Health Headlines for Thursday, November 29

U.S. Life Expectancy Falls Further

Wall Street Journal

Life expectancy for Americans fell again last year, despite growing recognition of the problems driving the decline and federal and local funds invested in stemming them.

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Task force report doesn’t propose health-care-for-all system

AP News

A Maine task force is calling on lawmakers to improve oversight over health reform efforts in the state.

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City unions say they dread impact of single-payer proposal in Albany

Politico Pro (sub. required)

Public-sector unions are gearing up to fight legislation that would establish New York State as the health insurance provider for all residents, worried the sweeping bill would curtail their benefits and negotiating power.

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Overshadowed by opioids, meth is back with a vengeance

NBC News

The number of people hospitalized because of amphetamine use is skyrocketing in the United States, but the resurgence of the drug has largely been overshadowed by the nation’s intense focus on opioids.

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New Yorkers got opioid scripts, addiction-recovery opioids amid missing oversight

Lohud

Thousands of New Yorkers on Medicaid kept getting opioid prescriptions while simultaneously receiving similar drugs through addiction-treatment programs that didn’t check a crucial drug oversight tool.

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Ellis Medicine opposing Albany Med project in Niskayuna

Albany Business Review

Ellis Medicine opposes an Albany Medical Center proposal to open an ambulatory surgery center less than 2 miles from the Schenectady hospital.

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New York-Presbyterian, Empire BCBS reach contract

Modern Healthcare

New York-Presbyterian and Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield have agreed to a multiyear deal to keep the 10-hospital health system in Empire’s network.

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