Literature Review

[Virginia] Marijuana advocates celebrate passing of medicinal use billABC TV 13 News - Lynchburg, VA; by Brittany Slaughter; 4/15/24Virginia NORML is celebrating a win following Governor Youngkin's signing of a bill that expands medical marijuana use protections to public employees, not just private. JM Pedini, Development Director for NORML said a large benefactor from the bill's passage is firefighters who have faced repercussions for legally using weed medically. ... Pedini who also serves as the Executive Director of the State Chapter of Virginia NORML said the original law inadvertently left out public employees when passed in 2021.Editor's Note: Virginia NORML is the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

CT Hospice says it can’t provide home care under bill to protect healthcare workersCT News Junkie, by John Ferraro; 4/16/24Connecticut Hospice has warned lawmakers it will be unable to care for gravely ill patients in their homes under a proposed law aimed at protecting home healthcare workers. At issue is Senate Bill 1, which would require organizations that care for people in their homes to conduct background checks on the clients and anyone in the location where care is being given. ... Barbara Pearce, the chief executive officer of Connecticut Hospice, urged lawmakers to remove Connecticut Hospice from entities that would be required to conduct those background checks, noting that the organization which provides end-of-life care is typically called into homes when a patient has days left to live. “Our national hospice organization could find no similar bill in any other state,” Pearce wrote in testimony to the Public Health Committee. “This bill is too broad, too unclear as to requirements, not guaranteed to achieve its aims, duplicative of other procedures required in hospice care, and contradictory to certain regulations of Medicare.” ...Editor's Note: See the previous article in our newsletter today, After death of nurses, CT lawmakers look for solutions: 'We just cannot ignore that risk'.

'I'm dying, you're not': Those terminally ill ask more states to legalize physician-assisted death The Washington Post, by Jesse Bedayn, AP; 4/12/24 On a brisk day at a restaurant outside Chicago, Deb Robertson sat with her teenage grandson to talk about her death. She’ll probably miss his high school graduation. ... “Medical aid in dying is not me choosing to die,” she says she told her 17-year-old grandson. “I am going to die. But it is my way of having a little bit more control over what it looks like in the end.” ... At least 12 states currently have bills that would legalize physician-assisted death. ... Two states have gone in the opposite direction. ...

The Maine Death with Dignity Act Annual Report - Data from calendar year 2023 Produced by Data, Research, and Vital Statistics Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Department of Health and Human Services; 4/12/24 In accordance with 22 MRS § 2140(17), the Department of Health and Human Services (Department) [has generated and made available] to the public an annual statistical report of information collected under the Maine Death with Dignity Act. ... This report is for patients who completed a written request for medication to hasten their death in calendar year 2023. Patients who completed the oral request but not a written request within the calendar year will be included in the subsequent year’s report.

2 federal bills look to boost pipeline of healthcare workers McKnights Senior Living, by Kathleen Steele Gaivin; 4/12/24 Bills introduced in both houses of Congress may bolster the healthcare workforce if they become law. Both pieces of legislation are supported by LeadingAge. The bicameral Welcome Back to the Health Care Workforce Act is meant to address the shortage of healthcare workers across the country. Specifically, the legislation would help internationally educated healthcare workers overcome barriers to working in the United States ...

Privacy bill could have sweeping impact on insurers, providers Modern Healthcare, by Michael McAuliff; 4/10/24A far-reaching new privacy bill could have major implications for how healthcare providers, insurance companies and third parties handle and utilize sensitive data. While the bipartisan American Privacy Rights Act of 2024 is not specific to the healthcare industry, a number of its proposed policies would impact how healthcare companies do business. The legislation includes an array of provisions that range from raising cybersecurity standards to allowing people to opt out of algorithms that could be used to make medical decisions.

New safeguards added to New York's proposed Medical Aid in Dying ActSpectrum News 1, by Luke Parsnow; 4/5/24The two architects behind New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act have amended added additional safeguards to the legislation in the hope it can soon become law. The act would allow terminally ill, mentally capable adults who have been given six months or less to live to take their own lives with a cocktail of pharmaceutical drugs.

Living to 100: Making Maryland a ‘Blue Zone’ The Baltimore Sun, commentary by Raya Elfadel Kheirbek; 4/5/24 In a bold stride toward redefining the approach to aging, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed an executive order in January aimed at expanding access to critical care and services for older Marylanders. ... At the heart of this initiative, dubbed Longevity Ready Maryland, is a comprehensive plan that transcends traditional state efforts focused solely on eldercare. Instead, it adopts a holistic, multisector approach that promises a transformative impact and enrichment in every dimension — health, financial security, social connectivity and purposeful living, irrespective of a Marylander’s socioeconomic status.

Home care providers hail bill establishing standard classification for direct support workers McKnights Home Care, by Adam Healy; 4/3/24 The Senate last week passed legislation that would address the dire shortage of direct support workers with the establishment of a classification to help stakeholders collect workforce data. Specifically, if signed into law, the Recognizing the Role of Direct Support Professionals Act would require the Office of Management and Budget to consider establishing a standard occupational classification (SOC) for direct support professionals (DSPs). This classification would make it easier for policymakers to gather useful data about these workers and help them better address critical workforce challenges.

Palliative care bill a win for South Dakota, Amendment F looms as possible major setback for cancer community American Cancer Society / Cancer Action Network Press Release; 3/28/24 When Gov. Kristi Noem signed Senate Bill 147 into law it improved access to palliative care and allowed the state’s health care providers to better serve individuals with serious illnesses. ...  SB 147 adds the definition to statute, allowing for improved access to and reimbursement for palliative care services as well as providing for the distribution of education materials on palliative care.  ... SB 147 was the health care high point for the 2024 Legislature, which missed an opportunity to improve coverage for breast cancer diagnostic tests for South Dakotans by not advancing House Bill 1122 and passed the problematic Senate Joint Resolution 501 [will be Amendment F on November ballot] ... 

How healthcare AI is regulated by the FDA, HHS, state laws Modern Healthcare, by Gabriel Perna; 3/26/24 Widespread oversight of artificial intelligence in healthcare is still a work in progress but that doesn’t mean the technology is completely unregulated. ... There are areas where developers, providers and insurers are regulated in how they use AI. Federal agencies like the Food and Drug Administration and Health and Human Services Department have some oversight authority. Also, a few states have enacted laws governing use of AI within clinical care.

Private equity more common in Massachusetts health care: Steward crisis has state on hunt for possible legislative response 22 News WWLP.com; by Ashley Shook, Alison Kuznitz, Chirs Lisinski; 3/26/24 The pressure points inflicted by private equity ownership in health care extend far beyond Steward Health Care, and lawmakers have a long menu of policy reforms they can consider to erect new guardrails in a changing environment, experts said Monday. Pushed into public-facing action after a long-simmering financial crisis at Steward burst into public view this year, lawmakers convened a public hearing to explore how deeply private equity has taken root in the Bay State’s health care system and what policymakers should do to prevent harm to patient care. 

[Mississippi] Doctors plead with Senate to ‘do right’ and expand Medicaid