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Massachusetts senators are set to vote Tuesday on a bill that would allow cities or towns to approve sites that could offer supervised consumption of drugs, marking an 11th-hour push for a provision that surprised House leaders who passed their own opioid-related bill earlier this summer. The provision allowing for so-called overdose prevention centers, more commonly known as safe consumption sites, is part of a larger package released by the Senate on Monday aimed at treating substance abuse. ( Gross, Stout and Laughlin, 7/29)

Faced with a devastating fentanyl crisis, San Francisco Mayor London Breed has increasingly embraced punishment and law enforcement crackdowns to try to stop people from using illicit drugs. But a proposal released Monday would rely on incentives rather than discipline to encourage sobriety. Breed and Supervisor Matt Dorsey on Monday unveiled legislation called “Cash Not Drugs” that would reward some welfare recipients with $100 every week they test negative for illicit drugs. (Angst, 7/29)

The warm, soggy summer across much of the Midwest has produced a bumper crop of wild mushrooms — and a surge in calls to poison control centers. At the Minnesota Regional Poison Center, calls from April through July more than tripled over the same period last year, said Samantha Lee, the center’s director. The center took 90 calls for potential exposures over that period, compared to 26 calls for the same months in 2023. Exposures include people who have had actual or suspected contact with potentially poisonous mushrooms and who may or may not develop symptoms, she said. (Karnowski, 7/29)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: California Lawmakers Debate Sending Local Health Inspectors Into Immigration Facilities

Covid-19, mumps, and chickenpox outbreaks. Contaminated water, moldy food, and air ducts spewing black dust. These health threats have been documented inside privately run immigration detention facilities in California through lawsuits, federal and state audits, and complaints lodged by detainees themselves. But local public health officers who routinely inspect county jails and state prisons say they don’t have the authority under state law to inspect detention centers operated by private companies, including all six federal immigration centers in California. (Sánchez, 7/30)

Private Medicare plans now cover more than half of Medicare beneficiaries, but how well they actually serve people differs from county to county. Medicare enrollees living in communities of color and with high rates of poverty had less access to top-rated Medicare Advantage plans last year than those living in wealthier places that are majority white. (Goldman, 7/30)

Minnesota's health care system has long been recognized as one of the best in the country and a recent study has reinforced that viewpoint. According to a WalletHub study published Monday, Minnesota's health care system is No. 1 in the nation, followed by Rhode Island and South Dakota. The study compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia across three key dimensions: cost, access and outcomes. (Premo, 7/29)