Literature Review

Wide-ranging health care bill gets final approval from CT House CT Mirror - Connecticut's Nonprofit Journalism; by Jenna Carlesso; 5/6/24The House gave final passage Monday to a wide-ranging health care bill that would add protections for home care workers, boost preparedness for cyberattacks at medical facilities and establish new regulations for the state’s health information exchange, among other reforms. ... The sections on additional protections for home care workers were prompted by the murder of visiting nurse Joyce Grayson, who was killed in October while working at a halfway house in Willimantic. ... The bill requires home health aide agencies to collect certain client information upon intake and make it available to any employee assigned to the client. Information includes a history of violence against health care workers, domestic abuse, substance use, psychiatric history, any listing on a sex offender registry, the crime rate of the municipality the person lives in, and whether there are any weapons or safety hazards in the home. [Click on the title's link for more important information about this bill's safety measures.]

Is pot legal now? Despite big marijuana news, it's still in legal limbo. USA Today; by Joel Shannon and Jeanine Santucci; 5/1/24 Tuesday brought big marijuana news: The Biden Administration is expected to soon reclassify marijuana for the first time in decades, putting it in a less restrictive drug category that would allow it to be studied and prescribed more easily. But that news comes in a nation where many states have already crafted their own marijuana policy: Some states allow for it to be prescribed already; others allow people to use it recreationally. Few states ban it outright. ... Here's what to know.

Congresswoman Kat Cammack introduces legislation to block 80-20 Rule Home Health Care News; by Joyce Famakinwa; 4/26/24 ... On Thursday, Congresswoman Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) introduced a bill to block the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from finalizing the 80-20 provision. Additionally, the legislation would also block HHS from implementing any similar rules that place a minimum requirement for how much of Medicaid spending on HCBS goes towards direct workers’ wages. Cammack’s reason for introducing this legislation is her belief that the 80-20 provision will severely limit access to care at a time when providers are already struggling to serve patients.

Remedy or gateway drug? Doctors, police differ on path forward for medical marijuana The State; by Anna Wilder; 4/25/24 Medical marijuana blurs lines across law enforcement and the medical community, where advocates and opponents don’t agree whether it is a gateway drug or necessary medical device. With days left in the 2024 session, [South Carolina] House members are hearing from doctors, law enforcement, researchers, pharmacists and others on the highly contested issue. Out of 17 speakers at a Ad Hoc committee meeting Tuesday, eight opposed the bill, nine supported it and one was relatively indifferent. 

Across the nation, the fight’s on to protect physician-led careAmerican Medical Association - AMA; by Kevin B. O'Reilly; 4/25/24After helping state medical associations and national specialty societies defeat more than 100 bills to inappropriately expand nonphysicians’ scope of practice in 2023, the AMA is again relentlessly joining its allies in organized medicine to continue the fight for physician-led, team-based care in this year’s legislative session. This intensive and effective advocacy effort has ranged across the country, as the AMA has helped battle scope creep in Alaska, Connecticut, Georgia, Oklahoma, New Hampshire and elsewhere.

Lawmakers mull bills to ensure hospice, home health worker safety Hospice News, by Holly Vossel; 4/19/24 Lawmakers in Connecticut and Vermont have recently introduced legislation aimed at protecting hospice and home health workers. Some stakeholders worry that the laws may impact care continuity among vulnerable homebound terminally ill populations lacking end-of-life support.

'Speak Up & Speak Out,' LeadingAge members head to the Hill on Lobby Day 2024 HomeCare; 4/18/24 Senator Mike Braun (R-IN) joined Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge, and hundreds of the association’s nonprofit and mission-driven members for the kick-off of annual Lobby Day activities. More than 225 LeadingAge members, who serve older adults and families nationwide in a range of care settings and community types, ... headed to Capitol Hill on Wednesday, April 17 ...  [Leading Age members] visited their elected officials in the House and Senate to discuss critical aging services issues to ensure older adults and families can access the care and services they need to age with dignity, including [but not limited to]: 

Mississippi Capitol sees second day of hundreds rallying for ‘full Medicaid expansion now’Mississippi Today - Legislature; by Bobby Harrison and Geoff Pender; 4/17/24Hundreds of people rallied at the Mississippi Capitol for a second day Wednesday, urging lawmakers to expand Medicaid to provide health coverage for an estimated 200,000 Mississippians. ... Speakers recounted their struggles with access to affordable health care in Mississippi and chanted for the Legislature to, “Close the coverage gap now,” and for “Full Medicaid expansion now.” ... [Dr. Randy] Easterling recounted a story of two of his friends diagnosed with similar cancers. One was uninsured and self-employed, and did not get early diagnosis or treatment. He’s now in hospice and on death’s door. The other friend, with insurance, received an early diagnosis and treatment and is now cancer free.

[Virginia] Marijuana advocates celebrate passing of medicinal use billABC TV 13 News - Lynchburg, VA; by Brittany Slaughter; 4/15/24Virginia NORML is celebrating a win following Governor Youngkin's signing of a bill that expands medical marijuana use protections to public employees, not just private. JM Pedini, Development Director for NORML said a large benefactor from the bill's passage is firefighters who have faced repercussions for legally using weed medically. ... Pedini who also serves as the Executive Director of the State Chapter of Virginia NORML said the original law inadvertently left out public employees when passed in 2021.Editor's Note: Virginia NORML is the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

Terminally ill ask more states for physician-assisted death Napa Valley Reigster, Asociated Press; 4/16/24 ... At least 12 states currently have bills that would legalize physician-assisted death. Eight states and Washington, D.C., already allow it, but only for their own residents. Vermont and Oregon permit any qualifying American to travel to their state for the practice. ... Two states have gone in the opposite direction. Kansas has a bill to further criminalize those who help someone with their physician-assisted death. West Virginia is asking voters to enshrine its current ban into the state constitution. ... The issue is contentious. Opponents have moral objections with the very concept of someone ending their life. Even with safeguards in place, they argue, the decision could be made for the wrong reasons, including depression or pressure from family burdened by their caretaking. ... 

The Maine Death with Dignity Act Annual Report - Data from calendar year 2023 Produced by Data, Research, and Vital Statistics Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Department of Health and Human Services; 4/12/24 In accordance with 22 MRS § 2140(17), the Department of Health and Human Services (Department) [has generated and made available] to the public an annual statistical report of information collected under the Maine Death with Dignity Act. ... This report is for patients who completed a written request for medication to hasten their death in calendar year 2023. Patients who completed the oral request but not a written request within the calendar year will be included in the subsequent year’s report.

Privacy bill could have sweeping impact on insurers, providers Modern Healthcare, by Michael McAuliff; 4/10/24A far-reaching new privacy bill could have major implications for how healthcare providers, insurance companies and third parties handle and utilize sensitive data. While the bipartisan American Privacy Rights Act of 2024 is not specific to the healthcare industry, a number of its proposed policies would impact how healthcare companies do business. The legislation includes an array of provisions that range from raising cybersecurity standards to allowing people to opt out of algorithms that could be used to make medical decisions.

New safeguards added to New York's proposed Medical Aid in Dying ActSpectrum News 1, by Luke Parsnow; 4/5/24The two architects behind New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act have amended added additional safeguards to the legislation in the hope it can soon become law. The act would allow terminally ill, mentally capable adults who have been given six months or less to live to take their own lives with a cocktail of pharmaceutical drugs.