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Arkansas healthcare employers will no longer be able to block physicians from working for a competitor as the state becomes the latest to limit the use of noncompete agreements. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) signed a bill earlier this month that augments existing state law by voiding noncompete provisions in physician contracts that would prevent them from joining a rival organization. The law will take effect in mid-July. (Kacik, 3/13)

Maryland is partnering with SIRUM, a nonprofit redistributor of surplus medicine, to expand access to affordable prescription drugs to state residents, Gov. Wes Moore said Thursday. “Getting the medicine you need at an affordable rate should be a right, and it should not just be a privilege,” Moore said. (Jones, 3/13)

The Missouri House passed legislation Thursday to repeal the paid sick leave that voters approved in November. Members of the House voted 96-51 to pass the measure. It now goes to the Senate. (Kellogg, 3/13)

Two bills that would require nursing homes to devote 80% of their funds to the direct care of residents moved through the Human Services Committee on Thursday despite objections from industry leaders, advocates and a key state official. (Carlesso, 3/13)

A 55-year-old Warren, Michigan, nurse is facing charges after a patient died at an Oakland County nursing home and rehabilitation center. Antonio Serraon is charged with one count of placing misleading or inaccurate information in medical records or charts and one count of unauthorized practice of a health profession, both of which are felony charges. (Buczek, 3/13)

For the past 19 months, officials in rural Martin County have been working on an experimental plan to resurrect the community’s shuttered hospital. Martin General, the 43-bed facility that for seven decades served generations of residents in the Eastern North Carolina county, closed its doors in August 2023. (Baxley, 3/14)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Barbershop Killing Escalates Trauma For Boston Neighborhood Riven By Gun Violence

On days when the sun was shining and the air was warm with a gentle, cooling breeze, Ateiya Sowers-Hassell liked to keep the salon door open. Labor Day was one of those days. Sowers-Hassell was tending to two clients at Salvaged Roots, the natural hair salon and spa in the Four Corners section of Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood where she works as a stylist. She was in a groove, soothing music playing in the background, when gunshots boomed through the air. (Giles, 3/14)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Progressives Seek Health Privacy Protections In California, But Newsom Could Balk

When patients walked into Planned Parenthood clinics, a consumer data company sold their precise locations to anti-abortion groups for targeted ads. ... Progressive California lawmakers have proposed a number of bills aimed at bolstering privacy protections for women, transgender people, and immigrants in response to such intrusions by anti-abortion groups, conservative states, and federal law enforcement agencies as President Donald Trump declares the nation “will be woke no longer” and flexes his executive power to roll back rights. (Sánchez, 3/14)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: California Borrows $3.4 Billion For Medicaid Overrun As Congress Eyes Steep Cuts

California’s Medicaid program has borrowed $3.4 billion from the state’s general fund — and will likely need even more — to cover ballooning health expenses for 15 million residents with low incomes and disabilities. The state Department of Finance disclosed the loan to lawmakers in a letter late Wednesday, noting funds were needed to make critical payments to health care providers in Medi-Cal, the state’s version of Medicaid. (Mai-Duc, 3/13)

California lawmakers are calling for answers after the governor’s office floated a loan to bail out the state’s Medicaid program, bringing renewed scrutiny on the state’s coverage of undocumented immigrants. The $3.44 billion loan, first floated to lawmakers Wednesday, will cover obligations for the state program, known as Medi-Cal, through March, but it’s raising questions about a bigger budget hole that may need to be filled later on. Lawmakers said on Thursday they were caught off guard by the news and still don’t understand the extent of the shortfall. (Bluth, 3/13)