Wednesday, July 12, 2023 | KFF Health News

AP:
North Carolina Medicaid Managed Care For People With Mental Illness And Disabilities Delayed Again 

North Carolina’s planned managed care program for Medicaid enrollees who also need services for behavioral health or intellectual or developmental disabilities is being delayed again by state officials. The start date for these “tailored plans” that will cover roughly 160,000 people had been last Dec. 1. The state Department of Health and Human Services then pushed back its implementation to April 1, then to this coming Oct. 1. (7/11)

AP:
Mississippi Removes Thousands Of People From Medicaid As It Examines Post-Pandemic Eligibility

Mississippi has removed more than 29,000 people from Medicaid as the program starts reviewing who is eligible to keep coverage now that the federal government has ended a pandemic public health emergency. That is just over 3% of people who were enrolled in the state’s program in June. The Mississippi Division of Medicaid said in a statement Monday that it expects enrollment to further decrease in the coming months as officials continue reviewing eligibility. (Pettus, 7/11)

The CT Mirror:
Medicaid Is ‘Unwinding’ In CT, But Most Residents Still Have Coverage

Three months after the end of a pandemic policy that prevented states from kicking people off Medicaid, most Connecticut enrollees still qualify for coverage. During the public health emergency, the federal government allowed people to stay on Medicaid, even if their income rose above the eligibility limits. On March 31, that measure came to an end, and the 12-month process of “unwinding” began. During unwinding, the state is reassessing eligibility for broad swaths of Medicaid enrollees for the first time in three years. Nearly 75% of the roughly 274,000 residents who went through unwinding in April, May and June kept their Medicaid coverage, according to data submitted by the Department of Social Services to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Golvala, 7/12)

News Service of Florida:
A Legal Fight Related To Medicaid Providers And Wages Is Dropped

Industry groups and the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration have agreed to end a legal fight about part of last year’s state budget that could have opened Medicaid providers to litigation if they didn’t pay a $15 minimum wage to “direct care” workers. Attorneys for the Florida Ambulance Association, Florida Assisted Living Association, two other plaintiffs and AHCA last week filed a joint motion in Leon County circuit court to dismiss the case. The motion said a new state budget that took effect July 1 did not include the disputed issue. (7/11)

On marijuana use in North Carolina and Montana —

AP:
North Carolina Medical Marijuana Bill Likely Dead For This Year, House Speaker Says

Legislation that would legalize marijuana use for medicinal purposes in North Carolina is probably dead for the rest of this year’s General Assembly session, House Speaker Tim Moore said Tuesday, citing opposition by many fellow Republicans in his chamber. A bill that would lay out the structure for patients with serious and life-ending illnesses to lawfully obtain cannabis and smoke or consume it passed the Senate by a wide margin over four months ago. But it has idled in the House ever since, save for a committee hearing on the measure in early June. (7/11)

Billings Gazette:
Montana To Crack Down On Synthetic Marijuana

Montana will soon crack down on synthetic marijuana and intoxicating hemp products that have proliferated through regulatory loopholes despite concerns they pose a health risk to children. The Cannabis Control Division, the marijuana regulatory arm of the Montana Department of Revenue, said Tuesday eradicating synthetic products will be the “biggest lift” for the agency between now and the 2025 Legislature. (Larson, 7/11)

In other health news from across the U.S. —

WLRN:
Lawmakers Rejected Proposal To Create Free Skin Cancer Screenings In Florida

With the number of melanoma deaths expected to rise in 2023, state lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill to make test screenings free. But the bill, which would’ve required insurers to fully cover annual screenings, died in the Florida Senate. Having passed in the House of Representatives, it was referred to a committee, where it failed. (Herrera, 7/11)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Group That Monitors St. Louis-Area Nursing Homes Pushes Back On Budget Veto

A funding increase for a group that monitors St. Louis-area nursing homes was among the items recently vetoed from the state’s annual budget. VOYCE, the Marlborough-based nonprofit that serves as the long-term care ombudsman program locally, said Friday the additional funding would have allowed it to send more staff and volunteers into the hundreds of facilities to speak with residents, educate staff and try to catch problems before they become serious. The line-item veto was part of more than $550 million in cuts Missouri Gov. Mike Parson made to the state’s $50 billion spending plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1. His move brought the $2.3 million allocation down to $150,000. (Merrilees and Erickson, 7/11)

AP:
Oregon County Pauses Plan To Distribute Tin Foil, Straws For Fentanyl Users 

A plan by Oregon’s largest county to distribute tin foil and straws for fentanyl users and glass pipes for methamphetamine and crack users has been halted after opposition from Portland’s mayor and other officials. “Our health department went forward with this proposal without proper implementation protocols,” Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson said in a statement to KGW-TV. “And in that light, I am suspending the program pending further analysis.” (7/11)

Detroit Free Press:
New Law Gives Michigan DNR Officers Authority To Intervene During Mental Health Crises

Conservation officers who work for Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources can now intervene to take individuals experiencing a mental health crisis into protective custody. Leaders with the department say such occurrences have become more frequent. (Hendrickson, 7/11)

Also —

Houston Chronicle:
Food Not Bombs Fined More Than $10K For Feeding Houston’s Homeless

Ben Craft’s sedan pulled up to the Downtown Public Library on a recent Monday evening, packed with pasta and serving supplies. Craft was on his way to pass out fresh, vegetarian meals to those in need, something volunteers have done there for nearly two decades, four days a week. People had already formed a line down the block, which faced the same park as City Hall, when he arrived. (Schuetz, 7/11)

CBS News:
Restaurants Charging Extra For Water, Bread And Workers’ Health Plan

A Los Angeles restaurant has come under fire after a prominent podcaster took issue with an unfamiliar surcharge on his guest check: an extra 4% fee automatically added to the bill to help fund the workers’ health insurance. (Cerullo, 7/12)