NEW INSURANCE RULES: The state has adopted new rules requiring health insurers to speed up wait times for patients seeking mental health care, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday. The rules, adopted by the Department of Financial Services and the Department of Health, require insurance companies to provide patients with a mental health appointment no later than 10 days after they request it. Insurers that cannot offer in-network services within the 10-day deadline must offer out-of-network care at no additional cost to patients. The rules, which apply to private and public insurers, take effect on July 1.
STRIKE AUTHORIZATION: Nurses at Northwell’s South Shore University Hospital voted to authorize a strike this week as they seek a contract with better pay and benefits and lower nurse-to-patient staffing ratios. The nurses, 99% of whom voted to authorize the strike, want more coverage in emergency and labor and delivery departments, and more staff to fill in when nurses call in sick, according to union New York Nurses Association, which represents the workers. The union says that Northwell hasn’t bargained in good faith and is pushing to reach a contract by Feb. 28, when its current agreement expires. The hospital is aware of the strike authorization but remains optimistic that they’ll reach a deal, and its goal is to offer nurses “competitive compensation, benefits and a safe, supportive working environment,” said Northwell spokeswoman Barbara Osborn.
MEASLES DEATH: A child in West Texas has died from measles, Texas health officials said Wednesday, marking the first fatality in an outbreak that spread to 124 people in the region. The child was school-aged and not vaccinated, officials said, highlighting public health concerns about lagging vaccination rates weeks and prominent vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s confirmation as U.S. health secretary.
