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California's insurance commissioner criticized healthcare giant Anthem Blue Cross for imposing an "excessive" rate increase on nearly 170,000 customers statewide. Dave Jones said Wednesday that Anthem had failed to justify its 9% average rate hike that took effect April 1. Premiums are going up as much as 25% for about 4,000 policyholders. (Terhune, 4/22)

A group of state employees and retirees is asking a judge to reverse changes made to their insurance program that cost many workers more out-of-pocket for lessened benefits. The lawsuit, announced Wednesday, was filed in state district court a day earlier, claiming Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration didn't follow state law in reworking the health insurance plans offered through the Office of Group Benefits. (DeSlatte, 4/22)

A proposed health services budget in the Democratic-controlled Senate has funding to save two state mental health facilities slated to close this year, lawmakers said Wednesday, though it’s unclear whether such a legislative move would garner enough support from either the House or Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad. Sen. Amanda Ragan, D-Mason City and vice chairwoman of the Senate Human Resources Committee, said there is about $11 million in a proposed health and human services budget bill to keep the facilities in Clarinda and Mount Pleasant open. (Rodriguez, 4/22)

A measure requiring physicians to spell out a patient's options even if they're objectionable to the doctor has received Senate approval. It would change a 1977 law that allows health care providers to refuse to perform medical procedures they find morally objectionable. The Biss plan would require that even if a health care provider refuses to treat a patient, it must tell the patient what's wrong, what options exist, and where treatment is available. (4/22)

A measure before Illinois lawmakers would require Roman Catholic hospitals to tell patients they can go elsewhere for birth control, certain medical procedures and other health care choices that violate church teachings. The proposal would amend the state's Health Care Right of Conscience Act, which generally allows workers and institutions to deny services for religious and ethical reasons. And while it would apply to all hospitals in Illinois, it's particularly relevant for Catholic hospitals, which handle more than 1 in 4 admissions statewide. (Pashman, 4/17)

The commissioner of Georgia’s Medicaid agency has written a sharply worded defense of nursing home payments now deemed improper by the federal government. A federal ruling saying Georgia should return more than $100 million in nursing home payments “is factually and legally incorrect,’’ Clyde Reese, commissioner of the Department of Community Health, wrote in a February letter to a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) official in Atlanta. “Refunding payments previously approved by CMS would be inequitable and would result in unjust enrichment to the federal government,” Reese said. It would probably also lead to the closure of the more than 30 nursing homes involved, he added. (Miller, 4/22)

There are 868 detox beds in Massachusetts, where patients go to break the cycle of addiction. They stay on average one week. Coming out they hit one of the many hurdles explained in a report out this week from the Center for Health Information and Analysis on access to substance abuse treatment in the state. There are only 297 beds in facilities where patients can have two weeks to become stable. There are 331 beds in four week programs. (Bebinger, 4/22)

Children's Hospital Colorado in June will relinquish control of its pediatric center at Memorial Hospital Central in Colorado Springs after a federal and state investigation found problems with emergency services. In a joint statement Wednesday, the hospitals said the emergency room has stopped treating severe trauma in pediatric patients. The Colorado Springs hospital will no longer be able to treat the most complex pediatric trauma cases, estimated at fewer than 10 per month. (Draper, 4/22)

Activists held hunger strikes for years and doctors lobbied the state General Assembly before Illinois allowed undocumented immigrants to acquire state-funded kidney transplants last year, a program that is set to be cut under Gov. Bruce Rauner's proposed budget. Immigrant advocates in Chicago expressed dismay at the proposal. (Rodriguez, 4/22)