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Archive of Health Care on Friday July 03, 2009
US: Mississippi tops obesity rankings; Colorado is leanest state
WASHINGTON -- Mississippi remains at the top of the list in this year's national annual obesity rankings, with Alabama coming in second. Outside of fairly lean Colorado, there's little good news. Read More
NJ: State health coverage applications go out to 62,000 N.J. households
Another 62,000 households in New Jersey will receive the NJ FamilyCare applications they requested on their state tax forms, Gov. Jon Corzine announced Wednesday. The mailing is for families in Essex and Hudson counties. Read More
AL: Sparks unveiling platform for Alabama governor
State Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks is unveiling a major part of his platform in his Democratic campaign for governor. Read More
AL: One in three people in Alabama are obese, according to report
Alabama is now among four states with soaring adult obesity rates of more than 30 percent, more than twice what the national average was three decades ago, according to a report released Tuesday. Read More
FL: Prescription drug overdose deaths soar in Florida
Florida continues to see a rapid rise in fatal overdoses caused by prescription-drug abuse -- a trend fueled by a cottage industry of cash-only pain clinics -- while deaths from illegal drugs wane, according to a report from the state's medical examiners released Tuesday. Read More
IA: Attorney General marks anniversary of state smoking ban
Iowa's ban on smoking in public places took effect one year ago today. Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller marked the occasion at a statehouse news conference. Read More
IL: Quinn adminstration outlines budget cuts
Gov. Pat Quinn says spending cuts of about $1 billion will be needed even if lawmakers eventually pass the income tax increase he's pushing for. Read More
IL: Mentally disabled in housing fight
Samuel Golden admits he wants to keep his 53-year-old daughter, who functions at the level of a 2-year-old, in what some critics would label a large "institution." Her life, he said, would deteriorate if she were forced to move into a smaller group home that couldn't provide adequate therapy and daily activities. Read More
KS: Governor to reveal budget plan
Educators and officials in Kansas are awaiting word from Gov. Mark Parkinson about how he plans to balance the state budget. Read More
MD: State Medicaid coverage, costs grow
A year into a new effort to expand health coverage, recession-weary Marylanders are flocking to the state's Medicaid program in numbers far greater than expected, costing the state $50 million more in the process. Read More
ME: Maine still fattest state in New England
Like a "spare tire" of unwanted belly fat, the rate of adult obesity in Maine continues to expand. According to the 2009 report "F as in Fat," released Wednesday by the nonprofit Trust for America's Health, 24.7 percent of Maine adults are clinically obese compared with 23.7 percent in last year's report. Read More
MI: Michigan fat and getting fatter
Michigan adults are the ninth-fattest in the nation, and the state is spending about $3 billion a year dealing with related health problems, according to a report released Wednesday by a national health care foundation. Read More
MO: Missouri universities to partner for new med program
JOPLIN, Mo. -- Two Missouri universities are hoping plans for a new medical school program will provide trained professionals to relieve the physician shortage in the southern half of the state. Read More
MS: Uninsured health-care ranks rising in Miss.
In a state the federal government already rates weak in health care, Mississippians are losing health insurance and choosing to either forego treatment or join the uninsured filling waiting rooms at subsidized clinics and emergency rooms. Read More
MS: PSC minus spending plan
Disagreement over the size of the Public Service Commission's staff left it as the only state agency unfunded as the fiscal year began Wednesday. Read More
MS: Miss. still fattest state in America
WASHINGTON — Mississippi's still king of cellulite, but an ominous tide is rolling toward the Medicare doctors in neighboring Alabama: obese baby boomers. Read More
MT: Millions in stimulus going to clinics
Fifteen community health centers in Montana are getting $6.7 million in federal stimulus grants to upgrade equipment and facilities. Read More
NC: Bill lets sizable medical malpractice awards be made public
Consumers will soon be able to know whether their doctors have paid medical malpractice awards under a bill approved this week by state lawmakers. Read More
ND: Smoke-free advocates urge N.D. statewide ban
Area health professionals and smoking ban advocates celebrated a full year of clear air in Fargo and West Fargo bars and restaurants by urging a statewide smoking ban. Read More
ND: Survey -- N.D. lacks 'brain smarts'
As if the challenge of reforming the nation's health care system isn't vexing enough, here's another brain twister for Sen. Kent Conrad to ponder when the North Dakota Democrat meets in Grand Forks today with doctors, nurses, hospital and clinic administrators and patient advocates: Read More
NH: News on revenues isn't good, but it's not all that bad
It's a sad state of financial affairs when taxes and fees come in $300 million under forecast and key state officials celebrate like they did Wednesday. Read More
NH: Health group applauds higher NH tobacco tax
Health groups see a silver lining in one of New Hampshire's new tax increases. Read More
OH: Ohio court protects clinic's files
Parents who are suing Planned Parenthood over an abortion clinic's alleged negligence in allowing a teenage sexual-assault victim to obtain an abortion will not get access to clinic records on other patients, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled yesterday. Read More
OK: Children offer bright spot in Oklahoma's obesity rankings
Oklahomans are fat and getting fatter, according to a national report released Wednesday. Read More
PA: Drug company's case reaches top state court
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has agreed to hear legal arguments from a pharmaceutical company about whether a Texas law firm whose founder donated $91,000 to Gov. Ed Rendell's campaign can continue to represent the state in a lawsuit against the drug manufacturer. Read More
RI: Senate commission to study marijuana decriminalization
Weeks after legalizing the sale of marijuana to sick people, lawmakers have voted to explore how much Rhode Island might collect in revenue if it were to make all sales of marijuana legal and impose a "sin tax" of $35 per ounce. Read More
TN: Bredesen's veto preserves Nashville's plan to require menu labeling
Gov. Phil Bredesen vetoed a bill Wednesday that would have overturned a Metro health board decision to require calorie counts on restaurant menus. Read More
VT: N.H. among states hit by E. coli in beef
WASHINGTON — At least 12 people, two of them suffering kidney failure, have been hospitalized in connection with a possible E. coli outbreak in beef suspected of having sickened people in nine states, federal health officials said Wednesday. Read More
VT: Smokers wince at tax increase
Cigarettes in Vermont cost a quarter more a pack and $2.50 more a carton, and the 6 percent state sales tax applies for the first time to liquor, all the result of legislation that took effect Wednesday. Liquor? No big deal, beverage store proprietors said. Cigarettes? That's another story. Read More
WA: Wash., Idaho fall near middle on obesity rankings
WASHINGTON — Mississippi's still king of cellulite, but an ominous tide is rolling toward the Medicare doctors in neighboring Alabama: Obese baby boomers. Read More
WA: Aid case increase adds to budget shortfall
More Washington residents will receive Medicaid and children's health assistance in the next two years than earlier forecast, creating a $250 million shortfall in the state's already-strained budget. Read More
Financial crisis torments states
(Updated 5:25 p.m. EDT, July 1, 2009) California may begin issuing IOUs this week because of the state’s unresolved budget crisis. But government disruptions were averted at least temporarily in five other states that missed a July 1 deadline for closing billion-dollar budget gaps. Read More
New section follows stimulus spending
 The enormity and complexity of the federal stimulus program weigh heavily on cash-strapped states, which are required to meet numerous application and reporting deadlines for the $49 billion in recovery money flowing into their treasuries this year. Follow how states are managing their share through extensive original reporting and graphics in Stateline.org’s special section on the stimulus program.
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Tracking the recession: Budget deadline looms
Unlike the federal government, states have to balance their budgets. But several states still have not completed spending plans for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Read More
Ga. hotline aims to cut mental health costs
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