Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Major Hospital's Generators Fail During Calif.'s Heat-Driven Blackouts
On one of the hottest days in the city鈥檚 recorded history and with energy officials anticipating possible blackouts, backup generators failed at a major Santa Clara County hospital in San Jose on Tuesday night, leaving parts of the facility entirely without power for around four hours. (Greschler, 9/7)
More on the dangers of excessive heat 鈥
In Phoenix, David Hondula's new role has allowed the city to centralize its extreme heat response, he said. His team takes a two-prong approach, mixing short-term solutions, such as cooling centers and direct relief outreach with longer-term projects, like increasing green space and shade. (Fulton, 9/8)
On gender rights in Florida and Texas 鈥
A coalition of transgender rights groups sued Florida over new regulations that block the state鈥檚 Medicaid program from covering the costs associated with gender-affirming care. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday morning in Tallahassee federal court, argues the ban, which Florida鈥檚 chief Medicaid regulator finalized last month, violates the federal equal protection clause and prevents an estimated 9,000 transgender state Medicaid enrollees from receiving critical gender-affirming care. (Sarkissian, 9/7)
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Wednesday he is backing the 鈥淲omen鈥檚 Bill of Rights,鈥 a document being pushed by Republicans that calls for, among other things, a person鈥檚 sex to be defined under state and federal law as 鈥渉is or her biological sex (either male or female) at birth.鈥 The GOP elected officials and candidates promoting the document say 鈥済ender ideologues鈥 are trying to redefine womanhood. (Caldwell, 9/7)
In other health news from California, Iowa, and North Carolina 鈥
On Wednesday, California became the first place in the nation, and perhaps the world, to begin requiring water agencies to test for the contaminant. State water regulators, after years of working with more than 20 labs in seven countries to pioneer a means of monitoring microplastics, adopted new testing and reporting requirements that will take effect next year. (Alexander, 9/7)
The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics is ending its Eating Disorder Program鈥檚 inpatient care this fall. (Smith and Krebs, 9/7)
North Carolina鈥檚 state Medicaid office is sending millions of dollars to organizations that help people with housing, domestic violence, and other chronically stressful situations. (Donnelly-DeRoven, 9/8)
