State Highlights: Colorado Hospitals Withdraw Reinsurance Lawsuit Making Budget Deal More Likely; Governor’s Panel Recommends Reforms For Alabama’s Troubled Prisons

Colorado Sun: Hospitals Are Backing Off A Budget Fight Over Colorado’s Reinsurance Program. Is A Deal Possible?
The association that represents Colorado hospitals says it is talking with lawmakers about a potential budget deal over the state’s new, multimillion-dollar reinsurance program. The program, which is expected to spend half a billion dollars over two years, is one of Gov. Jared Polis’ biggest achievements from his first year, dramatically lowering health insurance premiums for some people who buy coverage on their own. But its budget and funding sources have hit potholes. (Ingold, 1/30)

The Wall Street Journal: Alabama Panel Recommends Broad Prison Reforms
A panel created by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey to study the state’s violent and overcrowded prison system delivered a range of recommendations Thursday, from boosting corrections department funding to expanding educational programs for inmates. The proposals are aimed at focusing discussion among Ms. Ivey and state lawmakers ahead of the legislative session that begins next Tuesday. Addressing the prison crisis is expected to be a priority for lawmakers, who have said they plan to consider a number of bills in the coming session. (Campo-Flores, 1/30)

Miami Herald: FL Lawmakers Investigate Top Domestic Violence Nonprofit
Sandra Barnett, COO of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence, came before the House Public Integrity & Ethics Committee and said that despite spending a decade as former CEO Tiffany Carr’s second in command, she bears little responsibility for what has gone on inside the nonprofit and that she will comply with a House and ongoing Department of Children and Families investigation. Lawmakers Thursday embarked on an investigation into the coalition, which has come under fire for its former CEO’s high salary and its disregard of a state audit that has been underway for over a year. (Gross, 1/30)

Miami Herald: Broward Nursing Home Death Defendants Say Evidence Destroyed
Two healthcare workers charged with aggravated manslaughter last year in connection with the deaths of 12 people at a stifling hot Hollywood nursing home are asking a judge to dismiss the cases against them, claiming former Gov. Rick Scott destroyed evidence that would have helped their defense. Residents of the nursing home began dying three days after Hurricane Irma made landfall in South Florida on Sept. 10, 2017, with the power knocked out and the facility sweltering in temperatures that reached 99 degrees. (Conarck, 1/30)

Associated Press: Attempt To End Transgender Right In Iowa Law Quashed; Key Committee Chair Says The Bill Is ‘Dead’
The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said Wednesday night that he will not advance a bill proposed by Republican lawmakers to amend the Iowa Civil Rights Act by removing protections against discrimination for transgender people, calling it “dead.” Iowa law currently prohibits discrimination based on gender identity, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, ancestry and disability. Gender identity was added by lawmakers in 2007 when Democrats regained control of the Iowa Legislature and held the governor’s office with the election of Gov. Chet Culver. (Pitt, 1/29)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Hospitals Must Report When They Turn Away Ambulances Under New Bill
All hospitals across the country would have to report when they close their doors to ambulances or may eventually face federal funding cuts, under a bill introduced Thursday in Congress. The bill, authored by U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., would also direct federal health officials to study ambulance diversion and report back to Congress on ideas to reduce the practice. (Diedrich, 1/30)

Associated Press: Family Of Oregon Man Who Died Of Flu In Prison Sues For $15 Million
A $15 million lawsuit filed by the family of a man who died at the Oregon State Penitentiary accuses prison staff of failing to treat the 54-year-old inmate for flu and then covering up his flu-related death. The Statesman Journal reports that Michael Barton, of Medford, Oregon, was already experiencing mental illness and dementia when he came down with the flu in January 2018. (The Associated Press, 1/30)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Advocates Rally To Get Philadelphia School District To Publicize Mental Health Resources For Students
Mental health advocates rallied outside a meeting of the Philadelphia Board of Education on Thursday, protesting what they see as a broken promise to help students find mental health resources. The nonprofit organizations involved — Youth United for Change and the National Women’s Law Center — expressed frustration with the lack of action from the School District, which they said verbally committed to a multiplatform rollout of a list of existing mental health resources for students on the first day of school during a meeting in June. The conversation followed months of meetings with district officials, school board members, and city councilmembers. (Ao, 1/30)

Health News Florida: Health Spending Plans Favor Nursing Homes, Drug Importation
House and Senate budget writers have rolled out health-care spending plans for the coming year that would set aside money in key areas such as nursing homes and drug importation but still have wide differences. It’s early in the annual legislative session, with plenty of time to work out deals, but the initial budget proposals included a spending gap between the House and Senate. (Sexton, 1/30)

Detroit Free Press: A Tiny Mosquito Bite Took Away Michigan Teen Savanah DeHart’s Ability To Talk, Walk
The virus, also known as EEE or Triple E, causes severe swelling and inflammation in the brain. It robbed Savanah DeHart of the ability to walk and talk, stealing her distinctive laugh, the carefree, loving personality her family so loved and — possibly — even keeping her from recognizing her own father. There is no vaccine for EEE, no treatment and there’s no cure. Doctors can only offer supportive therapy to help patients breathe, get fluids and nutrition and prevent other infections. (Jordan Shamus, 1/29)

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Hospital Network Seeking $400,000 In Restitution From Former Baltimore Mayor Pugh, Chairman Testifies
The University of Maryland Medical System is seeking to recover hundreds of thousands of dollars paid to disgraced former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh for her “Healthy Holly” books, top officials of the hospital network testified Thursday in Annapolis.“ We have recovered $100,000 of the $500,000,” James C. “Chip” DiPaula Jr., the new chairman of the system’s board, told the House of Delegates’ Health and Government Operations Committee. “We are working with the U.S. prosecutors to recover the balance.” (Broadwater, 1/30)

Seattle Times: Planning Group Recommends $1.7 Billion In Upgrades For King County-Owned Harborview Medical Center
A Harborview Medical Center planning group has recommended $1.74 billion in upgrades for the Seattle hospital, laying the groundwork for a King County bond measure later this year. In a vote Wednesday night, the planning group’s members unanimously backed the plan. Harborview is owned by the county and managed by the University of Washington. (Beekman, 1/30)

Charlotte Observer: Mecklenburg Outlines Violence Prevention Plan At Retreat
Charlotte’s record homicide rate in 2019 constitutes a public-health crisis, Mecklenburg County Public Health Director Gibbie Harris told commissioners at their annual retreat Wednesday. But the public health community violence prevention plan that Harris presented — which she acknowledged was drafted within a “very short time frame” — drew scrutiny from commissioners, who questioned if the proposals were urgent or effective enough. (Kuznitz, 1/29)

Boston Globe: Fund To Create Long-Term Housing For Homeless In Boston Reaches $10 Million Goal
Boston’s Way Home Fund, which funds long-term housing for the city’s homeless, has reached its $10 million fund-raising goal two years early, Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced in a statement Wednesday. Walsh unveiled the fund in January 2018 with the goal of raising $10 million by 2022, the statement said. The money will be used to create “hundreds of new units of supportive, sustainable, long-term housing for chronically homeless men and women.” (Berg, 1/30)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Legalize Weed? Missouri Marijuana Backers Will Try To Get Question On 2020 Ballot
Proponents of recreational marijuana legalization in Missouri have launched a campaign to place a question on the state’s November ballot. Backers will have to move fast. To make the November ballot, the campaign Missourians for a New Approach will have to turn in more than 160,000 signatures by May. (Suntrup, 1/30)