Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: California Becomes Ground Zero For Insurance Mega-Merger Scrutiny; Kansas Insurer To End Prior Authorization For Mental Illness Care
California is becoming a battleground state in the fight over health insurance mega-mergers. Consumer advocates are putting pressure on regulators in California and a dozen other key states to scrutinize the deals amid concerns that consumers will be left with fewer choices and higher costs. There's a lot at stake for families and employers if the deals go through and leave three health insurers in control of nearly half of the U.S. commercial insurance market. (Terhune, 1/11)
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas won鈥檛 require customers who need mental health services to get prior authorization going forward, but it can recoup payments from providers if their treatment is significantly different from that of their peers. Mary Beth Chambers, spokeswoman for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, said the change brings the insurer鈥檚 mental health policies in line with its policies for other types of medical care and with mental health parity laws. Eliminating prior authorization also will reduce paperwork for providers, she said. (Hart, 1/8)
Across the country, the first professional responder someone in a mental health crisis sees is often law enforcement. That鈥檚 especially the case in Wyoming, where the suicide rate is double the national average and lacks the mental health resources of more urban areas. (Bryan, 1/8)
As of New Years Day, licensed gun owners in Texas have been allowed to openly carry firearms into restaurants, shops and zoos. Add a new place to the gun-friendly list: state mental health hospitals. (Jervis, 1/8)
A new push is on by Washington lawmakers to raise the legal age to buy tobacco from 18 to 21. An effort to raise it last year didn鈥檛 gain traction despite publicized support from state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, but lawmakers filed a new bill in advance of the legislative session that begins Monday. (Orenstein, 1/8)
State Rep. Ed Soliday's big proposed legislation for the year is intended to raise money for roads, but a portion of it has health advocates cheering and smokers concerned. Soliday's proposed bill is aimed at raising more revenue to take care of roads and transportation at the state level. Part of that includes diverting all of the gasoline sales tax revenue from the general fund to roads. (Schultz, 1/8)
West Virginia's attorney general has accused one of the nation's largest pharmaceutical drug wholesalers of flooding the state with tens of millions of prescription pills in violation of state law. Attorney General Patrick Morrisey on Friday announced a lawsuit against San Francisco-based McKesson Corp. Among other things, the lawsuit alleges violations of state consumer protection laws and the Uniform Controlled Substances Act. (Raby, 1/8)
Urgent care centers, such as the San Antonio-based Texas MedClinic chain, usually are staffed by physicians trained in emergency medicine and provide walk-in care seven days a week, sometimes 24 hours a day. They often have their own labs and X-ray equipment, accept a range of private insurance and are very visibly located along major highways and, increasingly, in neighborhood shopping centers. (Marini, 1/10)
Enrollment in health-care sharing ministries recently shot past half a million people, up from about 200,000 three years ago. The trend has been partly fueled by the Affordable Care Act, ministry officials say. (Sutherly, 1/11)
