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The Biden administration said it has deployed federal medical experts to help assess what dangers remain at an Ohio village where a train carrying hazardous materials derailed this month, a ramp-up of federal support at the governor’s request as anxious residents point to signs of adverse effects. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Thursday asked the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Department of Health and Human Services to send teams to East Palestine, where the train derailed February 3 and sparked a dayslong blaze. (Elamroussi, 2/17)

Early signs of the liver cancer caused by vinyl chloride are hard to detect, leaving thousands of East Ohio residents vulnerable to long-term health issues after a train accident in East Palestine earlier this month spewed the toxic chemical into the air. Patients and healthcare providers typically have to navigate these disasters on an ad-hoc basis, given the difficulty of building a comprehensive disaster planning and response plan. Recovery and mitigation efforts often depend on litigation that determines who will foot the bill. That has meant more questions than answers in the community. (Kacik, 2/16)

On social media like Twitter and Telegram, commentators have called the situation the “largest environmental disaster in history” or simply “Chernobyl 2.0,” invoking the 1986 nuclear disaster. They warned, without evidence, that vital water reservoirs serving states downriver could be badly contaminated. And they suggested that the authorities, railroad companies and mainstream news media were purposefully obscuring the full toll of the crisis. (Thompson, 2/16)

As many as 6.7 million children could lose health coverage as the COVID-19 public health emergency unwinds and states begin re-determining Medicaid eligibility, according to a new report from Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families. The report finds roughly three-quarters of those kids will still be eligible for Medicaid, but could instead lose coverage due to administrative issues, like a renewal letter going to the wrong address. (Colombini, 2/16)

More than a third of Floridians earning $50,000 to $100,000 reported experiencing food insecurity over the past year, according to a survey published by No Kid Hungry. (Paul, 2/16)

Move over, COVID-19. The norovirus stomach illness is re-emerging as a public threat that people should try to avoid. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has charted a rise in norovirus outbreaks in the United States in February, eclipsing the level recorded in March 2022. (Carlson, 2/16)

New Hampshire has long struggled with a shortage of inpatient mental health beds, leaving some people in crisis held in hospital emergency departments for days or weeks as they wait for treatment. On Wednesday, a lawyer for a group of New Hampshire hospitals asked a judge to set a deadline by which the state needs to end that practice. (Cuno-Booth, 2/16)

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said Thursday he is appointing a group of local homeless service advocates to come up with new strategies to help the city more quickly aid people without stable shelter. Johnson said the new volunteer, independent group will assess current policies, research other plans to address homelessness and issue a report of recommendations to his office by June 15. The suggestions would later go to city and regional officials for consideration, and help them better collaborate on plans, he said. (Johnson, 2/16)

In late January, the town of Concord got a piece of news that quickly spread through the affluent community: The state had entered into an agreement with a local hotel, and would be setting up an emergency family shelter for homeless and migrant families in need of a place to stay. Some residents wanted to know how they could help, and what would happen to long-term residents who reside at the hotel. Some wondered if the shelter’s occupants would clog traffic, overwhelm their schools, or threaten their safety. Residents and town officials alike said they were thrown off by the short notice and questioned whether renting the Best Western hotel was a long-term shelter solution. (Gross, 2/16)

Nearly all Minnesota workers would be entitled to paid sick leave under a plan moving through the Legislature that’s aimed at the roughly one-third whose employers don’t already give them time off when they’re ill. Employees would be guaranteed one hour of paid “earned sick and safe time” for every 30 hours worked, up to 48 hours per year. (Karnowski, 2/16)

A western Wisconsin nurse accused of amputating a hospice patient’s frostbitten foot without his consent and without doctor’s orders pleaded not guilty Thursday. A lawyer for 38-year-old Mary K. Brown, of Durand, Wisconsin, entered pleas of not guilty for her to charges of mayhem, physical abuse of an elderly person and intentionally abusing a patient, causing great bodily harm, WEAU-TV and WQOW-TV reported. (2/17)

California may be on the verge of losing many of its hospitals as it emerges from the pandemic. The California Hospital Association says treating people with Covid-19, combined with long-term financial issues, has put medical institutions on the edge of insolvency around the state — and they need an immediate lifeline of $1.5 billion to prevent more from having to close. (Castanos, 2/16)

Mayor Eric Adams wants state lawmakers to stop siphoning hundreds of millions of dollars from the city’s pool of sales tax revenue to fund financially distressed hospitals and nursing homes. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins April 1 would continue a maneuver that withholds $150 million from the city’s annual sales tax collections and deposits it into a temporary fund established to help health facilities during the Covid pandemic. (Kaufman, 2/16)