Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
From The State Capitols: California's Governor Signals Opposition To Vaccine Bill; Connecticut Poised To Raise Legal Age For Buying Tobacco Products To 21
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Saturday he’s concerned about having government officials sign off on vaccine exemptions, arguing those decisions should be made between patients and doctors without government involvement. (Wiley and Bollag, 6/1)
Connecticut is poised to raise the legal age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21 with an overwhelming vote Friday in the state Senate endorsing the bill. The measure won passage in the House earlier this month and now heads to Gov. Ned Lamont, who has pledged to sign it. The law would take effect in October. (Carlesso and Moore, 5/31)
Legislators will open the session’s final week Monday expected to pass a new state budget that keeps income tax rates flat, expands the sales tax and raises levies on prepared foods, e-cigarettes, plastic bags, alcoholic beverages and the sale of expensive houses. The tentative agreement between Gov. Ned Lamont and leaders of the Democratic majority boosts funding for education grants and nursing homes, expands Medicaid eligibility for working poor adults with children and settles a longstanding funding dispute with Connecticut’s hospitals. (Phaneuf, 6/2)
Oliverson said his bill, House Bill 2041, requires a freestanding emergency rooms to give patients a printed-out disclosure in English and Spanish that lists the in-network health plans and the average price a patient may be charged for a procedure, including facility fees. Patients can choose whether to sign it. Under the bill, freestanding emergency rooms will also be barred from advertising that it "takes" or "accepts" certain insurers or health plans if the facility is not an in-network provider. (Byrne, 6/3)
Nearly 15 years after Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment about access to records in medical-malpractice cases, a Jacksonville hospital has launched a federal lawsuit arguing it should be shielded from being required to turn over documents to a patient. The lawsuit, filed this month in federal court in Jacksonville, is the latest in a series of legal disputes about whether hospitals need to disclose records about patient care as part of malpractice litigation under the 2004 constitutional amendment. (Saunders, 5/31)
About 250,000 people with CalPERS health insurance are at risk of receiving “surprise” medical bills that many other policyholders are shielded from. Their PPO plans leave them subject to an insurance company practice known as balance billing, which is the subject of a state proposal meant to protect consumers that passed the Assembly this week. (Venteicher, 5/31)
