Latest News On Minnesota

Latest KFF Health News Stories

‘American Diagnosis’: When Indigenous People Move to Cities, Health Care Funding Doesn’t Follow

KFF Health News Original

When Indigenous people started moving to cities in large numbers after World War II, many found hardship and discrimination there … but not the health care they were entitled to. Episode 12, the season finale, explores the efforts of urban Indian health providers to close those gaps by providing affordable, culturally competent care.

Hemp-Derived Delta-8 Skirts Marijuana Laws and Raises Health Concerns

KFF Health News Original

A cannabis product called delta-8 was made legal when the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp. But unlike its cousin CBD, delta-8 has psychoactive properties. And the FDA warns it has “serious health risks.” The agency has received more than 100 reports of bad reactions among people who consumed it.

Newborns Get Routine Heel Blood Tests, but Should States Keep Those Samples?

KFF Health News Original

Shortly after birth, babies are pricked in the heel so their blood can be tested for life-threatening conditions. States generally save leftover blood from those samples, and parents and privacy experts are concerned that information could be used without consent years later.

When Mental Illness Leads to Dropped Charges, Patients Often Go Without Stabilizing Care

KFF Health News Original

When criminal suspects are deemed too mentally ill to go through the court process and their charges are dropped, they can be left without stabilizing treatment — and sometimes end up being charged with additional crimes.

Conservative Blocs Unleash Litigation to Curb Public Health Powers

KFF Health News Original

Spurred on by opposition to pandemic-related health mandates, a coalition of religious liberty groups, conservative think tanks, and Republican state attorneys general has filed a cascade of litigation seeking to rein in the powers of public health authorities.

The Search for Scarce Formula Is Worse for Rural Families on WIC

KFF Health News Original

Constraints imposed by the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as WIC, that prevent recipients from using benefits to buy formula across state lines weigh on families as the nationwide formula shortage drags on.

‘It’s Not a Haven’: With Limited Capacity for Abortion Care, Minnesota Clinics Brace for Influx

KFF Health News Original

In Minnesota, where abortion rights are protected by the state’s constitution, legal doesn’t necessarily mean accessible. The state has just eight clinics that provide abortions, and both providers and advocates say resources available aren’t enough to meet demand as nearby states reduce abortion access.

Doctors Trying to Prescribe Abortion Pills Across State Lines Stymied by Legislation

KFF Health News Original

Some doctors are getting licensed in multiple states so they can use telemedicine and mail-order pharmacies to provide medication abortions to more women. At the same time, states are cracking down on telemedicine abortions, blunting the efforts of out-of-state doctors.

Local Pharmacists Fill Rx Void as Big Brands Pull Out of Rural Areas

KFF Health News Original

Stores like Walmart and Shopko opened pharmacies in small towns, either buying out the local pharmacy or driving it out of business. What happens when those chains later withdraw, leaving communities with no pharmacy?

Quarantine and Tracing Rules Are All Over the Map for Students

KFF Health News Original

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers guidance but calls for localities to set quarantine rules for unvaccinated children exposed to someone with covid-19. That’s led to a pandemic patchwork of rules.

Why the U.S. Is Underestimating Covid Reinfection

KFF Health News Original

Hundreds of Americans suspect they contracted covid early in the pandemic and recovered, only to get infected again months later. But because the U.S. does so little genetic sequencing of covid samples, we don’t know much about reinfection rates.

Homeless Shelters Grapple With COVID Safety as Cold Creeps In

KFF Health News Original

During the pandemic, shelters are having to change the way they do things to prevent the virus from spreading among the vulnerable homeless population. Now, as winter weather moves in, there’s less room at the shelters for those in need — threatening to leave many, literally, out in the cold.

Kids Are Missing Critical Windows for Lead Testing Due to Pandemic

KFF Health News Original

Inspections for lead hazards and blood testing for lead have dropped significantly just as kids are spending more time in the places where their exposure to the poisonous metal is highest: their homes.