State highlights: NYC to gather bids for its health insurance costs; Texas Cancer Institute tries comeback after controversies

A selection of health policy stories from New York, Texas, Arizona and California.

The Associated Press: NYC To Put Health-Insurance Contract To Bid
Faced with annual health insurance costs of $6.3 billion, New York City is putting its health care contract out to bid, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday. Bloomberg said the bid has not gone out yet but current health-insurance provider EmblemHealth has already chosen not to seek a rate increase for the next fiscal year (Mathews, 8/2).

The Associated Press/Washington Post: Nearly Dismantled By Turmoil, Criminal Probe, Texas' $3B Cancer-Fighting Eyes Comeback
Gone are the large conferences, big pharma funding, Nobel laureates and lavishly paid state officials who vowed scientific breakthroughs from Texas' unprecedented $3 billion crusade against cancer. What's left of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas isn't flashy, but that's precisely the goal for an agency regaining its footing after a year of turmoil and an ongoing a criminal investigation (8/4).

Houston Chronicle: Continuum-Of-Care Nurses See Demand In Houston Area
With the aging population and with baby boomers moving into their golden years, retirement communities are opening across the city and surrounding areas. Plus, many established senior living communities are expanding services and programs for continuum-of-care, known as transitional care. This is all good news for nurses with experience in geriatrics and the senior population (Maitland, 8/5).

Arizona Republic: Entrepreneurs See Opportunity In Senior-Care Industry
As the Baby Boom generation ages, the senior-care industry in metro Phoenix is growing at a rapid pace, and Valley entrepreneurs are capitalizing on the trend through franchise businesses. About 18 months ago, Jim Crew started operating an in-home elderly care business in Scottsdale. Last November Alice Starzinski began running a service that helps families find the best assisted-living facilities for elderly relatives who can no longer care for themselves (Brown, 8/3).

California Healthline: Getting Dental Care To Pregnant Women
Among the new national guidelines for providers released this week by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is a new emphasis on making sure pregnant women get dental care. That's something policymakers in California have been working on for years, and is a welcome addition to national guidelines, according to officials at the Children's Dental Health Project, a nonprofit children's health advocacy organization (Gorn, 8/2).