Short of Cash, States Cut Back on HIV/AIDS Drugs for the Poor

HIV/AIDS: Cash-strapped states are cutting back on free or low-cost AIDS drugs for poor patients, resulting in a record-setting waiting list of patients who need the medications, Shefali S. Kulkarni reports for the Washington Post.

Smoking Ban: Nevada has seen heart attack and stroke rates drop – along with Medicaid and Medicare costs – since 2006, when the state banned  smoking in most public places (except casinos), Valerie Miller reports for the Las Vegas Business Press.

Prison Health: The Supreme Court ruling forcing California to reduce its prison population by more than 30,000 is rooted in concerns over health care and mental health access for prisoners, Joanne Faryon reports for KPBS.  

Environmental Health: Mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants finally is declining nationwide, prompted by strict emissions laws in some states. Now, the Obama administration wants to set a national emission standard starting in 2015, Michael Hawthorne reports for the Chicago Tribune.

Medicaid: Rhode Island is having some success with the kind of "block grant" changes to Medicaid that Republicans want to extend nationally. But is what's good for Rhode Island also good for the rest of the country? Tony Pugh examines the question in the Miami Herald.

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