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By Stateline.org Staff
TODAY’S TAKE: If and when President Obama signs legislation revamping the nation’s health care system, several Republican-led states appear likely to fight a key provision of the new law in court. Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter on Wednesday (March 17) became the first governor to sign a bill setting up a legal showdown, while Virginia’s attorney general vowed to do the same.
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By Sean Cockerham, Anchorage Daily News
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game resumed killing wolves from helicopters this week in the Interior and immediately sparked controversy by wiping out a pack that included wolves collared for research by the National Park Service.
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AR: U.S. to inspect 2 state-run units
By Amy Upshaw, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock)
The U.S. Department of Justice will inspect two residential facilities for the developmentally disabled next week, marking the first major step in the agency's investigation of state-run human-development centers in Arkansas.
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AZ: Arizona drops children's health program
By Kevin Sack, The New York Times
Arizona on Thursday became the first state to eliminate its Children's Health Insurance Program when Gov. Jan Brewer signed an austere budget that will leave nearly 47,000 low-income children without coverage.
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CA: Schwarzenegger appoints paralyzed lawyer Sara Granda to legal post
By Kevin Yamamura, The Sacramento Bee
Sara Granda, the UC Davis law school graduate who is paralyzed and drew national attention last year when State Bar officials nearly prevented her from taking the exam, has been named by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to a legal position in the state Department of Health Care Services.
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CA: Group seeks documents from Anthem Blue Cross inquiry
By Duke Helfand, Los Angeles Times
consumer group Thursday called on California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner to release all documents related to his investigation of proposed double-digit rate increases by Anthem Blue Cross for customers who buy individual policies.
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CA: Proposed smoking ban falls short in Assembly
By Kurtis Alexander, The Mercury News (San Jose)
Californians who grumble about cigarette butts in the parks and beaches may have to wait before their wish comes true — if it happens at all. The most far-reaching ban to outlaw smoking in California's state parks, including more than a dozen beaches and wilderness areas in Santa Cruz County, has fallen short of a key legislative hurdle.
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CO: Poll -- Markey right, Gardner wrong on health reform
By John Tomasic, Colorado Independent
In the wake of a Congressional Budget Office report finding that current health reform legislation would cut the deficit by $138 billion in ten years, Colorado Fourth District U.S. Rep. Betsy Markey confirmed that she planned to vote to pass the legislation this weekend.
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FL: Our eye's on you, Jackson is warned
By John Dorschner, The Miami Herald
Jackson's governing body survived four proposals to abolish it Thursday as Miami-Dade County commissioners instead voted unanimously to put the beleaguered public health system on a ``management watch'' in which the mayor will follow it closely but not take control.
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GA: Dear John and Sanford -- Please vote no. Sincerely, Sonny
By Jim Galloway, Columnist, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Sonny Perdue has joined the effort to pressure U.S. Reps. John Barrow of Savannah and Sanford Bishop of Albany, the last two members of Georgia's Democratic delegation who haven't announced how they'll vote on the health care overhaul.
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IA: Manager admits bedbug blunder
By Jeff Eckhoff, The Des Moines Register
The head of the company that manages two bedbug-infested Des Moines apartment buildings for the elderly and disabled acknowledged Thursday that "we screwed up, and we're going to fix it."
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ID: Idaho Senate backs dumping limit on DNA testing
By The Associated Press, The Times-News (Twin Falls)
Inmates who want to file a petition for DNA or fingerprint analysis would no longer be subject to a one-year limitation to request such a test, under a measure that cleared the Senate on Thursday.
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IL: Dueling rallies offer opposing views on health care bill
By Tim Mitchell, The News-Gazette (Champaign)
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Supporters and opponents of health care legislation held dueling rallies on the sidewalk along Fox Drive outside Rep. Tim Johnson's office Thursday evening in anticipation of an upcoming vote by the House of Representatives.
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IL: Dental management contract focus of questions
By Dean Olsen, The State Journal-Register (Springfield)
Only weeks before aides to Gov. Pat Quinn said they would review and potentially re-bid all state contracts exceeding $1 million a year, Quinn's administration renewed a $255 million contract with the company that manages the state's dental program for Medicaid recipients.
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IN: Opinions differ in local rally on health care bill
By Jeff Parrott, South Bend Tribune
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The heated rhetoric on both sides of the health care reform debate moved from Washington to hometown Main Street, literally, at a lunch-hour rally Thursday outside the downtown offices of U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-Granger.
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MA: More cuts loom as state faces $295m in red ink
By Michael Levenson, The Boston Globe
Massachusetts is potentially facing a new budget gap of up to $295 million this year, a grim forecast that state officials said could spell yet another round of painful cuts before the fiscal year ends in June.
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ME: Medical pot deal reached
By Ethan Wilensky-Lanford, Kennebec Journal
A legislative committee on Thursday reached unanimous, bipartisan accord on implementing Maine's citizen initiative that expanded the rights of medical marijuana users.
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ME: GOP challenger pushes Michaud for debate on health care plan
By Nick Sambides Jr., Bangor Daily News
Jason Levesque, the presumptive Republican nominee to run for the 2nd Congressional District seat, on Thursday challenged Democratic U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud to hold a town hall-style meeting with voters on President Barack Obama's health care initiative.
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MN: Supporters see health care bill aiding many Minnesotans
By Warren Wolfe and Kevin Diaz, Minneapolis Star Tribune
More than 120,000 uninsured Minnesotans would gain health coverage under the bill headed for a climactic vote in the U.S. House this weekend, according to congressional Democrats, while another 1 million Minnesota consumers would get tax credits and other subsidies to help defray the cost of health insurance.
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NE: Ashford sees abortion epidemic
By Paul Hammel, Omaha World-Herald
Six low-income women have told a south Omaha health clinic that they will opt for abortions because they cannot afford prenatal services, which are no longer government-funded. The report from the OneWorld Community Health Centers, coupled with the earlier confirmation of an abortion by a Schuyler, Neb., woman, prompted at least three state senators to say Thursday that the issue has reached a "crisis" level.
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NY: NY's health coverage plunges
By Carl Campanile, New York Post
The number of New York state residents receiving health insurance through private-sector employers has plummeted by 500,000, a new study has found.
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NY: Bid to thwart Medicaid fraud
By Carl Campanile, New York Post
State Senate Republicans yesterday proposed restoring extensive background checks to deter fraud in New York's $52 billion Medicaid program.
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OR: State hospital chief promises better communication
By Alan Gustafson, Statesman Journal (Salem)
Oregon State Hospital Superintendent Roy Orr apologized Thursday to the hospital's advisory board, saying he was "personally remiss" in failing to notify board members about a scathing federal critique of patient care before it hit the press.
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RI: Insurers see planned rate hikes slashed
By Felice J. Freyer, The Providence Journal
The state health insurance commissioner has slashed proposed premiums, keeping rate increases in the single digits –– in some cases just barely –– for people covered through their employers.
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TN: TennCare postpones some cuts for a year
By Lucas L. Johnson, The Associated Press, The Tennessean (Nashville)
TennCare officials said Thursday they will be able to use a federal refund of $121 million to postpone some cuts to the state's expanded Medicaid program for a year.
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TN: Health bill gives TN hospitals $99M
By Alan Fram and David Espo, The Associated Press, The Tennessean (Nashville)
WASHINGTON -- Bye bye, Cornhusker Kickback. Hello, special treatment for Tennessee and North Dakota. Democrats unveiling revisions Thursday to their health-care overhaul bill decided to kill the extra $100 million in Medicaid funds for Nebraska that has become a symbol of backdoor deal making. But the 153 pages of changes to the package include an additional $99 million in 2012 and 2013 for Tennessee hospitals that treat many poor people.
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US: GOP plots strategies to nullify health bill
By Naftali Bendavid, The Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON—Republicans are looking beyond Sunday's expected vote on the Democrats' health-care overhaul to focus on strategies for striking back should it pass, ranging from challenges to the measure by individual states to a national repeal campaign.
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VA: Cuccinelli renews threat to challenge health-care reform
By Jim Nolan, Richmond Times-Dispatch
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli took to the national airwaves yesterday to discuss his letter to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and threatened legal action if the House employs the "deem and pass" method of voting on President Barack Obama's health-care overhaul.
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WV: Finished budget includes money for Medicaid waiver programs
By Phil Kabler, Charleston Gazette
House and Senate conferees completed work on the 2010-11 state budget bill Thursday afternoon. House Finance Chairman Harry Keith White, D-Mingo, said the budget includes an additional $15 million for Medicaid waiver programs to provide in-home care to senior citizens and for persons with developmental disabilities.
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WY: Wyoming may modify 'fracking' rules
By Dustin Bleizeffer, Casper Star-Tribune
In order to protect fresh and potable water, state regulators may require the oil and gas industry to provide more detailed and readily available information about hydraulic fracturing activities.
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Non-profit Ill. hospital must pay property tax
By Stateline.org Staff
TODAY'S TAKE: In a closely watched case, Illinois’ highest court Thursday determined that a not-for-profit hospital had to pay property taxes, because it didn’t offer enough charity care to qualify for a tax exemption.
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