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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.
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By Becky Bohrer, The Associated Press, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Women would be required to undergo an ultrasound before receiving an abortion under legislation proposed in the Alaska Senate on Wednesday.
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AR: Home, state care backers push for cash
By Evie Blad, Northwest Arkansas Times
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.
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CO: Court made right call on medical pot for criminals
By Staff, The Denver Post
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.
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CO: Colorado crime bill stirs abortion debate
By Lynn Bartles, The Denver Post
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.
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CT: Malloy to add funds to private human service providers, nursing home "right-sizing"
By Arielle Levin Becker, The Connecticut Mirror
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.
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KY: Head of Kentucky family services agency quits
By Deborah Yetter, The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
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.
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MD: State workers to get new pharmacy plan
By Michael Dresser, The Sun (Baltimore)
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.
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MD: Appeals court -- State cannot re-indict defendants unfit for trial
By Arthur Hirsch, The Sun (Baltimore)
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.
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MD: O'Brien says Archdiocese of Baltimore won't offer birth control coverage
By Andrea K. Walker, The Sun (Baltimore)
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.
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ME: DHHS budget now a political showdown between governor, Legislature
By Eric Russell, Bangor Daily News
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.
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MN: Minnesota plans for exchange, even without new law
By Elizabeth Stawicki, Minnesota Public Radio, Kaiser Health News
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?
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MO: Mo. AG candidate objects to birth control order
By The Associated Press, Jefferson City News Tribune
Republican attorney general candidate Ed Martin wants Missouri to object to a federal decision requiring church-affiliated employers to cover birth control.
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MS: No fight over hospital tax
By Staff, Hattiesburg American
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.
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MT: State shuts down health insurance scam
By The Associated Press, The Bozeman Daily Chronicle
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.
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NC: Medical lab company adding 500 jobs near NC HQ
By The Associated Press, The Winston-Salem Journal
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.
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NY: Medicaid shift creates state jobs
By Jimmy Vielkind, Times Union (Albany)
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.
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NY: Change urged at care agency
By Rick Karlin, Times Union (Albany)
A federal study has criticized reporting procedures at the state Commission on Quality of Care and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities.
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SC: SC senators to question chosen DHEC director
By The Associated Press, Spartanburg Herald-Journal
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.
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SD: SD House panel approves abortion-law modifications
By The Associated Press, Rapid City Journal
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.
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SD: Breastfeeding list skips S.D.
By Jon Walker, Argus Leader (Sioux Falls)
South Dakota hospitals are shut out of a national list saluting health centers that are friendly to mothers who nurse their newborn babies.
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TN: Birth-control rule riles TN religious leaders, GOP
By Elizabeth Bewley, The Tennessean (Nashville)
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.
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TN: Residents can call and apply for TennCare spend down program
By Tom Wilemon, The Tennessean (Nashville)
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.
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TX: Key players drive Texas medical board's stem cell rules
By Emily Ramshaw, The Texas Tribune
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.
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TX: Catholic Texans fight contraception mandate
By Holly Heinrich, The Texas Tribune
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.
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UT: Legislators working for autism coverage without mandates
By Ladd Brubaker, Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City)
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.
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VA: Panel halts bill on health exchange
By Michael Martz, Richmond Times-Dispatch
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.
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VA: Virginia GOP shows its hypocritical side on abortion
By Staff, The Washington Post
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.
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WV: Health inspections need to say something
By Staff, Charleston Daily Mail
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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