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Federal officials on Thursday arrested eight people they say were involved in various health care fraud schemes totaling $50 million in and around Los Angeles. Five of the cases involved hospice-care centers in cities of Glendale, Artesia, Tarzana and Simi Valley in the Los Angeles area that allegedly billed Medicare for patients that were not terminally ill and did not qualify for hospice services, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. One person was arrested in Idaho and another in LA for allegedly defrauding a West Coast labor union’s health care plans. An additional person arrested in LA was accused of forging immigration medical documents. (Ding, 4/3)

A Medicare payment processing snafu that has effectively withheld millions of dollars from Minnesota rural hospitals for months and pushed some to the brink of closure appears to be easing. (Zurek, 4/2)

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling this week against Colorado’s ban on licensed mental health providers engaging in gender and sexuality “conversion therapy” could narrow the authority of state medical boards to regulate aspects of health providers’ care that involves speech, according to legal experts. The implications could extend far beyond matters related to LGBTQ+ rights to other forms of talk therapy, telehealth, and physician advice on Covid-19, vaccines, or reproductive care. (Gaffney, 4/3)

Missouri is one step closer to tracking cases of alpha-gal syndrome, a little understood tick-borne illness that causes an allergy to red meat and that experts say is on the rise. The House on Thursday approved legislation to add alpha-gal syndrome to the more than 100 diseases already tracked by the state’s Department of Health and Senior Services. (Friedheim, 4/2)

A shipping container in Fort Davis is at the center of a new experiment in bringing telehealth to an aging rural population. Perched in the Davis Mountains of West Texas, Jeff Davis County faces steep barriers to care. Nearly one in five residents lacks reliable broadband. The only doctor in Fort Davis, the county seat, is semi-retired, and most people make the 30-minute drive to Alpine for care. (De Figueiredo, 4/2)

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey was released from the hospital Thursday after undergoing a procedure to remove fluid pressing against her lung. Ivey, 81, is recovering at the Governor’s Mansion after staying two nights at a hospital in Montgomery, her office said. She will work from the residence and is expected to be back in the Capitol office next week. (4/2)

Health officials in Oakland County reported that a resident was bitten by a skunk last Friday, which tested positive for rabies earlier this week. Oakland County Health Officer Kate Guzmán emphasized the importance of immediate action, advising anyone exposed to wild animals to wash the bite area and seek medical attention. (Henderson, 4/2)

A dead bat found at a Fremont [California] home earlier this week has tested positive for the deadly rabies virus, according to authorities. In a press release issued Thursday, the Fremont Police Department said that Alameda County Vector Control staff responded on Tuesday to a home on Logan Drive in the city's Glenmoor neighborhood, where the bat was found. It was collected for testing and on Wednesday, the county's Public Health Department confirmed that the bat tested positive for the rabies virus, police said. (Castañeda, 4/2)