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California Democrats on Tuesday took their first step toward abolishing the private health insurance market in the nation’s most populous state and replacing it with a government-run plan that they promised would never deny anyone the care they need. But the proposal that cleared a legislative committee in the state Assembly is still a long way from becoming law. It faces strong opposition from powerful business interests who say it would cost too much. And even if it does become law, voters would have to approve a massive income tax increase to pay for it — a vote that might not happen until 2024. (Beam, 1/12)

Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings (D) on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the city of Seaford over an ordinance scheduled to go into effect later this month that would require anyone who has an abortion or experiences a miscarriage to pay for the fetus to be interred or cremated. “It brings me no joy to sue one of our own cities,” Jennings said in a statement. (Choi, 1/11)

A new survey finds that 63% of adult Mainers had difficulty affording health care in the last year and an even more, 80%, reported feeling “worried” or “very worried” about affording their health care in the future. The fear Mainers have about inadequate health coverage, amid the third winter of the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrates that state and federal policymakers urgently need to act, the health care advocates who commissioned the poll said. ... The poll, released Monday, was commissioned by Altarum’s Healthcare Value Hub in partnership with Consumers for Affordable Health Care in Maine. (Neumann, 1/11)

Charles R. Drew University closed its campus Tuesday after receiving a bomb threat, officials said. The medical campus of the historically Black college and university in Willowbrook received a bomb threat early Sunday that led to the campus’ closure. The Times obtained a copy of the threat sent from an individual who identified as a white, male, neo-Nazi fascist who alleges to have planted three titanium nitrite sulfuric bombs around the eastern and northern parts of campus. The bombs were allegedly going to detonate around 1 p.m. Sunday. (Evans, 1/11)

Republican Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin has announced his pick for Virginia’s next secretary of health and human resources, a role that will involve helping oversee pandemic-related public policy. John Littel has been tapped for the role, the transition announced Monday. Littel recently served as the president of Magellan of Virginia, which administers behavioral health services for Virginia Medicaid enrollees. (1/10)

Employees at Montana’s state psychiatric hospital failed to properly investigate the death of a patient who was reportedly told to go back to her room “and stop being dramatic,” after she told staff she was having trouble catching her breath, a federal report said. Investigators with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also found the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs has inadequate staffing, resulting in a lack of patient supervision that led to 113 reported falls on one unit of the hospital from June 2021 through mid-September 2021. (1/11)

Top House and Senate leaders said Tuesday that addressing Connecticut’s overburdened and understaffed mental health system for children and adults will be a bipartisan priority when the General Assembly convenes next month. House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, told participants in an online mental health symposium he is optimistic about the potential for significant legislation emerging from a bipartisan working group. (Pazniokas, 1/11)

Texas can’t ease a foster care bed shortage that routinely forces youngsters to sleep in Child Protective Services offices without a far-reaching program of new mental health services for children, mobile crisis teams to help distressed families and high-quality treatment programs for youths struggling with mood disorders and addictions, experts said Monday. While the state can avoid losing federal funds by seeking bids for a few high-quality congregate care facilities, it generally should aim to place all foster children with families, a three-member panel said. (Garrett, 1/10)

Health classes in California high schools soon will cover more than just nutrition and exercise. Thanks to a new law that went into effect Jan. 1, students will learn about depression, schizophrenia, mood disorders and other serious mental health conditions. Senate Bill 224 requires all school districts that offer health classes to include mental health as part of the curriculum. The California Department of Education has until Jan. 1, 2023, to incorporate mental health into the state standards, and districts have until Jan. 1, 2024, to begin teaching the new material. (Jones, 1/11)