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Dignity Health is suing several patients and their advocates for “commercial blockade” for refusing discharge during the covid-19 pandemic. The lawsuits could set precedents for use of the California commercial blockade statute, conceived to constrain abortion protesters, and how hospitals handle discharges.
Spending cuts proposed by a Republican-led House subcommittee would cut millions from HIV-related spending.
In a faceoff that took some strange turns, five presidential hopefuls focused on foreign affairs and inflation but still revealed the party’s political struggles over its abortion position. Once again, former President Donald Trump did not appear on the debate stage.
Ohio is the latest state where voters have directly weighed in on abortion, and the next wave of such ballot measures is in the works in at least 11 other states, including Missouri.
The government has proposed that Medicare fully cover preexposure prophylaxis drugs that prevent HIV, a change that could help America catch up with nations in Europe and Africa that are on track to end new infections decades before the U.S. under its current approach.
The federal government requires state Medicaid programs to pay for abortions in limited circumstances, but Iowa hasn’t done so for years. No providers seek Medicaid payments, which require the approval of the governor, an anti-abortion Republican.
The law, which takes effect Jan. 1, prohibits out-of-network ground ambulance operators from billing patients more than they would pay for in-network rides. It also caps how much the uninsured must pay.
Sleep deprivation in adolescents is linked to mental health struggles, worse grades, traffic accidents, and more. That’s why states such as California and Florida have mandated later high school start times. But opposition to later times is less about the science than it is about logistics and costs.
Providers and health care advocates warn a proposed rule change in Montana would jeopardize immunity levels in child care centers and communities. Efforts to change vaccination exemption rules are underway in other states, too.
The number of men in the state taking paid family leave to bond with a new child has risen nearly 20% since the start of the pandemic.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation expanding paid sick leave to five days, extending bereavement leave to miscarriages and failed adoptions, and approving an eventual $25-an-hour health care minimum wage. Still, in a possible sign of national ambitions, the Democrat vetoed free condoms in schools and refused to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms.
The legislation bans the use of four additives that are already prohibited in many other countries but remain in popular U.S. foods. Advocates say states need to act because the FDA has done little.
Michigan is one of the few remaining abortion havens in the Midwest. But getting an abortion in that state is still more difficult than it should be, providers say.
California is the first state to ban the controversial diagnosis known as “excited delirium,” which has been used increasingly to justify excessive force by law enforcement. A human rights advocate described the law, signed this week by Gov. Gavin Newsom, as a “watershed moment” in criminal justice.
At least 30 states are reinstating coverage for children wrongly removed from the rolls under Medicaid redetermination, the federal government reported. It’s just the latest hiccup in the massive effort to review the eligibility of Medicaid beneficiaries now that the program’s pandemic-era expansion has expired. And federal oversight of the so-called unwinding would be further complicated by an impending government shutdown. Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of Pink Sheet join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Samantha Liss, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature, about a hospital bill that followed a deceased patient’s family for more than a year.
The White House said the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will develop new regulations that would prevent unpaid medical bills from being counted on credit reports.
A sweeping agreement approved by state lawmakers would gradually raise the minimum wage for hundreds of thousands of health workers to a nation-leading $25 an hour. The pact would also end labor’s years-long battle with dialysis clinics.
Health department officials are asking legislators to change criminal commitment laws amid a bottleneck at the Montana State Hospital.
Hollywood actors and writers who qualify for their union health plans get a very good deal compared with other Americans. But not working during the strike threatens their eligibility in the system.
Studies suggest official numbers vastly underestimate heat-related injuries and illness on the job. To institute protections, the government must calculate their cost — and the cost of inaction.
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