State Highlights: Dems Back ‘Right To Health Care’ Proposal In Oregon House; California Agency Proposes Tougher Scrutiny Of Dangerous Jails

The Oregonian: Oregon House Democrats Pass Universal Health Care Proposal 
A proposal to ask Oregon voters if access to health care is a fundamental right cleared the first of three major hurdles in the Legislature on Monday, with a majority “yes” vote propelling the referendum proposal out of the House and into the Senate. If House Joint Resolution 202 makes it out of the Senate in early March, then Oregonians voting in the Nov. 3 election will decide if the state owes every resident “access to cost-effective, clinically appropriate and affordable health care.” (Zarkhin, 2/17)

ProPublica/Sacramento Bee: California Takes A First Step Toward Improving Its Failing County Jails
California’s county jails would face greater scrutiny and potentially tougher consequences for poor conditions inside their cells under a series of proposed changes unveiled by a state oversight agency last week. Specifically, the Board of State and Community Corrections plans to publicize details about uncorrected violations in jails and summon elected county sheriffs who delay reforms or rebuff the oversight agency. (Pohl and Gabrielson, 2/18)

Reuters: A Nervous Wait At Louisiana Abortion Clinic At Center Of U.S. Supreme Court Fight
A 27-year-old woman from southern Arkansas waited nervously at the Hope Medical Group for Women after traveling two hours for a medical procedure that is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain in certain parts of the United States: an abortion. Four weeks pregnant, the woman felt she had no option but to seek an abortion because she suffered serious medical complications during her last pregnancy, which ended in stillbirth. “I’m incredibly thankful for this place,” the woman told Reuters. “I don’t want to die.” (2/18)

ProPublica/Chicago Tribune: Illinois Adopts Stricter Rules Against Secluding And Physically Restraining Students In Schools
The Illinois State Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt rules that prohibit the use of locked seclusion rooms and stop schools from using prone restraint, making Illinois’ permanent regulations more restrictive than they’ve ever been. But under pressure from a group of special-education schools, the board stopped short of enacting a ban on involuntary, solitary seclusion in the state’s schools as it had planned after a Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois investigation in November revealed widespread misuse of isolated timeout and restraint in schools. (Richards and Cohen, 2/18)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Panel Backs Georgia Bill Aimed At One Type Of Surprise Medical Billing
A narrowly divided Georgia House committee on Tuesday passed House Bill 888, which aims to reduce surprise medical bills for people with individual insurance plans. HB 888 wouldn’t stop all types of unexpected large medical bills. But it would land a solid blow against cases when a patient goes to a hospital that is in his or her network and is treated by someone within that hospital who is out of network. (Hart, 2/18)

Des Moines Register: Medicaid, Food Stamps: Iowa Bill Puts Work Requirements On Recipients
Republican lawmakers in the Senate are advancing legislation that would require Iowa Medicaid recipients to work in order to receive health care benefits, despite opposition from numerous social services agencies. The bill, similar to efforts last year, also includes changes to food stamp eligibility requirements. The bill passed through a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday and is set for a committee vote Wednesday morning. (Richardson, 2/18)

The Associated Press: LA Adopts New ‘War Room’ Strategy For Tackling Homelessness
Los Angeles city and county officials on Tuesday announced a new strategy to speed the process of getting homeless people into permanent housing that is modeled on the federal government’s response to natural disasters. The creation of a “Housing Central Command” marks an overhaul of how agencies work together in addressing the growing number of people living on the street, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. (2/18)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Health Companies Apply To Open Free-Standing ERs In Georgia
Free-standing emergency rooms may be coming to Georgia patients. Four hospitals — three owned by a private company and one nonprofit hospital — have told the state Department of Community Health that they’d like to set up one or more of the facilities. They would place free-standing emergency rooms in five sites, all in metro areas in Georgia with above-average incomes. (Hart, 2/18)

The CT Mirror: Cases Of Lead-Poisoned Children Drop 17%
A total of 1,665 Connecticut children under age 6 had lead poisoning in 2017, a drop of almost 17% from the year before and the largest one-year decrease in five years, according to a just-released report from the state Department of Public Health (DPH). But more children showed higher levels of the toxin in their blood than in 2016, the report says. In 2016, there were 105 children whose blood lead level was 20 micrograms per deciliter of blood or higher, at least four times the measure at which they’re considered poisoned. In 2017, the number had risen to 120 children. DPH epidemiologist Tsui-Min Hung said the improved overall numbers were at least partially due to the department’s more aggressive prevention activities, which 42 local health departments took advantage of, as well a social media campaign. (Frank, 2/16)

The Hill: Hospital Workers Launch Protests For Higher Wages, Say They Can’t Afford Health Care
Hospital and health care workers are launching union drives and protests across the country to demand higher wages and improved working conditions. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) chapter covering Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Kansas told The Guardian that it is putting together a campaign to organize workers advocating to extend a $15 minimum wage beyond Chicago. (Axelrod, 2/18)

The Associated Press: Florida Woman In Fraud Case Among Those With Trump Clemency
A Florida woman convicted in a $205 million Medicare fraud scheme is among the 11 federal inmates around the nation on whose behalf President Donald Trump has taken clemency actions. Trump commuted 48-year-old Judith Negron’s sentence Tuesday. (2/18)

Tampa Bay Times: Miami Woman Doing 35 Years In Prison For Bilking Medicare Gets Sentence Commuted By Trump
A Hialeah woman convicted in a massive Medicare fraud scheme a decade ago had her 35-year prison sentence commuted Tuesday by President Donald Trump as he announced 11 pardons and commutations in high-profile cases. Judith Negron, now 48 years old, was sent to prison for aiding in a $200 million fraud case in what was then the country’s biggest mental health billing racket. Negron was the only defendant in the case to refuse a plea deal and go to trial. She was convicted by a jury in August 2011 on 24 counts of conspiracy, fraud, paying kickbacks and money laundering in collaboration with the owners of a Miami-based company. (Conarck, 2/18)

Kaiser Health News: Five Years Later, HIV-Hit Town Rebounds. But The Nation Is Slow To Heed Lessons.
Ethan Howard cradled his prized Martin-brand guitar, strumming gently as he sang of happiness he thought he’d never find. With support from his family and community, the 26-year-old is making his way as a musician after emerging from the hell of addiction, disease and stigma. The former intravenous drug user was among the first of 235 people in this southern Indiana community to be diagnosed in the worst drug-fueled HIV outbreak ever to hit rural America. (Ungar, 2/19)

Georgia Health News: 34 Years With A New Heart — And Counting 
Harry Wuest was the third patient to receive a heart transplant at Emory University Hospital in 1985. Today, as researchers are looking into alternatives to donated human hearts, he’s the longest-surviving heart transplant recipient in Georgia, and one of the longest-surviving anywhere. (Ridderbusch, 2/18)

Texas Tribune: Support For Background Checks On All Gun Sales Is High, UT/TT Poll Finds
A large majority of Texans favor mental health and criminal background checks on all gun sales, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.Such checks, “including at gun shows and for private sales,” have the support of 79% of Texas voters; 61% said they “strongly support” background checks. Democrats (91%) were more likely than Republicans (68%) to favor more scrutiny of gun buyers. Voters were split, however, on whether the country would be safer if more people carried guns — and the partisan differences were striking. Overall, 37% said more guns would make the country more safe, 39% said it would be less safe, and 16% said more guns would have no impact on safety. (Ramsey, 2/18)

The Oregonian: Flu Kills Coos Bay High School Student
A 16-year-old Marshfield High School student died Monday from Influenza B complications, the Coos Bay School District said. The student, a boy who played football and baseball, first showed flu symptoms Friday, high school Principal Travis Howard said. The boy’s condition kept deteriorating and by Sunday the family cut short a mini-vacation to the Ashland area and took him to the Bay Area Hospital ER in Coos Bay, Howard said. He died the following morning. …As of Feb. 8, one other child has died in Oregon from the flu or complications associated with the flu this season, according to the Oregon Health Authority. (Zarkhin, 2/18)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Assembly Passes Bills Aimed At Improving Water Quality
Assembly lawmakers on Tuesday passed a $10 million package of legislation aimed at improving water quality across Wisconsin. Lawmakers approved 13 bills that would reduce bacteria, nitrates, poisonous lead and long-lasting chemicals in Wisconsin’s groundwater. Rep. Todd Novak, a Republican from Dodgeville who worked on the legislation, called the proposals a good start. (Beck, 2/18)

North Carolina Health News: Some Senior Services Left In The Dust In State Budget Feud 
Advocates for older people in North Carolina were looking forward to some long-sought victories in funding for aging services. But a budget standoff nixed some of those priorities. (Goldsmith, 2/19)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: New CEO Takes The Lead At St. Alexius Hospital
ST. LOUIS — After months of supplier lawsuits and problems paying bills, St. Alexius Hospital is shaking up its leadership: The head of the emergency department will take the helm, officials said Tuesday. The move comes weeks after St. Alexius and its owner filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Hospital leaders gathered employees Tuesday and announced that emergency room director Sonny Saggar had been appointed chief executive officer. Saggar takes over the role from Dr. Russell Kraeger, who has been serving as interim CEO. Kraeger said he will stay on as chief medical officer, chief of surgery and chief of the intensive care unit. (Merrilees, 2/18)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Gender Identification: Parents Sue Madison Schools Over Gender Policy
Some parents who fear their children might be using a different gender identity at school, with staff support but without notice to them, have sued the Madison Metropolitan School District. The 14 parents, identified only as John and Jane Does, want a judge to order the school district to change its rules and tell parents if and when students express or show signs of gender dysphoria, a range of conditions in those who identify as a gender other than the one assigned at birth. (Vielmetti, 2/18)

North Carolina Health News: Troubled Eastern NC Hospital Has Not Yet Sold 
An eastern North Carolina hospital that’s entangled in bankruptcy proceedings remains in limbo, despite plans to have it sold by the end of January, court documents show. A draft purchase agreement for Washington Regional Medical Center, a 25-bed facility in Plymouth, spells out that Affinity Health Partners, the company that currently manages the hospital, would buy the rural facility for $3.5 million. The agreement, filed with the United States Bankruptcy Court at the Eastern District of North Carolina, also stipulates that the Texas-based firm will invest more than $1 million in the hospital and make plans to replace Washington Regional’s aging facility following the purchase. (Engel-Smith, 2/18)

NPR: Tornado Shelters Often Can’t Accommodate People Who Have Disabilities
John High has diabetes, which led to his leg being amputated below the knee two years ago. He’s been using a wheelchair since then, and hasn’t gotten used to having to work out solutions to everyday problems — such as getting in and out of the shower in the small rental house he shares with his son in Norman, Okla. But when he hears a tornado siren blaring out its high-pitched warning he feels a spasm of fear and dread. In this situation, he’s on his own. “I just pray. That’s all I can do,” High says. “They expect people to ‘shelter in place,’ but I don’t have anywhere safe to go.” (Fortier, 2/18)