Weekend health news summary

A number of health-policy-related articles ran in different Ohio newspapers this weekend. Among the most notable findings and points were:

• That "Seven of every 10 youths sent to Ohio's juvenile prisons have been diagnosed with a mental illness and are supposed to get treatment while they're locked up." (Source: "Most inmates mentally ill, but treatment can be sparse," The Columbus Dispatch, Sept. 9, 2007.)

• That "Gov. Ted Strickland, House Speaker Jon Husted and other government and business leaders are gearing up to find an Ohio solution to providing affordable health care to the estimated 1.2 million Ohioans without insurance." (Source: "Ohio not waiting for feds to solve health insurance problem" Dayton Daily News, Sept. 9, 2007.)

• That the Single-Payer Action Network Ohio is collecting signatures for the "Health Care for All Ohioans Act, which would replace the hundreds of different private insurance plans operating in the state with one public fund covering comprehensive health care for all Ohio residents." In order to send the act to the legislature, SPAN Ohio needs 120,683 signatures; they refuse to say how many signatures have been collected. (Source: "Group seeks universal system of health care" Dayton Daily News, Sept. 9, 2007.)

• That the Butler County Community Health Consortium will open "a three-chair dental center in Middletown by the end of next year" after being awarded full federal qualified health center status and a three-year, $739,775 grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration, an office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (Source: "Low-income patients to get health care" The Journal News, Sept. 9, 2007.)