Â鶹ŮÓÅ

Skip to main content

The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.

Subscribe Follow Us
  • Trump 2.0

    Trump 2.0

    • Agency Watch
    • State Watch
    • Rural Health Payout
  • Public Health

    Public Health

    • Vaccines
    • CDC & Disease
    • Environmental Health
  • Audio Reports

    Audio Reports

    • What the Health?
    • Health Care Helpline
    • Â鶹ŮÓÅ Health News Minute
    • An Arm and a Leg
    • Health Hub
    • HealthQ
    • Silence in Sikeston
    • Epidemic
    • See All Audio
  • Special Reports

    Special Reports

    • Bill Of The Month
    • The Body Shops
    • Broken Rehab
    • Deadly Denials
    • Priced Out
    • Dead Zone
    • Diagnosis: Debt
    • Overpayment Outrage
    • Opioid Settlement Tracking
    • See All Special Reports
  • More Topics

    More Topics

    • Elections
    • Health Care Costs
    • Insurance
    • Prescription Drugs
    • Health Industry
    • Immigration
    • Reproductive Health
    • Technology
    • Rural Health
    • Race and Health
    • Aging
    • Mental Health
    • Affordable Care Act
    • Medicare
    • Medicaid
    • Children’s Health

  • Community Health Workers
  • Rural Health Payout
  • Measles Outbreaks
  • Doctors’ Liability Premiums
  • Florida’s KidCare

TRENDING TOPICS:

  • Community Health Workers
  • Rural Health Payout
  • Measles Outbreaks
  • Doctors' Liability Premiums
  • Florida’s KidCare

Morning Briefing

Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

  • Email

Friday, Mar 11 2016

Full Issue

State Highlights: Fla. Senate OKs Transparency Bill; Effort To Restore Ariz. KidCare Health Insurance Program Stalls

News outlets report on health issues in Florida, Arizona, Kentucky, California, New York, Michigan and New Jersey.

The Florida Senate passed a bill on Thursday that would give residents more transparency on the costs of health care. The bill (HB 1175), which passed 27-1, requires Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration to contract with a vendor for a website that will show cost and quality of care. (3/10)

A bill that would restore health insurance coverage to children in low-income families appears dead in the Arizona Senate just a week after passing out of the House. House Bill 2309 would allow Arizona to access federal funding to restore the KidsCare program, Arizona’s version of the Children’s Health Insurance Program cut in 2010. (Alltucker, 3/10)

California regained responsibility for providing medical care at a second state prison on Thursday as it slowly makes progress toward ending a decade of federal control. J. Clark Kelso, the federal court-appointed receiver, turned operations at the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad back over to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. (Thompson, 3/11)

Sacramento-based Sutter Health reported net income of $81 million in 2015, a nearly 80 percent plunge from $402 million in 2014. The nonprofit health system cited multiple factors that prompted the decline. (Glover, 3/10)

At least 20 states are pursuing reforms to the inconsistent ways rape kits are handled by law enforcement agencies after a USA TODAY NETWORK investigation last year revealed tens of thousands of rape evidence kits went untested nationwide. Legislatures have been flooded with a total of about 50 different bills in recent months — most introduced since the beginning of this year as lawmakers returned to statehouses for 2016 sessions — dealing with various aspects of how rape kits are handled by the criminal justice system. (Reilly, 3/10)

Agencies serving people with developmental disabilities are urging New York state to help them cover the costs of a rising minimum wage. Rallies planned for Friday in Rochester, Long Island, Buffalo and New York City are meant to convince state lawmakers to include funding in the 2016-17 state budget to allow the agencies to increase pay without having to cut people or services. (3/11)

Three metro Detroit doctors allegedly ran a $5.7 million drug ring that peddled prescription pain pills on the street, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. In yet another drug case targeting health care professionals, federal prosecutors announced criminal charges against doctors from Farmington Hills, West Bloomfield and Harrison Township. (Baldas, 3/10)

Saying feminine hygiene products are an essential health care need for women and children, state Rep. Sarah Roberts has introduced legislation that would require tampons and sanitary napkins be available for free in restrooms in Michigan's public schools and state buildings. (Dixon, 3/10)

A Democratic congressman from New Jersey is alleging that Gov. Christie's office mismanaged federal dollars that were earmarked to reduce lead poisoning after Superstorm Sandy. The governor's office called the claim a "shameless" partisan attack. U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone on Thursday wrote letters to the state inquiring about $11 million it got to screen people at risk for lead exposure after thousands of homes were destroyed. He noted that the state has tested 14,000 people, a fraction of the 220,000 projected under the grant, before spending the money elsewhere. (3/10)

State health officials are warning Flint-area residents that warmer weather can bring a greater risk for Legionnaires' disease, a pneumonia that can be fatal. The Department of Health and Human Services is speaking out about Legionnaires' this week — after failing to inform the public about it in 2014-15 when an outbreak killed nine people in Genesee County. (3/10)

One of the nation’s largest contact-lens retail companies filed complaints this week against hundreds of Arizona optometrists for allegedly failing to turn over patients’ prescriptions so they can sell them lenses. Draper, Utah-based 1-800 Contacts filed 3,200 complaints with the state Board of Optometry, asking the board to censure or fine the optometrists or suspend or revoke their licenses. (Christie, 3/10)

This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
Newsletter icon

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Stay informed by signing up for the Morning Briefing and other emails:

Recent Morning Briefings

  • Today, April 28
  • Monday, April 27
  • Friday, April 24
  • Thursday, April 23
  • Wednesday, April 22
  • Tuesday, April 21
More Morning Briefings
RSS Feeds
  • Podcasts
  • Special Reports
  • Morning Briefing
  • About Us
  • Republish Our Content
  • Contact Us

Follow Us

  • RSS

Sign up for emails

Join our email list for regular updates based on your personal preferences.

Sign up
  • Editorial Policy
  • Privacy Policy

© 2026 Â鶹ŮÓÅ