The May 23 ruling by the Cleveland-based 8th District Court of Appeals, published Wednesday by the Ohio Court System’s public information office, said the 2019 law was improperly included in a budget bill after failing to pass on its own. (Pearson, 6/5)

CBS News: Swimming safety stressed as dozens of children expected to drown in Florida in 2024

State officials on Wednesday urged Floridians to emphasize safety while swimming this summer, as dozens of children have drowned in 2024. “So far this year, 46 children have tragically lost their lives due to drowning,” Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez said during a press event. “Drowning is preventable, and it is also the No. 1 cause of unintentional death of children ages 1 to 4,” she added. (6/5)

Health News Florida, WUSF: A nurse-run clinic in Port Tampa Bay bills itself as the first of its kind

The USF College of Nursing Port of Tampa Seafarers Center clinic opened last month to serve maritime workers, including international workers aboard cargo and cruise ships. A new clinic at Port Tampa Bay is being described as the first nurse-managed port clinic in the world. The University of South Florida’s College of Nursing will provide primary healthcare services to Port Tampa Bay’s maritime community as well as international workers aboard cargo and cruise ships. (Miller, 6/4)