Caregiving

Major social issue legislation related to health received last-minute approvals Thursday night before the close of the 2012 Georgia General Assembly.

In the last hour of the legislative session, the House passed a bill that would cut the time for elective abortions from 26 to 20 weeks.

Negotiators reached a compromise on the abortion bill that includes an exemption for “medically futile” pregnancies, giving doctors the option to perform an abortion when a fetus has congenital or chromosomal defects. The AJC reported on the tensions and emotions involved in the battle over the legislation.

Right afterward, the House approved a much-debated bill requiring drug testing of welfare applicants.

But not all legislation dealing with social issues was approved.

Bills not coming up for House floor votes included one to require ‘‘personal growth’’ activities for food stamp recipients, and another to provide an exemption for religious organizations from the state mandate that insurance policies cover contraceptives. full story

Nine years ago, Carla Harrison of Augusta weighed 381 pounds.

“I was brought up with cornbread and to throw a little grease into the food,’’ she said.

Harrison said some family members were also large, and she herself, in addition to being overweight, had high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol and was pre-diabetic.

Then, in 2003, she had gastric bypass surgery, paid for by her health insurance.

“Right away, I started losing weight,’’ Harrison said. “I lost 160 pounds in the first year.’’

In all, she lost about 200 pounds. Now 52, she exercises regularly, eats healthier and has quit smoking. “I feel fabulous,’’ she said. “My heart is great.’’

Harrison came to the state Capitol on Wednesday to testify to lawmakers about the state’s removal of bariatric surgery as a covered benefit in the state employees’ health plan.

In other health care activity at the General Assembly, a bill that would require drug tests for applicants for welfare and Medicaid benefits passed a Senate subcommittee. And a proposal to require schools to train personnel to help students manage their diabetes passed the House Health and Human Services Committee.

Eliminating the bariatric surgery benefit was just one way state officials are seeking to reduce the massive shortfall in the State Health Benefit Plan (SHBP), which covers almost 700,000 state employees, teachers, retirees, school workers, and dependents. full story

When the health of an aging loved one deteriorates, it’s often difficult for families to decide what medical services are right for those situations.

It gets especially troublesome when families don’t have conversations beforehand with their loved ones about their wishes for health care at the end of life.

Bernard Hammes and Nancy Desmond address this problem in a new GHN Commentary (Here’s the link).

“Research shows that families endure unbearable stress if an aging parent suffers from cancer or Alzheimer’s, for example, and the children disagree about treatment,’’ Hammes and Desmond write. “Now, with tens of millions of Americans reaching age 65, we need to start having conversations with our loved ones and health care providers about the kind of care that is the right choice for them.’’

Georgia Health News welcomes Commentary submissions. If you would like to propose a Commentary piece for Georgia Health News, please e-mail Andy Miller, editor of GHN, at amiller@georgiahealthnews.com

Next year, a multibillion-dollar transportation referendum will go before voters in 10 metro Atlanta counties. So far, the hotly debated items on the project list involve improvements in rail, road and bus service.

But also on the list — though drawing considerably less media attention — is a $17 million call center to help seniors and people with disabilities get around more easily.

The basic idea is a one-stop-shop to help people plan their trips when they have few if any transportation options.

The center would help callers with scheduling, dispatching and trip booking, helping to ease travel for hundreds of thousands of people. Call center workers could arrange the transportation or connect the caller with options such as mass transit, voucher programs or volunteer rides.

Janie Walker, an associate state director of AARP Georgia, said Thursday that 80 percent of the calls that the center takes would probably be related to medical appointments.

An Atlanta Regional Commission official says the center would build on current transportation initiatives, and would also focus on low-income residents. full story

The Georgia legislative session has just three days remaining. But for people like Fred Brown and Mignon Fleishel, it will be an agonizing countdown.

They each have an elderly mother living in a Kennesaw assisted living facility. Both women have dementia and need help with mobility.

Brown and Fleishel want their mothers to remain at DayBreak Village – where they are happy — and not be forced to live in a nursing home.

A bill that would help their parents stay there has passed the state Senate, but is stuck in the House – the apparent victim in a political tug-of-war between the two chambers.

Senate Bill 178 would allow Georgia assisted living facilities to hire certified medication aides to help residents in taking their prescriptions. It would also give the facilities more flexibility in dealing with residents who need help in getting around, like Brown’s and Fleishel’s mothers.

Brown says he’s frustrated by the legislative bottleneck. He doesn’t want the assisted living bill to wait another year before passage. “I don’t know whether my mother will last another year,’’ he says. “She’ll soon be 89.’’

Currently, if an assisted living resident is considered non-ambulatory, the state requires that person to be discharged – often moving to a nursing home – unless the state grants a waiver. And there are restrictions on what medication help is permitted. full story