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Gov.-elect Greg Abbott has enlisted two state government veterans to quickly review contracting practices and oversight in Medicaid and social services programs. The incoming GOP chief executive asked former deputy comptroller Billy Hamilton and Agriculture Department financial officer Heather Griffith Peterson to conduct an independent review of “management, operations, and contracting” at the Health and Human Services Commission. (Garrett, 1/14)

Fallout over $110 million in no-bid state contracts widened Wednesday when Republican Gov.-elect Greg Abbott ordered a review into Texas' sprawling health agency that is already under criminal investigation. Leading the newest round of scrutiny is Billy Hamilton, a journeyman in state government who was called to mend the Cancer and Prevention Research Institute of Texas in 2013, when that $3 billion agency also unraveled because of questionable contracts. (Weber, 1/14)

The California Department of Public Health this week released a draft of its strategic plan to cut down on the disparities in mental health care for minorities and other groups. (Gorn, 1/14)

Two Upper Manhattan elected officials released a report Wednesday sharply criticizing New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center in Washington Heights for what it dubbed substandard care for poor patients in the hospital’s emergency room. State Sen. Adriano Espaillat and New York City Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez, who represent the Washington Heights area, released the report, with Mr. Espaillat calling the emergency room’s services “a tale of two hospitals,” referring to different levels of care provided to patients with private insurance and those “for poor people, people who come to the emergency room on a regular basis.” (Janos, 1/14)

The Business Health Care Group, a coalition that includes several of the largest employers in southeastern Wisconsin, will be taking a new approach to controlling health care costs starting next year. The group has reached a multiyear agreement with UnitedHealthcare that will enable coalition members to offer a health plan that gives employees and their family members a financial incentive to get care from physicians the insurance company says provide quality care at a lower cost. (Boulton, 1/14)

Two Colorado legislators plan to introduce their Dying with Dignity bill this week, setting the stage for what likely will be one of the most intense and emotional debates of the session. (Carman, 1/14)

For the last two years, Landrum has been working without an office, but he’s happy to meet his patients wherever they are. Sometimes, the meetings occur in a home; sometimes they take place in a parking lot. Other patients meet the doctor on the side of a quiet country road — or inside his 2007 Toyota Camry. The location doesn’t matter because Landrum, a World War II veteran who has been in private practice for more than 55 years, believes it’s his duty to help anyone who calls on him. ... But his work may soon come to an end. Landrum said he’s being asked by the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure to surrender his medical license, which he’s carried in his pocket with pride since Dwight D. Eisenhower was president. The reason for the request, according to Landrum, is that the board balked several months ago upon learning that he was operating his practice out of a car. (Holley, 1/14)

Neva Holt stood in a kitchen for years whipping up coconut cake and patting out hamburgers — food she sold from her Lyles, Tenn., cafe that generated sales tax revenue for the state — but when she got old and needed nursing home care, Tennessee didn't give anything back. She got kicked out of a nursing home because TennCare, the state's Medicaid agency, wouldn't pay. TennCare determined she didn't qualify for coverage, contending she had owned land that she transferred to her grandchildren — assets that should have been used to cover the cost of a nursing home. The family appealed and ultimately had TennCare's determination overturned this month. It was a hollow victory. Holt died at age 88 — six days before the decision came down. (Wilemon, 1/14)

Almost two-thirds of people with HIV have the illness fully in check, with the virus at extremely low levels in their blood. The measures taken by the state to control the virus — near-universal health coverage and a robust network of social services — could serve as a national model. (Freyer, 1/15)