Healthcare Roundup: OH Nursing Home Room Camera Bill, COVID Testing Lab Lawsuits & More

Nursing Home In-Room Camera Bill Advancing in OH:

A bipartisan bill (SB 58) passed unanimously by the Ohio Senate in May and now up for its third committee hearing in the state’s House would allow nursing home residents or their families to install cameras in their rooms. Ohio lawmakers have been considering the idea for almost a decade. But this year’s measure - titled Esther’s Law, after Esther Piskor, a resident of a Cleveland nursing home whose abuse by nurses’ aides was revealed by cameras placed in her room by her family - has advanced farther than ever due to the coronavirus pandemic underscoring the need for families of nursing home residents to have remote access to their loved ones. A few other states, including Illinois, Kansas, and Minnesota, already allow in-room cameras at nursing homes. (CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER, STATE NET)

COVID Testing Lab Sued by Two Blue Cross Insurers:

Premera Blue Cross has filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle alleging GS Labs forced commercially insured customers to do expensive and unnecessary COVID-19 tests costing the insurer $26 million. Another Blue Cross Blue Shield insurer, BCBS Kansas City, sued the Omaha, Nebraska-based testing company in July, accusing it of up charging the insurer $9.2 million for coronavirus tests. (MODERN HEALTHCARE)

IL Nursing Homes Suffer from Lax State Regulation:

Illinois officials have failed for years to properly oversee nursing homes, including by not enforcing staffing requirements, earning the state the second-highest number of substantiated resident complaints per facility in the nation, according to a review by Manatt Health Strategies commissioned by the state. The consultant recommended the state step up staffing enforcement, mandate public disclosure of facility performance and provide support to facilities that consistently underperform, among other things. (CHICAGO TRIBUNE)

CA Expands Healthcare Worker Vaccine Mandate:

California’s Department of Public Health has expanded the COVID-19 vaccination mandate for healthcare workers it issued in August to include direct care workers and employees of adult care centers. Covered workers must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 30. (SHRM)

FDA Approves J&J, Moderna, Mix-and-Match Boosters:

The Food and Drug Administration has authorized booster shots of both Johnson & Johnson’s and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines. The agency also authorized “mixing and matching” of vaccines, allowing individuals to receive a booster shot from a different manufacturer than that of their initial dose. (CNBC)

-- Compiled by KOREY CLARK