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Maine Governor LePage backs nation's toughest Medicaid cuts

By Christine Vestal, Stateline Staff Writer

AUGUSTA, Maine — The Medicaid program in Maine is short of money, and conservative Governor Paul LePage has a blunt proposal for solving the problem — drop people from the rolls.

AK: Alaska Senate bill would require ultrasound before abortion



Women would be required to undergo an ultrasound before receiving an abortion under legislation proposed in the Alaska Senate on Wednesday.
AR: Home, state care backers push for cash  Subscription Required


Arkansans seeking waivers to place their developmentally disabled family members in home- and community-based programs told lawmakers Tuesday that placing less emphasis on institutional care would free up funding and lessen the years-long stints many spend on waiting lists.
AZ: Bill would bar Arizona salons from letting teens in tanning beds


s a mother of five, Rep. Peggy Judd said she understands why that bronze glow offered by tanning beds is so appealing to teens heading to proms or dance recitals.
CO: Court made right call on medical pot for criminals


Can a criminal on probation be barred from smoking pot — even if he has a state certificate granting him the right to medical marijuana? The state Court of Appeals says the answer is yes, and we think it made the right call.
CO: Colorado crime bill stirs abortion debate


Two of the legislature's most conservative lawmakers are sponsoring a bill that critics say would criminalize abortion and establish "personhood" status for a fetus.
CO: Colorado Court of Appeals nixes medical-pot use for those on probation


Probationers in Colorado may not use medical marijuana, even if they have a medical-marijuana identification card authorizing them to do so, the Colorado Court of Appeals has ruled.
CT: Malloy to add funds to private human service providers, nursing home "right-sizing"


The health and human services portions of Malloy's proposed budget adjustments include money to support an effort to move people out of nursing homes, fund nursing homes that consider providing long-term care to people leaving prisons and state institutions, add three childhood vaccines to the state's program and offer the first funding boost in five years to private human services providers.
FL: Drug use among Florida youngsters drops, survey says


Child welfare officials say the number of Florida middle and high school students experimenting with marijuana, alcohol and prescription drugs has dropped.
IA: Michelle Obama will laud Iowa's healthiest-state initiative


irst lady Michelle Obama chose to start her anti-obesity tour in Des Moines Thursday because of Iowa's effort to become the healthiest state, a White House official said today.
IL: Quinn wants $2 billion in state Medicaid cuts


Gov. Pat Quinn said he plans to cut the state's Medicaid spending by $2 billion as a painful but necessary way to attack the state's budget crisis.
IL: Sen. Kirk's skull reattached after swelling subsides


Doctors say Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk has reached an important milestone in his recovery from a major stroke.
IL: Lawmakers still skeptical of Quinn facilities-closure plan


Many Illinois lawmakers say they are still not convinced that Gov. Pat Quinn'sproposal to close centers for people with mental health and developmental disabilities is a good plan.
IL: Kirk reaches milestone in stroke recovery


Doctors say Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk has reached an important milestone in his recovery from a major stroke.
KS: Opponents criticize latest abortion bill in Kansas Legislature


Last year, five bills limiting abortion services and affordable contraception were passed by the Kansas Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Sam Brownback.
KS: Bill would require information on emergency contraception as part of sexual assault examination process


Medical facilities that provide care to rape victims would be required to give information about the availability of emergency contraception under a bill considered Tuesday by legislators.
KY: Head of Kentucky family services agency quits


Janie Miller, secretary of the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services, resigned Tuesday after a controversial tenure directing the agency that oversees the state's Medicaid, child welfare, social services, public health, programs for the elderly and other human services.
MD: State workers to get new pharmacy plan


More than 200,000 Maryland state employees, retirees and dependents will switch to a new pharmacy plan as a result of the Board of Public Works' decision Wednesday to award the $2.4 billion contract to a St. Louis-based company.
MD: Appeals court -- State cannot re-indict defendants unfit for trial


A Maryland appeals court has ruled that the state violated the rights of two men who were found incompetent to stand trial and were then held in state institutions beyond the legal time limit without going through proceedings for commitment to a mental hospital.
MD: O'Brien says Archdiocese of Baltimore won't offer birth control coverage


Cardinal-designate Edwin F. O'Brien said in a strongly worded letter that the Archdiocese of Baltimore will not comply with federal law requiring churches to offer birth control coverage even it means dropping health insurance for its 3,500 employees. "We cannot – we will not – comply with this unjust law," O'Brien wrote in the letter, which was read during last Sunday's Mass at the area's 153 Roman Catholic parishes.
ME: Health providers gird for DHHS cuts under compromise deal


Lawmakers may have reached a bipartisan deal to close a budget gap at the Department of Health and Human Services, but health care providers are still bracing for deep cuts.
ME: Maine wins $600,000 to connect behavioral health groups to digital record exchange


Maine is one of five states each receiving a $600,000 grant to support sharing of electronic health records among behavioral and medical health providers.
ME: DHHS budget now a political showdown between governor, Legislature


After working for weeks to fashion a compromise proposal that would address a shortfall in the Department of Health and Human Service budget, a deal remains elusive as a divide appears to be growing among lawmakers, especially House Republicans.
MN: Minnesota plans for exchange, even without new law


ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota lawmakers are grappling with a new question: How close can they get to setting up a health insurance exchange without passing a new state law?
MO: Mo. AG candidate objects to birth control order


Republican attorney general candidate Ed Martin wants Missouri to object to a federal decision requiring church-affiliated employers to cover birth control.
MO: Mo. state sen. opposes federal birth control rule


A Missouri state senator says religious groups should not have to pay for birth control or abortions for their employees if that would violate their beliefs.
MS: No fight over hospital tax


Looks like Gov. Phil Bryant will be spared the all-out war that greeted former Gov. Haley Barbour when it came to imposing a state hospital tax to help fund Medicaid.
MT: State shuts down health insurance scam


The state has shut down a health insurance scam and reached an agreement for insurers to pay $170,000 in medical bills for Montana victims.
NC: Medical lab company adding 500 jobs near NC HQ


A laboratory company that carries out and analyzes medical tests for doctors and hospitals will add 500 jobs at its North Carolina headquarters in the next five years.
NE: Family planning bill advances with Planned Parenthood amendment


The Legislature advanced a bill Tuesday that would increase the numbers of women eligible through Medicaid for family planning services.
NY: Medicaid shift creates state jobs


The state Department of Health plans to hire up to 1,200 workers — many to be located in the Capital Region — over the next six years as it takes over the Medicaid program from counties, an official testified at a budget hearing Wednesday.
NY: Change urged at care agency


A federal study has criticized reporting procedures at the state Commission on Quality of Care and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities.
OH: Ohio's prisoner medical costs top $222 million


The cost to Ohio for prisoner medical care last year topped $222 million, leading state prison officials to seek ways to bring it down.
OR: Governor Kitzhaber's health reform bill moves forward -- with amendments -- in Oregon's high-speed 2012 Legislature


A key subcommittee of the 2012 Legislature voted out the next stage of Oregon's health care reforms on Tuesday night after a lengthy off-and-on hearing.
RI: Chafee files court brief supporting Providence's attempt to move retirees into Medicare


Governor Chafee is filing a legal brief with the state Supreme Court in support of Providence's efforts to overturn a lower court's ruling preventing the city from moving its retirees into Medicare.
SC: SC senators to question chosen DHEC director


The person chosen to lead South Carolina's public health and environmental control agency faces a grilling from senators concerned about her lack of experience in either field.
SC: Columbia must address health-care costs


Columbia City Council has little alternative but to make changes to control costs in its health-care program for employees and retirees.
SD: SD House panel approves abortion-law modifications


With South Dakota's year-old abortion law facing legal challenges, a House committee endorsed a bill Wednesday that would change some of the counseling requirements for women seeking abortions.
SD: Breastfeeding list skips S.D.


South Dakota hospitals are shut out of a national list saluting health centers that are friendly to mothers who nurse their newborn babies.
SD: SD lawmakers look at drug tests in welfare program


A South Dakota House committee is looking at a pair of bills that would test welfare recipients for illegal drug use.
TN: Birth-control rule riles TN religious leaders, GOP


Angry Republican lawmakers and religious leaders in Tennessee say they'll fight a controversial federal requirement that church-affiliated employers offer benefits covering birth control.
TN: Residents can call and apply for TennCare spend down program


Phone lines will open 6 p.m. Feb. 21 for state residents to call and request applications to enroll in the TennCare Standard Spend Down program. This is a program for people who do not currently receive TennCare.
TN: Local Catholic leaders oppose birth control insurance requirement


Leaders of local Catholic organizations and churches are urging the Obama administration to reconsider a ruling that requires religiously affiliated institutions to provide health plans that cover all forms of contraception.
TX: Key players drive Texas medical board's stem cell rules


When the Texas Medical Board called a stakeholder meeting in July to discuss the state's burgeoning adult stem cell industry, it was at the behest of Gov. Rick Perry, the soon-to-be presidential hopeful who had just received an injection of his own stem cells, and of Stanley Jones, the orthopedist and biotech entrepreneur who performed Perry's experimental procedure.
TX: Get past politics and fight breast cancer


Battling breast cancer in Central Texas and across the country requires an all-out effort.
TX: Catholic Texans fight contraception mandate


Catholic churches and affiliated organizations in Texas say they won't stand for a new federal law that would require many employers to provide contraception coverage in their health insurance plans.
TX: Abortion sonograms draw strong reactions from Texas women


Some women covered their ears as the sounds of fetal heartbeats echoed into their exam rooms at a Houston abortion clinic.
UT: Utah lawmaker wants to ban talk of contraception in schools


Taking on a topic with a long history of controversy in Utah, a lawmaker plans to present a bill Thursday that would prohibit schools from teaching teens about contraception.
UT: Utah may lengthen abortion waiting period


Women seeking abortions in Utah would face a waiting period of 72 hours instead of the current 24 under a bill before the Legislature.
UT: Legislators working for autism coverage without mandates


Legislative leaders say they're trying to work out a compromise between a bill to mandate health insurance coverage for autism, and another bill that seeks to discourage any insurance mandates in Utah.
UT: Should Utah cancer doctors dispense drugs? Senate panel clears bill that would allow it


Already undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment for breast cancer, Debra Berry received a prescription for a drug to ease her nausea and vomiting.
VA: Panel halts bill on health exchange


Virginia has put the brakes on legislative action to carry out federal health care reform. Faced with opposition from Gov. Bob McDonnell and House Speaker William J. Howell, a state Senate subcommittee has bowed to the reality that no legislation will be approved in this General Assembly session to create a state exchange for health insurance benefits.
VA: Legislators consider special session later this year


State legislators said Wednesday that they may return to Richmond for a special session later this year to deal with tax credits bills or the health benefits exchange — or both.
VA: Virginia GOP shows its hypocritical side on abortion


Virginia Republicans, always quick to condemn overreaching government intrusions into people's lives, are themselves becoming the High Priests of the Nanny State. In driving a singularly obnoxious abortion measure through the state legislature — one that substitutes their own medical expertise for that of doctors — they are setting new standards for official arrogance and meddling.
VA: McDonnell signs bill that provides insurance coverage for autistic children


Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) has signed a bill — again — to provide insurance coverage for families with autistic children, according to his office.
VA: Senate committee expected to vote on setting up health exchange


A Virginia Senate subcommittee is poised today to begin making decisions about health-care reform that the House of Delegates decided not to tackle.
VA: Bill to limit shackling of pregnant inmates draws support


Some pregnant women who are inmates in Virginia's jails have been forced to go through labor and even delivery in handcuffs and shackles.
WA: Bill would create statewide program to collect unused prescription medicines


Hoping to stem what they say is a rising tide of prescription drug abuse and accidental poisonings, Washington legislators want to require drug makers to set up and pay for a statewide program to collect unused prescription drugs and other medicine.
WV: Health inspections need to say something


Charleston and Kanawha County have many fine restaurants, some of which are unique to the area. They are an important part of the quality of life in this community.
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