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In Massachusetts, it can cost you or your insurance company two or three times more to deliver a baby at one of the big Boston teaching hospitals than at small- or medium-size facilities outside the city. Is this a problem? Should the state try to fix it? That’s what you may have to decide when you vote in the fall. (Bebinger, 3/9)

Two states are making inroads into revealing some of the biggest secrets of health care by publishing price information to help consumers comparison shop for doctors, dentists and prescription drugs. New Hampshire, which already had the nation’s most advanced website allowing people to compare the cost of specific medical procedures, last week added prices for 16 dental procedures and 65 prescription drugs. ... California on Wednesday released an expanded version of its quality report cards on 154 large physician groups. Those cards, which already assess clinical quality and patient experiences, take a different tack than New Hampshire. (Rau, 3/10)

For decades, more and more Californians have put on weight and fallen sick with diabetes, prompting warnings that the disease was spiraling out of control. Now experts have data showing just how bleak the situation is. Researchers from UCLA determined that 55% of California adults have either diabetes or pre-diabetes, a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be considered diabetic, according to a study published Thursday. (Karlamangla, 3/10)

In an effort to better connect people with help for opioid addiction, the state has made available a single phone number residents can call to be connected with a local substance abuse walk-in assessment center. (Levin Becker, 3/9)

A Wilmington nursing home’s plan to correct widespread problems discovered in the wake of a patient’s death is unacceptable, state regulators said Wednesday. (Lazar, 3/10)

The new Charlotte VA Health Care Center won’t open until April. But veterans and other visitors got a sneak peek Wednesday during an open house at the nearly completed building off Tyvola Road west of Interstate 77. “It’s a beautiful facility,” said Frank Gettys, 72, a Vietnam War veteran. “I’m from Gastonia, and it’s convenient for me. … It’s all brand new. There’s nothing not to like.” (Garloch, 3/10)

They're house calls without the house. Far from the sterile confines of a doctor's office or hospital, Brett Feldman looks for homeless people where they're most likely to be found — in wooded encampments, under bridges, along riverbanks, at soup kitchens — and treats them for ailments ranging from diabetes to trench foot, mental illness to substance abuse. (Rubinkam, 3/10)

Five-year-old Katie Hedrick doesn’t have chickenpox. But five other elementary students in Union County do. And because Katie hasn’t been vaccinated against the childhood illness, she is one of 15 children who have been ordered by the county health director to stay out of school, in quarantine, for 21 days. (Garloch, 3/10)

Hospitals increasingly insist that low-risk pregnancies reach 39 weeks before doctors deliver the child, but babies born after elective induction of labor in the previous two weeks fare no worse, according to a new Houston study. (Ackerman, 3/9)

Polk County reported the first confirmed sexually-transmitted case of Zika in Florida, the state health department said on Wednesday. The news comes a day after the World Health Organization said that sexual transmission of Zika is more common than previously thought. According to reports, United states is investigating more than a dozen possible such cases. (Miller, 3/9)

Orlando Health unveiled the name of its new Proton Therapy Center on Tuesday, with a gift from the Williams Family Foundation. The Marjorie and Leonard Williams Center for Proton Therapy is expected to open in April and is the first in Central Florida and third in the state. (Miller, 3/8)

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services on Wednesday reported four new cases of the bacterial strain Elizabethkingia anophelisthat is linked to more than a dozen deaths in Wisconsin. The new cases bring the total number of people infected to 48. No deaths were reported among the new cases. Indeed, the number of deaths has been revised downward from 18 to 15. (Fauber, 3/9)