Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Texas School Safety Bill Requires Armed Person At Each Campus
Texas lawmakers sent a sweeping school safety measure to Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday, including in their response to last year鈥檚 Uvalde massacre a requirement to post an armed security officer at every school and provide mental health training for certain district employees. The measure also gives the state more power to compel school districts to create active-shooter plans. (Lopez, 5/28)
State lawmakers in Texas on Sunday approved a school safety bill, sending the proposal to the governor鈥檚 desk one year after the mass shooting massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. Texas House Bill 3 would require mental health training for school district employees who regularly interact with students and require at least one armed security officer at all campuses during regular school hours, among other provisions. (Mueller, 5/29)
In other news from Texas 鈥
When vehicle and industrial emissions meet heat and sunlight, ozone pollution forms 鈥 and with sunny skies in the outlook for Houston, ozone season is in full swing and may prove harmful for sensitive groups, Air Alliance Houston reported.聽Ozone season, lasting March through November in Houston, signifies higher levels of the pollutant, which has the potential to cause health issues for vulnerable populations.聽When at ground level, ozone can cause throat irritation, breathing difficulties, coughing and chest pain,聽Air Alliance Houston posted.聽(Fonstein, 5/26)
Texas could lose billions of dollars in federal health care funding as the Biden administration looks to crack down on the practice of hospitals pooling their Medicaid funds for the benefit of hospitals without as many qualifying patients. (Osborne, 5/29)
A radiographic camera reported missing more than two months ago was found intact with its radioactive material still sealed in its protective shielding, Texas Department of State Health Services officials announced Friday. The 53-pound SPEC-150 radiographic camera was reported stolen by Statewide Maintenance Company and was last seen near a Taco Cabana in North Houston. The FBI is now investigating how the camera went missing, a Department of State Health Services spokesperson said. (Vidales, 5/26)
In other health news from across the U.S. 鈥
Carrying out a new law, a joint panel of the Florida Board of Medicine and the Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine is slated next week to discuss rules about treatments for transgender minors and adults. The Joint Rules and Legislative Committee of the medical boards will meet Thursday in Tampa. (5/28)
A woman stumbled into the palatial lobby of downtown Los Angeles鈥 Biltmore Hotel earlier this year, pleading for someone to call the police. Deep bruises were starting to form around her eyes. Blood crusted around her nostrils and mouth. She was so dazed that she didn鈥檛 notice a telephone cord wrapped around her neck. (Hurd and Ellis, 5/28)
The FBI聽and Environmental Protection Agency are investigating the release of more than聽20 tons of toxic dust from a malfunctioning oil refinery over Martinez neighborhoods last Thanksgiving, a Contra Costa County supervisor and the FBI confirmed Saturday.聽(Moench, 5/27)
Mayo Clinic issued an ultimatum to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Democratic lawmakers earlier this month: Kill a proposed health affordability bill, or say goodbye to $4 billion in new hospital investments. Minnesota lawmakers responded quickly 鈥 by watering down an ambitious proposal in the final days of the legislative session, which ended last week. (Messerly, 5/30)
New York City Mayor Eric Adams signed legislation Friday that will ban discrimination based on body size by adding weight and height to the list of protected categories such as race, sex and religion. 鈥淲e all deserve the same access to employment, housing and public accommodation, regardless of our appearance, and it shouldn鈥檛 matter how tall you are or how much you weigh,鈥 said the mayor, who joined other elected officials as well as fat-acceptance advocates at a City Hall bill-signing ceremony. (Matthews, 5/27)
Funding for drug treatment centers in Oregon, financed by the state鈥檚 pioneering drug decriminalization policy, stood at over a quarter-billion dollars Friday as officials called for closer monitoring of where the money goes. That need for oversight was demonstrated Wednesday when state officials terminated a $1.5 million grant agreement with a drug recovery nonprofit in Klamath Falls accused of failing to submit completed expenditure and data reports and buying a building for more than double the authorized amount. (Selsky, 5/26)
Also 鈥
杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News: California Governor And Democratic Lawmakers At Odds Over Billions In Health Care Funds
When Gov. Gavin Newsom took office four years ago, the Democrat went after Republicans on the national stage as they sought to gut the Affordable Care Act. Key to his ambitious health care agenda: reinstating the fine on Californians who don鈥檛 have health coverage, which had been eliminated at the federal level. (Hart, 5/30)
杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News: Many People Living In The 鈥楧iabetes Belt鈥 Are Plagued With Medical Debt
Delores Lowery remembers vividly the day in 2016 when she was working in a weaving plant near her home in Bennettsville, South Carolina, and the world around her seemed to go dim. She turned to her co-workers. 鈥淎nd I asked, I said, 鈥榃hy y鈥檃ll got it so dark in here? They said, 鈥楧elores, it鈥檚 not dark in here.鈥 I said, 鈥榊es, it is. It鈥檚 so dark in here.'鈥 (Benincasa and McMillan, 5/30)