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Gov. Terry Branstad's effort to privatize Iowa's Medicaid program continues to move forward, though critics are raising questions about the projected cost savings, how contracts have been awarded and just how the change would impact patients. On Tuesday a special legislative oversight committee will hold the first of two scheduled hearings to review the privatization plans. Branstad said the move to private management will mean more streamlined service at a lower cost, but many involved in the Medicaid system — including patients and health care providers — are less sure. (Lucey, 11/1)

A new bill would allow physician assistants and nurses with advanced training to write prescriptions. Representative Cary Pigman is again pushing to open prescribing rights to midlevel practitioners. The move has failed in recent years due to pushback from doctors. But the Avon Park Republican says the move could help provide more care in rural and underserved areas. (Payne, 11/1)

Startup companies with ideas for improving health care in Arkansas will get a chance to pitch their products to investors under a program announced Friday that organizers compared to the popular television reality show "Shark Tank." Baptist Health, which operates eight hospitals in Arkansas, and the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub announced it was launching HubX-LifeSciences, touted as the first such privately funded and industry-specific program in the state. (DeMillo, 10/30)

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc said on Sunday it had closed all its restaurants in two West Coast markets due to a reported outbreak of E. coli bacteria that is being investigated by the company and health authorities. "After being notified by health department officials in the Seattle (Wash.) and Portland, Ore. areas that they were investigating approximately 20 cases of E. coli, including people who ate at six of our restaurants in those areas, we immediately closed all of our restaurants in the area out of an abundance of caution," Chipotle said in an emailed statement. (Pierson and Baertlein, 11/1)

When Raychelle Black moved to Atlantic City in October 2013, she was at a low point – both of her parents had died in the previous year, and she had lost her family home in New York City. Then Sandy struck, and she lost nearly all of her remaining possessions when her new home was flooded. But it wasn’t until several months later, through a visit to her primary-care provider – a Southern Jersey Family Medical Centers’ clinic – that she learned she had depression. (Kitchenman, 10/30)

In July 2014, Ellen Engelson's leg broke spontaneously, weakened from radiation treatments years before. She lives in Key West, so she went to the emergency room at the only hospital within 50 miles. But because her leg needed specialized care, she had to get to a hospital on the mainland. (Klingener, 10/30)

A police program in northern Massachusetts that helps fast-track heroin addicts into treatment is catching on in other states and showing signs of reducing crimes associated with addiction. Gloucester police say dozens of departments in nine states have taken a page from their ANGEL program, which gives addicts a chance to make treatment rather than arrest the first response they get from police. (Marcelo, 11/1)

Dr. Robert Gore was stirred awake one morning in July by an urgent phone call from work. That was not unusual, given his job in the emergency department at Kings County Hospital Center in Brooklyn, a level-one trauma center that provides the highest level of care. Still, his years of skillful, coolheaded practice, of stopping bleeding and saving lives, had not prepared him for what he heard. (Gonzalez, 11/1)

As a member of the International Cannabinoid Research Society, a collector of antique marijuana apothecary jars, the founder of an industrial hemp business and “a pot smoker consistently for 47 years,” Don Wirtshafter, an Ohio lawyer, has fought for decades to make marijuana legal, calling it “my life’s work.” But when Ohio voters go to the polls Tuesday to consider a constitutional amendment to allow marijuana for both medical and personal use, Mr. Wirtshafter will vote against it. (Smith and Stolberg, 11/1)