Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Michigan's Red Flag Gun Violence Bills Become Law
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law a series of bills Monday that will allow law enforcement, family, health care providers and others to petition courts to temporarily remove guns from those a judge determines pose an imminent threat to themselves or others. (Hendrickson, 5/22)
California is one step closer to enacting a law that would ban Skittles, Hot Tamales, and a host of other food items that contain chemicals linked to health issues. Assembly Bill 418, proposed by Jesse Gabriel (D-Woodland Hills), passed overwhelmingly in the California State Assembly last week and now heads to the State Senate. (Sternfield, 5/22)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed bills Wednesday that ban gender-affirming care for minors, target drag shows, restrict discussion of personal pronouns in schools and force people to use certain bathrooms. (5/22)
Policarpo Landaverde’s series of bad breaks seemed to peak about a decade ago when he was shot in the stomach after confronting a man who stole his license plate. But on a recent afternoon, as he struggled to explain a cascading list of ailments to a nurse, he was dealing with a more fundamental crisis: He lives in Florida, one of the hardest places in the country for poor adults to obtain health insurance. (Bierman, 5/22)
Cancer deaths have fallen in every congressional district in the U.S., typically between 20% and 45% among males and a 10% and 40% among females, over the past quarter century, according to a study published in the journal Cancer. But health disparities remain. (Avilucea and Reed, 5/22)
Also —
Nearly a quarter of a million people 55 or older are estimated by the government to have been homeless in the United States during at least part of 2019, the most recent reliable federal count available. They represent a particularly vulnerable segment of the 70 million Americans born after World War II known as the baby boom generation, the youngest of whom turn 59 this year. (Rowland, 5/22)