Health
The state’s landmark law delivered broad coverage, but affordability and system pressures are emerging as the next major challenge.
Thomasville Regional Medical Center opened its doors at the start of the pandemic. It didn’t survive, but unlike most shuttered rural hospitals, it’s practically brand new.
Florida’s governor applauded FDA approval of the prescription drug import plan at the start of the year, saying it would cut prices. But there’s still no date for his program to begin.
Deloitte has Medicaid contracts with half the states worth at least $5 billion. Critics charge the company with errors that have delayed care.
Hospitals stuck with unpaid bills will sometimes sell to debt collectors at a discount. The county’s investment could erase 100 times as much in medical debt.
Given driving distances in the vast state, trauma cases are sometimes transported for more than an hour. One physician compares the first-in-the-nation service to fast-food drive-throughs.
A variety of factors make Latinos less likely to have health insurance, including language barriers, types of occupations and immigration status. Coverage problems extend well beyond undocumented individuals.
Maryland students are already allowed to carry the drug to combat opioid overdoses, which are spiking among young people. A bill would set standards and outline expectations for students.
From “ghost networks” to denial of doctor-prescribed care, insurance companies put too many obstacles in the way of people who need help. State policymakers need to take action, and voters will support them.
The polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are a group of chemicals that help make firefighting gear so protective. But they also produce an increased risk of exposure to carcinogens.
We’re now experiencing the second-biggest wave of infections since omicron. Yet we cling to complacency and the false belief that the virus will burn out and go away.
Kate Cox sued for permission to end her 20-week pregnancy after receiving a genetic diagnosis that made the baby’s survival unlikely. A judge’s ruling has given legal and medical experts little clarity about when an abortion may be administered.
Nationally, more than a quarter of paramedics leave their jobs every year. Calls for ambulance services in Santa Clara County, Calif., have increased by 25 percent over the past three years.
Wealthier, healthier states receive far more than those with fewer taxable resources and less healthy populations. Congress could do a lot to narrow this fairness gap.
A group of state lawmakers, advocates and parents are working to change a Medicaid rule that limits psychiatric hospital stays to 15 days a month, but the change would need $7.2 million annually and federal approval.
The state has dropped more than 130,000 of its 500,000 Medicaid beneficiaries since April and about 30 percent of those disenrolled were left uninsured, which could be a bad sign for the rest of the nation.
Traumatic injury is the top killer of children and adults under the age of 45, claiming a life approximately every three-and-a-half minutes. Five states in the West have no Level I trauma centers; three other states have just one or two.
Data shows that about 285,000 women live in contraceptive deserts across the state, areas where contraceptive services don’t meet the needs of the public. The state also has one of the highest rates of pregnancies that are unwanted or wanted later.
When Arkansas expanded Medicaid in 2014, it used expansion dollars to buy private insurance for uninsured residents, making thousands more eligible for coverage. Georgia is considering a similar idea as a way to roll back hospital regulations.
Since the end of the pandemic-era continuous Medicaid renewals, 1.4 million Texans have been dropped from the federal health insurance program and 58 percent of them have been children.
Two Native American communities have received 2023 Culture of Health awards from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Their work is rooted in reviving practices outside forces had disrupted.
City officials have successfully shut down the lime-green tents that were advertising “Free COVID Testing” and were offering $5 cash to individuals in exchange for personal information and test samples.
Long-term nursing home care could easily cost more than $100,000 a year without Medicaid and 90 percent of people have said it would be impossible or very difficult to pay that much.
The question is whether this is a one-year blip or part of a more concerning shift, but it reflects hard truths about the state of our infant and maternal health care.
Lack of human connection is bad for your health. Responding to an advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General that a loneliness epidemic is affecting half of all Americans, San Antonio has been pushing out resources to help build bonds between community members.
Questions linger about the city's other public health crises as federal pandemic dollars begin to dry up. But Brandon Johnson is boosting mental health spending by $15 million.
Future in Context
From inhaler watches to redesigned crutches: How a unique summer program in Birmingham is pushing boundaries in STEM education.
User fees in particular have the potential to fund a variety of programs, from traditional services like disease intervention to new initiatives dealing with social determinants of health, such as housing and food insecurity.
The state’s new law will take effect in 2027 and will prohibit the manufacture and distribution of brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben and red dye No. 3, which are common in processed foods and candy.
The state, under court order, reduced its prison population from about 136,000 to 92,000 over the past decade, but the percentage of people behind bars with mental illness continues to grow.
One effective way is to work with providers, payers and other stakeholders to set statewide cost growth targets. The approach is having an impact.
