Latest news with #GeorgeDungan
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Nebraska suicide mortality review team proposal, with emphasis on veterans, advances
At-risk veterans could see more state efforts to explore what contributed to the suicides of people who served. (Stock photo by EyeEmPlus) LINCOLN — State lawmakers are looking to boost action by recent governors to combat suicide in Nebraska through new legislation with an extra focus on veterans and their families. Legislative Bill 414, by State Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln, would house a new suicide mortality review team in the Nebraska Department of Veterans' Affairs. The team would review the circumstances around any suicides in the state generally, with an extra focus on veterans with the location. Dungan called the bill a 'first step' toward working to prevent future suicides and said it would 'help Nebraska as a whole.' 'Having this established review team in the Department of Veterans' Affairs would be a game changer for our veterans dealing with mental health issues and for Nebraskans struggling with mental illness across the entire state,' Dungan said last week during floor debate. LB 414, which advanced 37-0, follows efforts from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, seeking similar reviews at the state and community level. Former Gov. Pete Ricketts, now in the U.S. Senate, joined the 'Governor's Challenge to Prevent Suicide Among Service Members, Veterans and their Families' in 2022. Nebraska joined the suicide mortality review efforts under Gov. Jim Pillen in 2024. With Pillen's support, Nebraska leaders have met monthly for such reviews and received federal funding to help, too. Dungan's bill would put the team into state law with additional structure. Among the team's duties would be developing a data collection system, conducting an annual analysis of the incidences and causes of suicides in the state during the prior fiscal year, creating protocols for such investigations, studying the adequacy of laws and training to determine possible changes to help prevent suicides and educating the public. Upon request of the agency director, a county attorney or the Nebraska attorney general could subpoena to request relevant records. The suicide mortality review team established by LB 414 would include: The director or designee of the state Veterans' Affairs Department. A representative of the Nebraska Violent Death Reporting System. A representative of Nebraska Local Outreach to Suicide Loss Survivors. A representative of the Division of Behavioral Health in the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. An education administrator. A hospital representative. An emergency medical services representative. A member of law enforcement. A mental health professional or licensed clinical social worker. A veteran representative. Additional members as needed. An annual report would be required by April 1 summarizing the data by cause of death, factors contributing to the death, age, sex, race, geographic location and date of death. The report could include recommendations to prevent additional suicides. Dungan said he has attended the monthly meetings where mental health officials, law enforcement, county attorneys and others get involved. He said the team, for example, had identified a motel with a high number of suicides happening on the property. The motel later received a grant for staff suicide awareness and prevention training, which was successful, Dungan said. But when the funding stopped, the impact reversed. Dungan said there is already a database for violent death reporting and that nothing in his bill would jeopardize privacy protections. 'I care about this issue a lot. Mental health and the results that come from poor mental health care and other various things are incredibly close and near and dear to us,' Dungan said at his bill's hearing. 'I just want to make sure we take this bill very seriously.' Speaker John Arch of La Vista selected LB 414 as one of his 25 speaker priority bills for the 2025 session. Jenifer Acierno, legal counsel for the Nebraska Veterans' Affairs Department, testified in favor of the bill at its March 6 hearing. She said LB 414 'provides the opportunity to coordinate the next steps in combating veteran suicide.' The Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee unanimously advanced LB 414, including State Sen. Bob Andersen of north-central Sarpy County, one of three veterans on the committee. Andersen, the committee vice chair and a 21-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force, described the issue as a 'delicate dance' of ensuring privacy while making certain the suicide mortality review team gets access to all the context of the situation and how a person 'got to the place where suicide was the only way out.' He added that he knows people who have committed suicide and urged Dungan to include a veteran on the review team, who he said might have a background critical in identifying areas not readily apparent to civilians. His idea was ultimately included in an amendment that lawmakers adopted 36-0. Andersen suggested future work to identify high-risk veterans earlier to provide help. 'We've been in situations where we understand why they get where they get, and whatever we can do to isolate in advance and help bring them back [would help them] get on with a productive life,' Andersen said. 'Kudos to you for bringing the bill.' Dungan thanked Andersen, as well as State Sens. Dan McKeon of Amherst and Dan Lonowski of Hastings, the other two veterans on the committee, for their service. 'Suicide is one of those things that I think affects all of us, even if it's tangential,' Dungan said at the hearing. 'We all know stories, and so I think it's something we have to take care of sooner than later.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Lawmakers approve at-home nurse visits for Nebraska postpartum moms, 340B protections
A proposal by State Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln would expand home visits by nurses for new mothers. (Stock photo by) LINCOLN — Nebraska lawmakers overwhelmingly approved legislation Thursday morning to require state officials to seek federal matching funds for targeted nurse home visitation services. Legislative Bill 22, from State Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln, passed 47-0. It expands on Dungan's 'Nebraska Prenatal Plus Program' in 2024 that offers services to Medicaid-eligible mothers to help prevent low birth weights, preterm births and adverse birth outcomes. Dungan said the bill represents 'another step forward in ensuring that we have healthy moms and healthy babies in Nebraska.' 'This program will give an opportunity, do those who want it, to have nurse visiting to ensure postpartum care and reduce adverse birth outcomes all across the state,' Dungan said. 'People should have access to this care no matter their background or where they live in the state.' Dungan's 2025 legislation, which heads to Gov. Jim Pillen, would expand care to include voluntary targeted case management for evidence-based nurse home visitation services, similar to the Family Connects program in Lincoln and Lancaster County and now being piloted in Omaha. The goal is to expand the program statewide, deploying a nurse to the homes of eligible postpartum mothers and children six months of age or younger for one-on-one services. Families would be allowed to decline home visitation services at any time. LB 22 also passed with LB 104 from State Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln, which helps define home visitations and what they cover. LB 104 lays the groundwork for a potentially more expansive visitation program in the future, primarily in the homes of families with one or more children, who are 5 years old or younger, or expecting parents. Raybould's language requires the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to only fund a program if it includes periodic home visits meant to improve the health, well-being and self-sufficiency of parents and their children. Such a program could include nurses, social workers or other early childhood and health professionals. The approved home visitation program would need to accomplish at least one of the following: Improve maternal, infant or child health outcomes, including reducing preterm births. Promote positive parenting practices. Build healthy parent and child relationships. Enhance social and emotional development. Support cognitive development. Improve the health and well-being of the family. Empower families toward economic self-sufficiency. Reduce child maltreatment and injury. Increase school readiness. To receive state or federal funding, programs must be founded on a clear and consistent methodology, associated with or certified by a credible organization, have comprehensive standards to ensure high quality and continuous services and employ well-trained and culturally competent staff, among others. DHHS would be required to submit three related annual reports, beginning Feb. 15, 2026. 'They give confidence to a lot of new parents and they have evidence-based support showing that they do make a difference in helping families get adjusted to being new parents an being the best parents that you can possibly be,' Raybould, a former member of the Lincoln City Council and Lancaster Board of Commissioners, said. LB 168, from State Sen. Brian Hardin of Gering, also passed 42-5 on Thursday. It would prohibit 340B Program drug manufacturers from interfering with or denying sales of such drugs to hospitals, clinics or pharmacies that manufacturers contract with. The federal program requires drug manufacturers to provide discounts to eligible entities caring for uninsured or low-income patients in exchange for their participation in Medicaid and Medicare. No federal or state tax dollars are used for the program. Hardin's bill, and others like it in other states, was criticized by a political action committee backed by Trump adviser Elon Musk. Republican lawmakers were criticized as 'undermining Trump' and funding 'gender transitions for kids, abortion procedures and health care for illegals.' Hardin, who chairs the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee, has said the claims have no truth. Nebraska lawmakers prohibited gender transition surgeries for minors, restricted gender transition medications and limited abortion procedures in 2023, with Hardin's approval. Hardin thanked his fellow senators for valuing the 'life-saving work' from the 58 hospitals in the state that benefit from the congressional program, which he said is 'paid for by Big Pharma.' 'Hospitals from Kimball to UNMC [the University of Nebraska Medical Center] greatly benefit from this program!' Hardin said in a text. 'Good for Nebraska!!' Among other bills passed Thursday: LB 7, from State Sen. Barry DeKay of Niobrara, would clarify that Native American tribes are not foreign governments for purposes of the Foreign-Owned Real-Estate National Security Act. DeKay passed the law in 2024, at Pillen's request, to prohibit foreign adversaries from purchasing land in the state. Approved 47-0. LB 41, from State Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston, would expand blood testing for pregnant women to check for syphilis from one screening during the first trimester to also include testing in the third trimester and at birth. Testing would be voluntary. Approved 47-0. LB 105, from State Sen. Jana Hughes of Seward, would allow public power districts to split voting precincts when crafting subdivisions, without regard to population, 'if in the opinion of the Power Review Board the district boundaries do not prejudice the interests of electric consumers.' District lines must currently follow precinct or county lines or contain substantially equal populations, meaning some voters are excluded from their local power district. Approved 46-1. LB 143, from State Sen. Victor Rountree of Bellevue, would require that military families be able to get preliminary or advanced enrollment for their children regardless if they have an individualized education program, individualized family service plan or Section 504 special accommodations, or receive special education. Approved 47-0. LB 195, from State Sen. Glen Meyer of Pender, would provide health professionals immunity for the prescription, administration or dispensing of any generic opioid overdose reversal medications, not just Naloxone. Approved 47-0. LB 248, from State Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue, would exempt child care programs on a military base or federal property or a facility licensed by a branch of the U.S. Department of Defense or U.S. Coast Guard from needing to be separately licensed in Nebraska. Approved 47-0. LB 312, from State Sen. Paul Strommen of Sidney, would allow nurse anesthetists to qualify for student loans or student loan repayment under the Rural Health Systems and Professional Incentive Act. Approved 46-1. LB 501, also by Meyer, would expand a state program that allows properties to be reassessed after they are destroyed (such as after a natural disaster) for property tax purposes to include all damages not caused by the owner. Property owners could apply for a reassessment if damage meets or exceeds 20% of the land's assessed value and is before July 1 of the same year. The current law, from former State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard, passed in 2019. Approved 47-0. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bill advances to expand postpartum at-home nurse visits for Nebraska mothers on Medicaid
State Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln, center. Jan. 8, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN — Lawmakers advanced a proposal Monday designed to help new mothers and newborns shortly after birth through postpartum at-home nurse visitations. Legislative Bill 22, from State Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln, expands on his Nebraska Prenatal Plus Program enacted in 2024, which provides multiple supports for at-risk, low-income families for 'healthy moms and healthy babies.' His new bill would require Medicaid to cover home nurse visits for postpartum mothers and their newborns up to 6 months old. The bill seeks to expand an existing program known as 'Family Connects' in Lincoln and Lancaster Counties statewide. There is a pilot program beginning in Douglas County as well, with services that mothers could access, if they choose, including: Head-to-toe health assessment for baby. Postpartum health assessment for mom. Breastfeeding support. Education and guidance about relevant topics and needs. Assistance with connecting to a medical home or scheduling routine care visits. Connections to community services and resources. Dungan said Family Connects leads to a 480% return on every dollar spent on it, or $4.80, which he described as a huge cost savings. The long-term goal is such services statewide, particularly in rural Nebraska. 'This is a volunteer program with remarkable outcomes for mother and baby,' Dungan said. Dungan's bill, as introduced, would have applied to postpartum mothers and newborns enrolled in the Children's Health Insurance Program, as well as infants up to 3 years old. The bill was narrowed in efforts to reduce the annual cost to about $120,000 for the state, with the rest coming from the federal government. Dungan said he would amend his bill during the second round of debate to clarify that the bill intends to use excess Medicaid funds to cover the program alone, not new tax dollars. State Sen. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha, whose reproductive-focused nonprofit I Be Black Girl similarly helps new Nebraska mothers and newborns, noted that most infant deaths globally happen in the first year of life. Many deaths, she said, are preventable. 'The work that we're talking about in investing in access to care, having that support for that parent and that newborn is vitally important,' Spivey said. She said the Legislature should prioritize the types of programs Dungan put forward. Spivey cautioned that some home visitation pilots aren't always successful for communities of color because the nurses don't match the identities of their patients or have the lived experiences of the people they're serving. Lawmakers advance bill for expanded syphilis blood testing for expectant Nebraska mothers State Sen. Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln, who helped Dungan get his Prenatal Plus Program over the finish line in 2024, again supported his efforts this time around. She said every time a mother comes home from the hospital with a newborn, there are lots of unanswered questions. 'Having someone who's going to come to your home, provide that support, it really does make a difference for those families and the success of the children that are growing in these homes,' she said. Bosn predicted the return on investment could be more than the 480% estimated. 'It's very rare, colleagues, that we have issues that we all agree on when it comes to some of these things,' Dungan said. 'But I really do think that when we're talking about having healthy moms and healthy babies, it's something we can all support.' The bill advanced 43-0. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
