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The Medicaid call center in Florida is experiencing long wait times and high rates of disconnection that could be preventing qualifying families from renewing or accessing Medicaid coverage, according to a report by UnidosUS, a national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. Around 1 million people, 17% of Floridians enrolled, have lost coverage since April, which is when the state started redetermining Medicaid eligibility for the first time since 2020. (Sesin, 3/7)

A bill that would create a new category of “rural emergency hospitals” in Florida is headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis. The House on Wednesday unanimously passed the bill (SB 644), which was approved by the Senate last week. (3/7)

Dale Adams just thought he had a cold when he felt tired and run-down last November. “Northerners! We try and tough through everything,” he said. But after eight or nine days, the Grand Rapids city council member wasn’t getting any better. His son urged him to seek medical treatment. Doctors diagnosed Adams with Legionnaires’ disease, a serious form of pneumonia. He spent several days in the hospital for treatment. (Marohn, 3/8)

Kentucky state Rep. Mark Hart has been drinking fluoridated water his entire life. In 1954, five years before Hart was born, his home state mandated adding or adjusting levels of the mineral, which occurs naturally in water, in drinking water systems of populations larger than 3,000. ... He’s been trying to reverse the state’s mandate since 2018, with several unsuccessful legislative attempts. ... Fluoridation lessens tooth decay in children and adults by 25%, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Sequeira, 3/7)

Suicide rates in the United States have increased 37 percent since 2000, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. And in Minnesota, it’s increasing faster in rural areas, when compared to urban and suburban numbers. (Wurzer, Levin and Moini, 3/7)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: California May Face More Than $40M In Fines For Lapses In Prison Suicide Prevention

California could face more than $40 million in fines after it failed to improve suicide prevention measures in state prisons despite a federal judge’s warning that she would impose financial penalties for each violation. Chief U.S. District Judge Kimberly Mueller told state officials over a year ago that she would start imposing fines unless they implemented 15 suicide prevention protocols that had been lacking for nearly a decade. But court expert Lindsay Hayes reported March 1 that the state continues to lag on 14 of the 15 safeguards. (Thompson, 3/8)