Limited access: The LSU Student Health Center will be open today with limited medical appointments, the university says. The center has slowly reopened after a fire last Thursday caused an estimated $1.7 million in damages. Renovations and cleanup efforts are underway, with LSU officials estimating that full restoration of the facility should take approximately six months and impact approximately 6,255 square feet of the building. The area of the facility affected by the fire includes the portion of the building facing Infirmary Road. On Tuesday, the university announced the Student Health Center would partially reopen, with Mental Health and Wellness open and fully operational.
Before a judge: A federal judge is set to hear testimony on whether Louisiana prison officials are adequately protecting death-row inmates from dangerous heat and humidity levels in a facility where the state refuses to install air conditioning. The Associated Press reports Louisiana has spent more than $1 million in taxpayer dollars fighting a lawsuit death-row inmates filed three years ago over the sweltering conditions in their cells at Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. The three inmates who filed the lawsuit are expected to attend today’s hearing in U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson’s courtroom. Jackson ruled more than two years ago that Louisiana imposes unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment once the heat index on death row exceeds 88 degrees. The state insists its current heat remediation measures—cold showers, ice chests and fans—are adequately protecting the plaintiffs. Read the full story.
On the rise: Premiums for popular low-cost medical plans under the federal health care law are expected to go up an average of 11% next year, according to a new study from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. The Associated Press reports the impact on consumers will depend on whether they get government subsidies for their premiums, as well as on their own willingness to switch plans to keep the increases more manageable. The Kaiser study looked at 14 metro areas for which complete data on insurer premium requests is already available. It found that premiums for a level of insurance called the “lowest-cost silver plan” will go up in 12 of the areas, while decreasing in two. The full picture on 2017 premiums will emerge later this summer as the presidential election heads into the home stretch. Read the full story.
